How To Make Rice Pudding Southern Style by Mama Reed
This is Mama Reed’s famous baked rice pudding recipe. It creates a rich comforting dessert that anyone who likes rice pudding will love!
Of course, Mama Reed was an amazing cook. Like the other matriarchs in my family, she was adept at making do with what ingredients were on hand and affordable, which made rice a regular ingredient for her cooking (even now, we all love a bowl of hot rice served with butter and sugar for breakfast). Most rice puddings are cooked in a pot on top of the stove, but our family has always baked rice pudding.
What is Rice Pudding?
Rice pudding is rice cooked in sweetened milk. As the rice cooks with the ingredients the starch in it creates a rich and creamy dish. You can start with uncooked rice or cooked rice. See information below for using both.
Why Bake Rice Pudding?
Baking this dish only requires stirring once or twice (depending on if you are using cooked or uncooked rice) versus frequent stirring if made on the stovetop. But what I love most of all about rice pudding when it is baked, is it develops a wonderful custard and transforms into a rich and comforting dessert. This pudding would be served at dinner for dessert and any leftovers could be re-served for breakfast. True comfort food. I’m sure Mama Reed would be proud to know we’re still loving it today.
Ingredients you’ll need:
- White Rice
- Eggs
- Milk
- Sugar
- Salt
- Raisins
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla
Actual recipe is at the bottom of this page.
How to Make Baked Rice Pudding
First off… cook up your rice. It will be added later in the recipe.
Stir it up til it looks like this.
Bake at 300 degrees for 90 minutes.
After the first thirty minutes of baking, stir from the bottom.
Scoop and serve in fancy schmancy crystal glass wear or even better…regular cups or bowls will do!
Do I Have to Cook The Rice?
Ingredients
- 4 eggs beaten
- 3 cups milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup raisins
Instructions
- Cook up your rice. Beat eggs. Stir in sugar. Add other ingredients. Stir.
- Spray oven proof casserole dish with Pam. Pour mixture into dish.
- Set dish in pan of hot water and bake at 300 degrees for 90 minutes.
- After 30 minutes of cooking insert spoon at edge of pudding and stir from the bottom to distribute rice and raisins.
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Regarding Mom Reed’s Southern Baked Rice Pudding: Medium or large eggs, and whole, 2%, 1%, or canned milk? These two ingredients can make the difference between a flop and success. Anyone get that almost crispy custard top — what egg and milk did you use? Also I’m at 5000 feet. As you can tell, I’m one who does not like to experiment a few times to get it right.
Thank you for a baked recipe. I’ve been trying to find a good one so with more information I will cook it up to see. I remember a creamy crispy top one in my childhood.
Got this in the oven right now! It is very similar to the recipe I used years ago. Of course, I couldn’t find the cookbook it was in. Never fear! I’ve bookmarked this. My husband likes it very sweet and with extra raisins, so I added a bit more. I also added some zest from a tangelo. I did keep stirring it to mix up the raisins because it was still very liquid at 30 minutes. Thank for the post.
Your story of Mama Reed sounds very much like my grandmother. Nana’s theory was that if you cook it, they will come. I’ve been very blessed with that same ability today.
She was my kitchen mentor, starting me off with one fried egg. The year was 1956 and I was but 4 years old. When I was 7, she showed me how to make a proper custard, then on to my favorite dessert; rice pudding. She frowned upon my making a quickie version using Cook & Serve Vanilla Pudding, but admitted it was pretty good. One of the last meals we made for her was a leg of lamb and a traditional rice pudding: Two of her favorite foods. She went ‘home’ shortly thereafter. God rest her soul. God bless.
And many times your mother and I ate at BOTH houses. We would eat at home, and then go to Mama Reed’s, look pitiful, and say we hadn’t eaten!
LOL, that is too funny Kathy!!!
I love the story about your Mama Reed! She sounds so much like my grandmas! I am going to make this rice pudding for my dad soon, Rice pudding is his favorite sweet treat!
Thanks for sharing!
Christy, this sounds just like my Grannie’s recipe. I love rice pudding but have never been able to find a recipe the way she made it. This is it! Did you used to put raisins in your hot breakfast rice with milk and cinnamon and call it “spotted dog”? That’s what we did . Thank you for not using the “n” word (nutmeg). That would have ruined it for me. I’m a cinnamon gal all the way. Love you Christy.
This is exactly the same as my mother’s recipe! They always served it with a pitcher of 1/2 & 1/2 with sugar to taste, cinnamon and nutmeg. Then you pour it over. Sooooo good!
Oh Yummy!!