I’m not kidding when I say this coconut rice is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. There’s something about it that literally just makes my body melt upon the first bite. It’s rich, savory, carby, and just insanely delicious. It’s pretty simple to make, too, which is always a plus. Whether you like to make rice on the stovetop or in a rice cooker, you can make this incredible savory coconut rice with very little effort.
What’s in Coconut Rice?
This incredible rice is deceptively simple. It’s just long-grain white jasmine rice cooked in a mixture of coconut milk and water, with a little minced garlic and salt for depth. THAT’S IT. It sounds so plain, but you’ll be blown away on first bite.
What Kind of Coconut Milk?
For this recipe you’ll need canned coconut milk, not the kind that is meant to be used as a substitute for dairy milk–that’s just too watery. As far as canned coconut milk goes, I’ve used both full fat and light and it turns out great with both. Full-fat coconut milk creates an ultra-rich rice (because it has so much more fat), while lite coconut milk has a slightly more mild coconut flavor and the rice will have a lighter, fluffier texture (less fat weighing it down).
What is Jasmine Rice?
Jasmine rice is a fragrant variety of rice grown in Southeast Asia. Using jasmine rice in this recipe really takes the flavor over the top, so definitely get it if you can! Jasmine rice is becoming more popular in the U.S. so you can find it at most grocery stores these days. Check the bottom shelf of the rice aisle for large 5 lb. bags to get the best deal. While jasmine rice is more expensive than plain white rice, it is totally worth the price. Plus, since it’s shelf-stable, it won’t go to waste! You can use long grain jasmine rice in place of plain white rice in most recipes for an extra flavor boost.
Can I Use a Rice Cooker?
Yes, you can make this coconut rice with a rice cooker instead of in a pot on the stovetop, as directed below. Simply add all of the ingredients to the slow cooker and press go!
What to Serve with Coconut Rice
This super delish rice is a great side dish to any Asian or tropical-inspired meal. Use it as a bed for Honey Sriracha Tofu, Teriyaki Chicken, Baked Ginger Salmon, or Sweet Chili Chicken Stir Fry Bowls. Or serve it as a side with these Chicken Lettuce Wraps!
Coconut Rice
Servings 6 about ¾ cup eachIngredients
- 1 1/2 cups long-grain jasmine rice ($0.48)
- 1 clove garlic, minced ($0.08)
- 3/4 tsp salt ($0.03)
- 1 13.5oz. can coconut milk ($2.29)
- 1 cup water ($0.00)
Instructions
- Rinse the jasmine rice using a wire mesh strainer or a bowl, making sure to pour off as much excess water as possible. Add the rinsed rice to a pot along with the minced garlic and salt.
- Add the coconut milk and water to the pot. Give the rice a brief stir.
- Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to high, and allow the liquid to come up to a full boil. Once it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low. Allow the rice to simmer over low for 15 minutes. Make sure the pot maintains a simmer. Do not stir or lift the lid as the rice simmers.
- After simmering for 15 minutes, remove the pot from the heat and let the rice rest an additional 5 minutes without lifting the lid. Finally, after the rice has rested, you lift the lid and fluff with a fork. Serve hot.
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Nutrition
How to Make Coconut Rice – Step By Step Photos
Rinse 1.5 cups long grain white jasmine rice, making sure to pour off as much excess water as possible. Add the rinsed rice to a pot along with one clove of minced garlic and ¾ tsp salt.
Add one 13.5oz. can of coconut milk to the saucepot with the rice.
Add an additional cup of water. Give the rice a brief stir. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to high, and allow the liquid to come up to a full boil. Once it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low. Allow the rice to simmer over low for 15 minutes. Make sure the pot maintains a simmer. Do not stir or lift the lid as the rice simmers.
After simmering for 15 minutes, remove the pot from the heat and let the rice rest an additional 5 minutes without lifting the lid. Finally, after the rice has rested, you may lift the lid.
Fluff the rice with a fork and then serve.
I garnished my rice with sliced green onion and toasted coconut, but neither is needed to make this rice taste amazing! It’s mind-blowing on its own!
Can you post the directions for when using a rice cooker?
We don’t have a rice cooker in our test kitchen! But you should be able to use the general directions on your machine just swapping the ingredients.
Love this recipe, but I tried to substitute brown basmati rice (it’s all I had), and the texture just wasn’t quite right. And recommendations for how to adjust the liquid?
