Delicious Coconut Rice Bowl is healthy and adaptable! Curried jasmine rice cooked in coconut milk and topped with tofu or your choice of protein and seasonal vegetables. All tossed with a simple, flavorful sauce, fresh cilantro, mint and toasted coconut flakes.
Always keep your eyes open. Keep Watching. Because whatever you see can inspire you. ~ Grace Coddington
The beauty of this Coconut Rice Bowl is that you can adapt it to seasonal veggies and use whatever protein you prefer! Here we are using tofu as our protein along with asparagus and peas in honor of Springtime. The rice is rich and delicious, cooked in coconut milk with a little curry powder giving it gorgeous color and warm flavor undertones without being overpowering, and while the rice cooks, the tofu and veggies are prepped, seared, and sautéed.
Finishing this dish with fresh mint, cilantro, lime, and the toasted coconut flakes makes the real magic in this dish! Bright herby toasty amazing flavor and texture that will completely elevate your meal. You really don’t want to leave these out!
Variations on Coconut Rice Bowls
- Rice: brown rice or white jasmine, brown or white basmati, or other grain like quinoa (follow cooking directions on package using coconut milk as part of the liquid required and the remaining with water.)
- Protein: chicken, shrimp, or even fish
- Vegetables: green beans, broccoli, snap peas, colorful bell peppers, carrots, cauliflower, spinach, shiitakes, salad turnips
Ingredients in Coconut Rice Bowls
- Jasmine Rice
- Coconut milk
- Aromatics, Herbs, and Spices: ginger, garlic, lemongrass, cilantro, mint, Yellow Curry Powder
- Protein: tofu (or chicken or shrimp)
- Vegetables: asparagus, green onions, peas (or sub broccoli, snow peas, green beans, peppers, or carrots)
- Coconut oil
- Sriracha (or sambal olek)
- Soy Sauce
- Coconut Sugar
- Toasted Coconut Flakes
- Lime Juice
How to make Coconut Rice Bowls
Step one
Cook the rice: Add rice, coconut milk, water, curry powder, salt, and 1 teaspoon of ginger. Bring to a simmer. And cook for 20 minutes.
Step two
Make the Sauce: Whisk together sriracha, soy sauce, and coconut sugar. Set aside.
Step three
Pat tofu dry and cut into thick strips.
Prep veggies. Here we are using asparagus, but you can swap out for your season favorites.
Cutting the asparagus at an angle with cook it more quickly.
Step four
Sear Tofu (or cook chicken, fish or shrimp if using): Heat a pan to med-high (we like cast iron).
Add 1 tablespoon coconut oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Add tofu and sear for about 3 minutes without moving tofu around, flip over and sear for another 3 minutes. Set tofu aside.
Step five
Sauté Veggies: In the same pan that you cooked the tofu in add 1 tablespoon coconut oil sauté asparagus (or other vegetables) for about 1 minute.
Add garlic, lemongrass, ginger and stir over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes, until asparagus is tender. Add green onions and 1 tablespoon of water, scraping the pan to loosen all the stuck bits, cooking for another minute more.
Step six
Combine: Add tofu, sauce, peas, and lime juice, stirring to combine. Take off the heat.
To Serve: Place rice in the bowls with a scoop of the sautéed tofu and veggies. Liberally sprinkle mint, cilantro and coconut flakes on top.
Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for 3 days. Gently reheat to serve.
More recipes you may enjoy
- 25 Delicious Vegan Buddha Bowls!
- Coconut Millet Bowl with Berbere Spiced Squash
- Tofu Green Bean Stir Fry
- Broccoli Stir Fry with Tofu
Hope you enjoy!
Print
Coconut Rice Bowl
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings
- Category: main, vegan main, buddha bowl
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Delicious Coconut Rice Bowl is healthy and adaptable! Curried jasmine rice cooked in coconut milk topped with your choice of protein, and seasonal vegetables all tossed with a simple sauce, fresh cilantro, mint and toasted coconut flakes.
Ingredients
Coconut Rice
- 2 cups rice, (jasmine is nice but other white rice is fine.)
- 1 can coconut milk, about 400ml or 13.5 oz
- 1 3/4 cups water
- 2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (less if using table salt)
- 1 teaspoons ginger, minced or grated
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons sriracha (or sambal olek) Adjust to taste- start with less if you like less spice.
