Comforting Hawaiian Rice Pudding
What’s a good way to turn that frown upside down?
How about filling your kitchen with delicious aroma and then spooning some warm sweetness into your mouth?
One of my favorite comfort foods is rice pudding. It is a flexible base for gluten-free or allergy-friendly treats. You can change up the flavors to suit the season and your desire. You can go sugary sweet for a decadent dessert or strictly fruit sweetened for a dish healthy enough for a special breakfast.
Want to give rice pudding a try? Here are some of our family’s favorites …
- Date-Sweetened Vanilla Rice Pudding and Strawberry Parfaits
- Chocolate Rice Pudding
- Holiday Nog Rice Pudding
- Apple and Autumn Spice Rice Pudding
- Our favorite is the Coconut Rice Pudding from Welcoming Kitchen: 200 Delicious Allergen and Gluten-free Vegan Recipes.
Or give this taste of the tropics a whirl.
Other Rice Recipes:
Hawaiian Rice Pudding
Serves 6
Ingredients:
- 1 (15-ounce) can light coconut milk
- 15 ounces orange juice (empty coconut milk can filled with o.j.)
- 2 cups fresh or frozen pineapple tidbits (small pieces)
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup arborio rice, rinsed
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- In an oven safe saucepan, bring coconut milk, orange juice, pineapple and salt to a boil.
- Remove from heat, and stir in rice.
- Cover and bake for one hour.
- Stir before serving.
Kim Lutz is a vegan mom to two boys, and lives with her rocker husband, dog and cat. She is the author of Welcoming Kitchen: 200 Delicious Allergen and Gluten-free Vegan Recipes and the gluten-free, allergen-free, vegan website, welcomingkitchen.com. Kim is the co-author with Megan Hart, MS, RD, LD, of two other cookbooks.
Read all of Kim’s posts here.
Do you have to use arborio rice? Is there something different about that as opposed to, for instance, Jasmine rice (which I happen to have)….can’t wait to make this! Sounds delicious!
[Reply]
Kim Reply:
March 7th, 2013 at 11:02 am
@Mary, Arborio rice is the rice traditionally used in risotto. It’s starchier, so when it cooks it gets really creamy. You could use a different rice, like jasmine, it just won’t be as creamy and pudding-y.
[Reply]
You definitely can use any kind of rice. This isn’t my recipe but I make great rice pudding with brown rice that’s leftover from Chinese food. Arborio rice might make this a bit thicker since that’s the rice that they use in risotto. I would also use full fat coconut milk because there will be less additives and preferably one in a BPA free package.
I use recipes as an outline and add my own tweaks. Try it one way once and the next time use a different rice. See which one you like better.
[Reply]
Kim Reply:
March 7th, 2013 at 11:58 am
@Suzanne, Good point, Suzanne, that recipes are great for playing with so you get a result that’s best for you. I used Trader Joe’s light coconut milk and it doesn’t have any additives. In looking into it, it seems as though the cans are BPA free, too. Full fat coconut milk would make this pudding really dreamy, though!
[Reply]
Thanks, Suzanne! Can’t wait to try this. Making it for my grandson’s birthday on Sunday. He loves pineapple and rice. This should be a big hit! Thanks!
[Reply]
Light coconut is just full fat coconut milk watered down. If you buy full fat and want to lighten it up just add some water. This recipe sounds delicious. The arborio rice is uncooked when you add it, correct?
[Reply]
Kim Reply:
March 7th, 2013 at 2:25 pm
@Laura, Correct, Laura. It cooks when you bake it.
[Reply]
What a great recipe idea!! Living here on Maui, though, I would make a couple of slight modifications. We just bought our first Vitamix and now make our own homemade coconut milk and almond milk. So I would use real coconut milk, juiced orange juice and real pineapple. Yummy!!! Thanks for the recipe.
[Reply]
Kim Reply:
March 7th, 2013 at 2:25 pm
@Laura Black, Fresh coconut milk sounds fantastic, Laura!
[Reply]