Easy Coconut Rice

Making restaurant quality Coconut Rice is so simple with this straight-forward, no-nonsense recipe of ours. All you need is some Rice, some Coconut Milk, a little bit of Water, and Salt! There’s no fancy equipment needed such as Rice Cookers either, just a regular old saucepan and a stovetop is all you need. This Easy Coconut Rice Recipe is ready in 20 minutes and is perfect to enjoy with a wide variety of dishes such as Stir Fries and Curries!

How to make our Easy Coconut Rice Dish

There is nothing fancy required to make this dish. All you need is to prepare Rice as we would normally but adjust the liquid quantities slightly and use a mixture of Water and Coconut Milk. Usually when making Rice we use the ratios of 1:1.5, which means for every 1 cup of Rice, you use 1 ½ cups of Water

Coconut Rice is a little different, as Coconut Milk doesn’t straight ‘replace’ the Water quantities. Coconut Milk is a lot thicker than Water, and doesn’t absorb as well into the Rice, so you will need more of it to achieve the perfect cook on the Rice, without it going soggy

We’ve found through testing different quantities that you want about a 1:2 ratio of Liquid to Water. So that means 1 cup of Rice to 2 cups of liquid. That is assuming that your liquid quantity is an even split between Coconut Milk and Water, which is what we recommend

Adding equal parts Coconut Milk and Water achieves the best consistency and flavor

For the perfect flavor in a homemade Coconut Rice we’ve found that the sweet spot is using equal parts Water and Coconut Milk. Coconut Milk is an extremely rich ingredient, and using too much of it will completely overpower the flavor of the Rice. So much so that it won’t matter what you’re eating it with, the predominant flavor in your whole dish will be Coconut

You want to scale back the Coconut Milk portions a little bit. This way, your Rice will still have that wonderful Coconut flavor and aroma, but without being too overpowering and sweet that it’ll be inedible after a few bites. The perfect ratio is equal parts Coconut Milk and Water. So, for 1 cup of Rice you want to use 1 cup of Coconut Milk and 1 cup of Water when cooking our Easy Coconut Rice dish

Cooking the Rice

Once you’ve measured out the portions it’s a very simple process to cook the Coconut Rice. There is no need for any fancy Rice Cookers. All you need is a regular Saucepan with a lid on it, and a stovetop to cook it on. That’s it!

Simply pour the Rice into a Saucepan as you are boiling up some Water. You can begin to heat the pan over medium heat with the Rice in it. This really just kick starts the process and can give the Rice a slight toasting. Once your Water is boiling, add the measured out quantity (1 cup in this instance) straight into the saucepan, along with 1 cup of Coconut Milk

There’s no need to heat the Coconut Milk. The residual heat from the boiling water will be more than enough to bring the dish to a simmer very shortly after the liquids have been added to the Rice. Once the liquid is added, bring the liquid to that simmer and mix everything through

Rice tends to want to clump together, and the thicker consistency of Coconut Milk doesn’t help. Therefore, give the Rice a good mix through the liquid with a spatula or wooden spoon before covering. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes

After 10 minutes, remove from heat but keep the lid on!

After about 10 minutes you will notice that the liquid has almost completely disappeared from the pan. It hasn’t disappeared but has been absorbed into the Rice. Once this has been achieved, remove the pot from the heat but keep the lid on. Set the saucepan aside for 10 more minutes

Even though the pan is no longer on the heat, the residual heat that remains inside will continue to cook the Rice. After a further 10 minutes of leaving the Rice covered and untouched, it will be ready! This step is a lot easier to manage if you have a saucepan with a see-through lid. Regardless, just trust the process and remove the Rice from the heat after 10 minutes

Once the 10 minutes has elapsed, your delicious Rice is completely cooked! The final step is to add a little bit of Salt to bring the flavors out and give it a thorough stir through. This will help to add some air into the Rice, giving it the famous fluffy rice consistency that we all know and love. As always, Rice is best served immediately, so we recommend preparing it right before you’re ready to eat!

What dishes can be served with Coconut Rice?

Coconut Rice is a classic side dish served alongside Southeast Asian cuisine. It pairs amazingly well with Curries and Stir Fries as it will perfectly absorb all that beautiful sauce and add its own unique flavor profile to these types of dishes. We’ve got a bunch of wonderful recipes that we recommend you try pairing with our Easy Coconut Rice Recipe. Here are a few of our favorites that are worth trying:

• Lime Coconut Fish Soup
• Sweet and Sour Red Curry with Chicken
• Easy Asian Cucumber Salad
• Beef Skewers with Peanut Sauce
  
  

Easy Coconut Rice Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup of Jasmine Rice
• 1 cup of Coconut Milk
• 1 cup of Boiling Water
• ½ tsp. Salt
  
  

Instructions

1. Add the Rice to a medium saucepan over medium heat while you are boiling the Water. Once boiling, add 1 cup of Water to the pan along with 1 cup of Coconut Milk
2. Stir well to break up the Rice and then bring to a simmer. Cover and reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes
3. After 10 minutes, remove from the heat and leave, covered, for a further 10 minutes allowing the residual heat to continue cooking the Rice
4. Once cooked, add Salt and stir Rice well with a spatula or wooden spoon. Serve while hot
   
   

Recipe Notes

• You can pan fry 1 tbsp. of dried Shredded Coconut until golden-brown and use as a garnish along with some freshly chopped Chilies and Cilantro
• You can wash the Rice beforehand, but it is not a requirement for this dish
  
  

I love simple recipes, and this Easy Coconut Rice dish is definitely one of those! It is simple to make yet still produces a huge amount of flavor. It’s the perfect Rice to pair with your favorite dishes, especially those from Southeast Asia like Curries and Stir Fries!

For more delicious Side Dishes, check out our dedicated section here. Here are a few of our favorite Side Dishes we would love for you to check out:

• Chili Cheese Fries
• Mexican Street Corn
• Garlic Anchovy Mayonnaise
• Greek Fried Cheese – Saganaki
  
  

Happy Cooking!