Master this easy coconut rice in your rice cooker and never buy takeaway rice again. This amazingly soft, fluffy jasmine rice infused with rich coconut flavour is the perfect partner to curries, stir fries, rice bowls and more!
In This Post You’ll Learn
Why We Love This
This is the easiest coconut rice recipe ever – no gluggy grains and no stress about getting the perfect absorption. Just perfect, fluffy coconut rice, straight from your rice cooker.
You’ll never pay takeaway prices again when it’s so easy to make at home! You can even adapt the recipe with different herbs and seasonings to make it your own.
Pair it with your favourite takeaway recipes like choo chee chicken or crispy fried spring rolls.
Related: How to Cook Sushi Rice / Nasi Goreng
Time Your Rice With Your Meal!
If you know your rice cooker takes 45 minutes to cook your rice, then plan to have the rest of your meal ready around the same time it finishes. That way you can have super fresh, hot and fluffy rice ready to go without the hassle of it drying out or cooling down.
Extra tip: Warm up your bowls or plates before serving to keep that rice even warmer when serving!
What is Coconut Rice?
Coconut rice is a popular side dish in many cultures around the world, but we most often pair it with our favourite Thai and Indonesian recipes at home.
It’s a great upgrade from plain / unseasoned white rice and goes perfectly with the spicy heat and fragrant herbs in Southeast Asian cuisines.
Coconut rice consists of long grain rice, usually jasmine rice, cooked in coconut milk with a sprinkling of salt and sugar to enhance the rich, coconut flavour.
It can be served with savoury dishes or as a sweet coconut rice (Thai sticky rice) with mango and coconut cream sauce.
What You’ll Need
- Jasmine Rice – The most popular and well known variety of rice in Thai cuisine. The flavour and texture are perfect for fluffy coconut rice. See the FAQ section below for substitution ideas.
- Coconut Milk – Look for full fat coconut milk with at least 60% coconut which will give you the best texture in the finished rice. We then top it up with water to the cup line in your rice cooker for the perfect rice to liquid ratio. We don’t recommend coconut cream as it will be too thick and more likely to leave you with gluggy rice.
- Seasonings – A sprinkle of salt and sugar will give you that classic Thai coconut rice flavour you know and love.
How to Make Coconut Rice
First, gather your ingredients: See recipe card below for measurements.
- Place the jasmine rice into your rice cooker bowl and cover with water. Rinse and drain 2-3 times using your hands until water is more translucent (doesn’t have to be clear). Drain.
- Add the salt, sugar and coconut milk and stir.
- Fill with water up to the 2 cup line in your rice cooker and stir again.
- Select the Rice option and then press Start. (Or the applicable buttons for your model of rice cooker. Button names may vary between brands.)
- Once finished, fluff the rice with a rice paddle to loosen the grains and serve.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Measuring the Rice – Always use the smaller rice cup measure that came with your rice cooker.
- Don’t Skip the Rinse – Rinsing first removes excess starch from the rice, which helps make it nice and fluffy once cooked.
- Fluff the Rice – This will loosen the grains and make the rice easier and neater to serve. For best results use a rice paddle or fork (but don’t scrape the rice cooker bowl to avoid damaging the non-stick coating).
- Storage – Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for around 4-5 days. You can also store it in the freezer for around 6 months, but we prefer to use it up within 2-3 months.
FAQs
This recipe has been specially made for jasmine rice, so ideally we don’t recommend substituting for other varieties.Â
However, cooking rice in a rice cooker is pretty forgiving, so you can experiment with other varieties of long grain rice or white rice, such as basmati. The texture and fluffiness won’t necessarily be the same as when using jasmine rice, but you’ll still get that lovely savoury coconut flavour.Â
Tried this recipe with a different type of rice? Drop a comment below to let others know how you went!
Sounds like you might not have rinsed enough starch away from the rice before cooking (OR you used coconut cream instead of coconut milk). Try again and this time, be sure to rinse the rice at least 2-3 times until the rinsing water is mostly clear. This will help achieve that soft and fluffy rice you’re looking for.
Coconut rice is the perfect side dish for curries, stews and stir frys, grilled chicken, prawns / shrimp, steamed fish or baked salmon.Â
We love it with almost any Southeast Asian curry! Try it with our Indonesian fish curry or a mouth-watering beef rendang, Vietnamese chicken curry, panang curry or Thai green curry. It would be perfect alongside Sri Lankan devilled potatoes.
You can use it as a base for build-your-own rice bowls.
Reheat leftover rice in the microwave until fully warmed through.
Variations
- Extra Flavour – Add fresh chopped garlic, grated ginger, lemongrass, pandan extract or a fresh pandan leaf (tied into a knot) while cooking the rice.
- Add Colour – Add 1 tbsp of turmeric to turn it into nasi kuning (Indonesian yellow rice) or 10-12 dried butterfly pea flowers to make nasi kerabu (Malayian blue rice).
- Garnish – Serve rice with toasted coconut flakes or toasted desiccated coconut sprinkled on top for extra flavour and crunch.
- Zesty Coconut Rice – Once you’ve fluffed the rice, stir in a handful of freshly chopped cilantro / coriander and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
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★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and a star rating below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups jasmine rice 300 g / 10 oz, IMPORTANT: use the smaller rice cup measure that came with your rice cooker, NOT a regular cup measure.
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp sugar
- 1 can coconut milk 400 ml / 13.52 oz
- water up to the 2 cup line on your cooker
Instructions
- Place the jasmine rice into your rice cooker bowl and cover with water. Rinse and drain 2-3 times using your hands until water is more translucent (doesn’t have to be clear). Drain.2 cups jasmine rice
- Add the salt, sugar and coconut milk and stir.½ tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar, 1 can coconut milk
- Fill with water up to the 2 cup line in your rice cooker and stir again.water
- Select the Rice option and then press Start. (Or the applicable buttons for your model of rice cooker. Button names may vary between brands.)
- Once finished, fluff the rice with a rice paddle to loosen the grains and serve. Optional: Serve with toasted coconut.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Measuring the Rice – Always use the smaller rice cup measure that came with your rice cooker.
- Don’t Skip the Rinse – Rinsing first removes excess starch from the rice, which helps make it nice and fluffy once cooked.Â
- Fluff the Rice – This will loosen the grains and make the rice easier and neater to serve. For best results use a rice paddle or fork (but don’t scrape the rice cooker bowl to avoid damaging the non-stick coating).
- Storage – Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for around 4-5 days. You can also store it in the freezer for around 6 months, but we prefer to use it up within 2-3 months.
- Extra Flavour – Add fresh chopped garlic, grated ginger, lemongrass, pandan extract or a fresh pandan leaf (tied into a knot) while cooking the rice.
- Add Colour – Add 1 tbsp of turmeric to turn it into nasi kuning (Indonesian yellow rice) or 10-12 dried butterfly pea flowers to make nasi kerabu (Malayian blue rice).
- Garnish – Serve rice with toasted coconut flakes or toasted desiccated coconut sprinkled on top for extra flavour and crunch.Â
- Zesty Coconut Rice – Once you’ve fluffed the rice, stir in a handful of freshly chopped cilantro / coriander and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
Nutrition
2 Comments
Lucretia Borgia
12/10/2023 at 9:50 amFill with water up t the 3 cup line?
Wandercooks
12/10/2023 at 3:19 pmFor our rice cooker (and most models we’ve come across), they’ve worked out the amount of water per rice cup measure (not full cup measure). So for two rice sized cups, you want the liquid to go up to the 2 cup line. 🙂