AUTHENTIC RECIPE

Arroz con lecheAsturian Rice Pudding

Name: Asturian Rice Pudding
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h 50 min
Total time: 4 h
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Spanish
Ingredients: 100 g Short-grain rice (Bomba rice); 1300 ml Milk; 200 ml Water; 100 g Granulated sugar; 50 g Unsalted butter; 1 stick Cinnamon stick; 5 g Lemon peel (Japanese-grown, unwaxed); 1 g Ground cinnamon

Difficulty★★★☆☆ Prep10 min Cook1 hr 50 min Rest2 hr servings4

In this Asturian version, the rice softens as the milk slowly reduces, with butter adding richness. Cinnamon and lemon perfume the pudding, which is served chilled.

Recipe developed and reviewed by the Tabelia Editorial TeamUpdated 2026-10-01

100/ 100

AUTHENTICITY SCORE

Authenticity Score

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Ingredients (4 servings)

Short-grain rice (Bomba rice)100 g
Milk1300 ml
Water200 ml
Granulated sugar100 g
Unsalted butter50 g
Cinnamon stick1 stick
Lemon peel (Japanese-grown, unwaxed)5 g
Ground cinnamonFor finishing1 g

Method

110 min

Warm the scented milk

1 Thinly peel 5g of the yellow part of the lemon peel.
2 Put 1.3L milk, 1 cinnamon stick and the lemon peel in a pot and warm over low heat.

Ready when

Continue when small bubbles appear around the edge and the milk becomes fragrant.

210 min

Let the rice absorb the water

1 Put 100g rice and 200ml water in a separate heavy pot and simmer over medium-low heat for 8–10 minutes.
2 Stir with a spatula to prevent sticking on the bottom.

Ready when

Continue when almost all the water is gone and the outside of the rice grains has softened.

31 hr 40 min

Slowly simmer the rice in milk

1 Add the warm milk, including the aromatics, to the rice pot.
2 Simmer over very low heat for 90 minutes, scraping the bottom every 5 minutes.
3 Add 100g sugar and 50g butter and simmer for another 10 minutes while stirring.

Ready when

Continue when the rice has no hard core and the creamy mixture flows slowly from a spoon.

Caution

It thickens as it cools, so do not reduce it to a stiff mass in the pot.

42 hr

Remove the aromatics and chill

1 Remove the cinnamon and lemon peel and divide among 4 shallow dishes.
2 Once the initial heat has dissipated, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
3 Lightly dust the surface with 1g ground cinnamon.

Ready when

The pudding is ready when the cream around the rice is smooth and the whole dish is cold.

A view of Cabranes, Asturias — Cabranes, AsturiasSpain Photo: Ricardosanchezvicent · CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized; display cropped)

About this dish

In Asturias, arroz con leche is a well-loved dessert after a meal. Made by cooking rice in milk, it is served in versions with cinnamon or with a caramelised sugar surface.

Cabranes holds a festival for this sweet in May. In Santolaya, the centre of the festivities, a cooking competition takes place alongside the feast of San Francisco de Paula, with opportunities to taste the rice puddings entered.

On this day, a dessert from homes and restaurants becomes the focus of a town event. A festival centred on a dish of rice and milk offers a place to make, eat and pass on this regional sweet.

Bring the full course home next weekend.

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