Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot Coconut Rice
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.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
- Pressure Cooker Beef Curry
- Instant Pot Butter Chicken
- Pork Teriyaki Rice Bowls from Barbara Bakes
- Rumbi Rice Bowls with Spicy Hawaiian Teriyaki Sauce from Favorite Family Recipes
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
- Overview of How to Cook Rice in Instant Pot
- Instant Pot 3-Minute White Rice
- Instant Pot Brown Rice
- Pressure Cooker Pink Rice
- Forbidden Black Rice in Instant Pot
Best Instant Pot Side Dish Recipes with Rice and Grains
- Pressure Cooker Wild Rice and Farro Pilaf
- Instant Pot 15 Cajun Bean Soup with Rice
- Pressure Cooker Mexican Green Rice
- Instant Pot Saffron Risotto
- Roasted Cauliflower Barley Risotto
Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot Coconut Rice
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
- Rinse rice in cool water until the water runs clear. Drain the rice in a colander or sieve.
- Add the rice, coconut milk, water, sugar, and salt to the pressure cooker pot. Stir. Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and 3 minutes cook time.
- When the cook time ends, allow the pressure to release naturally for 7 minutes, then finish with a quick pressure release.
- Carefully remove the lid and fluff the rice with a fork.
- Spoon the rice into a serving bowl. Sprinkle with toasted coconut before serving, if desired.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount 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.
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Hi, thank you for the recipe. I made it tonight and it turned out perfectly. I was a little worried after reading some of the comments that it would not work with the coconut milk I had (Trader Joes brand), but it turned out great! I love cold rice with light cream, sugar, cinnamon, and dried cherries for breakfast, and I think the coconut rice will taste really good.
Thanks Martha! Sounds like an awesome way to serve the leftovers.
Wow! I tried this tonight and it was perfect. I can’t believe it was so easy! I want to try it with brown rice and some herbs next time.
Thanks Stacey – so nice to hear you loved it! Brown rice requires a little more water and a longer cook time. https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-brown-rice-and-a-giveaway/
It is the sugar that makes it stick to the bottom of the instant pot and creates the “burn” warning. Be sure to fully dissolve the sugar in the water or the coconut milk before adding-or just omit it—the rice tastes just as good without it!
Followed the directions exactly and got a burn error before the pot came to pressure. I didn’t have the same brand of coconut milk as the one in the recipe but I’ve used different brands when making coconut rice on the stop top and never had a problem before so I’m not sure why the brand would matter. I might try again but put pam in the pot first or use more water.
Hi Jessie – what brand did you use? I’d like to check other brands to see what additional ingredients may be in the coconut milk.
Do I need to adjust anything if doubling or 1.5X the recipe?
Hi Shaun – no changes to cook time or steps are necessary when doubling or 1.5x the recipe.
Just tried to make this, I got a “burn” message pretty quickly in a couple minutes.
Turned the rice off the high pressure that your recipe stated to use and waited a couple minutes and used the regular rice setting.
The rice turned out okay but burnt and hard on the bottom where the rice had contact with the pot.
I would recommended to people that want to try this, don’t do the three minutes on high.
Save yourself some drama and just use the rice setting!
Otherwise the rice has a good flavor, minus the burnt parts.
Hi Rachel – sorry you had trouble with the recipe. What brand of coconut milk do you use?
Hi, I have made this recipe many times and love it! I was wondering if you want to double it if you keep the cooking time the same?
Thanks Ashleigh! You can double it without changing the cook time.
Barbara-
I have made rice using many different cooking times and I admit that I was skeptical with the times used in this recipe…and I just made this recipe and it came out perfectly. I only had low fat coconut milk in my pantry and it still came out delicious. I can’t wait to try it with full fat coconut milk! Thank you! Keep up the strong work!💪
Thanks! Nice to hear it works well with low fat coconut milk as well.
Do I need to adjust the time if I’m using a 6-quart instead of an 8-quart Instant Pot?
Hi Caitlin – no, all my recipes are created using a 6-quart Instant Pot.
I followed the recipe exactly and it came out perfect! Such a creamy, delicate coconut flavored rice that could go with many different cuisines. I served it last night with spicy shrimp tacos. Delicious!
Thanks Glinda – glad it was perfect for you too! That sounds like a great way to serve it.
We love coconut rice….can’t wait to try it in the pressure cooker. 🙂
I’ll look forward to hearing how you like the pressure cooker version.
Would it be better to use the rice program on my instant pot or should I still use pressure cook on high? Looking forward to trying this!
Hi Marna – I prefer using pressure cook on high rather than the rice program. Enjoy!
It was delicious and turned out perfect! Thanks for sharing.
