January 9, 2017
posted by Haley
23 Comments
This rich and creamy rice pudding is legendary in my family. Based on a very old traditional Norwegian recipe passed down from my grandma, who learned it from the older generation. Enjoy!
Does cooking a loved one’s favorite foods bring you joy? It certainly does for me.
This rice pudding is one of my dad’s favorites. It’s a recipe that my family has been making for decades. A traditional Norwegian recipe that has been enjoyed by my family for generations.
Whenever we made this rice in the past, it was a big deal. Special occasions only.
But now that I make it myself, I wonder why we ate it so seldom growing up, considering how easy and cheap it is to make.
About The Recipe
This rice pudding is thick, creamy, and not too sweet. It’s made with whole milk – and I don’t recommend skimping by using 2 percent or skim.
This Norwegian rice pudding is best topped with melted butter and cinnamon. You can also add berries, raisins or nuts on top.
I like to eat this as a hearty snack, preferably in the winter. But you can eat it however you want: for dessert, breakfast or dinner.
How Do They Eat It In Norway?
I consulted a Norwegian friend who told me that risgrøt is traditionally eaten for dinner. Many Norwegians eat it as an early dinner, if they’re having another meal much later in the evening.
A lot of people eatrisgrøt on Christmas Eve to hold them over until a late Christmas Eve dinner.
If there is any rice pudding leftover, Norwegians often make riskrem, the dessert version ofrisgrøt. To make riskrem, mix the rice pudding with whipped cream and serve it with a berry sauce (raspberry or strawberry). Voila!
Check Out These Other Traditional Norwegian-American Recipes:
- Norwegian egg coffee
- Non-alcoholic gløgg
- Sweet soup (sot suppe)
- Potato dumplings (klub)
- Lutefisk
- Swedish meatballs
- Open-faced sandwiches
- My Norwegian grandma’s meatball recipe (kjøttkaker)
- Flatbread (flatbrød)
- Norwegian Christmas bread (julebrød)
- Norwegian cream pudding (rommegrot)
- Almond kringler
- Almond cake
- Holiday almond cake with cranberries and orange
- Sugar cookies (sandbakkelse)
- Spiced ginger cookies (pepperkaker)
- Norwegian kringla cookies
- A Scandinavian snack board
- Lefse (made in a frying pan)
- Krumkake (thin cookies made on an iron and formed into a cone shape)
- Goro (thin decorative cookies made on an iron)
- Rosettes
Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
My family adds raisins to this rice pudding, but they're not my favorite so I left them out.
This recipe is a little bit sweeter than the traditional. Feel free to reduce the amount of sugar.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups medium grain rice
- 3 cups water
- 5 cups whole milk
- 1/3 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- Cinnamon, for topping
- Butter, for topping
Instructions
- Bring water and rice to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring, until most of the water is absorbed into the rice.
- Turn heat down to medium. Start adding milk to the rice, one cup at a time. After each cup is added, stir the rice and cook for 5 minutes or so, until most of the milk is absorbed into the rice. Continue with this process until all the milk is added. The rice is cooked low and slow - the whole process can take up to an hour. Once all the milk is added, stir in the sugar, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Serve rice warm with butter and cinnamon on top. The rice can also be served cold, with melted butter on top.
Desserts and sweets Gluten free International Recipes Vegetarian
posted by Haley on January 9, 2017 (updated December 19, 2023)
23 Comments Leave a Comment »
« Previous PostHow To Save Money As A Vegan
Next Post »Almond-Crusted Turmeric Green Bean Fries
23 comments on “Norwegian Rice Pudding (Risgrøt)”
Leave a comment »
-
Violet — Reply
This is honestly EXTREMELY good. Makes my mouth water when looking at the pictures. Actually, it gives me a good idea for tomorrow nights evening meal. Yum!
-
Kevin Panitch — Reply
Really cool recipe, and I love the bowl in the picture too!
Thanks for the great content! Looking forward to following along in 2017!
-
Eric Fretheim — Reply
You mentioned serving this for special occasions. My Norwegian grandmother served this every Sunday for breakfast! (As a preschooler, I apparently called it “Rice all over the plate.” I’m guessing it was served to me on a plate to cool it down faster for me.)
I’ve been trying for ages to recreate the dish I remember, but she never wrote any recipes down. Her risgrøt passed away with her. Even her daughter (my aunt) had no idea how to make it!
It looks like you use a lot more milk than I’ve used before, and you don’t use any cream. I’m going to try this out and see if that’s what I’ve been doing wrong.-
Haley — Reply
Hi Eric, What a great story! I hope this recipe was similar to what your grandma made. Good luck on your search!
