Arroz con Leche — A Creamy Spanish Rice Pudding from the Road

The Embalse de Colomera sits where the Colomera and Las Juntas rivers meet, quiet enough on a weekday that the only sounds are water and the occasional distant dog. Florie was parked up with a view across the reservoir and I had leftover pudding rice, a jar of orange blossom honey from the market in Noalejo, and no particular reason to rush. Arroz con leche seemed like the obvious answer — one pan, one gas ring, twenty minutes.

The Rice — Why Pudding Rice Works

Arroz con leche needs a short-grain rice with enough starch to thicken the milk slowly as it cooks. Pudding rice is the straightforward choice — it's widely available, inexpensive, and does exactly what you need it to do. Calrose would also work if that's what you have to hand.

I always have pudding rice in the van. It takes up almost no space, keeps indefinitely, and pulls double duty — it's the same rice I use for a quick savoury rice bowl when I need something simple and filling. If you want to know more about rice varieties and which to use for which dish, my Types of Rice guide covers the full picture.

Arroz con Leche Recipe

Serves 1 | Small saucepan | 20 - 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 250ml whole milk
• 25g pudding rice
• 1–2 tsp orange blossom honey, to taste
• ½ cassia bark stick
• A strip of lemon peel
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• 5g butter
• Ground cinnamon to finish

Method

1. Pour the milk into a small saucepan and add the pudding rice, cassia bark and lemon peel. Place over a low heat and bring slowly to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally.
2. Cook on a low simmer for 18–20 minutes, stirring regularly, until the rice is tender and the milk has thickened to a creamy consistency. Keep the heat low — you want a lazy bubble, not a rolling boil.
3. Remove the cassia bark and lemon peel. Stir in the honey and vanilla extract, taste, and add a little more honey if needed.
4. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until melted and glossy.
5. Spoon into a bowl and finish with a dusting of ground cinnamon.

Footnote

This arroz con leche recipe is part of my Campervan Cooking collection — food cooked on the road in Florie, my Fiat Ducato campervan.

It also features in my Rice Recipes collection — a global collection of rice dishes from paella to pilau.

This recipe is also part of my Spanish Recipes collection — regional classics, tapas, seafood, rice dishes and food cooked from Andalucía and the road.

Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures — The Flexible Chef