Low Calorie Rice Puddings - Tried & Tasted

by WLR Staff, Tim Sharp

When dinner just doesn’t quite fill you up, and you fancy a little something extra, then what better treat than a tasty dessert.  Love it or hate it, rice pudding has been on the British pudding menu for generations, (I can still remember my Granny’s homemade rice pudding recipe).

Fortunately with cans and tubs now readily available, rice puddings are a convenient snack for any time of the day, and with light and low fat options they can readily be incorporated into your eating plans.

Needless to say, the ever ready Tried & Tasted team, in need of something extra after their various packed lunches, took on the challenge of sampling these for you to make sure that your taste buds are not let down.

Whether you like it hot or cold (or even with a little something added) we’re sure that our selection will meet with your approval.

Table 1: Low Calorie Rice Puddings Compared

Product Name	Sainsbury’s Basics Rice Pudding	Asda Good For You! Rice Pudding	Tesco Low Fat Rice Pudding
Ranking	1st	2nd	Joint 3rd
Appearance	Slight orange appearance, looked good.	Creamy, yellow but watery.	Looked homemade & substantial.
Smell	Sweet & milky pong to this one.	A nice appetising smell.	Sweet but artificial aroma.
Taste	This one had just the right sweetness and no nasty after taste.	In general very palatable but missing something.	Nice lingering taste but a little over sweet.
Filling/Satisfying?	Please Sir, can I have some more? It was that good!	This one hit the spot with a satisfying, nicely cooked rice.	Ok but needs some more rice content.
Texture/ Consistency	Lovely and soft plenty of rice.	Thick &creamy with the rice texture just about right.	Good crunch and nice and light.
Conclusion	Although not listed as low fat, worth checking out, it came out as the winner.	Not a looker but a very close second.	Looked good but too starchy & sticky.
Serving Size (g)	212	212	212
Calories (kcal) per serving	158	167	174
Fat (g) per serving	1.7	1.3	1.7
Price per serving	£0.09	£0.19	£0.22

Table 2: More Low Calorie Rice Puddings Compared

Product Name	Sainsbury’s Be Good To Yourself Rice Pudding	Ambrosia Low Fat Rice Pudding	Weight Watchers Vanilla Creamed Rice
Ranking	Joint 3rd	Joint 5th	Joint 5th
Appearance	Too stodgy was the general opinion.	Looks homemade, yellow, thick & creamy.	Not a nice appearance, more like blancmange.
Smell	Sweet aroma was the general comment.	A whiff of chlorine and milk.	Over powering vanilla essence was the most quoted.
Taste	Over sweet, starchy, creamy & foul were the main consensuses.	Oops, a variety of comments like nasty, plain, sweet & bland.	Tasted nothing like rice pudding should, more like ice cream.
Filling/Satisfying?	Filling? Yes but only because it is stodgy.	Thick & creamy but not satisfying.	Disgusting with no body or rice content.
Texture/ Consistency	Stodgy, thick & creamy texture just not right texture.	Just the right texture rice pudding should have.	Rice, what rice?
Conclusion	What a let-down.	Looked good but not good to the palate	It’s a no, no. Where is the rice? Baby food!!
Serving Size (g)	212	212	130
Calories (kcal) per serving	142	193	112
Fat (g) per serving	1.7	2.8	0.7
Price per serving	£0.27	£0.35	£0.59

Table 3 : More Low Calorie Rice Puddings Compared

Product Name	Muller Low Fat Rice
Ranking	7th
Appearance	Very pale looking, thin and watery.
Smell	Chemicals & vanilla flooded the nasal cavities
Taste	Chemical and artificial was the major comment, like lumpy school custard.
Filling/Satisfying?	This one might have fared better if it had more rice in it.
Texture/ Consistency	Nice soft texture but skimpy rice content.
Conclusion	Big surprise coming in last.
Serving Size (g)	190
Calories (kcal) per serving	103
Fat (g) per serving	2.6
Price per serving	£0.61

Not easy this one, as tastes were more or less the same and it was very interesting to see how these low fat rice puddings fared against each other, the results certainly surprised us!

The winner Sainsbury’s Basics Rice Pudding, although not sold as low fat or low calories, is, by comparison, just as low in fats, sugar & sodium as the rest and is just a fraction of the price. I suppose you could class this as a case of having your pudding and eating it!

The biggest surprise of all was the loser!  While by no means unpalatable, I think we were all disappointed by the artificial taste, definitely a case of not living up to the hype.

So if a little of what you fancy means a comforting pudding, then it’s worth remembering the good old fashioned rice pudding. Perfect as an after meal low calorie dessert to really fill you up or as a snack during the day!

Serving Suggestions

Don’t fret if you’re not a plain rice pudding fan, there are loads of ways to eat it. You can always make a rice pudding recipe by:

• Sprinkling over a little cinnamon or nutmeg,
• Add your favourite fruit or nuts,
• Add a drizzle of honey.
• Stir through a teaspoon of fruit puree

Go on, be a devil and try it your way!!

Don’t forget our Tried and Tasted Team are a busy bunch with plenty of other desserts sampled. So if rice pudding isn’t your favourite, why not take at look at these:

• Vanilla Ice Cream
• Chocolate Snacks
• Frozen Desserts
• Chocolate Mousse
• Chocolate Treats