Recipe for Danish Rice Pudding (Risengrød) - The original Nordic recipe! (2024)

Published: · Modified: · About 3 minutes to read this article. · By Kim Nielsen

Traditional and old-fashioned recipe for Danish Rice Pudding also known as Risengrød. Perfect recipe if you are looking for some very traditional Danish christmas food.

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Recipe for Danish Rice Pudding (Risengrød) - The original Nordic recipe! (1)

This recipe for Danish rice pudding is a very traditional and famous dish in Denmark. In Denmark we call this dish Risengrød which directly translated simply means Rice pudding. Risengrød is mostly served in the month of December and especially in the time around the Christmas days. In many families a large batch of rice pudding is made the 23rd of December where some of it is eaten for dinner and the rest is saved for the 24th. On the day of Christmas eve the rice pudding is mixed with vanilla, whipped cream and almonds and it's served as the famous and very delicious Christmas dessert Risalamande.

See also: Christmas Recipe for traditional Danish Butter Cookies

There are slightly different ways of making this rice pudding, however, this is the recipe my mother always used when I was a kid and it's the one we use today. Risengroed is very easy to make, you only need four different ingredients, rice, milk, water and some salt - all the ingredients are pouring into a large sauce pan and boiled for about 35 minutes. However, you do have to remember to stir in the pudding once in a while so that the rice don't burn to the bottom of the sauce pan. Personally we prefer to eat the rice pudding with cinnamon sugar and a tablespoon of butter as topping. Cinnamon sugar is simply just sugar and cinnamon mixed in the ratio of 4:1.

If you are making this rice pudding for the Danish dessert Risalamande we suggest that you add the vanilla from 1-2 vanilla beans and the empty bean to the rice pudding while boiling it. Also leave out the salt.

Recipe for Danish Rice Pudding (Risengrød) - The original Nordic recipe! (3)

Danish Rice Pudding (Risengrød)

Traditional and old-fashioned recipe for Danish Rice Pudding also known as Risengrød. Perfect recipe if you are looking for some very traditional Danish christmas food.

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Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Danish

Keyword: Christmas, Nordic Christmas

Servings: 3 people

Author: NordicFoodLiving.com

Ingredients

Metric - US Customary

  • 2.25 dl short-grained white rice pudding rice
  • 1 dl water
  • 1 liter milk
  • 1 tsp salt

Cinnamon-Sugar

  • 4 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon

Instructions

  • Pour the water and the rice in a large sauce pan. Add salt, heat it up and let it boil for about 2 minutes.

  • Pour the milk into the sauce pan and let it boil while stirring.

  • Let the rice pudding boil lightly/simmer for about 35 minutes under a lid. Remember to stir in the pudding regularly so that the rice does not burn to the bottom of the sauce pan.

  • Make some cinnamon sugar by mixing the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

Notes

Serve the rice pudding with a tablespoon of butter and the cinnamon sugar



Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lise

    This worked out perfectly. Thank you from South Africa!

    Reply

    • Kim Nielsen

      Hi Lise, that is just super. Thanks for your comment :) Regards Kim

      Reply

      • Lise

        Every year I come back to this recipe. Works perfectly every time! Thank you.

        Reply

        • Kim Nielsen

          I know it can be hard to locate the right rice. Unfortunately, long grain rice is not the best when making Danish rice pudding.

          Reply

          • Michael Sherman

            Would this be Arborio rice that is used for Italian risotto?

        • Laura aubrey

          no- it will not be the same- look for arborio (risotto) rice- you may have better luck with that!

          Reply

        • Lene

          Look for Arborio rice in a large supermarket or perhaps Italian grocery. It works a treat!

          Reply

  2. Marc Ahlen

    Although I am from New Mexico, USA, my great grandfather was from Denmark. My family has lost all its traditions from Denmark so we have begun to make new traditions and enjoy making foods from Denmark. We made Kringle yesterday and will be making this rice pudding today. Thank you for posting this.

    Reply

    • Kim Nielsen

      Hi Marc. Nice to hear from you - it really sounds like a great idea of bringing back some of your old danish roots. I hope you are going to enjoy the rice pudding - it is a really popular danish dish especially during the Christmas time. Regards Kim

      Reply

      • Lynda Jensen

        My childhood ☺️. Mange tak og glædlig jul!