That’s great to hear – thanks for the update.
mine turned out mushy and watery:(
Hi Melissa – sorry you had problems with the recipe. What type of rice and brand of coconut milk did you use?
I made this exactly as stated and it turned out perfectly! Nothing burned, rice was perfect consistency. Tastes incredible. Thank you!
Thanks Sophia! So glad it was a hit. I’ve never had problems with it either.
Made it exactly as recipe instructs and had no issues with burning or hard rice. Served with ham and pineapple skewers for a quick Polynesian-ish dinner. Will definitely be making this recipe again and again!
Thanks Wendy! It sounds like a great way to serve it.
Was nervous about trying this due to the multiple ‘burn’ comments but as Barbara stated, it turned out perfectly! Added some mango as per another comment and true to form it was delish!
It sounds like the perfect way to serve it. Thanks Monika!
Didn’t work for me. I got hard rice that was burned at the bottom. I’m not sure there was enough liquid for the rice to fully cook. Next time I’m going to try it with more water.
Hi Melissa – sorry you had trouble with it. What kind of coconut milk did you use? Did you have a good seal? Did see steam releasing from the sides of the lid while it was cooking?
Same here. I followed the recipe exactly and got the burn error on my instant pot. I finished cooking it on the stove.
And I use the instant pot all the time. There was nothing wrong with the seal or anything.
Are you using an 8-quart pressure cooker?
This turned out great! Thank you!
Great – thanks Aubri!
This was absolutely glorious. The consistency and taste was exactly like sticky rice – my favorite Thai dessert – and I just so happened to be cutting a mango when I opened up my pot and saw the magic that was made. I had a delicious late night snack 🙂 looking forward to eating it tomorrow with chicken tikka masala.
I ended up using two cups of rice so I just added another half cup of water. It was the perfect ratio.
It sounds like a great way to serve it Sofiya. Thanks for sharing your two cup version.
Is this sweetened or unsweetened coconut milk?
Thanks for all you do!
Shelly
Thanks Shelly! Unsweetened coconut milk in a can https://www.walmart.com/ip/Thai-Kitchen-Gluten-Free-Unsweetened-Coconut-Milk-13-66-fl-oz/10309672
Hi, there! I am doubling this recipe for a dinner tonight. Do I still do it for the same length of time? Thank you!
Hi Kristie – the cook time will be the same when doubling it. Enjoy!
Love this recipe! I make my Uncles homemade Hawaiian teriyaki sauce to pour over, or with chicken. It’s my favorite meal!
How long would cook time be if I doubled the recipe?
Sounds like a great way to serve it Susie! The cook time is the same when you double the recipe.
I made this for the second time yesterday. What an easy, delicious recipe. I made Korean beef to go over it yesterday. Everybody liked this combination.
Thanks Deez! That does sound like a great combo.
This recipe was amazing! I topped the coconut rice with some crispy shallots. Love love love.
Great – thanks Liz!
How many servings does this yield?
Hi Cheryl – 6 servings
How long if I don’t have natural release? Mine has a manual release on top
Hi Shavon – a natural release is the easiest release of all because you don’t need to push a button or turn a valve. The pressure releases all by itself. Here’s more info https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/quick-pressure-release-or-natural-pressure-release/
I have tried this recipe twice, however, both times the instant pot ends up saying “burn” so I have to cancel and the rice is somewhat burnt to the bottom. What am I doing wrong so I can prevent this from happening. I am following the recipe and instructions exactly.
Hi Brandon – are you using unsweetened coconut milk? Here’s an article about it https://www.thekitchn.com/mistakes-to-avoid-with-canned-coconut-milk-261134 Are you getting a good seal? Do you see steam coming from around the edges of the lid?
Anyone know the adjustment for using brown rice in this recipe? TIA 🙂
Just combine the two recipes https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-brown-rice-and-a-giveaway/
I’ve tried to make this rice twice. Every time I do I get the burn notification and it won’t come to pressure. I even bought a nonstick pot to try and stop it from burning but that didn’t work. Please help. I love coconut.
Sorry you’re having trouble Simone. Are you sure you have a good seal and aren’t losing a lot of liquid as it cooks? One alternative is to cook it pot in pot. Put all the ingredients in a pot, add one cup of water to the pressure cooking pot, put a rack in the pot, put the pan with the rice ingredients on the rack and cook for the recommended time.
This happened to me too. I finally found a way to make it work. I add 1/4 cup extra of water. And be sure to use lite coconut milk not full fat. When doubling the recipe I used 1/2 cup extra of water and it came to pressure just fine. Tastes yummy!!
I love this recipe! Can I make this in advance and reheat? I am serving Thai beef stew over the rice for a women’s dinner party. thanks for your help.
