Coconut Rice Pudding

This super creamy Coconut Rice Pudding, that happens to be healthy and vegan too, is total comfort food with a tropical twist. Coconut milk not only makes this recipe rich and creamy, but adds that tropical taste to it, which is just enhanced with the sweet caramelised pineapple on top.

I am sure we all have happy childhood memories of rice pudding. It was always served up in the school canteen (topped with jam) and we would also open a can of it on a weekend as an after Sunday dinner treat.

We have taken a childhood classic and given it a quick and easy tropical twist with coconut and pineapple.

While we're talking about rice pudding, we have a more traditional rice pudding recipe if you prefer, or even a rice pudding made in the slow cooker.

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Why You Will Love It
Ingredients and Substitutions
How to Make Coconut Rice Pudding - Step by Step
Topping
Extra Tips
Frequently Asked Questions
More Dessert Recipes
Recipe
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Why You Will Love It

A really tasty vegan dessert
Kids will love it
Lower in sugar than most rice pudding
Easy to adapt with different toppings

Ingredients and Substitutions

All the ingredients needed for this recipe with text overlay labels.

A full ingredients list, along with US Customary and Metric measurements, can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

Rice - For the best rice pudding, use pudding rice. You can use arborio (risotto) rice.
Milk - We used a mixture of almond milk and coconut milk. You could use more coconut milk, but we find that a bit too sickly. You can swap the almond milk for dairy milk, but it wouldn't be vegan any more. We used light coconut milk, but you could use full fat.
Sugar - This is what the coconut rice pudding is sweetened with and what the pineapple is cooked in. You could use maple syrup or honey (it wouldn't be vegan any more).
Vanilla - This adds lots of flavour to the rice pudding. Use extract, not essence.
Pineapple - This is what we topped the rice pudding with. You can use any fruit though. A berry compote is good too.
Coconut - An extra sprinkling of desiccated coconut on top just finishes it all off.

More ingredient substitutions and variations can be found in the recipe card.

How to Make Coconut Rice Pudding - Step by Step

A stainless steel saucepan containing uncooked pudding rice.

Step 1: Put the rice into a pan.

Step 2: Add the coconut milk, almond milk, sugar, and vanilla extract.

a stainless steel saucepan containing cooked rice pudding.

Step 3: Put on a medium heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and gently cook for 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it is thick and creamy and the rice is tender.

a wooden chopping board with a chef's knife, chunks of pineapple and a half whole pineapple.

Step 4: While the rice is cooking, chop the pineapple into 1 inch/2cm chunks.

a frying pan containing chunks of pineapple and sugar.

Step 5: Put the pineapple and sugar into a frying pan.

a frying pan containing chunks of cooked pineapple.

Step 6: Gently heat for 10 minutes.

Coconut rice pudding in a bowl with pineapple on top

Step 7: Spoon the cooked rice pudding into bowls and top with cooked pineapple, coconut flakes and a dusting of nutmeg.

Topping

As the main flavour of the rice pudding is coconut, we wanted to stick with the tropical flavours and went with pineapple and some extra coconut. But you could really use anything.

Not a fan of pineapple? Swap it for mango and cook it in the same way. You could even caramelise some bananas to go on top.

Keep it simple and go with some homemade jam or chocolate chips, or it is good plain too. We have also topped with with peanut butter, berries, chopped nuts and pomegranate.

Extra Tips

You can swap the coconut and almond milk for any kind of milk, but it won't be as creamy.
Swap the pineapple for mango (or a combination of both). Cook it in the same way, to mix things up a bit.
You can cook this in the slow cooker on high for 2-2.5 hours, but you might need to add a little bit more milk towards the end if it is too thick.
You can freeze this in individual portions or keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days. Just make sure it has cooled completely before putting it in the fridge or freezer.

Pineapple chunks on top of a serving of rice pudding.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you freeze coconut rice pudding?

It will keep for about 2 days in the fridge (make sure it has cooled completely before putting it in the fridge). You can also freeze it in individual portions and then reheat in the microwave or on the hob after totally defrosting. It won't taste as good after it has been frozen though, but add a little water to loosen it up and make it super creamy again.

Can coconut rice pudding be cooked in a slow cooker?

Yes, you can cook this in the slow cooker, but the texture will be a bit different and a little more mushy. Simply stir everything together in the slow cooker and then cook on high for 2 - 2.5 hours stirring every hour. You may need to add a little more milk if it is too thick.

Is coconut rice pudding healthy?

Portion control is key with any dessert, and one portion of this coconut rice pudding is under 250 calories. The great thing with making it yourself, is that you can control the amount of sugar that goes into it.

More Dessert Recipes

If you’ve tried this vegan rice pudding, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
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