Arroz con Coco Blanco is a traditional Colombian rice dish from the coasts of the country. This coconut rice is an easy and simple side dish and it goes well with seafood.
This Arroz con Coco Blanco or Coconut Rice is a typical dish from the coast of Colombia and is simply delicious! It's creamy, soft and with amazing coconut flavor.
I remember having arroz con titoté and this recipe in Cartagena as a side dish with every meal and felt in love it with them.
This quick and easy coconut rice recipe is delicious. It's made with just 4 ingredients and under 30 minutes.
How to Make Coconut Rice
Place the rice in a small pot, add the coconut milk, sugar and salt.
Bring to a boil over medium high-heat. Stir once, cover and reduce heat to low, cook for 20 minutes
Do not remove the cover. Remove the pot from the heat and let it seat for 5 minutes. Fluff the rice using a fork and serve immediately.
Serve it as a side dish with seafood, stuff it into a burrito, or use it as the base of a rice bowl just add beans, corn, salsa, and guacamole.
If you are a fan of rice recipes and want to try a different recipe than your traditional white rice, this coconut rice recipe is a must-try.
What to Serve with this Dish
Rice with coconut pairs nicely with seafood dishes. Some of my favorite main dishes are grilled salmon, fried whole fish and battered fish.
More Side Dishes to Try:
Roasted Potatoes with Avocado Sauce
Coconut Rice Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Cups long grain rice
- 4 Cups coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place the rice in a small pot, add the coconut milk, sugar and salt.
- Bring to a boil over medium high-heat. Stir once, cover and reduce heat to low, cook for 20 minutes
- Do not remove the cover. Remove the pot from the heat and let it seat for 5 minutes. Fluff the rice using a fork and serve immediately.
Maggie
This sounds wonderful! I bet the bit of sweetness is great with spicy dishes.
soupmaker
Have all the ingredients in the cupboard and cant wait to try this one. Thanks.
Erica
Maggie, The coconut milk adds a wonderful flavor to the rice,perfect with spicy dishes.
Raquel77
I cut the recipe in half and it served 4. I also went a tad shy on the sugar and it was still sweet enough. It went great with our steak and aji. Definately the type of rice to have with a spicy dish.
Erica
Hi Raquel,
Thank you for the feedback!
colombiatraveler
I'm not trying to be rude or anything. I just want to be clear about this. But from my many travels to colombia..in fact i just got back from an excursion going to Cartagena, Barranquilla, Santa Marta, and Tayarona....your recipe is nothing like colombian coconut rice. It looks more like asian coconut rice which is totally different. Colombian coconut rice is always dirty brown in color (and sometimes has raisins) and never white.
Erica
Colombia Traveler,
If you read my recipe list well, you will notice the brown coconut rice with raisins too. My sister lives in Cartagena and this is one of the every day side dishes in her house and you can find this rice recipe in some Colombian traditional recipe books.This rice is popular in both coasts the Pacific and Caribbean. If you read the book "Secrets of Colombian cooking" by Patricia McCausland-Gallo a Colombia chef, born in the Caribbean coast of Colombia , you can find this rice dish in her book. It is a great book with traditional Colombian recipes in English.
Thank you for your comment!
Julie
I love this recipe! I actually don't like the other rice with the raisins. thank you so much!
Siana
Funny how someone that has just travelled Colombia and hasn't even lived there, thinks they know more than you that are actually Colombian. It's absolutely ridiculous. I had a good laugh reading that absurd comment lol.
Also, love your recipes! My Aussie husband cooks all of these Colombian recipes because of you! So thank you!
Siana
Oh and I also wanted to add that White coconut rice was a staple as I was growing up in Cartagena.
Maria♥
so true,
Mike
2 Colombianraveler ....Colombians serve more white arroz de coco than brown, may I suggest don't comment until your sure..........I live in Colombia and have for the last 17 years always seen far more white arroz de coco and not the brown arroz de panela con coco.....
Deborah
My Columbian mother in law is from Cali.... and only cooks the white, and sometimes she still adds raisins.
Anonymous
"Never White"? You are definitely wrong on that! My mother and grandmother are from the coast from all the places you mentioned near and far and we most certainly had white coconut rice with fish just about every Friday growing -up. On one trip alone how can you be so sure?
