Savory Coconut Rice
Okay, I’ll admit, this recipe is a re-post. Savory coconut rice is one of the first recipes I made for the blog and it has been a staple in my house ever since. I wanted to repost the recipe for three reasons: 1) because it was part of this week’s complete meal plan (will be posted tomorrow), 2) the first version was posted before I started doing step-by-step photo instructions, and 3) it’s just so so so good that I don’t want any new followers to miss it.
Seriously, when your coworkers all “oooh” and “ahhh” over the smell coming out of the microwave, you know you’ve got something seriously good. Not only is it seriously good, but it’s seriously easy. If you have trouble getting rice to come out right on the stove top, invest in a rice cooker. They’re fool proof, you’ll use it a lot, and they’re very inexpensive.
I usually use light coconut milk to make my coconut rice, but the store only had regular this time around. I have to admit, I prefer the light coconut milk. The light coconut milk gives all of the flavor without the oily residue.
Oh, and if you’re wondering, this rice is not sweet. I know it’s hard to disconnect coconut with sweetness, but coconut milk by itself is not at all sweet. It’s just really creamy and good!
See this recipe used in my weekly meal prep.
Savory Coconut Rice (reboot)
Coconut Rice (take 2)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked jasmine rice ($0.66)
- 1 13.5oz. can coconut milk ($2.14)
- 1 clove garlic ($0.08)
- 3/4 tsp salt ($0.03)
- 1 cup water ($0.00)
Instructions
- Add the dry rice to a medium pot. Add enough cool water to cover the rice by about two inches. Swish the rice around until the water is cloudy. Carefully pour off as much of the cloudy water as possible. Repeat two more times. Try to pour off as much water as possible the last time, using a lid to hold the rice in if necessary.
- Mince the clove of garlic and add it to the pot with the rice. Also add the salt, the coconut milk, and one cup of fresh water. Stir to combine the ingredients.
- Place a lid on the pot and bring it up to a rolling boil over high heat. As soon as the rice reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to the lowest setting. Allow it to simmer on the lowest setting for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off and allow it to rest, undisturbed, with the lid in place, for an additional 10 minutes.
- Remove the lid, fluff with a fork, and serve.
Nutrition
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Step By Step Photos
Start by placing the dry rice in a medium sized pot. Jasmine rice can usually be found in large bags near the other Asian ingredients or in the rice aisle. It is usually hiding on the bottom shelf. Buy large 5lb. bags to get the best price. Sometimes “specialty rice” brands will sell small containers of it for outlandishly expensive prices… don’t be fooled!
Cover the rice with cool water and swish it around until the water turns cloudy. Pour off as much water as possible and repeat two more times. This will help the rice be fluffy rather than sticky when cooked. Make sure to pour off as much water as possible the last time.
All you need besides the jasmine rice is coconut milk, garlic, and salt. That’s it. Like I said, I really prefer the light coconut milk because you get tons of flavor without so much oiliness.
When cooking rice, you usually want a rice to liquid ratio of about 1:1.5 or 1:2. The can of coconut milk measured out to 1.75 cups, so I just added another cup of water. This gave me a good rice:liquid ratio of 1:1.8 – right in the middle. It doesn’t have to be exact.
Add the coconut milk, minced garlic, salt, and one cup of fresh water to the pot with the rinsed rice. Give it a quick stir to make sure the salt and garlic are well distributed.
Place a lid on top and bring it up to a rolling boil over high heat. Just as soon as it reaches a full boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and allow it to simmer, with the lid on, for 15 minutes. After 30 minutes turn the heat off and let it sit, undisturbed for 10 more minutes. Open it up and this is what you’ve got.
Fluff it up with a fork and serve! …and try not to shovel it straight into your mouth, because you’re gonna want to.
I can eat this stuff straight… it’s amazing. Green onions go really nicely on top, as does Sriracha.
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I’ve made this so many times, it’s absolutely perfect! Tonight I’m pairing it with roasted broccoli, grilled chicken, and a peanut satay style sauce. It’s so versatile and seasoned just right.
This is *good*. I made it with regular (canned) coconut milk, because that’s what I had on hand, and I found that it does lend the dish a certain oiliness, but no more than, say, a helping of butter would (which I normally add anyway, haha). And it’s not at all sweet! Just savory and delicious.
I cannot believe how tasty this rice is!! I don’t want to make white rice any other way now. Thank you budget bytes!
Can I make this into rice pudding?
I think you’d need to make quite a few changes to make it into rice pudding. Since I’ve never done it I can’t offer any guidance, but I would try Googling “coconut rice pudding” to see if someone already has crafted a recipe for it.
Would this work in a rice cooker? If so, how would I modify the recipe?
Ah, I just answered my own question by reading some older comments, thanks!
Beth – this is absurdly simple and absurdly good! l love to pair with tropical recipes, like your jerk chicken, or another recipe I love for a teriyaki-pineapple glazed pork chop. I always make the whole recipe and save half. It freezes great!
I use homemade bone broth instead of water (also budget friendly). Haven’t tried it with water yet but I’m sure that it is great too. This is a perfect combo of flavors.I love this recipe! Thank you.
I had pinned a recipe that included your coconut rice with crushed pineapple and black beans. Can you let me know how to incorporate those two ingredients into this dish? I made it a few years ago and loved it!
Hi Kris! I’ve sent you an email :)
It’s amazing how good this is with so little effort. I took a chance and made it in the pressure cooker since that’s how I prefer making rice. The normal 6 minutes on high pressure was perfect.
Hi Brian, thank you for your comment, I was wondering if this would work in a pressure cooker! Did you use the proportions in this recipe for the rice and liquids? Normally in the pressure cooker I do a 1:1 ratio for rice, which works perfectly, but I’m worried about a burn notice with the coconut milk.
Yep, I used the same ratio as in the recipe. I actually always use a 1:1.5 ratio in the pressure cooker, I never considered lowering it but that makes some sense with so little evaporation. I do a forced release too, never natural release, maybe that makes a difference.
Can boxed coconut milk be used?
Boxed coconut milk is not as thick as the canned. But you could certainly give it a try to see and let us know!
Have you tried this with brown jasmine rice? I’ve made it with white and it was a huge household hit!
We haven’t tried it with brown yet! If you do, let us know how it turns out.
Mild, slightly sweet and subtle coconut flavour in my hands. Would pair really well with some sort of light/fresh vegetable medley, but was heartily overpowered by the orange chicken I served with it. I like the yellow jasmine rice option better in comparison, but this was still a nice-change up!
Thanks Catherine!
The instructions on my Jasmine rice are to cook for 15 minutes and let sit for 10. Do different brands cook differently?
It’s possible that different brands cook differently. I would go with what your package says first.
This is absolutely delicious! I was wondering if I were to double the recipe, do I need to cook it longer on the stove?
It may take just a little bit longer but not by much. You should be okay!