This Instant Pot coconut rice recipe delivers perfectly fluffy, fragrant, and slightly sweet coconut-infused rice—without any guesswork. Just toss in the ingredients, let the Instant Pot do the work, and enjoy a delicious side dish in under 30 minutes.
My top tips: use a 2 1/2 cup liquid to 2 cup rice ratio and rinse your rice to remove excess starch (so it isn’t gummy).
No pressure cooker at home? No problem. This fluffy stovetop coconut rice is the same recipe, made on the stove top.
Coconut rice is a flavorful dish originating from Southeast Asia. It’s made with full fat canned coconut milk as the liquid rather than water. The fat and sweetness from the coconut milk gives the rice extra flavor and substance. You won’t make rice any other way! Just add some protein, like Hawaiian chicken or steak stir fry for a complete meal.
Why You’ll Love This Instant Pot Coconut Rice
Easy recipe: This simple recipe for amazing instant pot coconut rice is done in just a few steps.
Short cooking time: The cook time is a little faster than making rice on the stove top.
Delicious side dish: It adds so much more dimension and flavor than plain rice. It’s one of our favorite recipes when we need a flavorful side dish. Its flavors make it the perfect rice for Asian dishes and Thai curries especially.
Ingredients You Need
Here are the simple ingredients for this easy coconut rice recipe:
- Jasmine rice: I really love this variety and choose it most often, however, any long grain white rice, like basmati rice, works really well too.
- Full fat coconut milk: find this in the International or Asian section of the grocery store. Be sure to grab full fat. Coconut cream will work too.
- Salt: I like to use kosher salt for more flavor.
What Kind of Rice Works Best?
Jasmine or basmati rice both of these rices are of the long grain variety, which means they are less sticky and more fluffy. Jasmine rice is plumper, softer and a bit more moist while basmati rice is firmer and slightly more chewy.
You can’t swap brown rice or long grain white rice equally with this recipe. White rice absorbs moisture different so you need more liquid (usually a 2:1 water to rice ratio).
How to Make Instant Pot Coconut Rice
Rinse the rice
- Add the rice to a large bowl and cover it with cold water. Stir it around a few times with a spoon to rinse it. Drain the water the water from the rice and repeat 2-3 more times, until the water is almost clear.
- Finish rinsing the rice by draining as much water from the rice as possible. This removes excess starch so the cooked rice isn’t mushy.
Pressure Cook on High
- Add the rice to the Instant pot. Pour the coconut milk into a liquid measuring cup and fill the cup up the rest of the way with water until it reaches 2 cups total then pour it into the Instant Pot with the rice.
- Stir to combine then press the pressure cook (manual cook) button to cook at high pressure for 3 minutes. It takes about 7 minutes to come to pressure then it will start counting down.
- Natural release (do nothing) for 10 minutes. It should take about 20 minutes total. Turn the venting knob to venting position to release any remaining pressure. Open the lid and fluff the rice with a fork.
Expert Tips
- Rinse the rice: don’t skip this step! we’re using coconut milk which is much thicker than water so we don’t want it gluey. rinsing gets excess starch off that helps it be fluffy and not sticky
- Follow the 1:1.5 ratio: 1 cup of rice to 1.5 cups of liquid is the ideal basmati rice ratio. If you opt for long grain white rice the ratio is 1:2 so keep that in mind!
FAQs
The burn notice happens when the inner pot gets too hot. The Instant Pot will stop the cooking process. To avoid this, make sure you have enough liquid in your Instant Pot when cooking rice. The 1:1 ratio should be plenty! If you get this notice, open the lid, add a bit more liquid, stir the rice from the bottom of the pot, and continue cooking.
We like to use Thai Kitchen coconut milk because it’s most easily found in our grocery stores, affordable, and great quality. You can use full fat coconut milk or coconut cream will work too if that’s all you can find.
This is likely due to overcooking or excess starch in the rice. That’s why it’s so important to rinse the rice first! This ensures a light and fluffy coconut rice.
What to Serve with Instant Pot Coconut Rice
- Curries: coconut curry chicken or sweet potato curry
- Stir fries: steak stir fry, ground pork stir fry, or ground turkey teriyaki
- Sheet pan meals: sheet pan sausage and veggies, sheet pan chicken teriyaki, tahini ginger salmon and asparagus or sheet pan shrimp fajitas
- Simple proteins: cilantro lime chicken, blackened salmon, instant pot salsa chicken, instant pot honey mustard chicken, crock pot pepper steak or everything bagel salmon.
How to Store and Reheat
Allow the rice to cool completely then store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. To reheat, add the rice to a bowl with a splash of water and use a fork to break up any chunks. Cover with a plate or wet paper towel and cook in the microwave on high until it’s heated through. You can also use this method on the stovetop.
More Easy Side Dishes
- Stovetop coconut rice
- Crock Pot mashed potatoes
- Air fryer baked potato
- Gluten-free cornbread
- Crispy carrot fies
- Instant Pot asparagus
Instant Pot Coconut Rice
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Ingredients
- 2 cups jasmine rice
- 1 1/2 cups full fat coconut milk (about 1 can)
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Place the rice in a medium bowl and cover it with cold water. Stir gently to release excess starch then drain the water. Repeat this process 2-3 more times until the water starts to become mostly clear. This ensures the rice isn’t gummy from excess starch. Drain the rice the best you can.2 cups jasmine rice
- Add the rice to the Instant pot. Pour in the coconut milk, water, and salt, and stir to combine.1 1/2 cups full fat coconut milk, 1 cup water, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Turn the vent to the sealing position. Pressure cook (manual cook) on high for 5 minutes. It will take a few minutes to come to pressure before counting down. Naturally release (do nothing) for 10 minutes, then turn the valve to 'vent' to release any remaining pressure. Fluff with a fork and serve warm with toasted coconut flakes or cilantro.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This was excellent! So easy and tasted delicious with our grilled chicken 😋
Thanks, Julie!!!