Sonia
Looks delicious and cooking it right now. I'd rather take recipes from local then people that have just visited a country. So ignore Columbiantraveler.
Brian
I just spent a wonderful week near Tayrona staying with some local families, and all my dishes were served with coconut rice that was white. Being Korean and enjoying lots of southeast asian cuisine, it was a bit more subtle than Asian coconut rice. In addition, it seemed like they added a few bits of color - perhaps a few grains of brown rice and maybe a few shreds of carrots to give a nice look. It was a good compliment to Polla Sudado.
Vero
I just recently found this recipe, and it sounds great! I just have a question regarding the coconut milk...is that different from coconut water? And where can I find it? I scoured a local grocery store and had no luck. Any help you can offer would be great!
Erica
Vero- You can find canned coconut at your local market (Latin aisle or Asian aisle).
Andrea
You can also make coconut milk which is preferable with this dish. Its very simple just search it
Samara
@colombian traveller and @Erica: This white coconut rice is an everyday dish indeed. I agree with Erica as in Monteria my hometown we have it every single day and it is also very popular in the countryside. The brownish one is also a coconut rice but because is more elaborated we mostly do it for special ocasions or when in the mood! :). The brownish one is made in a different way. Best regards.
Diane
For an amuse bouche, I like to place a sauteed sea scallop on a small lump of coconut rice (I use jasmine rice) then drizzle w/ saffron-scented fresh lemon juice.
Erica (not author)
Hi! I just found this recipe and I wanted to thank you for it. We needed a traditional Colombian dish to bring in for school and this will help so much with preparing it. Can't wait to try it. 🙂
doric
this recipe helped me ace a spanish culture and food assignment thanks
ana
Samara I'd. Like to talk to you, I lived in. Monteria myself, is rare to find someone from there, making arroz con coco as we speak
MiMayo
The brown in real colombian coconut rice is from the carmalization of the coconutsolids in the coconut oil that seperates. This recipe without the right method is not the colombian way.
Erica
MiMayo- We have two kinds of coconut rice in Colombia "White Coconut Rice" and "Brown Coconut Rice" Here is the recipe from my site: https://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/rice-with-coconut-and-raisins-arroz-con-coco-y-pasas./ White coconut rice is serve all over the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts of Colombia!
wacka-doo
My family is from barranquilla, and as far as I know the white style is how its done in cartagena, although we've found both styles in cartagena from vacationing there. In barranquilla I only know the brown style never the white. Also inthe browned coconut recipe u need to fry up ur rice a little more, it usually looks chalk colored withbits of black/dark brown.
Fiorella
I am from Cartagena and my mom makes white coconut rice all the time. It is very popular. I grew up eating this rice as a side dish for our seafood dishes.
Carolina
Hi dear! I am colombian from the caribbean coast, and the actual recepy for coconut rice is a little bit diferent than the one you offer here.
Ingredients are ok but make sure if is possible to get the cocunut milk directly from a coconut (The flavor is better ). once you do that, you start frying the milk till it becomes thick (add brown sugar so you can give the rice itcharacteristic golden color). After the coconut mil is thick add more cocunut milk and a water, the you add the rice and the salt (For each 2 spoons of sugar add a small one with salt). You wait until its dry and voila! you got the original recepy.
Besos.
Liliana Maria
I am from the Pacific coast of Colombia and this is the way my mom and my grandmother make the" arroz coco blanco". I think that every family has a different way to make it around the country.
Doris
My name is Doris and I am from Cartagena de Indias. I made this rice yesterday and it was the same rice my nana used to make for my family. She used fresh coconut milk, but the flavor was very similar. Thank you.
Natalia
Hi I'm from Bogota Colombia and we make the Coconut Rice with raisins
Luz Gudgel
Hi I'm from Bogota Colombia we made smoke salmon and the coconut rice and fried plantain. It was superb !
