This Easy Light Coconut Rice is a quick way to dress up steamed rice and turn it into a delicious side for Asian and Island main dishes.
This yummy Rice Recipe is a delicious departure from my normal Perfect Brown Rice. It’s also great if you are looking for something a little lighter than my Coconut Rice.
Why You’ll Love This Rice?
- An easy variation on basic rice that elevates any main dish.
- A delicious, light versatile side dish in under 45 minutes.
Sabrina’s Easy Light Coconut Rice Recipe
I love serving this rice with higher calorie Asian-inspired dishes, grilled chicken, seafood, or anything with a little tropical flavor. The coconut milk gives the rice just enough sweetness without making it taste like dessert, and the whole thing comes together in about 35 minutes. If I were making something super healthy, low fat, low sugar I would totally make this with regular coconut milk. It makes it creamier, stickier, much more indulgent and if you are eating a light meal I think you’ve earned it.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1 (13 ounce) can light coconut milk , (regular works fine too, it is just more creamy and sweet)
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked jasmine rice
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds , optional
Instructions
- Combine the coconut milk, water, sugar and salt in a saucepan with a cover.
- Mix to combine the salt and the sugar.
- Add in the rice and stir to combine.
- Bring the mixture to a boil.
- Cover and simmer on low heat for 18 minutes.
- Turn off the burner and let it sit untouched for five minutes.
- Remove cover and using a large spoon scrape the layers gently until the rice is all fluffed.
- Top with sesame seeds, optional.
Nutrition
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Note from Sabrina
For perfectly fluffy coconut rice, don’t skip the resting time! Once the rice has finished cooking, remove it from the heat and let it sit covered for about 5 minutes. This gives the rice time to absorb any remaining liquid and finish steaming. Then fluff it gently with a spoon to keep the grains light.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
This Easy Light Coconut Rice is one of those recipes that takes almost no extra effort but makes a big difference at dinner. Instead of cooking your rice in plain water, you’re swapping in light coconut milk for a subtle coconut flavor and a slightly creamy texture. I prefer using light coconut milk here because it gives you that delicious coconut flavor without making the rice quite as rich. Regular coconut milk is absolutely amazing in this recipe, but it also adds significantly more fat. One cup of regular coconut milk contains about 45 grams of fat, compared to just 12 grams in light coconut milk. Since much of that fat is saturated, I especially like keeping the rice lighter when serving it alongside something rich, like pork shoulder with crispy pork skin. You still get the creamy coconut flavor, just without making an already indulgent meal even heavier.
Pairing Suggestions
This sweet rice pairs especially well with dishes like my Hawaiian Slow Cooker Kalua Pork, Teriyaki Chicken, Drunken Shrimp, and dishes with sweet-and-salty sauces, helping balance those stronger flavors while soaking up all the delicious sauce. It’s also a great way to add a little tropical flavor to your meal without overpowering the main dish.
Related Recipes
More Delicious Rice Side Recipes
Photos used in previous version of post:
Woah! I just made this tonight, I just followed the instructions and let it simmer while I showered I came out and bam it was done! (Took a bit less than 18 minutes) 1st rice that I can say I cooked perfectly! I am beyond excited! This is going to be my pre workout meal ? It is so good!
So glad you guys enjoyed the recipe Carlos and thanks for the five stars!
What is a serving size?
The issue is that people will have ingredients of different sizes. Packaged products are weighed and measured at the time of creation which makes their measurements accurate. The only way to accurately know the measurements of meals is to weigh and divide.
Hi Sabrina. Do you think this would work as well with brown rice? Apologies if this has already been asked.
You can’t do this with brown rice and expect anywhere close to the same result.
I’m on low carb so would I be able to make this using cauliflower rice instead of jasmine? Thanks!
great recipe, light, fluffy and tasty. Thanks so much for this recipe! How much is a serving? I am calorie counting so need to make sure I get this right!
I’d say about 1/2 cup. So glad you enjoyed it!
Could you use coconut water in place of the milk and water?
Sure 🙂
I don’t think we should be seeing your Traffic and Income Reports superimposed over the small recipe icons at the bottom of your page. You might want to fix this.
Great recipes!
Ah, yeah, because there is a hint of talking about blogs in this recipe, my “suggested recipe” robot decided you would want to see about more blogging articles! Over-riding it on this post, thanks for the heads up. 🙂 I normally only see them as suggested in other Income Reports.
Actually, looking over it again, it seems silly to leave the blog news in there so I cleaned up the post. Thanks for your comment, I really appreciate it.
Also, glad you like the recipes!
