Instant Pot Coconut Rice Pudding
This Instant Pot Coconut Rice Pudding tastes like a pina colada, thanks to smooth coconut milk, creamy arborio rice, and sweet pineapple. Don’t forget the whipped cream and coconut for a tropical dessert treat!
I don’t know about you, but we’ve been dreaming about a trip to the Caribbean lately. And when we think tropical, we always start craving piña coladas. That’s why we decided to turn one of our favorite Instant Pot desserts into a sweet, creamy tropical treat for summer.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe: Rice pudding is so easy to make in an Instant Pot. It’s comforting, and this pina colada twist makes the dish bright and summery.
Update: We’ve updated our classic coconut rice pudding recipe with tips to make sure your dessert is as satisfying and sunny as a pina colada on the beach.
How to Make Coconut Rice Pudding in the Instant Pot
This Instant Pot Coconut Rice Pudding recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.
Rice pudding is quick and easy to make in the pressure cooker. It’s also the perfect comfort food: sweet, smooth, and creamy. Using arborio rice creates a creamy pudding without using cream.
Arborio rice is the key to making the creamiest rice pudding. It softens up without turning to mush and absorbs the coconut flavor perfectly. You can find arborio in most grocery stores in the rice department.
Serving Suggestions
We like to go all-in with the tropical cocktail vibe when serving this rice pudding. Toasted coconut, a dollop of whipped cream, and maraschino (or fresh!) cherries make fun toppings.
Dairy-Free Rice Pudding
You can easily adapt this recipe to make it dairy free. Simply replace the milk with more coconut milk.
Instead of the whipped cream on top, make coconut whipped cream:
- Chill a can of full-fat coconut milk in the fridge overnight.
- Scoop the solidified part of the coconut milk into an electric mixer, along with a tablespoon or two of powdered sugar to taste.
- Whip on high until light and fluffy and serve with your rice pudding.
More Instant Pot Rice Pudding Recipes
Rice pudding is a great blank canvas for your favorite flavors like:
- Pumpkin Date Rice Pudding is our favorite warming fall-spiced dessert.
- Forbidden Rice Pudding is a unique dish that’s always popular for entertaining topped with cherries.
- Instant Pot Nutella Rice Pudding from Cinnamon and Coriander has signature chocolate and hazelnut flavor.
- Chocolate Peppermint Rice Pudding has a nice minty flavor with dark chocolate.
Do you LOVE this recipe?
Leave us a review below to tell us why!
Instant Pot Coconut Rice Pudding
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Arborio rice
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 can 14 oz coconut milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 can 8 oz pineapple tidbits, well drained and cut in half
- Whipped cream toasted coconut, and maraschino cherries, optional, for serving
Instructions
- In the pressure cooking pot, combine rice, water, oil, and salt. Lock the lid in place and select High Pressure and 3 minutes cook time.
- When the cook time ends, allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then finish with a quick pressure release. When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid.
- Add coconut milk and sugar to the rice in the cooking pot; and stir to combine.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk eggs with milk and vanilla. Pour through a fine mesh strainer into the cooking pot. Select Sauté and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture just starts to boil. Turn off the pressure cooker and stir in the pineapple tidbits.
- Pour into serving dishes and chill. Pudding will thicken as it cools.
- Served topped with whipped cream, toasted coconut, and a maraschino cherry if desired.
Nutrition
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I doubled recipe, except only used one can coconut milk, and used the juice from the 20 oz canned pineapple in place of some of the water. Since I used jasmine rice, I added 2 min to pressurized cooking time. It was really thick and good, easy to make. I topped it with slivered almonds and took it to share with friends, who heartily enjoyed it!
Thanks for sharing your tweaks Stephanie – sounds delicious!
I make this often,great recipe.we love pineapple so i use the juice in place of the water. Just add some water to the juice to get the amount you need. Also, i throw in a handful of flaked coconut in step 2. DELISH, THANKS for this won recipe.
Thanks Jennifer! Sounds like a delicious way to change it up.
