This recipe for Sweet and Savory Coconut Rice is an old-school Our Best Bites classic that is pretty much my go-to side dish with any summery, tropical meal.
It’s one of those recipes I just know by heart and always have the ingredients for in my pantry (if you love tropical rice, another delicious standby is our Lime-Cilantro Pineapple Rice!)
I originally posted this recipe over 10 years ago when my 12-year-old looked like this:
and my 14-year-old had little feet like this:
And my 7 year old wasn’t even a twinkle in my eye, as my dad would say.
So now that we all feel really old, let’s eat carbs!
Combine rice, water,
coconut milk,
salt, sugar,
and vinegar, in a saucepan and bring to a boil Turn heat to low and cover for 20 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Allow to stand 5 minutes. Add green onions, black pepper (if desired), and additional salt if necessary.
Sweet and Savory Coconut Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cups Jasmine or Basmati rice
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Splash of white or rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- Handful of chopped green onions plus chopped green onion tops for garnish
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine rice, coconut milk, water, salt, vinegar, and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil Turn heat to low and cover for 20 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Allow to stand 5 minutes. Add green onions, black pepper (if desired), and additional salt if necessary.
- Serve with any Asian or tropical-inspired food.
Serve with any Asian or tropical-inspired food, like…
- Teriyaki Chicken or Beef
- Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Skewers
- Sweet and Savory Flank Steak
- Asian BBQ Chicken
- Chili-Lime Mango Chicken Skewers
- Spicy Honey Chicken
- Dr. Pepper Pork Tenderloin
- Or just check out our Asian, Latin, Tropical, and Grilled sections and see if anything grabs you (metaphorically, not literally…if something from our site literally grabs you, then please alert a medical professional.)
Questions & Reviews
My family loves this recipe and I make it often for our Sunday dinners. I always make it in my rice cooker and it turns out amazing. I would like to make this for a larger crowd. Can I double or triple the recipe in my rice cooker if it has enough capacity?
Yep!
This is a family fav!
Can I use dates pured instead of sugar. Can’t have surgar. Thankes
Anyone else having trouble viewing the photos for this recipe? I’ve tried different browsers and different computers. Recipe images won’t load.
Thank you for the heads up! They weren’t showing up for me today, either, and while the files were still there on the backend, there was something wrong with them. Should be fixed now! Thanks again!
I love making this rice but it seems like everytime I do it comes out crunchy. I follow the directions to a ‘T’ and it never comes out how it probably is supposed to. Any suggestions?
Are you at a higher elevation? I would add an additional 2-4 tablespoons of water and increase the cooking time until all the water is absorbed. I have a rice recipe that took me 45 minutes to make in Utah that only takes 20 minutes in Louisiana! ????
Hi. I love adding vinegar to rice now and never make rice without it. Do you know why vinegar makes rice taste so good? What does the vinegar do to the rice?
Thanks, Shannon
I believe it helps with the texture, but I also think it’s probably adding another flavor dimension to the natural sugar in rice. But I agree, rice is better with vinegar!!
I am wondering if anyone has tried this recipe with brown rice yet? I saw the comment about using quinoa, instead, but am still wondering about brown rice. I did use cauliflower rice last time. I used the liquids as normal and then drained them off after the it fully cooked. It was able to absorb the flavor enough that everyone said it was really good.