Rizogalo is a delicious creamy Greek rice pudding made with just seven basic ingredients. This easy dessert gets ready within 40 minutes and has a very pleasing and comforting taste of a home-cooked dish.
Rice pudding is one of the most common desserts that's eaten worldwide and almost every country has its own version of it.
I have already shared a couple of rice pudding recipes on my blog like Indian phirni, mango phirni, gur wali kheer, and Lebanese riz bi haleeb.
Today I am sharing the recipe for a Greek rice pudding called rizogalo. Rizi is the Greek word for rice and gala is for milk and these are the two main ingredients of this traditional Greek dessert recipe.
Like all the other rice puddings rizogalo is also a very simple but tasty dessert that has a very comforting taste.
Some people also add egg to this rice Greek-style rice pudding but I have made it without egg. I feel it tastes better without the eggs.
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What's needed to make rizogalo?
For this rizogalo recipe, you will need the ingredients that are shown below:
Ingredient notes and substitute suggestions
- Rice: Use a short grain and starchy variety of rice like arborio rice or jasmine rice. Starchy rice gives a creamier texture to the pudding. Though long grain rice can be used too it won't give you the required creamy consistency.
- Milk: Use full cream milk (whole milk) to make rich and creamy pudding.
- Lemon: Rizogalo is generally flavored with lemon peel. Some people also use orange peel. You can use both or either of them.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch, also known as corn flour is used to make a thick and creamy pudding. Adding it is optional and if you want to skip it, you can. But, I personally feel cornstarch gives a better consistency to this rice pudding. Instead of cornstarch, you can also use rice flour to thicken the pudding.
Other ingredients list and nutritional information is given in the recipe card.
How to make Greek rice pudding (step-by-step instructions)?
To make this pudding recipe, just follow the easy step-by-step instructions given below:
Step 1: From the total 1 liter of milk that will be used in this recipe, take out around ¼ cup of milk in a bowl.
Step 2: Add cornstarch to ¼ cup of milk and mix until smooth to make a cornstarch slurry. Keep it aside.
Step 3: Boil the remaining milk in a large pot.
Step 4: Rinse rice and add to the boiled milk.
Step 5: Add lemon peel.
Step 6: Mix and cook for around 25 minutes or until the rice is nicely cooked and the pudding starts turning creamy. Keep on stirring in between to make sure that the pudding is not sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Step 7: Add sugar.
Step 8: Add vanilla extract. Mix until the sugar gets dissolved in the milk.
Step 9: Add cornstarch slurry and whisk continuously for 1-2 minutes.
Step 10: Cook until the pudding thickens. Turn off the heat.
Step 11: Transfer to the serving bowls.
Step 12: Garnish with powdered cinnamon and lemon zest. If you want to enjoy it chilled, allow it to reach room temperature and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Your delicious dessert from Greece-creamy rizogalo is ready to be enjoyed!
How to serve?
You can enjoy this classic Greek rice pudding hot, warm, at room temperature, as well as chilled.
I prefer enjoying it chilled.
Before serving garnish it with powdered cinnamon and lemon zest.
Storing tips
Transfer the leftover pudding to an airtight container and refrigerate for 3-4 days.
You can store it in individual bowls too. Cover the bowls with cling wrap, aluminum foil, or lids.
Recipe tips, tricks, and variation suggestions
- For this Greek recipe, use a variety of rice that has short grains and is starchy like arborio or jasmine rice. It will help you to make creamy rice pudding.
- Use a heavy-bottomed pot to make this dish and keep on stirring it after every few minutes. Also, cook on low heat. If the milk starts sticking to the pot, it will spoil the color and flavor of rizogalo.
- You can also add full cream to this pudding to make it richer and creamier.
- Instead of lemon peel, orange peel can be used too to flavor rizogalo.
- Be careful to use only the thin lemon peel and not its pith as the pith is bitter in taste.
- Instead of cornstarch, rice flour can also be used to thicken this dessert.
- To make vegan Greek rice pudding, use plant-based milk like coconut milk, almond milk, or cashew milk. Also, make sure that the sugar you are using is vegan or use a plant-based sweetener to sweeten the pudding. All the other ingredients in the recipe are plant-based.
Frequently asked questions
You can soak rice in water for 15-30 minutes before adding to the milk if you want to fasten the process of cooking rice.
I don't prefer soaking rice for making any type of rice pudding. I feel the rice pudding tastes better when the rice gets slowly cooked in milk for a longer period.
It should have the consistency of custard or a thick creamy kheer. However, you can adjust the consistency based on your preference.
To make a thinner pudding, add more warm milk to it and cook for a few minutes. You can also skip cornstarch if you want a thinner pudding.
To thicken it, either add more cornstarch or cook for a longer period on low heat until you get the desired consistency.
Yes, rice pudding can be frozen in batch-size containers or zip-lock bags for up to 3 months.
No, brown rice is not a good choice for this recipe.
More easy desserts from around the world
If you enjoyed this Greek dessert and looking for more easy dessert recipes from around the world then don't miss checking out the following recipes:
More easy Greek recipes
Want to try more easy Greek recipes in your kitchen? The following recipes are worth checking out:
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Recipe
Rizogalo-Greek rice pudding
Equipment
- 1 large heavy bottomed cooking pot
- 1 Spatula
- 1 small grater
Ingredients
- ½ cup short grain rice
- 1 liter full cream milk (whole milk)
- ⅓ cup sugar adjust to taste
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- Peel of 1 large lemon
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- From the total 1 liter of milk that will be used in this recipe, take out around ¼ cup of milk in a bowl. Add cornstarch and mix until smooth to make a cornstarch slurry. Keep the bowl aside.
- Rinse rice well and keep it aside too.
- Put the remaining milk in a large pot and boil.
- After the first boil, add lemon peel and rinsed rice. Mix and cook for around 25 minutes or until the rice is nicely cooked and the pudding starts turning creamy.
- Add sugar and vanilla extract. Mix until the sugar gets dissolved in the milk.
- Add cornstarch slurry and whisk continuously for 1-2 minutes. Cook until the pudding thickens. Turn off the heat.
- Transfer the pudding to serving bowls and garnish with powdered cinnamon and lemon zest.
Video
Notes
- For this Greek recipe, use a variety of rice that has short grains and is starchy like arborio or jasmine rice. It will help you to make creamy rice pudding.
- Use a heavy-bottomed pot to make this dish and keep on stirring it after every few minutes. Also, cook on low heat. If the milk starts sticking to the pot, it will spoil the color and flavor of rizogalo.
- You can also add full cream to this pudding to make it richer and creamier.
- Instead of lemon peel, orange peel can be used too to flavor rizogalo.
- Be careful to use only the thin lemon peel and not its pith as the pith is bitter in taste.
- To make vegan Greek rice pudding, use plant-based milk like coconut milk, almond milk, or cashew milk. Also, make sure that the sugar you are using is vegan or use a plant-based sweetener to sweeten the pudding. All the other ingredients in the recipe are plant-based.
- More recipe tips and tricks are shared in the post above, please follow them to make this recipe.
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