        Reply

        • Kim Nielsen

          Thanks. And glædelig jul 🙂

          Reply

  3. Kirsten Nielsen

    Hello Kim! Thank you for creating this blog. So many foods from my childhood you have given back to me. The chocolate oatmeal balls were ones my dad made every Christmas when we were kids, but he quit making them when we all moved out of the house, and now he has passed away he won't be making them anymore. So, I am going to restart the tradition and my grandchildren will be helping me make them this weekend. A pre-Christmas trial to make sure we get them just right! Glaedelig Jul!

    Reply

    • Kim Nielsen

      Hi Kirsten. That is a nice story and it sounds really great that you are going to continue the tradition. I guess it is a nice way of bringing back some good memories each Christmas. Regards Kim

      Reply

  4. Julie Phillips

    Hi Kim,
    Each Christmas my family picks a different country that celebrates some type of holiday in the winter. We have the kids vote on which country to pick then make a traditional meal and learn about some of the customs/traditions of that particular country. The kids picked Denmark this year so I'm looking forward to learning more about your country and trying the wonderful dishes. I'm in charge of the Risengrod and very excited to try this! Thanks for sharing this traditional recipe!
    Julie

    Reply

    • Kim Nielsen

      Hi Julie. What a wonderful tradition you have - such a great way to learn about another country. I hope that you will like the Risengrod. Actually, it is Risengrod which are served to Santa Claus when her is delivering presents for the kids - like cookies and milk which are served in the states :-)

      Reply

      • Kim Bantten

        Hello Kim
        Can you tell me for the measurements what dl is ?
        As well my name is Kim and my maiden name is Nielsen! My parents came from Denmark .
        Cheers
        Kim

        Reply

  5. Bent Christensen

    Hi Kim I was born in Denmark but have lived most of my life in New Zealand I have never forgotten how special Christmas was in Denmark when I was young , I have continued with the Danish Christmas tradition with my Kiwi family and they all love it and are introducing it to their own families . From making our own red cabbage to baking Danish Christmas cookies but the risengrood is definitely the favourite I sometimes make it as a treat during the year.

    • Kim Nielsen

      Hi Bent. Thanks for your comment. It's always nice to keep some of the old and good traditions. And a side note; New Zealand is a country high on my list of countries I want to visit in the future.

      Reply

  6. Stina

    Hello Kim,

    I am celebrating Danish Christmas in England and fiund all the recipes I needed on Nordic Food & Living!

    Thanks so much for publishing this great blog and god jul!

    Stina

    Reply

    • Kim Nielsen

      Hi Stina. You are welcome :-)

      Reply

  7. michael

    Salt goes in at the end normally :)

    Reply

  8. Eszter

    Hi Kim,
    Thank you very much for this lovely blog! I'm living in Denmark with my boyfriend and we are very curious about all the traditional Danish meals. We used your page a couple of times to make different kinds of dishes! Today we are making risengrød :)

    Reply

    • Kim Nielsen

      You are welcome :-) I am glad that you like my page. Risengrød is a great choice if you are looking for some traditional Danish food.

      Reply

  9. Thomas. J. Janstrom

    Recipe for Danish Rice Pudding (Risengrød) - The original Nordic recipe! (8)
    so easy to make and so very tasty

    Reply

  10. Aiki

    Hi Kim, I am a nanny of a very lovely danish family this year i Want to try some danish traditional food and kids asked me to make Risegrød and i did very Well by follow your recipe .Thank you very much for sharing with all of us.Merry christmas and Happy new year.

    Reply

    • Kim Nielsen

      I love to read comments like your. I think that it's so funny that I can post a recipe about a traditional Danish dish which can bring joy in another family some other place. I'm happy that you like the Risengrød recipe. Regards Kim (nordicfoodliving.com)

      Reply

  11. Helga

    I'm Icelandic and we eat this meal regularly, we call it Grjónagrautur. But I can't cook it without the rice burning to the bottom of the saucepan so recently I learned how to cook risengrød in the oven. I combine the rice, salt and milk in an oven-safe saucepan (remember the lid must me oven-safe as well), put it on the stove and heat up until the milk starts to boil. Then I put it in the oven on ca 80°c for about an hour. No need to stir and it works perfectly every time. The only downside is that it takes a longer time.

