Yes, you completely can freeze rice pudding. The high water content inside rice pudding makes it easier to freeze than other foods. However, because the internal ingredients of rice pudding are milk and rice, rice pudding is very sensitive to temperature changes. If you put rice pudding in the freezer, its texture will change a lot. So you need to know how to freeze rice pudding and thaw it in the right way.
A small note, if the rice pudding contains raisins, you should likely separate the raisins because they cannot be frozen. In freezer, raisins will become dry and greatly affect the typical taste of rice pudding.
What makes rice pudding popular?
Rice pudding is a simple dish which is made from rice with milk, water and some ingredients like brown sugar, raisins, cinnamon, and vanilla or sometimes eggs.
It is popular in many countries around the world and usually served as dessert, dinner or even breakfast.
Depend on regions, ingredients and cooking method, there are different variants of rice pudding. However, the main components are rice (short-grain white rice or brown rice), milk (whole milk, coconut milk, evaporated milk), spices (cinnamon, ginger, cardamom) and sweeteners (sugar, honey, sweeten condensed milk, syrups).
Is rice pudding healthy?
Rice pudding can be considered healthy because it provides nutrients like protein, calcium, and iron.
As a dessert, each cup of rice pudding contains 10 grams of protein and 15% of daily calcium needed for bone-building.
Besides, it provides necessary vitamins and minerals like vitamin B1, B2, magnesium, potassium that ensure the proper function of the body. Moreover, when rice pudding is cooked with cow’s milk, one portion will have other vitamins like A, B, D, E and calcium, zinc or iodine.
Originating from rice and containing many nutrients, you can enjoy the healthy rice pudding as a creamy, sweet and flavored dish at home easily.
What does rice pudding taste like?
Rice pudding has a unique and delicious flavor as it is made mainly from rice, milk, vanilla and raisins. Besides, with a lightly spice from cinnamon, you may find it has similar flavor of horchata, a Mexican traditional beverage consists of white rice or nuts, cinnamon and sugar.
How long should you freeze rice pudding?
You can freeze rice pudding up to 3 months at a constant temperature. However, the sooner you eat, the better quality it will ensure. After 3 months, you can eat the pudding, but the quality is not good as before. As the texture will become watery, and the flavor will not remain fresh.
Also, when staying in freezer for so long, rice pudding can easily get freezer burn. Therefore, it is important that you label and write the date to know when to use it.
But how can you freeze rice pudding properly, safely, and keep it for as long as possible?
Further reading: What Are the Best Cheap Freezers for Home Use?
Tips for freezing rice pudding
If you decide to freezer rice pudding, you need to know the following tips:
- Choose the ingredients: Whole milk is often used to cook rice pudding, but it has short shelf life. Instead of using whole milk, you should choose coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk to reduce the changes in texture and flavor as well as keep the pudding longer in freezer. Besides, short grain white rice is better as it has watery consistency.
- Do not include milk and toppings when preparing rice pudding: As milk can go bad quickly, you should cook the rice pudding with water, not milk. Then freeze it. When you are ready to eat, you can reheat the pudding and pour the milk gradually until your pudding is smooth and thick. Similarly, toppings should be excluded from rice pudding. They can be frozen in a different container to avoid spoiling the pudding.
- Let the rice pudding cool before going in freezer: Freezing immediately after cooking will greatly affect the flavor of the rice pudding when it is suddenly switched from high to low temperature.
- Check the right time to put it in the freezer: Once the rice pudding cools, it should be put in the freezer immediately. If you leave the rice pudding to cool for too long at room temperature, it will create favorable conditions for bacteria to grow.
- Using freezer safe container. To store it, you can use either a zip bag or a sealed box. If your freezer does not have much space, zip bag is a better choice to save
- Divide the pudding into individual portions: You should break it up into several pieces instead of trying to stuff all the rice pudding into one box or one zip bag. With small portions, it’s easier to take out the food, defrost, and eat multiple meals, rather than defrost the whole thing and refreeze the leftovers.
How to freeze rice pudding in the right way?
Freezing rice pudding is more perfect if you leave out the toppings and milk. Instructions for freezing rice pudding are as follows:
With a zip bag
- Pour the cooled rice pudding into a zip bag and leave a few inches for it to expand during the freezing process
- Exhaust all the air inside the zip bag
- Seal and label with date
In an airtight container
- Put the cooled rice pudding into an airtight container
- Close the box and label
- Place horizontally in the freezer to freeze all parts evenly
Using water
If you need to cool the rice pudding quickly, you can place it in an air-tight container and soak it in a bowl of ice water. Then, leave the rice pudding outside for about 20 minutes before putting it in the freezer.
You may also like: Does Freezing Milk Change the Taste?
How should you defrost rice pudding?
There are many ways to quickly defrost and preserve the texture of rice pudding. But there are only 2 ways that can give you the best and safest greasy rice pudding taste and that is by using a pan and using the refrigerator.
Using a pan
Put the frozen rice pudding on the pan and then adjust the temperature accordingly so that it defrosts slowly.
Once it’s melted, stir it quickly with a spatula so the texture doesn’t loosen. Note that you should have an extra cup of water next to you in case you reheat rice pudding will run out of water and spoil.
However, using the pan will make the texture of frozen rice pudding unstable and taste not as good as the original.
With the fridge
Place frozen rice pudding in a bowl and then leave it in the fridge overnight to thaw slowly. This will help the rice pudding gradually regain its original texture and taste.
FAQs
Should you eat rice pudding hot or cold?
Rice pudding is delicious warm or cold, so depending on your preference, you can enjoy it the way you like. Many people prefer eating rice pudding right after cooking and topping with supplementary ingredients like nuts, fruit, cinnamon and cream.
How long will frozen rice pudding spoil in the freezer?
If you make sure the temperature is stable in the freezer, there is a good chance that frozen rice pudding will keep for 3 months.
Can I freeze Ambrosia rice pudding?
Yes, you completely can. After opening the tin, you should put it in freezer or fridge because the main ingredient of Ambrosia is full cream milk and skimmed milk that easily spoil. If it is not open, the tinned Ambrosia rice pudding is safe to stay in room temperature.
Can I refreeze rice pudding?
No, you cannot. You should not refreeze rice pudding because the milk component in it easily spoils and has a bad smell when refreeze.
In addition, the rice ingredients inside the rice pudding will be mushy and not delicious. That’s why you should divide the rice pudding into small portions before freezing.
Final thoughts
So, through this article, have you understood the tips for freezing rice pudding as well as how to defrost it properly? Hopefully, you will successfully freeze and thaw it at home today. Good luck. Thank you for reading this post.
Reference:
1. Freeze Rice Pudding- Cooking guide, pantrytips.com, Retrieved on Sep. 24, 2021
2. Rice Pudding: Easy, Comforting, Delicious…Healthy, foodnetwork.com, Retrieved on Sep. 26, 2021
