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Sweet & Morning · Latin American & Caribbean · American

Arroz con Leche

8 ingredients · 50 minutes · 2 servings

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867kcal23.5g protein18.7g fat150.4g carbs~$1.59/ serving*Estimates computed from the ingredient list; cost uses average US supermarket prices. Not a substitute for packaging measurements or your receipt.
VegetarianPescatarianNo porkNo alcohol · check

Contains: dairy

Ingredients

Servings:
1 cuprice (short or long grain, rinsed)
2 cupwater
1 unitcinnamon (stick, plus ground for serving)
1 unitlime (a wide strip of peel, no pith)
¼ tspsalt
2 cupmilk (whole)
¾ cupsweetened condensed milk
1 tspvanilla extract
½ cupraisins (the eternal debate, in for the last 10)optional
½ cupevaporated milk (a splash, for the tres-leches-leaning tables)optional

Method

  1. simmer15 min
    rice + water + cinnamon stick + lime peel + salt, lid ajar
    until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender — the aromatics infuse the grain itself in this stage, which is why they enter now and not with the milk; the lime peel is the Latin signature that surprises the rice-pudding audience and converts most of it
  2. simmer20 min
    milk + condensed milk in, medium-low, stirred often
    the milks into the cooked rice at a gentle bubble, stirred with increasing honesty as it thickens — the starch releasing into the milk is what makes the pudding, and the pot floor is where it wants to catch; done when a spoon dragged through leaves a slow-closing path, which is looser than the final texture because the cooling thickens it one more time
  3. season3 min
    off heat: vanilla, raisins if using, peel and stick out
    the aromatics retired, vanilla in — and the serving-temperature schism every family maintains: warm from the pot with ground cinnamon (the abuela service) or chilled overnight into sliceable-thick (the deli-cup service); the entry declines to rule, and the pot conveniently allows both