Hi Kathy – yes, I’ve had good luck reheating this rice. Just add a little bit of water when reheating it so it steams it. Sounds like a delicious combo.
Thanks so much I’m planning to make the rice a few hours early and then put in the microwave when ready to serve!
I made coconut rice following a similar recipe without sugar in my instant pot. I have also found this burn message coming up. I have an 8 quart instant pot, and also noticed that the coconut milk brand I used contained guar guam. Would either/both of these factors have contributed to the burn notice? I have found burn coming up also when I made a bolognese risotto with tomato base sauce. Thanks for your time! Many great recipes I am keen to try here!
Hi Sara – thanks for the info. It’s probably not enough thin liquid for the 8-quart pressure cooker that’s causing the problem rather than the sugar or the guar gum. I wonder if you could simply double the recipe when cooking it in the 8 quarts and that would solve the problem? The same with the risotto recipe, you may need to add more water.
Most pressure cooker recipes, including mine, are created for a 6-quart pressure cooker, so adjustments may need to be made when cooking in the 8-quart pressure cooker. Keeping a notebook will be helpful to record any changes you made. Have fun!
Hey Barbara. I just bought a power cooker and accidentally came upon your website. Oh my goodness; I’ve got this thing running a few hours a day trying all of your great recipes. With Christmas coming up, any suggestions for a light colored fruit cake recipe? Many thanks!!
Hi David – how fun! I’m glad you accidentally stumbled on my site. I haven’t done a fruit cake, but it should be similar to this steamed pudding. https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/steamed-carrot-pudding-cake/
Can you use parboiled rice in this recipe? Any adjustments needed?
Hi Karen – I haven’t tried it with parboiled rice. You may need less water and less time. Let me know if you try it.
Just cooked this using basmati rice and it turned out perfect. Will go nicely with my chicken tikka masala. Thank you very much!
Just stopping by to say that I made this recipe tonight using regular, long-grain rice, and it was an absolute hit! It turned out moist, fluffy, and perfect! YOU ARE SO AWESOME, BARBARA! 😀
I need help scaling up!!! I want to make this with 2.5 cups of rice. Any advice on how much coconut milk and water I should use? TIA!
Hi Julie – it would be easier just to double the recipe and make 3 cups of rice. But if you only have 2.5 cups of rice, I would try using 1.5 cans of coconut milk.
THANKS!! Sometimes doubling liquids with rice makes a soppy mess so I wasn’t sure. I will just double and eat the leftovers 🙂
I followed the recipe to the t. It stuck to the bottom and the rice wasnt cooked all the way. I put the lid back on and cooked it some more and it came out wonderful. I did loose some from the sticking but the rice I got off the top was delicious. I think I will try the rice setting next time.
Thanks Jessica – glad you enjoyed the rice. Sounds like you didn’t have enough liquid. Perhaps you lost some when the pressure cooker was coming to pressure? Maybe the valve wasn’t closed initially, or your seal wasn’t quite right. Or, perhaps the can of coconut milk you used was thicker and didn’t have as much liquid?
I doubled the recipe and had the same problem. In addition my pot never came up to pressure. I checked the seal. It was fine. I had to open it stir it and scrape from the bottom. I also added a half more cup of water. Still never came up to pressure. I think coconut milk is just too thick. 30 min later it was cooked and tasted great but the bottom was scorched and it never did come to pressure. Maybe this recipe would work better wth the PIP method?
Hi Valerie – sorry you had troubles with the recipe. What brand of coconut milk did you use? Perhaps that is the difference. You could certainly make it PIP if you prefer.
Hokan
Thanks for the follow up. I haven’t seen that brand at my market. The brand I used was Thai Kitchen.
If I use a Pyrex glass bowl in a trivet and put a cup of water in the pot would I have to adjust the time? I’ve heard using a glass bowl may take longer but not sure how much time to adjust too.
When I’ve cooked white rice pot in pot, I used a 5 minute cook time. I haven’t tried it with this recipe, but that would be a good starting point. Let me know how it goes 🙂
So I did 5 minutes with 10 minute natural pressure release and it was still soupy. Did another 5 minutes and quick release and still not quite ready. Did another 3 minutes with 10 minute natural release and it finally was done. It did not stick to the bowl. It was very good. Used same brand of coconut milk. Maybe next time I’ll try a stainless steel dessert pan and see if that makes a difference in the cook time.
Thanks for the update!
Is the cup of rice the cup that came with instant pot? Or, is it actually 1 real cup of rice?
Hi Rochelle – it’s an actual cup of rice. Enjoy!
