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Ingredient

Coconut milk

Cocos nucifera

Coconut milk is extracted from the coconut kernel and has a creamy texture. Cooks use it in stews, and it pairs with rice, coffee, and seafood. It is sold canned.

Made from
Coconut
Part used
Kernel
Family
Arecaceae
Texture
Creamy
Cooked most in
Asia, Africa, The Americas
Top country
Indonesia
Coconut milk, packaged

Photo: Meursault2004 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

In the kitchen

How to use coconut milk

Typical ways to cook or use it

  • Stew

Preparing it

Canned coconut milk can separate, leaving a thicker layer at the top.

Cooking with it

It begins to coagulate at 80 °C; keep it below that temperature when pasteurizing.

Goes well with

Flavour

Taste and texture

Texture

  • Creamy

Shopping

Choosing and storing coconut milk

Sold as
Canned

Nutrition

What 100 g of coconut milk holds

Per 100 g, raw. Averages from USDA; real values vary by variety, season and growing conditions.

Protein 7%Fat 75%Carbohydrate 17%of the macronutrients by weight

Nutrition per 100 g of coconut milk, raw
Energy230 kcal · 962 kJ
Protein2.3 g
Fat24 g
of which saturated21 g
Carbohydrate5.5 g
of which sugars3.3 g
Fibre2.2 g
Sodium15 mg
Cholesterol0 mg
Nutrition per 100 g of coconut milk, raw: minerals and vitamins
Potassium263 mg
Calcium16 mg
Iron1.6 mg
Magnesium37 mg
Zinc0.67 mg
Vitamin C2.8 mg
Folate16 µg
Canned

Protein 8%Fat 82%Carbohydrate 11%of the macronutrients by weight

Nutrition per 100 g of coconut milk, canned
Energy197 kcal · 824 kJ
Protein2 g
Fat21 g
of which saturated19 g
Carbohydrate2.8 g
Sodium13 mg
Cholesterol0 mg
Nutrition per 100 g of coconut milk, canned: minerals and vitamins
Potassium220 mg
Calcium18 mg
Iron3.3 mg
Magnesium46 mg
Zinc0.56 mg
Vitamin C1 mg
Folate14 µg

Source: USDA FoodData Central (foods 170172, 170173), public domain. Minerals and vitamins are listed only where USDA measured a non-zero amount.

Around the world

Where coconut milk is cooked

164 dishes in the catalogue use coconut milk. Here is where they come from.

Dishes by continent

Countries whose dishes use it most

Counts are catalogued dishes from each country that list coconut milk among their ingredients.

On the table

Dishes made with coconut milk

48 of the 164 catalogued dishes that use it, spread across the countries they come from.

  • Coto makassar

    Indonesia

  • Laksa

    Iran

  • Bakpia

    China, Indonesia

  • Appam

    India, Sri Lanka

  • Sahoaba

    Madagascar

  • Evil jungle prince

    United States

  • Pelau

    Dominica, Guadeloupe, Trinidad and Tobago

  • Khanom thuai

    Thailand

  • Matapa

    Mozambique

  • Sombi

    Senegal

  • Kalamay

    Philippines

  • Matang satay

    Indonesia

  • Red curry

    Thailand

  • Klatak Satay

    Indonesia

  • Otak-otak

    Indonesia

  • Nasi gandul

    Indonesia

  • Soto Betawi

    Indonesia

  • Nasi langgi

    Indonesia

  • Nasi lapola

    Indonesia

  • Sambal lingkung

    Indonesia

  • Tongseng

    Indonesia

  • Ketupat gulai kapau

    Indonesia

  • Jepara grilled opor

    Indonesia

  • Mi Gomak

    Indonesia

  • Panada

    Indonesia

  • Rendang lokan

    Indonesia

  • Tambunsu curry

    Indonesia

  • Timphan

    Indonesia

  • Beef gulai

    Indonesia

  • Bika Ambon

    Indonesia

  • Empal gepuk

    Indonesia

  • Es Pisang Ijo

    Indonesia

  • Garang Asem

    Indonesia

  • Jalangkote

    Indonesia

  • Nasi kebuli

    Indonesia

  • Empal gentong

    Indonesia

  • Eungkot Paya

    Indonesia

  • Ketupat betumis

    Indonesia

  • Komoh

    Indonesia

  • Sari pengantin

    Indonesia

  • Baayak Porridge

    Indonesia

  • Beef tendon curry

    Indonesia

  • Dadar gulung

    Indonesia

  • Gandasturi

    Indonesia

  • Gudeg

    Indonesia

  • Kue muso

    Indonesia

  • Putri mandi

    Indonesia

  • Rempeyek

    Indonesia

Dish lists come from Wikidata; a dish counts when its recorded ingredients include coconut milk.

