Easy Eggnog Rice Pudding with Brown Butter

Creamy, dreamy and oh so easy! This Eggnog Rice Pudding with Brown Butter is the holiday dessert I have longed for! Eggnog makes the perfect pudding base, make it ahead of a party and serve cold or warm, you will not be mad you did.

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I first made this Easy Eggnog Rice Pudding with Brown Butter because I wanted dessert. But, truthfully it was late and I didn’t want to bake. It honestly just seemed like a pain to deal with the oven and figure out what to make. Then I remembered I had some milk leftover from a mac and cheese I made. I rarely have milk so if I don’t find multiple uses for it, it will go bad.

That’s when it hit me, I should make rice pudding! I always make my rice pudding super easy, genuinely just add milk, sugar, cinnamon, salt and rice to a pot. Then cook until rice is done; I don’t even wash the rice! It could not be an easier and more satisfying dessert. It is something I don’t make a ton, but I always have the ingredients on hand so I can throw it together when the craving strikes. I also love rice pudding hot or cold so it is a great dessert to make extra for the next day.

But this particular dessert craving was during the holiday season. So, I didn’t want to make my regular rice pudding. That’s when I saw the eggnog I had in the fridge. What is eggnog? Well, it is a beautiful combination of fat and sweetness; eggs and milk. Honestly, it’s basically runny pudding (am I the only one that thinks like that?). Since it had all the needed ingredients, I figured it would make an INCREDIBLE addition to rice pudding. I was right! The custard-like nature of eggnog makes a beautiful rich and flavorful micture for the rice to cook in. It also means you can get a rich dessert with few ingredients! (And no dealing with raw eggs!)

This Easy Eggnog Rice Pudding with Brown butter is the dessert I need around the holidays! Top with nutmeg, orange zest and/or more eggnog. This eggnog rice pudding honestly can’t be beat! Don’t forget to serve it with this delicious and creamy Perfect Spiked Eggnog Cocktail.

Easy Eggnog Rice Pudding with Brown Butter Ingredients & Substitutions

Rice– I like basmati rice in rice pudding, partly because I always have basmati rice.But also, I find that basmati rice has a beautiful fragrance that adds a nice flavor. However, you can use jasmine, or other long grain rice. If you want, brown rice would work but honestly unless you like brown rice more go with white rice for the dessert. There is a trick I like to keep my rice pudding extra creamy, and it is not washing the rice. Typically when I make rice I want it fluffy and not gloopy so I soak the rice and rinse off the extra starch. But in rice pudding, the extra starch adds creaminess and adds to luxurious nature of this dessert without any extra ingredients. Oh and the best part is you don’t have to rinse off the rice!

Milk– I like whole milk for this, but use whatever milk you want. Typically a fattier milk will give you better results because the extra fat makes it creamier. For the Eggnog Rice Pudding I’d stay away from coconut milk because it will add coconut flavor. That being said, if you like the coconut flavor have at it! When I make my regular rice pudding I almost always use canned coconut milk, but here I wanted the eggnog to shine.

Eggnog– I use full fat eggnog, however use whatever eggnog you have or enjoy! Whether that is plant based, full fat or low fat (although for eggnog rice pudding the richness makes it better!). The richer the eggnog, the richer and more custard-like this recipe will be. Honestly, you could use all eggnog if you’d rather and it would also be amazing! Just be mindful to not heat too intensely or it could cause the eggnog to curdle/scramble and nobody wants that!

Sugar– I used regular granulated sugar, but by all means use whatever sugar you would like! Brown sugar would work well here, although I would probably do a 50:50 or 30:70 split with regular sugar. Brown sugar has molasses flavor. Too much and it could overwhelm the eggnog and distract from that flavor. Brown sugar will also make this a darker brown color, so if you want the rice pudding to stay lighter stick with cane sugar. Feel free to use maple syrup or honey as well, although again those flavors may cover up the beautiful eggnog flavors so be mindful.

Butter– I use regular butter and in the recipe and brown the butter at the start. I highly recommend doing this, it is an easy step but makes it oh so tasty. Since this recipe has so few ingredients upping the flavor wherever you can will really improve the end result. However, if you do not like brown butter leave it out! Feel free to substitute vegan butter here as well. The butter adds to the richness of the dish so I do recommend using it.

Cinnamon/Nutmeg– These are both optional ingredients. With traditional eggnog it would just be nutmeg. But honestly I grew up with my dad ALWAYS putting cinnamon on his eggnog. So, do what you enjoy most! When I make regular rice pudding I always use cinnamon so I figured why not use it here. It works so beautifully and you can actually balance the cinnamon and nutmeg so you get both flavors.

How to Brown Butter

Brown butter is in essence sautéed butter. When sautéing onions they begin to caramelize and become sweeter and the flavors mellow out. That browning is the Maillard reaction that is caramelizing the sugars in the onions. This reaction also changes the flavor of onions from something that is harsh and intense to something that is sweet and velvety. The same thing goes for butter. When browning butter what happens is the sugar in butter (lactose) starts to caramelize. This enhances the flavors and changes the flavors of the butter. Instead of falling to the background adding a beautiful creaminess, the butter brings a nuttiness that brings beautiful umami notes to the dish.

Honestly browning butter could not be more simple; it just requires patience. Like most things in the kitchen, it is more about what you aren’t doing than what you are doing. When sautéing, it is about letting the vegetables brown and moving them around occasionally. There is more inactive time sautéing than active. The same goes for making brown butter. Basically add it to the pan on low to medium low heat and let the heat work it’s magic!

So to do this, heat the pot or pan you will make the rice pudding in over low or medium low heat. Once it is heated (I test by holding my hand over the pan. If I can feel residual heat from the pan it is good to go), add the butter. Then wait. Stir occasionally; although if it is on a lower heat, often I do not even do that! You will notice the butter go from the yellow state, to a more golden state to that beautiful brown butter! Patience is the name of the game because if you go too fast you risk burning the sugars rather than caramelizing. Brown is not burnt. Brown butter is deep rich and beautiful flavor, burnt butter is pungent and harsh (just like garlic or onions!).

Once you get the hang of browning butter there are so many uses for it! Besides this brown butter eggnog rice pudding, I use it in cookies, biscuits (freeze it beforehand), with meat, risotto, drinks (yes it is coming!) and so many more dishes! If you want more information and other step by step guides to brown butter check out the post by Martha Stewart or the Food Network.