I added in the toasted coconut, 1 cup. It turned my pudding brown. I hope it will taste the same. Just doesn’t look creamy white like yours. I didn’t care for it added in. It overtook the pineapple taste, couldn’t even tell the pineapple was in it. Next time I’ll leave it out.
Probably best to just use toasted coconut as a garnish in this recipe. Thanks for the update Shery.
I added in the toasted coconut, 1 cup. It turned my4 pudding brown. I hope it will taste the same. Just doesn’t look creamy white like yours.
Hi Shery,
Barbara added the toasted coconut on top of the whipped cream, like a garnish (see pictures of finished pudding). She didn’t add the toasted coconut in the pudding itself.
I’m sure yours still tasted wonderful.
I didn’t like it. Barbara put it in the comments that it could be added to the pudding.
Can I make this ahead of time and spoon it into smaller dishes the day I want to serve it? How far ahead of time is ok. Trying to spread out my time before the big day.
Hi Shery – yes, that will work well. It thickens up more as it chills, so if necessary, stir in a little milk until it’s as creamy as you like. Enjoy!
I definitely want to try this. Love all the comments. Love all these flavors. I’m sure it will be easy, like all your recipes. I’ll let you know.
I can hardly wait to try this recipe, Barbara! Only problem is I live in Mexico where Arborio Rice is hard to find. Google says I can substitute pearl barley. Would I need to add to the cooking time, or soak the barley before cooking it?
Hi Sheri – I haven’t tried it with pearl barley, but suspect you would need to adjust the water and cook time. This recipe uses a 3 to 1 ratio for water and barley and a 25 minute cook time https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/roasted-cauliflower-barley-risotto/ Instead, I would substitute long grain white rice or other white rice and then your cook time and ratio would be the same. Enjoy!
This looks delicious.
Barbara I’d love to see your version of the Indian rice pudding, kheer.
This is my second time making (the recipe was in the booklet that came with my instant pot), and this time around I owned a fine mesh strainer. Not all of the egg white dripped through the strainer so I threw it out. Last time, I didn’t strain and the pudding came out fine. Was straining out the thick white the purpose of straining?
Hi Sue – if the egg white isn’t completely incorporated with the milk, you can get little bits of cooked scrambled egg white in your pudding. Straining it prevents that, but it isn’t at must do. Glad you enjoyed the recipe and made it a second time.
I’m new to the IP world, and this was my first go at rice pudding in it. Came out delicious to me (kids prefer it without pineapple). But I would make this for a party dessert, something folks would never expect.
Thanks Mimi! So glad it was a hit.
I love the recipe so much my family and I would like to double the recipe. Should adjust the cooking time?
Thanks Diana – you can double the recipe with no change in cook time.
Oh my gosh, was this ever delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe! It was super easy to follow and so much better than any others I’ve found. I’ve been searching for years to get this combination of deliciousness!
So fun to hear how much you loved it – thanks Laura!
The best rice pudding I’ve ever had. So delicious.
I made this dessert as the 2nd recipe to try in my new instant pot Ultra. We loved it!! I even had to take out the eggs because my husband is very allergic to eggs.i stirred 1 tablespoon of cornstarch into the milk before adding the milks & vanilla & sugar mixtures. Worked fabulously!!! Eating this chilled w the crushed pineapple and toasted coconut was divine. (P.s. I also cooked the rice an extra 2 minutes to insure no hard grains.) Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for sharing your changes Michele – glad it was a big hit!
Made this tonight. It was verrrrry yummy though next time I will reduce the sugar a bit. Not being a big sugar eater, I find it a little too sweet but, nevertheless, it’ll all be eaten. Now to hold myself off from eating all of it tonight!! Thanks for a really great recipe.
Thanks Leslie – glad you enjoyed it! Definitely adjust the sweetness to your taste next time.
Just curious on the nutritional info on this recipe? It’s amazing and I want to know how really bad it is for me before I attempt again (lol)
Hi Shay – like most foods it really depends on your serving size. Here’s a website I like to use to figure out the nutritional info for recipes https://www.verywell.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4129594
” 1 (8-ounce) can pineapple tidbits, well drained and cut in half”
So does that mean I only use half the can? 4oz?
