Easy Pumpkin Rice Pudding (Vegan & Gluten-Free)

This creamy, nutritious pumpkin rice pudding made with brown rice, pumpkin purée, coconut milk, maple syrup, and warm spices. It's naturally vegan and dairy-free, with cozy pumpkin pie flavor. Serve it all on its own, or dress it up with a dollop of whipped cream (regular or dairy-free) for a cozy fall dessert.

Why You’ll Love This Pumpkin Rice Pudding Recipe

This pumpkin pie rice pudding feels like a wool sweater for the soul. It's made with broken brown rice, coconut milk, maple syrup, and pumpkin, simmered slowly with whole spices. The result is creamy and nourishing, with all the flavors of pumpkin pie in spoonable form. I love serving it warm for dessert or breakfast, topped with whipped cream or a drizzle of milk and toasted pecans. If you're looking for another pumpkin dessert, try my Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies.

If you love creamy puddings, you might also enjoy my Chocolate Pudding Pie or this Vanilla Pudding from Scratch

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Brown rice: Long grain basmati or jasmine works well. Breaking the grains gives the pudding a creamier consistency.
• Coconut milk: Use regular or light depending on your preference.
• Pumpkin purée: Canned or homemade both work.
• Maple syrup: Adds gentle sweetness with caramel notes.
• Vanilla: A vanilla bean or vanilla paste brings warmth.
• Whole spices: Cinnamon, clove, ginger, and orange zest tied in a bundle create depth.
• Sea salt: Just a pinch balances the flavors.

How to Make Creamy Pumpkin Rice Pudding 

Step 1: Break the rice grains in a spice grinder or with a rolling pin.

Step 2: Heat the coconut milk in a pot and add vanilla seeds or paste. Bundle the spices in cheesecloth and drop them into the pot.

Step 3: Stir in the broken rice, maple syrup, salt, and vanilla pod. Simmer on low until the rice is tender with a pleasant chew. Stir in the pumpkin purée and cook briefly until the mixture thickens slightly.

Step 4: Remove the spice bundle and let the pudding cool for 10 to 20 minutes. It will continue to thicken as it rests. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serving Suggestions

Serve pumpkin spice rice pudding as a fall dessert, topped with whipped cream or coconut whipped cream. For breakfast, drizzle it with milk and scatter toasted pecans on top. It's just as good at a holiday table as it is on a chilly afternoon. 

Recipe FAQs

What about you? Will you serve it as a cozy breakfast or a sweet dessert? Leave a comment below and let me know how you enjoyed it. For more holiday sweets, try my Pumpkin Pound Cake or Gluten-Free Apple Crisp.

Stay Connected

Subscribe

Get exclusive new weekly recipes (all gluten-free, but you'd never know it), along with tips for finding more intention, ease, and joy in the kitchen in my Mind, Body, Spirit, FOOD newsletter!

Get the Recipe

Print Pin

Easy Pumpkin Rice Pudding (Vegan & Gluten-Free)

By Nicki Sizemore

Made with coconut milk, infused with vanilla and warming winter spices, and sweetened with maple syrup, this homey, nutritious pumpkin rice pudding is deliciously sweet and ultra comforting. Brown rice provides a subtle chew, complementing the coconut-pumpkin custard (it's naturally vegan). Serve it all on its own, or dress it up with a dollop of whipped cream (regular or coconut whipped cream). I prefer to eat it slightly warm when it's at its creamiest, but leftovers make for a stellar breakfast drizzled with milk and sprinkled with chopped nuts. While the pudding has to simmer for over an hour, the cooking time is mostly hands-off. You can swap out the vanilla bean for vanilla paste (see the Tips below).

Servings: 6

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 1 hour hr

Total Time: 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Equipment

• cheesecloth
• butcher's twine

Ingredients

• ½ cup (95g) long-grain brown rice (such as Basmati or Jasmine)
• 2 (13.5-ounce) cans coconut milk
• ½ vanilla bean
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 whole clove
• 1 (⅛-inch thick) slice fresh ginger
• 1 2- inch piece orange zest (removed with a vegetable peeler)
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ cup (160g) maple syrup
• ¾ cup (178g) pumpkin puree, canned or homemade (see below)

Instructions

• Place the rice in a spice grinder (or clean coffee grinder) and pulse to break up the grains (about 8 pulses). You want to end up with broken grains, not a full powder. If you don't have a spice grinder, place the rice in a zip-top bag and use a meat mallet (or rolling pin) to bang up the rice grains.
• Put the coconut milk in a medium, heavy-bottomed pot. Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds with the back of a knife and add the seeds to the coconut milk. Reserve the pod.
• Wrap the cinnamon stick, whole clove, ginger, orange zest, and reserved vanilla bean pod in a 6-inch (or thereabout) square of cheesecloth; tie it into a bundle with a piece of butcher's twine. Add the spice pack to the coconut milk, along with the ground rice, sea salt and maple syrup. Stir to combine.
• Bring the milk to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking, until the rice is tender but still has pleasant chew, about 45-50 minutes.
• Stir in the pumpkin puree and cook for 10 minutes longer (it will still be quite loose). Let the pudding cool for 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally (it will thicken up as it cools). Serve it warm or at room temperature.

Notes

To make pumpkin puree from scratch:

• Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and coat it lightly with oil.
• Cut out the stem from a sugar pumpkin (just like you would if you were carving a pumpkin-I even use my Halloween pumpkin carving knife to do this), then cut the pumpkin in half and scrape out the seeds (save the seeds to roast).
• Place the halves cut side down on the baking sheet. Bake 40-45 minutes, or until tender (a knife should slide through without resistance.
• Let cool slightly, then scoop the flesh into a food processor. Process, scraping down sides occasionally, until smooth. This will take a while-just let the machine rip.
• If you want to ensure a really smooth texture, press the pumpkin puree through a strainer with a spatula. 1 sugar pumpkin yields about 2 cups of puree. The puree can be stored for up two 5 days in the refrigerator, or for up to 2 months in the freezer.

Recipe Tips

• The brown rice gets broken up in a spice grinder (I use a clean coffee grinder), which helps it cook more quickly and gives the pudding a richer texture, but you can break it up using a mallet or rolling pin instead. 
• You can swap out the vanilla bean for 1 teaspoon of vanilla paste. 
• The whole spices (cinnamon stick, clove, ginger and orange peel) are key, lending important dimension. By wrapping the spices in cheesecloth you won't have to fish them out at the end. 
• You can use regular or light coconut milk. 

Loved this recipe? Check out @nickisizemore for more!

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: pumpkin rice pudding, pumpkin spice rice pudding