    Reply

  12. Kirsti

    Hi there.
    Dane in America currently and trying to find places to get the correct rice for risengrød.
    Any suggestions for where to buy them, preferably where it’s not crazy expensive:-)
    Same goes for flæskesteg...

    Thanks!

    Reply

    • Kim Nielsen

      I'm not sure where you can buy pudding rice the place that you live. But normally you can buy Flæksesteg from any butcher around the world. You just ask the butcher to leave the skin on. Sometimes it takes the butcher some days to get this cut. Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)

      Reply

  13. Janice

    Hi. I love your blog. My grandfather was Danish, but he brought none of his traditions with him when he came to America. I have always loved rice pudding, however, and your recipe is the most fuss-free I've found. And delicious. I do add a little sugar to appease my American taste buds.

    Reply

    • Kim Nielsen

      I'm happy that you like my Nordic blog and that you can use the recipes. Regards Kim (NordicFoodLiving.com)

      Reply

  14. Meridith

    Hi Kim.
    I am not Danish. But I love your blog and love love love rice pudding. I’m excited to try both recipes. After I have cooked the recipes on the stovetop I want to. My question is about the rice. Are you using Sushi rice? I’ve never seen “pudding rice” in the US. Is it a sticky rice or just normal short grain rice? I’ve never been successful making rice pudding 😔 so I want to be sure I use the correct ingredients. Thank you so much for writing your blog as it’s very exciting to learn about other cultures and learning how to cook the foods is such an important way to connect.

    All the best,
    Meridith

    Reply

    • Kim Nielsen

      Hi Meridith. Thanks for your nice message. I'm happy that you like my blog and Danish recipes. In Denmark we have rice called "pudding rice" they are short, a little chubby, polished rice. They are great for pudding because they do the opposite of normal rice - they will become mushy when cooked. If you search on Google for "Grødris" then you can find pictures from Denmark where you can see how the rice looks like. I hope you will be able to find some good rice for rice pudding the in US. Regards Kim (NordicFoodlIving.com)

      Reply

  15. Ellie

    Recipe for Danish Rice Pudding (Risengrød) - The original Nordic recipe! (9)
    I made this yesterday and turned out perfect. My only challenge was the pan boiling over a couple of times, so I had to be extremely attentive to it, removing the lid frequently to stir, and lifting the pan off of the burner when I could see the milk beginning to rise. Thank you! My grandparents were raised in Denmark and I love celebrating like they once did.

    Reply

  16. Birgitte Simen

    Recipe for Danish Rice Pudding (Risengrød) - The original Nordic recipe! (10)
    Danish ex-pat living in Boston here. I’ve made this several times and it turns out great using sushi rice and whole milk. My kids eat it with maple syrup (sigh) but everyone loves it!
    Once it boils, use your very lowest burner setting. If you’re on an electric stove, move to a fresh spot at that point or the residual heat will burn the bottom of the rice.

    Reply

  17. Doris Nielsen Nickel

    What type of rice are you using? We've always used a Pearl Rice but can't find it here anymore. Thank you.

    Reply

    • Kim Nielsen

      In Denmark we have a type of rice called Pudding Rice (Grødris). It is a short grain rice, kind of fat also. They are very similar to risotto rice.

      Reply

      • Doris

        Thank you! I finally found a store in Alberta that carries Pama rice!

        Reply

  18. JB

    Recipe for Danish Rice Pudding (Risengrød) - The original Nordic recipe! (11)
    Should mention that at Christmas time, this is usually served with Elf Beer ("Nisseøl"), a light sweet version of "dunkelweizen", the abv of this is low enough (under 2%) for children to have a cup or half a cup with no notable problems, especially as the next day is a holiday, not a school day.

    Reply

  19. J A

    Arborio Rice works well. I haven't been able to track down Pama in the Pacific Northwest, but Aborio is REALLY close.

    Reply

  20. Cleo

    I am sorry, but what amount of rice do you mean by 2.25 dl? Not sure if you measure it in decilitres or is it anything else? Please, specify!
    Thanks!

    Reply

    • Kim Nielsen

      This recipe calls for 2.25 dl (deciliter). You can always use google to convert deciliter to US cups if that can help you.

      Reply

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Recipe for Danish Rice Pudding (Risengrød) - The original Nordic recipe! (2024)

FAQs

What is the history of risengrød? ›

Though it sounds French, this dish is wholly Danish. Stemming back to a time when it was a rare luxury to make rye-, barley-, or oat-based grød (porridge) with milk, the dairy version was reserved for parties. After 1900, rice became more widely available, and thus, risengrød (rice porridge) became an everyday staple.

