Coconut Rice

ricecoconut

Coconut Rice

Coconut Rice

Arroz con Coco

Recipe Yield

6 Servings

Cooking time

25 minutes

Rate this recipe

4.88 from 8 votes

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 cups jasmine white rice or extra long white rice
  • 1/2 cup white onion finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves finely chopped
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup cream of coconut
  • 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt or to taste
  • Salted and toasted coconut flakes to garnish

To Prepare

  • Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the rice and cook, stirring often, until it becomes milky white, crackles and feels heavier as you stir it, about 3 minutes. Make room in the center of the pan, add the onion and garlic and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring and mixing with the rice, until the onion begins to soften.
  • Add the chicken broth, cream of coconut and salt and stir well. Raise the heat to high, bring to a rolling boil, stir, cover and reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Simmer 12 to 15 minutes, until most of the liquid has been absorbed but there is still some moisture in the pan. The rice should be cooked and tender; if it is not, but all the liquid has been absorbed, add 2 tablespoons of water, cover again, and cook for a couple more minutes.
  • Remove from the heat and let the rice rest, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork, garnish with salted and toasted coconut flakes, and serve.

Comments

37comments inCoconut Rice

  1. Estela Ramirez

    Feb 16

    I am going to make this rice.

    1. Pati Jinich

      Feb 27

      Let me know how you liked it Estela!

  2. Lori Durbin

    Feb 16

    Hola Pati,
    Is the coconut cream in the recipe the “canned” version? I have only seen a “cream” next to the coconut milk in the stores.
    Thank you!

    1. Pati Jinich

      Feb 25

      Yes, go ahead and use that one 🙂

  3. Patricia Reyes

    Feb 15

    Sounds yummy. Going to try this for sure.

    1. Pati Jinich

      Feb 21

      Awesome, let me know how you like it!

  4. Frank Mendoza

    Feb 15

    Love the coconut rice it’s even good by itself

    1. Pati Jinich

      Feb 21

      So happy to hear you liked it so much Frank 😉

  5. Liz Yuras

    Jan 21

    Made this recipe tonight. Everyone loved it! Served it with crab cakes and a salad. Easy to follow and execute. Will make again. Love your recipes.

    1. Pati Jinich

      Jan 27

      Yay, glad you guys enjoyed this rice, and with crab cakes, yum!

  6. Tony M.

    Nov 10

    I generally like all your recipes and love your show but sadly this was a miss – sickeningly sweet ! I had never used cream of coconut before and thought maybe the sweetness would dissipate with cooking in the chicken stock – no chance – and I couldn’t up the salt to compensate for the awful sweetness. The recipe also makes a HUGE amount – sadly no one would eat it and it was all thrown away.

    1. Pati Jinich

      Dec 11

      Sorry to hear tony 🙁

    2. Maria

      Feb 19

      Could it be that you used cream of coconut (very sweet) instead of coconut cream? This description explains:
      “Coconut cream is unsweetened and very thick; cream of coconut is very sweet with a syrupier texture.” (from https://www.acouplecooks.com/cream-of-coconut-vs-coconut-cream/#:~:text=Coconut%20cream%20is%20unsweetened%20and,coconut%20cream%20and%20simple%20syrup.

  7. Louise

    Oct 27

    Wow the best coconut rice in the world

    1. Pati Jinich

      Oct 28

      Yay, gracias!

  8. Tatyana Massov

    Aug 19

    you have the best recipies !!!
    Love you very much !

    1. Pati Jinich

      Sep 05

      So happy you like them Tatyana, gracias!

  9. Trish

    Sep 24

    Yum! Just wondering if you recommend rinsing the rice first or not

    1. Pati Jinich

      Sep 28

      I do most of the times Trish, but it is up to you on how much of the starch you like in your rice 😉

  10. Leah

    Jan 01

    The coconut rice was delicious! I didn’t expect it to be sweet. Does the cream of coconut you use have sugar added to it?
    My husband and I really enjoyed you episode from the Todos Santos area. We try to travel there every couple of years. Great community and amazing food! We hope to make it to La Paz one day.

    1. Pati Jinich

      Jan 06

      So glad you liked it Leah, no sugar added on mine. OMG I love Todos Santos, yay!

  11. Rachel

    Dec 21

    This has been my go to rice for the past 6 months i think. I couldn’t get my kids (7 and 4) to eat rice before this recipe, but now they love it! And I’ve been asked by both sets of parents for the recipe so it must be good!

    1. Pati Jinich

      Dec 21

      So glad everyone likes this rice Rachel, thanks for letting me know, yay!!!

  12. Mark Mann

    May 25

    Is the coconut sweetened or unsweetened? Asking for my wife. 👍

    1. Pati Jinich

      May 28

      Go with unsweetened Mark, hope you and your wife enjoy it 😉

  13. Laurie Kidwell

    Sep 29

    I just made this and it is delicious!

    1. Pati Jinich

      Sep 29

      So happy to hear this, Laurie.

  14. Ann Mc.

    Sep 18

    Dear Pati,
    I just made this coconut rice and it is heavenly! I was a bit skeptical about the combination of coconut, garlic and onion but it all comes together in the culinary sweet-spot. I’ll top it with an easy orange chicken (different source) for a potluck, but really I’d love to just eat it out of the pan with a spoon. Many thanks.

    1. Pati Jinich

      Sep 20

      Have a great potluck, Ann!

  15. Alice

    Aug 24

    Hola! I have a question about toasting the rice before adding liquids. If you toast it too long can it make it too toasted/hard so that it may not cook all the way through?

    Anytime I toast rice for Mexican rice dishes I worry about this if the rice turns out a little hard/undercooked. Unfortunately, this happened to me when I made this recipe. I also didn’t read the recipe closely enough and I accidentally dumped the entire can of crema de coco in. Hombre, was this coconut rice sweet!! Love your show, recipes and you Pati! Saludos!

    1. Pati Jinich

      Aug 24

      That must have been some very sweet coconut rice 😄. Toasting the rice before gives the rice a nice depth of flavor and it will still cook all the way through. When toasting the rice, you want to stir it occasionally, until the rice achieves a milky white color. The rice should feel and sound heavier when you move it. Then you want to cook it until tender, and if all the liquid is gone before the rice gets tender, you can add a few tablespoons of water.

      1. TOM

        Feb 08

        hola

  16. Rick

    Jan 14

    Hi Pati…that sounds awesome….we’re definitely going to try that as a side dish when we have our salmon. Thank you.
    Love your show.

    1. Pati

      Jan 15

      Awesome! Enjoy your meal, Rick.

  17. Debi

    Nov 08

    Hi Pati! I love your show and the great recipes you prepare and share. Is the coconut ingredient the sweetened version like used in pina coladas, or coconut milk often used in Thai recipes? Thank you for the clarification!

    1. Pati

      Nov 10

      It’s not coconut milk, but coconut cream, like what you use in a pina colada. Enjoy the rice, Debi!

      1. Stephanie M. Phares

        Feb 24

        It might be helpful to mention that the coconut and coconut cream should both be UNSWEETENED.

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