What can I make with coconut?
Coconut is not only for dessert - it balances salt, chilli, and fat in savoury cooking too. Below are recipes using coconut, then ideas for fruit that is slightly past its best.
12 recipes with coconut
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
Sweet and savoury ways to use coconut
- 1Raw: a squeeze of citrus and a pinch of salt makes coconut taste noticeably brighter.
- 2Roasted or pan-caramelised with a little butter, the sugars concentrate and it turns into a dessert on its own.
- 3Blended into a dressing or sauce, coconut balances chilli, vinegar, and salty cheese.
- 4Overripe fruit is not waste - it is the best candidate for baking, smoothies, and quick compotes.
What goes well with coconut
Coconut is at its best with cinnamon, honey, yogurt, lemon, butter and oats. Any two or three of those, plus coconut, is already a dinner rather than an ingredient list.
Storing coconut
Ripen coconut on the counter, then move it to the fridge to slow things down. Keep it away from bananas and apples, which release ethylene and speed everything nearby toward overripe. Freeze pieces on a tray for smoothies.
Substituting coconut
If you are out of coconut, 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.
Coconut recipes: common questions
- What can I make with coconut and not much else?
- Plenty. With coconut 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 coconut 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 coconut?
- 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 coconut?
- Fried rice, a frittata, a grain bowl, a soup, or a quesadilla will absorb almost any leftover coconut 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.