-
-
Rogers — Reply
Hi! Your recipes are just like the ones my grandma used to make and I’m so glad as I only have a few still. Now I’ll be able to make them just like she did! I even have the old Krumkake iron to make those on, too! Thanks for preserving these recipes for another generation to enjoy!
-
Haley — Reply
You’re so welcome! I love sharing these old recipes. Let me know if there are any other traditional Norwegian recipes you’d like to see!
-
Laura — Reply
So jealous you have the krumlake iron!!
-
Haley — Reply
Ah, you should buy one for yourself! You can find them on ebay!
-
-
-
Laura — Reply
My Bestemor (grandmother) made this all the time. My mom never could. It took me 23 years to try to figure it out. I’m proud to say I did it!!!
We don’t use water. We use milk to boil the rice. Then add canned milk. For each cup ofrice add 1 cup of milk, 1 can of canned milk.
Then cook until this not soupy( thick) then add vanilla. We don’t use salt. Serve with butter, cinnamon and sugar
SLOW cooking and constantly stirring
Definitely a winter meal.-
Haley — Reply
Yay, congrats to you for making it yourself! Your Bestemor would be proud 🙂
-
-
Jeanine — Reply
Thanks for the recipe. I’ll make it today! In our community, we add eggs and bake it in a water bath. This creates a custard on top of the pudding, which we love. But I’m thrilled at the opportunity to try your recipe.
-
Haley — Reply
That kind is on my list to try! One of our church ladies made it this way… so, so good.
-
Sarah — Reply
Have you tried it this way? I would love to try it with eggs on top but can’t find anything online on how to cook it this way.
-
-
-
Margi — Reply
Broke my elbow so cooking has been curtailed but I was so hungry for rice pudding and when I opened up your blog there it was! Yeah, no eggs, no hot water bath and no oven. Time I had, so an hour stirring was no problem and it only takes one hand. I only had long grain so not being able to drive I made do. I really dislike reviews about how they only changed 3 or more items and it just didn’t turn out. I try to always follow the recipe the first time but as you can tell I already changed the rice. I had an almost full can of condensed milk in the fridge so I added that in place of the sugar. But THIS WAS A WONDERFUL, RECIPE!!!. Had it last night after dinner and today for breakfast. It’ll be my go to from now on.
-
Matthew Lorentzen — Reply
https://sofn6.org/risengrot-easy-rice-cooker-method/
Here is my EZ rice cooker version. It’s very similar to your traditional stovetop version but allows you to leave it unattended on the “keep warm” setting after you pour the milk in and stir once. We’ve closed the lid a few times and left it on keep warm for several hours while we go to Christmas Eve Service. When you come back it’s still awesome!
-
Diane Demura — Reply
My Norwegian/Danish dad made this often. We called it milk rice. We had no idea it is a traditional Norwegian recipe. Thanks for sharing.
-
Tom Fairchild — Reply
My mother was 100% Norwegian. My grandparents immigrated to the U. S. in about i900. I am 85 yr. old and & was introduced to what my mother called Yule Grit when I was still a baby. Yule Grit was rice cooked in milk then mixed with whipped cream and topped with strawberries and was only allowed during Christmas week. Delicious only hints at the pleasure of Yule Grit.
-
Haley — Reply
I’ve never heard of Yule grit, but it sounds delicious! Thanks for your comment, Tom!
-
-
Vicky — Reply
A question. Can I use whole grain brown rice instead? I know it will look different but…And if so, any adjustments I should make Thanks in advance and happy holidays!
-
Haley — Reply
Hi Vicky – I think subbing brown rice will be fine, but brown rice requires a bit more liquid to cook. I would adjust the water up to 3.5 cups and keep an eye on it. You could also add more milk if it looks dry. Also, brown rice takes longer to cook, so keep that in mind too. Good luck!
-
-
Barb — Reply
My in-laws were both first generation immigrants from Norway, their tradition was (coming from grimstad, and Mandal) to have a nut in the ricekrem on Christmas, and whoever got the nut in their serving recieved a marzipan pig. It’s a fun tradition, I assume it means good luck gif the upcoming year but maybe it just about the pig 🙂
-
Haley — Reply
I’ve heard of this tradition and it sounds super fun!
-
-
Robert Jensen — Reply
My Norwegian grandmother would make it in a double boiler to prevent burning.
In a double boiler pour one cup of rinsed white rice, one cup of milk, heat stirring every 8 minutes, the first two times it might clump up but break apart with spoon, when milk is mostly absorbed add another cup, repeat until rice has absorbed 4 cups of milk. Dish up, sprinkle with cinnamon, sugar and add a pat of butter.