Jaqui
Almost all countries in south & central America, and Caribbean serve a version coconut rice with a main meal. I think the 'color of the rice' being debated here is just based on a few variables like if you use white or brown sugar, 'burning' the sugar, and the 'pegao/con-con' at the bottom of the pan. Adding guandules, raisins and carrots are personal preferences & variations and could very well change the 'color'. Pointless debate on here if you as me. Anyways Erica, I am so glad I found your website. Your recipes look fabulous and I can't wait to try them. I'm a big fan of Colombian food and I always wanted to learn to make a few of my favs. Thanks for sharing! -Jaqui
Ana
I made this arroz con coco for dinner last night . It was absolutely delicious , I served it with salmon.
Nicole
would be great plain. For my one yr old I decided to add a little corn sizzled it in a little coconut oil then added the rice/ milk also cut the recipe in half followed your directions and the texture was perfect . Went yummy with some salmon I made. I love coconut flavor and it is strongly present in this yummy side dish one can to one cup rice will make sure I always have some coco milk in my pantry for this lol
Nicole
Look forward to trying your other rice dishes. I'm a 24 y/o mom of 2 babies.. At 18 my mom a polish immigrant passed away so I am learning on my own to imitate cuisines I love. Living in queens ny, it's a melting pot so I crave everything from across the globe. I bought 2 calderos small and medium . My rice game is still inconsistent . Mushy result in some cases but this method worked for me most definitely
Nicole
So simple and good.. Also a nice twist than plain white rice
Cynthia
I lived in Colombia (Bogota) and my husband is from Monteria... with a home along the coast as well. As it is clear from posts above there are several ways to prepare coconut rice and other rice dishes from Colombia. When you are at a home in the coast, they will take down a coconut from the tree, opened it, drain, grate the entire coconut ( with a hand grater) while squeezing with fresh water to extrude coconut milk. That strained product, (with no bits of coconut) will be used just as in this recipe to make white coconut rice. Our families however, do not like mixing sweet and savory. The rice is prepared only with salt, no sugar. It is absolutely delicious and served often with fried fish and fried plantains, either thin (tostones) or thicker (patacón). For less work, in the US, the Erica's recipe is perfect. Some canned coconuts are oily, Thai versions best, or refrigerated coconut milk, or put coconut in the blender with water and strain it! Thanks for your recipe, Erica
Anita Delahoz
My mother in law makes coconut rice like this all the time. Simetimes sge adds raisins too. She is from Barranquilla. I've never had the brown rice. I have never been able to perfect it like hers. So I'm really excited to try it.
Thank you
Anita
Daniela Jackson
This rice came out DELICIOUS! Next time I'm going to try it on a regular pan since I cooked it on a rice cooker and it was a little mushy
Miranda
I’ve tried this three times now and no matter how long I let it simmer on low, it’s coming out kinda crunchy as if the rice itself is undercooked in the center. Any tips??
Patricia Wolf
Miranda, it might need to be cooked on lower temperature, add a bit of coconut water and seal to create a steam would help.
Amanda
Erica,
I'm new to this and so eager to try and perfect some Colombian/Panamanian dishes. Silly question, but do you wash the rice and brown it a little before boiling like when making regular white rice? =) Just want to get this right. My family will LOVE it. Thank you!
Erica Dinho
I just wash the rice before I cook it.
Christopher
Prepared this rice yesterday to serve along with a supper of homemade Colombian Empanadas. Our new Colombian son-in-law loved it - said he was impressed! In lieu of coconut milk we had some frozen coconut cream on hand, which I thawed and diluted - 1 part cream to 4 parts water. It worked very well. Thanks for this easy and satisfying recipe! We continue to enjoy exploring the world of Colombian cuisine!
Patricia Wolf
Hi!! Im from Barranquilla, Colombia. This rice is the best. I make it two ways (brown or white) and my family and friends love it either way. The brown version is very similar to the one above. Only difference is I brown the rice a bit in coconut oil, brown sugar and few lil chuncks of coconut, once is browned a bit I add Coconut Water and Coconut Milk. The end result is delicious. Enjoy!
Patricia Wolf
forgot to mention add raisins!
Keisha Ansley
This rice is BOMB!
Kathy C.
We just made this for Easter Sunday with my Colombian parents, their grandchildren and some other family members and friends. It was the HIGHLIGHT of the dinner! My husband and brother-in-law (American) made the dish following your easy instructions and it came out perfectly. THANK YOU.