I guess it depends on what it was about the texture that you didn’t like. If the rice was too soft and mushy, I’d reduce the liquid. If the rice was too hard, I would increase the liquid and/or make sure the liquid is simmering the entire time it cooks.
The rule is 2x the amount of liquid to rice. If you don’t have a good way to measure, you can use the “finger trick”, which is just to put the dry rice in the pot, then stick your finger in to measure the depth, then double that depth. So if the rice comes to the top of your fingernail, put your fingertip on top of the rice and add liquid until it comes to the same point on your fingernail. Hope that helps!
So simple but so good. Thank you!
This is the single greatest recipe on this site in terms of return on investment. Easy to make and requires few ingredients you can always keep on hand. It tastes so good though! You can add it to almost anything. The extra fat makes vegetarian meals so much more filling.
Made this with your baked ginger salmon and sesame roasted green beans and it was delicious! Always nice to have a meal that leaves you time to clean up the kitchen before you eat while the food cooks :)
Would coconut cream work in place of milk?
Hi Mb, Coconut cream is thicker and higher in fat than coconut milk. I think you can still pull it off, though. I would add 8 ounces of coconut cream that’s been diluted with 5 ounces of water.
This was fantastic. I used your recipe but used a microwave cooking method.
I’m disabled so it’s easier for me. I then portioned it and froze it to have on hand. Have come back to make a new batch and leave a comment. If froze beautifully and was just as nice as fresh when l heated it again.
Microwave method If anyone else wants to try it. Use a lidded deep microwave safe dish
5 minutes on high
15 minutes at 50%
Rest 5 minutes
Hi Niki. Thanks for your tips. I too must cook in batches on days when I’m feeling OK. How did you freeze the rice?
-Lisa
I tried this microwave method and used a deep, covered dish (corningware, maybe 2 inches deep) but not deep enough as a lot of the liquid ended up on the bottom of the microwave. It was still good, but a bit gluey. So, use a very, very deep dish.
I’ve recently fallen in love with the coconut rice I get as a side order from Thai restaurants but I can’t afford to keep paying $4 for a small container. I’ve also had this recipe on my to-make list for quite a while and yesterday I finally made it. When I tell you it was so delicious I was shocked I made it myself that is not an exaggeration. So simple but so so good. Love that there are no really unusual ingredients and it’s mostly pantry stuff.
I have to admit I did modify the amounts a little to match the rice/liquid quantities on the back of my package of jasmine rice (so ended up with 1 cup water and about half a can of coconut milk) and adhered a little more closely to the cook time on the back of the rice bag. I think this would be amazing with poached eggs as mentioned. Very glad I have some left over.
Foolproof and delicious!
Hi, I’m thinking about trying out the coconut rice, cilantro lime rice, and tomato rice recipes sometime soon and was wondering if they can be doubled because I have a group of 8 to feed.
Doubling should be no problem with any of these recipes, but the cilantro-lime rice would probably be the easiest choice of the three since it involves the least ingredients. One thing to keep in mind: it will take longer for the liquid to come up to a boil if doubling the recipe; but once it’s boiling, all the rice should cook in the same amount of time as the recipe states. ~ Marion :)
I frequently eat this for breakfast with two poached eggs, green onion, and just a pinch of black pepper on top. Delish!
Pretty interesting. I couldn’t really taste a difference but the rice (texture) was thinner and nicer than when I use water.
I made 2 cups of this in a rice cooker but used far less coconut milk. I only filled it up to the level indicated on my rice cooker pot and it worked out fine when I pressed the white rice button. Your mileage may vary though because it seems another reviewer had worse results.
How would this be done with an Instant pot? I’d love to have it !
Add all of the ingredients to your three to six quart digital pressure cooker, BUT reduce the water to a half cup. Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and use 3 minutes cook time. Then allow the pressure to release naturally for 7 minutes. You can finish with a quick pressure release at that time.
Thank you so much!!
Excellent rice! I made your “take 2” version which I don’t see on the site any more. Ingredients are exactly the same only the directions are a bit different (covering the rice with water, swishing, then rinsing three times). It is so fluffy, light, and loaded with flavor. Am always surprised in your various rice recipes (one of my favorites that I make often is your Sesame Rice) how one clove of garlic adds such a wonderful subtle flavor! Great recipe!
For a rice cooker, you’ll definitely want to add more water. We made this last night and had to cook it on the white rice setting three times, adding a cup of water in each time in order to get the rice to cook to an edible consistency. I’ll have to try this on the stovetop to see how it performs there.