I love anything with coconut milk! Gotta try this out! 🙂 Looks fantastic!
Thanks Anjanette!
Everyone always loves to see income reports. I am hesitant to share mine but I know people are curious!
I think they are going to be a good resource for myself and for others so I am pretty excited about it.
Yummy! This sounds so great! Perfect for a summer dinner!
Thanks Amanda!
This sounds delicious! I’ll have to try it next time I make rice!
Hope you love it Amy!
Mmm, this looks amazing! I’ve never tried coconut rice before.
What a great way to make it. I bet it is delicious. I love coconut.
Thanks!
Coconut rice sounds so good and easy too!
Congrats on building your blog. It is great you are sharing your knowledge with others.
Thanks Donna!
This looks delicious, and the flavor must be amazing. We are going to have to start making some real changes at our house when it comes to nutrition. This would be an easy swap.
Yes! And it adds a ton of flavor. If you think about it, the added fat is equivalent to one tablespoon of butter, but flavor pay off is great! You can also swap it out with brown rice, but it will take much longer to cook.
I’ve always wanted to make coconut rice. What a great recipe!
Thanks Tracey!
The changes all sound awesome (as does that rice!). I can see great things coming for you in the future, and I love that I get to follow along.
Aww thanks Crystal! That is so sweet! I am happy to have you follow along!
I’m not a huge coconut fan, but I’ll admit I could use some sort of change up with rice. I don’t eat potatoes so with my dinners I have rice as a replacement and I need a change. This looks great.
The coconut flavor is pretty mild with the light coconut milk. You could use cashew or almond milk as a subsitute too! PS how you can not eat potatoes is amazing to me. I live for a nice starchy side!
Awesome. Loving the changes and sharing information and reports. I always like to read how others earn from their blogs.
Coconut rice so super yummy and quite often a side item here.
Thanks Chrystal, I’m hoping it is a positive experiment for everyone!
Coconut rice? Oh my, I really need to try this. I love coconut flavoured things!
I have never tried coconut rice before, is the flavor profile anything similar to basmati rice? Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Yes, I use either basmati or long grain (either works great) but this version of it is a light coconut flavor. It won’t feel coated, it will just be more like the texture of normal rice, just a bit more moist. If you use the regular coconut milk it will be halfway between a pilaf and a risotto, you can taste and see the coating on the rice.
I am excited to try this recipe. I love coconut and i love rice. I have never tried them together.
Thanks Lisa, I hope you love it!
I’ve never tried coconut rice before. But after seeing this pics, I definitely want to try this recipe!
Aww, that is so sweet! Thank you!
This look so delicious. I have never made coconut rice before. I will have to try this recipe on the weekend.
Awesome, hope you love it Ann!
Ooh I like the new menu up top! I think those are great topics to share! Can’t wait to see what you are working with! 😉
Thanks Candy!! That was a whole weekend of working in the coding! It was exhausting but so exciting to see it actually work and not go across the middle of the page! (You should’ve seen the crazy versions of it while we were testing it).
A new way to make rice… sounds like a good change to me. We like rice with a lot of our chicken dishes but I am getting bored… this will help had a bit more variety.
Oh you’ll love this!
This looks delicious!! It looks like you have great things planned for the blog.
Fingers crossed! And a ton of hard work! haha.
I eat rice several times a week, but have never had coconut rice. Sounds like something I need to try!
Oh please try this and let me know what you think! Hopefully it can make it into your rotation!
We love coconut rice! It’s such a nice companion to Thai inspired food.
Yes! I love it with Thai dishes!
This recipe sounds delicious. I’m going to try it with light coconut milk, but I must say your version with regular coconut milk sounds really appealing.
The thing is, you would probably love the light version if you’ve never had the full fat version. But if you try the regular coconut milk version first the light will feel like the difference between an angel food cake and a pound cake, haha. Both can be delicious, but c’mon…poundcake, haha.
That sounds delicious! I love the idea of infusing flavors into rice. I cook mine with chick broth all the time.
Thanks! I love making rice with broth, we almost never make plain rice anymore unless I have a craving for white rice with some copycat takeout chinese food recipe I am making.
That sounds so delicious! I love to cook rice in different broths, so I’m definitely giving this coconut variation a try.
Hope you love it Stacie 🙂
This is such a simple and flavorful way to change up rice! I agree it would go with most anything too. Delish.
Thanks Toni!
Oh my, that looks delicious! And now I’m hungry! hehe! 🙂
Thanks!
Very simple and sounds delicious!
Thanks!
That sounds absolutely delicious. I can’t wait to make this! Yum!
Thanks Robin! Hope you enjoy it!