Hi, I made this today with brown jasmine rice, and followed your advice to add 1/4 cup additional water. I used light coconut milk and put my Instant Pot on manual for 24 minutes with NPR, it came out perfect. I also added about 1 tsp of oil (I do that for rice to keep down foaming, although it might not have needed it with the coconut milk. Everyone loved it! This recipe is a keeper, thank you Barbara!
Thanks for the update Paula! So glad it all worked out and you loved it.
Love your recipes in my Instant Pot. A question – how would I adapt the time if I make this with brown rice instead of white? (I have brown jasmine rice)
Thanks so much Paula! I would use the cook time for brown rice https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-brown-rice-and-a-giveaway/ and add probably 1/4 cup more water. Let me know how it goes. 🙂
I’m trying it right now! My Instant Pot has a rice setting so I’m using that. I hope it turns out!
I live in Costa Rica, where most of the rice is medium grain. How should I modify the time on long grain recipes like this one?
Hi Jane – as long as it’s a white rice, I think your cook time should be the same.
Hi Miss Barbara
I LOVE the recipes you post. I have always wanted to make this. I always read the comments to see what people think or changed and saw one about the pot not coming to pressure due to making another dish prior to this one. Didn’t pay attention to it too much. I made chicken thighs in a bottled marinade and then made this rice. Instead of water I used Swanson’s Thai Ginger broth for the 1/2 cup of water. I did not watch it and it never “sealed” and when it finished, there was rice burned to the bottom of the pot and it wasn’t cooked completely.
Let me tell you with that broth, it adds a little bit of spice. I was still eating the kinda cooked rice. I was not defeated! I cleaned the pot and rinsed the ring in cool water. I followed your recipe EXACTLY (except I did 4 minutes) and it is amazing! I can only hope there is some left for the chicken!!
Thanks so much Michelle – that’s always so nice to hear. I’m going to have to find some Thai Ginger broth and give that a try. Glad you enjoyed the rice 🙂
UPDATE – I made this yesterday EXACTLY as posted (I only added the extra minute because I have had bad experience with the tenderness of rice) – it was STILL amazing and tonight I am throwing some of the leftovers in my taco salad!
My daughter likes to add one minute to her rice too. She’s at a little higher altitude that I am.
??did not work for me.
The instant pot beeped….I don’t know the right word ….and the manual says that the pot is too hot. The rice stuck to the bottom.
All the best,
Alice
I made the coconut rice, or tried to, in my instant pot. I used regular white rice because I didn’t have the Jasmine rice, all else I did exactly as the recipe called for. The problem is my Instant pot didn’t seem to come to pressure. which is weird because I cooked chicken moments before in the same pot and had no issue with it. Do you think I needed more water? The pot switched to warm after the 3 minutes I let it go for the 7 min….there was no steam to release and the rice was very nearly cooked through….any thoughts? Oh, and I used a premium coconut milk….so do you think it may have been too thick?
I think you got a great answer from the Instant Pot Community – “My instant pot was used and then I immediately started another recipe. The silicone ring had slightly stretched and wasn’t fitting tight enough. I pulled it out. Washed it in cool water. Replaced, Then it worked.” Sounds like this was your problem as well. Thanks for the question.
yep, I sure did …thanks….even half cooked…this recipe was wonderful!
Can this be done with brown rice? I imagine it would take longer…any guesstimates?
Hi Caitlin – yes I think it would work well with brown rice. Here’s a link to the brown rice recipe. I think the cook time would be the same 22 minutes. https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/2012/11/pressure-cooker-brown-rice-and-a-giveaway/ Thanks for the question.
Thank you Barbara, I will! I’m trying it this weekend. I’m having my sister over who is a new Instant Pot owner, and I want to get her hooked… 🙂
I made this recipe minutes ago. Thank you so much. It’s wonderful. I am trying not to eat it all while I wait for our coconut-lime chicken legs to come out of the oven. I have pinned a whole bunch of your recipes to my pressure cooker page. One question: I have a large family (4 growing boys!) to cook for. If I double this recipe, how to do I adjust the time? I’ve only been using the pressure cooker for a year or two and haven’t tried many adjustments. Thank you! Loving your site.
Thanks Amy! What a sweet comment. I often double my rice recipes and use the same cook time and get perfect results.
Looks so good! I do not have a pressure cooker but own a rice cooker. Do you think this recipe would work in a rice cooker? Obviously it would not take only 3 mins to cook though.
Thanks Hannah. Yes, I think you could make the recipe in your rice cooker, but you’d have to adjust the water/coconut milk so the ratio of rice to liquid is right for your rice cooker. And then use their recommended cook time for Jasmine rice.
This looks delicious Barbara. I love to cook coconut rice in the pressure cooker too! It’s the perfect texture.
You are the best! YUM!
haha, I have coconut rice going up next week! We are thinking on the same page! Love your pretty photos.