Vegan Arroz con Leche
This vegan arroz con leche is creamy, delicious, and easy to make. It is topped with a sprinkle of freshly ground cinnamon and studded with raisins. I love it when it’s served cold on a hot day, but in the winter nothing beats a cup of warm arroz con leche. It’s one of those classic Mexican desserts that you make over and over again.
Mexican Arroz con Leche
Mexican rice pudding is the perfect combination of milk, sugar, cinnamon, rice, and raisins. Depending on what region of Mexico you grew up in you might have added fresh fruit, orange or lime zest, and even rum.
Did you know that there are many versions of arroz con leche? There is Dominican, Costa Rican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Guatemalan….and the list goes on and on. Most of them are similar but each country has its own variation that makes it unique. In Puerto Rico they use coconut milk, in Spain they add orange zest, in Cuba, they add condensed milk, and in Jamaica, they add allspice or nutmeg.
But it doesn’t matter what country you are from, arroz con leche evokes memories of the smell of cinnamon and a big pot of boiling milk on the stove, and the song, “ Arroz con leche, me quiero casar con un señorita…..”
How to Make Arroz con Leche Vegan
To make this arroz con leche without dairy I did a test between three different types of plant milk: soy milk, oat milk, and almond coconut milk. I used the same recipe for all of them and had some really picky taste-testers (my children) evaluate the results.
The Test: Soy milk, Oat Milk or Almond Milk
The clear winner of the taste test was soy, then oat milk, and in the last place was almond-coconut milk. Soy milk resembled cow’s milk the most because of the high-fat content. The one that was made with oat milk was deliciously sweet, but it gave it a yellowish color and it wasn’t as creamy as the soy milk. The almond-coconut milk was creamy but did have a distinctive taste of coconut. My kids loved all of them, but they preferred the soy by far. I know a lot of people don’t do soy, so if you don’t, I recommend the oat milk instead.
The Recipe
- You can use any plant milk of your choice, but we found that soy was the one that mimicked the taste of cow’s milk the best.
- Oat milk also makes a yummy arroz con leche.
- You can add fresh fruit, orange zest, dried fruit, nutmeg, and even vegan condensed milk.
- I decided to use long-grain rice because it’s what is most accessible, but using short-grain rice will give a creamier result.
Vegan Arroz con Leche
Ingredients
- 1 cup Long grain-rice
- 1 Ceylon cinnamon stick 2 -inch
- 3 cups Water
- 4 cups Soy milk
- ½ – 1 cup Sugar or your sweetener of choice
- ½ cup of raisins optional
Instructions
- In a large pot combine water, cinnamon stick, and rice. Bring water to a simmer and simmer slowly for 15 min.
- Add soy milk to the pot and simmer for 10 more minutes.
- Add ½ – 1 cup of the sugar (depending on desired sweetness), and simmer for another 10 minutes or until the arroz con leche has reached the right consistency.
- Remove from the heat, add raisins, and let the rice cool slightly. It will thicken as it cools.
- Sprinkle with ground cinnamon before serving. Serve warm, or let cool in the refrigerator and serve cold.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Although dorastable.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates.
Thank you for sharing this recipe… just made it with Almond Milk… We like the Almond Breeze brand… and it came out perfect!
So happy you liked it!
I make this all the time, it’s soo good. I use full fat Oatly milk which I imagine is probably pretty similar to the soy. And a lot of honey!
Hi Dora! I’ve tried your recipe before and loved it. I’m wondering how to adjust the recipe to use already cooked rice. Trying to be less wasteful, thank you! :)
Hi! I made this recipe with a combination of oat milk, coconut milk and coconut cream all of which were to take the place of the soy milk. My son who’s allergic loves it, but what’s just as important is that the rest of the family lived it too! I used half the sugar and zested some lemon and that helped too. Thanks for the recipe, it’s really awesome!
I bet it was super creamy with the coconut cream!
10/10
Skipped the raisins and used Trader Joe’s oat milk, it turned out as delicious as my mom’s dairy version. Love that you kept the recipe simple. Thank you for sharing<3
This was so delicious, the smell brought back great childhood memories. I’m excited to try your other recipes.
Delicious and easy!
The smell brings back memories from when my mom used to make it. It’s very good. ? I omitted the raisin because my youngest has so many allergies and new ones still coming.
I’m so sorry about your baby’s allergies, I know it can be difficult. I’m so happy that I could get even a little bit close to your mom’s tres leches.
This looks great! Going to try it today. I do have a can of vegan condensed milk that I want to use – when do I add it to the recipe?
Hi Melanie, you can add it instead of the sugar.
Covered or uncovered? And may I use jasmine rice?
You can leave it uncovered. You should have no problems with jasmine rice.
Do you cover the rice while it simmers ?
You don’t have to
My oldest daughter decided to go vegan and I myself am trying to transition it’s hard. This recipe which I chose coconut milk for is perfect. Arroz dulce is one of my childhood favorites I skipped the raisins though I never liked them as a kid and always picked them out now as an adult I decided to ditch them altogether. Beyond that delicious! Thank you
Congratulations on your choice to transition to a vegan diet!! I know it can be hard in the beginning, but hang in there.
Congratulations on your choice to transition to a vegan diet!! I know it can be hard in the beginning but hang in there.
This was absolutely delicious and simple! I used all Oatly milk (water and milk portions). I replaced the water with the milk. It was super tasty! Great recipe!
Delicious!! ?
Great recipe!!
So glad you liked it!!
Your Dutch oven in Caribbean blue is really beautiful, but when I saw the $350 price tag, I lost interest. Honestly, I had no idea people pay this much for one pan.
Hi Maia, I found a similar one at HEB that was like $30
Can I use brown rice?
Yes, but you’re going to have to increase the cooking time.