Coconut Quinoa
Published 3/8/2020 • Updated 7/9/2023
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Coconut quinoa is a sweet and creamy way to serve quinoa and pairs quite nicely with bowls, stir fry, or curry.
A Spin on Coconut Rice!
Coconut quinoa is the new coconut rice. We love how sweet and creamy coconut quinoa is and how great it pairs with dishes such as curries and stir-fries.
Coconut quinoa is made with just a few ingredients — uncooked quinoa , full-fat coconut milk, and water making this recipe a winner.
In addition, it comes together on the stovetop in no time! Make a double or triple batch for the whole week. I promise you’ll want to gobble it up.
What You Need
Full-Fat Coconut Milk: We like to use full-fat coconut milk for our coconut quinoa because it offers the best flavor and the best creamy texture. Other coconut milks that would work are below!
Quinoa: we recommend white quinoa for this recipe, but you can get by with red or tri-colored too!
Sweetener: Maple syrup is one of our favorite natural sweeteners. We love the flavor the maple gives the coconut quinoa. However, feel free to use honey or agave as a sweetener substitute!
How to Make it
- lace coconut milk, water, maple syrup, and quinoa into a saucepan.
- Bring it to a boil over high heat.
- Turn the heat to low, cover the saucepan, and let the quinoa cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the quinoa is cooked.
Why is my coconut quinoa watery?
There are a couple of reasons your coconut quinoa could be watery…
- You didn’t measure correctly. Make sure your quinoa-to-liquid ratio is 1:2 cups.
- The coconut quinoa isn’t done cooking.
- Sometimes quinoa doesn’t cook correctly if it’s old and expired, so be sure to check the expiration date of your quinoa!
Serving Suggestions
We love serving our coconut quinoa with Asian-inspired dishes that have a little kick (just like our Thai Coconut Quinoa Bowls!). But feel free to serve it with whatever you’d like. Here are a few more ideas:
- As a side for this General Tso’s Cauliflower
- Replace the grits with coconut quinoa for this cajun shrimp
- Serve coconut quinoa with this Korean Beef
Make it dessert!
We know this coconut quinoa is delicious served next to a savory meal, but a little secret from us – we love it as dessert too!
Drizzle on a bit more maple syrup and a dash of cinnamon and it’s just divine.
Easy Coconut Quinoa
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 15 oz. canned full-fat coconut milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup, or more, to taste
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a medium size pot.
- Bring to a rolling boil over medium/high heat.
- Once boiling, reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for around 20 minutes or until the liquid has absorbed and the quinoa has fully cooked.
Tips & Notes
- Nutrition Information includes full-fat coconut milk
- This recipe was updated on March 6, 2020.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Is the quinoa supposed to be hard😂 what did I do wrong?
Hi there. I’m new with quinoa and am
Looking for a way to eliminate the bitter aftertaste of simple boiled quinoa. Does the coconut milk mask the aftertaste?
Hi Delaine! You can try rinsing your quinoa before boiling. That should do it!
Could you make rice the same way? I’m the only person in my family who will eat quinoa but everyone likes rice!!
Yes, absolutely!
Has anyone tried this recipe with Coconut Nectar instead of Maple Syrup? I’m going to try it and see how it tastes. Coconut nectar is a nice healthy alternative to syrup i think
If Glamour magazine said it, then it MUST be true!! I am obsessed with coconut everything – water, rice, body wash… might as well add it to my quinoa too!
LOL. At first I thought you meant that you eat body wash. I was a little concerned 😛
This looks so delicious!! I love making bowls during the week – they’re easy and so healthy! I top this with some roasted chickpeas ?? But I pretty much top everything with roasted chickpeas sooo….
Roasted chick peas are THE BESTTTTT. What spices do you usually use?
Usually just a little garlic powder, onion powder, and a touch of cayenne pepper for that heat? I have maple cinnamon on my to-do list, though!
Mmmm… I can’t wait to try this with your honey sriracha chicken! Coconut & sriracha are about my 2 favorite things ever!
p.s. I did you full-body chair workout from your workouts to do in 2016 post and LOVED it! The no-crunch ab burner is on my list of things to do today 🙂
YES, the honey sriracha chicken would be AMAZING with this. Glad you loved the chair workout…that one is a burner.
What a clever (and delicious) idea that can be a good swap for oatmeal, rice or porridge! YUM!
YES! Love that this can double as a dinner side or breakfast 🙂
Love this! I’ve been obsessed with coconut quinoa lately – I make it for breakfast almost every morning. I’ve never thought of adding in maple syrup though, I’ll def have to try it!
Just the right amount of sweetness to bring out dat coconutty flavor 🙂
I may never go back to regular quinoa after this!
SERIOUSLY. IT’S SO GOOD!