What is traditional rice pudding made of? ›

Rice pudding is a creamy mixture of rice and milk that is cooked until it's thick and soft. It can be sweet or savory. This raisin-studded dessert rice pudding is thickened with an egg, sweetened with sugar, and enhanced with vanilla.

How to make Jamie Oliver's rice pudding? ›

Method. Put the rice, milk, 200ml of water, half the maple syrup or honey and the vanilla into a large pan. Give it a good stir, then place the pan on a very low heat. Cook gently for around 45 minutes, or until thick and creamy, stirring regularly.

What nationality makes rice pudding? ›

It's actually been around for centuries, believe it or not, and was thought to have originated in China, which has an ancient rice culture. This has been disputed by some food historians; they argue that rice pudding likely originated in India, which has an ancient rice culture as well as an ancient sugar culture.

What kind of rice is best for rice pudding? ›

For the same reason you wouldn't normally make risotto with basmati or jasmine or brown rice, you wouldn't normally make rice pudding with it. Calrose, a short/medium grain rice, works well with this recipe because it gets soft and sticky when cooked.

What is rice pudding called in America? ›

Although rice pudding is part of many cultures ranging from Latinamerica to Asia and everywhere in between, our recipe is inspired by the traditional South American version of Arroz con Leche — rice pudding, in English.

What was the original name of rice pudding? ›

The earliest rice pudding recipes were called whitepot and date from the Tudor period. Rice pudding is traditionally made with pudding rice, milk, cream and sugar and is sometimes flavoured with vanilla, nutmeg, jam and/or cinnamon.

How do you make James Martin rice pudding? ›

Heat a large non stick pan until hot, pour the milk in, add the butter, add the rice and coat all over. Add the sugar, milk and cream, then the vanilla seeds. Stir through then simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Pour into an oven proof serving dish and then pop in the oven for 10 minutes.

How to make rice pudding Nigella? ›

Preheat the oven to 150'C. Put the rice and sultanas in an oven proof dish. Stir together the evaporated milk, sugar and normal milk and pour over the rice. Put in the middle tray of the oven and stir after half an hour, put back in the oven for another hour and then remove.

Why does my rice pudding get hard? ›

As a result, the rice in the pudding can become firm and hard when it cools down. It's a natural process that occurs with certain types of rice. To prevent this, you can try adding a bit more liquid or cream to the rice pudding before refrigerating it.

Which country has the best rice pudding? ›

Morocco. Although rice pudding is prepared in one form or another throughout the Mediterranean, the Moroccan version is particularly delicious from the way the rice is prepared: firstly, the rice is boiled in water, then it's simmered in milk.

What is the German brand of rice pudding? ›

Oetker Milchreis (Rice Pudding) 125g : Grocery & Gourmet Food.

Which country eats rice pudding on Christmas? ›

Rice pudding is made in Norway, Sweden and Denmark for Christmas. The dessert consists of rice porridge mixed with vanilla and whipped cream and served with a red sauce. Adding whipped cream makes the rice pudding very creamy.

Is rice pudding healthy for you to eat? ›

You've got to love that it's made from simple ingredients like rice, milk, sugar and eggs. While this is a dessert, it does offer some nutritional benefits, including almost 10 grams of protein and 15 percent of the daily recommendation for bone-building calcium per cup.

What's the difference between pudding rice and normal rice? ›

This is not a specific type of rice, but a generic description for short-grained white rice used for making rice pudding. The term is rarely used outside England. Whichever rice you use, the important thing is that it should give a soft, creamy, slightly sticky result.

Is rice pudding made from raw or cooked rice? ›

Rice pudding is simply rice cooked in sweetened milk. As the rice cooks, it releases starch, which thickens the milk and suspends the tender grains of rice, contributing to its creaminess. You can start with uncooked rice or cooked rice, which is great if you have leftovers you want to use up.

What is the difference between rice pudding and custard? ›

Custard is a creamy dessert made from a mixture of milk or cream, eggs, sugar, and flavorings, typically thickened with heat. Pudding, on the other hand, is a sweet, creamy dessert that can be thickened with a variety of ingredients such as cornstarch, gelatin, tapioca, or rice.

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