Good to know

Diet and allergens: coconut milk in detail

These notes describe the plain ingredient. Packaged and prepared products vary, so read the label; for allergies and medical diets ask a doctor or dietitian.
Animal origin
No animal ingredients foundChecked and not found: egg, fish, meat, dairy, honey, insect, poultry, shellfish, other animal.
Caffeine
None

Family

Related forms

Made from
coconut (extracted), coconut (crushed, extracted), coconut (extracted, pressed)

Cooked together

Ingredients that go into the same catalogued dishes.
Photo credits for this page (12)

Around the world

What coconut milk is called

Names in 77 languages, from Wikidata.

  • Spanish

    leche de coco · bebida de coco

  • French

    lait de coco · Miti haari · Haari

  • Italian

    latte di cocco

  • Portuguese

    leite de coco

  • German

    Kokosmilch · Kokosnussmilch

  • Dutch

    klappermelk · Kokosmelk

  • Greek

    Γάλα καρύδας

  • Turkish

    hindistan cevizi sütü

  • Russian

    кокосовое молоко

  • Polish

    mleczko kokosowe · mleko kokosowe · mleko palmowe

  • Arabic

    حليب جوز الهند

  • Persian

    شیر نارگیل

Show all 77 languages

  • Afrikaans

    Klappermelk

  • Albanian

    Qumeshti i kokosit

  • Armenian

    Կոկոսի կաթ

  • Assamese

    নাৰিকলৰ গাখীৰ

  • Asturian

    Lleche de cocu

  • Austrian German

    Kokosmilch · Kokosnussmilch

  • Bangla

    নারকেল দুধ

  • Basque

    Koko-esne

  • Belarusian

    Какосавае малако

  • Belarusian (Taraskievica orthography)

    какосавае малако

  • Betawi

    santen

  • Bikol

    Guta

  • Bulgarian

    Кокосово мляко

  • Burmese

    အုန်းနို့

  • Cantonese

    椰汁

  • Catalan

    llet de coco

  • Cebuano

    Gata · Coconut milk

  • Central Dusun

    santan

  • Chinese

    椰漿 · 椰奶

  • Croatian

    Kokosovo mlijeko

  • Czech

    kokosové mléko

  • Danish

    kokosmælk

  • Esperanto

    kokoslakto

  • Estonian

    Kookospiim

  • Filipino

    Gata

  • Finnish

    kookosmaito

  • Galician

    Leite de coco

  • Hausa

    Madara ta kwakwa

  • Hebrew

    חלב קוקוס

  • Hindi

    नारियल का दूध

  • Hungarian

    kókusztej

  • Iban

    Santan

  • Igbo

    Mmiri akị bekee

  • Indonesian

    Santan · sari kelapa

  • Japanese

    ココナッツミルク · ココナツミルク · ココナッツ・ミルク · ココナッツクリーム

  • Javanese

    Santen

  • Kannada

    ತೆಂಗಿನ ಹಾಲು

  • kge

    Pati Nyiwi

  • Korean

    코코넛 밀크

  • Latin

    Lac cocois

  • Latvian

    kokosriekstu piens

  • Lithuanian

    Kokosų pienas · Kokosų grietinėlė

  • Macedonian

    Кокосово млеко

  • Malagasy

    Ronono voanio

  • Malay

    santan · santan kelapa

  • Malayalam

    തേങ്ങാപ്പാൽ

  • Māori

    Roro (kai)

  • Minangkabau

    santan · sari karambia

  • Norwegian Bokmål

    kokosmelk

  • Norwegian Nynorsk

    Kokosmjølk

  • Odia

    ନଡ଼ିଆ କ୍ଷୀର · ନଡ଼ିଆ ରସ

  • Punjabi

    ਨਾਰੀਅਲ ਦਾ ਦੁੱਧ

  • rki

    အုန်းနို့

  • Romanian

    lapte de cocos · lapte din nucă de cocos · băutură vegetală din cocos

  • Serbian

    Кокосово млеко

  • Shan

    ၼမ်ႉၼူမ်းမၢၵ်ႇဢုၼ်

  • Simplified Chinese

    椰浆 · 椰奶

  • Slovak

    kokosové mlieko

  • Slovenian

    kokosovo mleko

  • Sundanese

    cipati

  • Swedish

    kokosmjölk

  • Swiss High German

    Kokosmilch · Kokosnussmilch

  • Tamil

    தேங்காய்ப்பால்

  • Telugu

    కొబ్బరిపాలు

  • Thai

    กะทิ · มิลค์ · กระทิ

  • Traditional Chinese

    椰漿

  • Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong SAR China)

    椰漿

  • Ukrainian

    кокосове молоко

  • Vietnamese

    nước cốt dừa · sữa dừa · nước dừa

  • Waray

    Hatok

  • Western Panjabi

    ناریل دا دُدھ

Photos

More photos of coconut milk

Sources and credits

Data

Wikidata item: Q841779

Photos

Photo: Meursault2004 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Photo: COYO Australia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Photo: Miansari66 · CC0 1.0 · Wikimedia Commons