Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot Coconut Rice

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Instant Pot Coconut Rice is a creamy, slightly sweet side dish. With a 3-minute cook time, you can have this pressure cooker jasmine rice recipe on your table in under 20 minutes. 

Side view of a white dish filled with instant Pot coconut rice topped with toasted coconut flakes and wooden chopsticks in front of an electric pressure cooker.

Rice is one of my favorite things to cook in the pressure cooker! It’s fast, easy, and comes out perfectly every time. When my friend Emily requested a coconut rice recipe, I couldn’t wait to give it a try!

Adding coconut milk to Instant Pot white rice transforms the dish into a tropical delight. This coconut rice is a perfect pairing with your favorite Thai, Chinese, or Hawaiian dishes. It’s also delicious on its own!

Update: I’m always making a batch of Instant Pot rice, so I have updated this coconut rice recipe post with everything I’ve learned since first creating it, as well as a new video.

How to Make Quick Coconut Rice in an Instant Pot

This Coconut Rice recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.

I especially love this dish because it’s a quick and easy dump-and-go recipe. Unlike making rice on the stovetop, there’s no babysitting or worrying about a messy spill of coconut milk. 

With an Instant Pot / pressure cooker, all you need to do is add Jasmine rice, unsweetened coconut milk, water, and a bit of sugar and salt for flavoring to the pressure cooking pot. Seal the lid, set the cook time, and walk away. 

🛑 Note: While some electric pressure cookers have a “Rice” button, I don’t recommend using it for this recipe. Coconut milk may affect how the pressure cooker comes to pressure. 

Overhead of an electric pressure cooker filled with fluffy white coconut rice on a light wooden background with a grey and white striped linen

How to Avoid the Instant Pot Burn Notice When Making Rice

I usually make this coconut rice recipe in my 6-quart Instant Pot Duo. However, it will work in any 3-quart or 6-quart with no change to the recipe, including the Duo Evo Plus

If you’re using an electric pressure cooker 8-quarts or larger and you’re worried about the Burn warning, you can either double the recipe or use the pot in pot method to make a single batch. 

Side view of a white bowl of instant pot coconut rice topped with toasted coconut flakes next to steamed broccoli and carrots on a white and grey background in front of an instant pot pressure cooker

What Is the Best Coconut Milk?

For this Instant Pot recipe, you want to use full-fat coconut milk for the best results. (There is a lot of variety when it comes to canned coconut milk. Some brands are much thinner than others, for example.)

We use the Thai Kitchen brand coconut milk, and it cooks up for perfectly fluffy and creamy every time. 

💡 If you’re using a different brand, you can always make this rice pot-in-pot.

close up on a white dish of instant pot coconut rice topped with toasted coconut flakes with steamed broccoli and carrots and two wooden chopsticks crossed on top of the dish

What Kind of Rice Is Best for Instant Pot Coconut Rice?

I always make this recipe with Jasmine rice. However, you can use long-grain, medium- or even short-grain white rice without any change to the cooking time. 

If you’d like to use brown rice, simply follow the cooking instructions in our Pressure Cooker Brown Rice recipe. 

Pinterest image with a black text box that reads \"Instant Pot Coconut Rice, ready in under 20 minutes\" and an overhead shot of a bowl divided with broccoli and carrots in the upper half and coconut rice in the bottom half

Can I Make Ahead and Reheat the Coconut Rice?

Absolutely! Instant Pot Coconut Rice will keep for several days in an airtight container in the fridge.

To reheat, simply add a bit of water or additional coconut milk to the rice. This helps ensure that your rice is fluffy and sticky, rather than dry. 

What to Serve with Instant Pot Coconut Rice

I serve pressure cooker coconut rice with my family’s favorite Indian, South Asian, and Hawaiian entrées. There’s something so perfect about the paring of spiced curries and fruity flavors with creamy, soothing coconut milk rice. 

🍽️ My go-to main is Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot Kalua Pork, served with fresh pineapple, sliced mango, and steamed edamame finished with a splash of lemon juice and a sprinkle sea salt.

Other awesome main dishes to serve with Instant Pot Coconut Rice: 

Large wooden dish filled with instant Pot coconut rice topped with toasted coconut flakes and served with steamed green broccoli florets, orange carrot sticks on a white and grey marble background next to a pair of wooden chopsticks

Best Instant Pot / Pressure Cooker Rice Recipes

There are so many tasty ways to turn any variety of rice into a satisfying, healthy, and flavorful meal or side dish! Best of all, you get consistent results when you use your Instant Pot / pressure cooker. 

Here are more of the best Instant Pot Rice recipes:

Basic Instant Pot Rice Recipes

Best Instant Pot Side Dish Recipes with Rice and Grains

Large wooden dish filled with instant Pot coconut rice topped with toasted coconut flakes and served with steamed green broccoli florets, orange carrot sticks on a white and grey marble background next to a pair of wooden chopsticks

Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot Coconut Rice

Yield: 6 Servings
Cook Time: 3 minutes
Additional Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

Bring tropical flavors to your weeknight dinners with this easy and creamy Instant Pot Coconut Rice, made with unsweetened coconut milk and Jasmine rice. 

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups jasmine rice
  • 1 can (14 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk (we prefer Thai Kitchen brand
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Toasted coconut, optional, for garnish

Instructions

    1. Rinse rice in cool water until the water runs clear. Drain the rice in a colander or sieve.
    2. Add the rice, coconut milk, water, sugar, and salt to the pressure cooker pot. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and 3 minutes cook time.
    3. When the cook time ends, allow the pressure to release naturally for 7 minutes, then finish with a quick pressure release.
    4. Carefully remove the lid and fluff the rice with a fork.
    5. Spoon the rice into a serving bowl. Sprinkle with toasted coconut before serving, if desired.

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 193Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 135mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 2gSugar: 6gProtein: 2g

Nutrition information is calculated by Nutritionix and may not always be accurate.

FOR MORE FROM PRESSURE COOKING TODAY

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Picture collage including text reading \"Instant Pot Coconut Rice Recipe, tropical flavors in under 20 minutes\". An Instant Pot Duo in the top right, and a 45 degree shot of coconut rice with broccoli and carrots in the background
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