Hi Richard – you cut the piece of pineapple (the tidbits) in half so you have smaller pieces that are more evenly distributed throughout the pudding.
Could you just use crushed pineapple if it is drained?
Yes, if it’s well drained that should work great.
This looks delicious. What size can of pineapple do you use?
Thanks Elsie – it’s an 8 ounce can. Enjoy!
Do you think it would still turn out okay if I omitted the eggs? For baking I typically use flax eggs, but I don’t think it would work for this. I’m a IP newbie 🙂
Hi Laureen – you could certainly thicken it with a cornstarch slurry instead of eggs. Let me know if you tried it. 🙂
I know this cannot be answered exactly, but I am blind and using an instant pot pressure cooker. I am wondering approximately how long it takes for the sauté process to reach a boil? It is not always easy to figure out that it’s boiling based on sound in the pressure cooker.
Hi Luke – In this recipe since the rice is hot and the coconut milk is room temperature, it will probably come to a boil within a few minutes. I suspect you could tell a difference in how it feels when you stir it when the pudding has thickened.
This recipe sounds awesome but my pressure cooker (Power Pressure XL) doesn’t have a saute option. Is there any other way to do this option?
Thanks Gina – if you don’t have a saute setting, you can just use one of the pressure cooking settings without putting the lid on to saute.
I just purchased a Power Pressure Cooker XL and wonder how to convert your recipes with this type of pressure cooker. I am not able to designate power nor time of cooking.
Hi Maggie – I haven’t used the Power Pressure Cooker, but I believe it automatically cooks at hight pressure and you should be able to use the Rice button and Time Adjust button to adjust the time.
Made the “Pina Colada Rice Pudding” it is great as is, but husband would like it sweeter.
Suggestion: Instead of putting the egg mixture through a fine mesh strainer, I used my immersion blender to really mix the eggs into the milk quick. I’m planning to make it with all coconut milk for a friend who can’t have dairy.
Going to trying the cream rice pudding next.
My husband likes things a little sweeter too. Glad you enjoyed the rice pudding. That’s for the great tip.
How would I alter this recipe if I have a stove top pressure cooker?
Hi Delana – your cook time should be the same with a stove top pressure cooker. Just bring it to high pressure the way you normally would.
My father-in-law has a great sweet tooth and to top off the beef stroganoff recipe tonight, I made this rice pudding. I used regular white rice because that is what I had and fresh pineapple, cut up in tidbits. It. Was. Amazing! Such a subtle pineapple taste with the coconut and so creamy! I will be making it again, but doubling it. Thank you for amazing recipes!
Thanks Julie! I love the idea of using fresh pineapple.
How fun to be in the Caribbean. Have a great time! I absolutely LOVE your rice pudding recipe and I wanted to develop a coconut one. Well, you beat me to it. I don’t need to figure it out, now, because I have no doubt here is another winner. Thanks!
Barbara, I don’t have any arborio but have sweet brown rice. How long should I cook it, do you think?
Never mind. I found a chart at: http://www.healwithfood.org/chart/how-long-rice-pressure-cooker.php. I’ll do some experimenting. Thanks!
Phantastic photography, Barbara! Those photos say it all! You managed to get flavor into them as well. I will have to quadruple the recipe and it will be on our menu this week.
By the way, what size can of pineapple tidbits are you using?
I forgot to ask if you drained the pineapple tidbits or included the juice in the pudding. Thank you.
The pineapple is drained and I did not use the juice because I didn’t want the pineapple to overwhelm the coconut flavor.
Thanks Rita – an 8 ounce can.
Thank you, Barbara. I just have to pick up the pineapple and I’m good to go.
so ..i have a question…the time for 3 minutes..is that on an electric cooker..or…
What is the timing for a fissler on the stove….wait until it hits pressure and then 3 minutes?????
thanks!
Yes, start timing when the pressure cooker reaches high pressure.
That looks delicious Barbara…..I love rice pudding and those pina colada additions would make it even better.
Have a wonderful time in the Caribbean!