What can I make with canned coconut milk?
Canned Coconut Milk is what makes a sauce feel finished, as long as it does not split. Recipes using canned coconut milk are below, followed by the temperature rules that keep it smooth.
12 recipes with canned coconut milk
Golden Milk
Warm turmeric-spiced milk for wind-down.
Indian8m2
Laksa
Spicy coconut curry noodle soup with shrimp and tofu puffs.
Malaysian30m4
Thai Green Curry
Coconut-rich green curry with chicken, bamboo shoots, and Thai basil.
Thai30m4
Massaman Curry
Rich, mildly spiced curry with beef, potatoes, and peanuts.
Thai105m6
Tom kha gai
step 1 Pour the chicken stock and coconut milk into a large saucepan set over a medium heat.
Thai4
Thai coconut & veg broth
step 1 Place the curry paste in a large saucepan or wok with the oil.
Thai4
Thai pork & peanut curry
step 1 Heat the oil in a large saucepan or flameproof casserole.
Thai4
Thai curry noodle soup
step 1 Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat and cook the curry paste for 1 min before adding the stir-fry veg and prawns.
Thai4
Red curry chicken kebabs
step 1 Fire up the barbecue or heat a griddle pan to high.
Thai4
Laos Plantain Coconut Bake (Flourless Muffin)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4
Thai pumpkin soup
step 1 Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
Thai4
Venezuelan Coconut Chicken
Cut the chicken up into bite size pieces.
Venezuela4
Cooking with canned coconut milk without splitting or clumping
- 1Bring canned coconut milk closer to room temperature before it meets heat; cold dairy in a hot pan is what curdles.
- 2Add it off the heat or on the lowest setting, stirring constantly.
- 3A teaspoon of flour or cornstarch stabilises a sauce and keeps it glossy.
- 4Salt and acid go in at the end - both encourage splitting when added early.
What goes well with canned coconut milk
Canned Coconut Milk is at its best with garlic, herbs, lemon, flour, black pepper and nutmeg. Any two or three of those, plus canned coconut milk, is already a dinner rather than an ingredient list.
Storing canned coconut milk
Keep canned coconut milk in the main body of the fridge, not the door, where the temperature swings most. Wrap cheese in paper rather than plastic so it can breathe. Hard cheeses freeze acceptably for cooking; fresh dairy does not freeze well.
Substituting canned coconut milk
If you are out of canned coconut milk, look for something that behaves the same way in the pan rather than something that tastes the same. Match the moisture level, the cooking time, and the richness, and adjust the liquid slightly if your substitute releases more water. When in doubt, describe what you actually have in the chat and Mr. Chef will rewrite the recipe around it.
Canned Coconut Milk recipes: common questions
- What can I make with canned coconut milk and not much else?
- Plenty. With canned coconut milk plus an onion, garlic, oil, and salt you already have the base of a skillet dinner, a soup, or a simple sauce. Add a starch - rice, pasta, bread, or potatoes - and it becomes a full meal. The recipes above are ordered so the ones needing the fewest extra items come first.
- What is the quickest canned coconut milk recipe?
- Look for the entries above marked 20 minutes or less. As a rule, anything cut small and cooked in a hot pan beats anything roasted whole, and one-pan recipes save more time in cleanup than in cooking.
- Can I substitute canned coconut milk?
- In most recipes yes, as long as the replacement plays a similar role - similar moisture, similar cooking time, similar richness. Swapping across roles (a watery vegetable for a starchy one, for instance) usually needs a change in liquid or cooking time too.
- How do I use up leftover canned coconut milk?
- Fried rice, a frittata, a grain bowl, a soup, or a quesadilla will absorb almost any leftover canned coconut milk without a recipe. If you want something specific, tell Mr. Chef exactly what is in the fridge and it will build a recipe around it.