Instant Pot Rice Pudding

Rice pudding prepared in an electric pressure cooker is both speedy and simple — the kind of thing you can whip up in minutes in between other kitchen tasks. This version calls for short-grain rice, which turns plump and pleasingly sticky as it cooks in a combination of milk and heavy cream. Adding a vanilla bean lends deeply aromatic notes, but if you don’t have one, just stir 1 tablespoon vanilla extract into the pudding along with the egg yolks. Or skip the vanilla and add a teaspoon of whole cardamom pods to the pot to round out the spicy flavor of the cinnamon. Whipped cream might be overkill on a pudding this rich, but only in the very best way.

Ingredients

• ¾

  cup arborio or other short-grain rice

• 2 ½

  cups whole milk

• ⅓

  cup granulated sugar

• 1

  (2-inch) cinnamon stick

• 1

  (4-inch) strip orange or lemon zest, peeled with a vegetable peeler (optional)

• ½

  vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped with the tip of a paring knife, or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• Large pinch of fine sea salt

• ½

  cup heavy cream

• 2

  egg yolks

• ½

  cup raisins (optional)

• Ground cinnamon or cardamom, for serving (optional)

• Whipped cream, for serving (optional)

Preparation

1. In the pressure cooker pot, stir together the rice, milk, sugar, cinnamon stick, orange zest (if using), vanilla bean and seeds, and salt.
2. Lock the lid into place and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then manually release the remaining pressure.
3. Open the lid and discard the cinnamon stick, orange zest and vanilla bean.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the cream and yolks. Whisk into the rice and continue to stir until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. (It will still look soupy at this point.) The residual heat of the rice will cook the yolks, and chilling will thicken the pudding. Stir in the raisins, if using.
5. Spoon the pudding into serving bowls, then cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours. Serve with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon or cardamom and whipped cream, if you’d like.