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This Coconut Rice Recipe is so simple to make with only 5 ingredients. Coconut Rice is made in a rice cooker which makes it an easy dump & go side dish recipe! Learn how to make this sweet, fluffy, soft coconut rice with all my tips and serving suggestions.

A serving of coconut rice on a white plate with grilled chicken in the background

Coconut Rice Recipe

I cannot accurately describe my love for this coconut rice! It’s a super easy, dump & go side recipe, that is so delicious served with a variety of dishes. It’s slightly sweet, moist but not wet, soft, and fluffy. The best part is that you only need 5 ingredients, which all get dumped into the rice cooker, to make it!

My family loves this rice served with my Thai Coconut Grilled Chicken, this Honey Lime & Cilantro Marinated Grilled Chicken, or as a base with my Easy Chicken Curry

Overhead shot of coconut rice recipe inside a white bowl with wooden chopsticks to the side.

Ingredients Needed

Here are the ingredients that you will need to make coconut rice in your own kitchen. I also share some tips which will hopefully make this recipe easy to recreate for your own family. 

  • Jasmine Rice – I do not recommend substituting this with another rice. Jasmine rice is a Thai rice, that is very fragrant, and it really is the best and only rice to use for coconut rice. It can easily be found at any grocery store by the other rice varieties.
  • Coconut Milk – This is not the coconut milk that you buy in the carton that is a replacement for dairy milk. This is a can of coconut milk that you will find on the shelves, usually by the soy sauce and other Asian type ingredients. Make sure you are using the unsweetened coconut milk.
  • Water
  • Kosher Salt – I prefer this salt because it flavors foods better rather than just making them taste ‘salty’ like regular table salt does. 
  • Granulated Sugar – Don’t skip this! Just please don’t. It rounds out the coconut flavor and is just really good in the recipe.  

Ingredients needed to make this coconut rice in the rice cooker with each one labeled in black text with what it is.

How To Make Coconut Rice in a Rice Cooker

Learn how to make easy coconut rice in rice cooker with these easy steps!

  • Dump & Go : Add all ingredients inside the insert of a rice cooker and stir. 
  • Cook : Press the ‘white rice’ button and let it cook. That’s it!
  • Serving : Fluff the rice with a fork before serving. The rice will stay really well on the ‘warm’ setting inside the rice cooker for several hours so it’s perfect if not everyone is eating dinner at the same time, or if you are serving a large group at a gathering. 

How to make coconut rice recipe in a rice cooker with step by step instructions with pictures.

How to make coconut rice recipe in a rice cooker with step by step instructions with pictures.

Tips For Success

Here are my helpful tips for this coconut rice recipe, that will hopefully make this easy recipe a hit with your own family. 

  • Wash Rice : Make sure you wash/rinse the rice before adding it into the rice cooker. Washing the rice provides a much fresher & cleaner flavor, and helps the delicate coconut flavor stand out. As you rinse the rice you will see that the water that comes out is actually very foggy looking. Rinse the rice until the water that comes out is clear like water. Make sure you have a fine mesh strainer to rinse the rice, or something else like a colander, but make sure the holes are small enough that the rice grains won’t fall right through. 
  • Use Jasmine Rice : Don’t try to substitute this for anything else. Jasmine rice is the best rice to use when making homemade coconut rice. It’s fragrant, it cooks up perfectly, and has the best taste & texture. Jasmine rice is very easily found by the other rice varieties at the grocery store. 
  • Don’t Skip The Sugar : It’s a very small amount of sugar but it makes a big difference in the overall taste of the rice. It helps the delicate coconut flavor stand out. 

A white bowl of coconut rice in rice cooker with a coconut in the background of the picture.

Rice Cooker Coconut Rice FAQ’s

  • Can I Make This Ahead of Time?
    • Yes you can make this coconut rice recipe ahead of time. Because it cooks in a rice cooker, it will automatically keep warm on the warm setting, once it’s done cooking. It will stay fresh & warm for several hours inside the rice cooker. I would not recommend making this rice the day before and refrigerating it until serving. The rice gets hard as it sits in the fridge, which means the rice won’t be as fluffy and soft when reheated. 
    • If you need the rice ahead of time, I would suggest making a few hours before serving, and letting it sit on the ‘warm’ setting of the rice cooker until serving. 
  • What Kind of Rice is Best For Coconut Rice?
    • Jasmine rice is the best rice to use when making coconut rice. 
    • It’s a Thai rice, it’s super fragrant which lends well to the coconut flavor, and it cooks up soft & fluffy. 
  • How To Store Leftovers
    • Leftovers can be stored in an air-tight container, in the fridge, for up to 3-4 days. 
    • The longer the rice sits in the fridge the harder it will get, and even if you warm it up in the microwave, it still won’t be as soft and fluffy as when it’s fresh. 
    • Leftovers are good, but the rice will have a different texture once reheated from the fridge. 
  • Serving Suggestions
  • Variation & Substitution Ideas
    • Make It Lighter : Although I don’t recommend this, you can use lite coconut milk if wanted. I think the regular fat coconut milk is so much better in this recipe, but it can be substituted if wanted. 
    • Spicy! : This is a lightly sweet coconut rice but if you want to add some spice then try adding red chili pepper flakes and/or red cayenne pepper. 

A bowl of coconut rice with wooden chopsticks to the side of it.

More Coconut Recipes You’ll Love

A serving of coconut rice on a white plate with grilled chicken in the background
Together As Family Logo

Rice Cooker Coconut Rice


Author Jessica - Together as Family
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Indian
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes
Servings 8
This Coconut Rice Recipe is so simple to make with only 5 ingredients. Coconut Rice is made in a rice cooker which makes it an easy dump & go side dish recipe! Learn how to make this sweet, fluffy, soft coconut rice with all my tips and detailed instructions. 

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups Jasmine rice
  • 1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk
  • 1 ½ cups water
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

Instructions

  • Using a fine mesh strainer or rice colander, rinse the jasmine rice under cold running water, until the water runs clear.
    Tap it against the sink, or use a spoon to press on the rice, to make sure it's well drained before adding it into the rice cooker.
  • Add all the ingredients into the insert of a large rice cooker. Cover with the lid and press the 'white rice' or the 'cook' button.
    * All rice cookers are different but mine takes about 20 minutes in the rice cooker I linked above. Use a larger rice cooker (4 cups rice uncooked/8 cups rice cooked) to make this recipe in.
  • When it's done, fluff the rice with a fork and serve!

Notes

Rice Cooker : Make sure you are using a rice cooker that is large enough. I have linked the exact one I use (affiliate link) above. It holds 8 cups of cooked rice (4 cups rice uncooked).
Wash Rice : Make sure you rinse the rice in cold water before adding it into the rice cooker. I love using this rice washer/strainer that I linked (affiliate link) above in the recipe card. Just run cold water over the rice for about 30 seconds to 1 minute, until the water runs clear. Let it drain for a bit before adding it into the rice cooker. I tap the strainer/colander against the sink to really make sure a large amount of the water drains out. The rice does not have to be perfectly dry, just well drained. 
Serving Size : This recipe makes 4 cups of rice. It will serve 8 people with each serving being equal to 1/2 cup of coconut rice. Nutrition information is for 1/2 cup of coconut rice. 
Coconut Milk : For best taste please use full-fat coconut milk and not the lite coconut milk. You want to use canned coconut milk for this recipe, not the cold coconut milk that is a dairy milk replacement. You will find canned coconut milk on the shelves by the other Asian type ingredients like soy sauce, etc. 

Nutrition

Calories: 268kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 302mg | Potassium: 162mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 2mg

Did You Make This Recipe?

I'd love to see it! You can share it with me on @togetherasfamilyblog and follow on Pinterest @together-as-family-blog-recipes or Facebook @togetherasfamilyblog for more!

 

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5 from 1 vote

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Recipe Rating




7 Comments

  1. Do you use a standard measuring cup or the cup that came with the rice cooker?

    1. Together as Family says:

      I use a standard measuring cup.

  2. Hi! I’m looking forward to making this with your grilled chicken, but I have a question about the rice measurement. I have a “cup” measure that came with my rice maker that is far smaller than an actual cup measure. 2 full regular cups of rice seems like an awful lot, but if I use the rice measure, do I also use that measure for the liquids? Or do I use a regular cup and can measure? Thanks for your help!

    1. Together as Family says:

      I would suggest using a regular cup measuring utensil. Two cups does sound like a lot but jasmine rice doesn’t expand as much as other types of rice. And what you have leftover you can always freeze!

  3. Fixing to make in a mini rice cooker holds 1 cup rice I have halved the recipe fingers crossed 🤞🏻 I will let you know if it is good serving with Mahi Mahi and mango salsa

    1. Together as Family says:

      I’m sure it will be fantastic! The whole dish sounds incredible and I can’t wait to hear how it turned out.

  4. 5 stars
    This coconut rice turned out absolutely perfect. nice and fluffy and not too sticky. I will definitely be making this again.