- 1–2 tablespoons braggs liquid aminos or lite soy sauce (use half fish sauce and half braggs if desired)
- 2 teaspoons coconut sugar (or other sweetener)
Tofu and Veggies
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 16 oz tofu
- 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoons lemongrass, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced or grated
- 1 pound asparagus, cut into 1 inch julienne pieces (or use green beans, broccoli, snap peas, bell pepper, carrots)
- 2 green onions, chopped
- ——-
- 1/2 cup peas (frozen is fine just give a quick rinse under cool water to thaw quickly)
- juice of a lime, about 2-3 tablespoons
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
- 1/4 cup fresh mint
- 1/2 cup toasted coconut flakes (unsweetened)
Instructions
- Cook the Rice: In a pot with a lid, add rice, coconut milk, water, curry powder, salt, and 1 teaspoon ginger. With the lid on, bring to a simmer. And cook for 20 minutes. Turn heat off and let sit with lid on until ready to serve.
- Make the Sauce: Whisk together sriracha, braggs or soy sauce, and coconut sugar.
- Sear Tofu (or cook chicken, fish or shrimp if using): Pat tofu dry and cut into thick strips. Heat pan (we like cast iron) to med-high. Add 1 tablespoon coconut oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Add tofu and sear for about 3 minutes without moving tofu around, flip over and sear for another 3 minutes. Set tofu aside.
- Sauté Veggies: In the same pan, add 1 tablespoon coconut oil sauté asparagus (or other vegetables) for about 1 minute. Add garlic, lemongrass, ginger and stir over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes, until asparagus is tender. Add green onions and 1 tablespoon of water scraping the pan to loosen all the stuck bits. Cook for another minute more.
- Combine: Add tofu, sauce, and peas, and lime juice stirring to combine. Remove from the heat. Taste for saltiness adding more braggs or soy sauce if needed.
- Serve: Place rice in the bowls with a scoop of the sautéed tofu and veggies. Liberally sprinkle mint, cilantro and coconut flakes on top.
Notes
Variations on Coconut Rice Bowls Rice: brown or white jasmine, brown or white basmati, or other grain like quinoa (follow cooking directions on package using coconut milk as part of the liquid required and the remaining with water.) Protein: chicken, shrimp or even fish Vegetables: green beans, broccoli, snap peas, colorful bell peppers, carrots, cauliflower, spinach, shiitakes, salad turnips.
The nutritional information includes everything except the protein addition.
Keywords: Coconut Rice, Coconut Rice bowl, Coconut Curry Rice Bowl
I never really understood the email list from cooks online but holy moly, I follow your every move!!!!
Everything I make is amazing and I do look forward to each email and recipe.
Thank you for your amazing work and this recipe is amazing
★★★★★
Awesome Savannah! This is all so nice to hear!
Another very tasty recipe! Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed Alicia!
Amazing recipe! Only complaint was it was too spicy, I would do one Tablespoon and add more after tasting!
★★★★★
Thanks Brenna! We adjusted the recipe with your suggestion.🙂
Thank you for another amazing dinner! My daughter had the leftovers cold for lunch (no microwave at school) and declared it delicious. The only think I changed was I decreased the srirachi because I’m kind of a wimp with spicy food.
Thank you for your generosity with your cooking knowledge. Your spicing is spot on, and I always learn something. I know I can trust your recipes too. I’ve been cooking for decades, and honestly have gotten tired of my own cooking. Your recipes have renewed my interest in preparing meals again. Thank you!!
★★★★★
Awww… Beth we really love hearing this! So good to hear you are inspired and getting helpful tools from the site!
Just like every other recipe I’ve made from feastingathome, this was so delicious and packed with layers of flavors. The cilantro, mint and toasted coconut took it to another level! I added a bit of kimchi, just for fun. The sauce was so easy and so good that I would suggest making more than the recipes calls for. (I just had some leftover rice on salad greens along with a veggie protein patty, avocado and tomato and the sauce was perfect as a salad dressing. Yummmm.) Thanks for the suggestion regarding using a cast iron skillet to crisp the tofu. I took mine out of storage and it worked perfectly. Now that I have confidence that the pan is seasoned nicely I’ll be using it more often!
★★★★★
Great to hear Leslie!
SO much flavor – we loved it! Even my picky eater liked the coconut curry rice.
Didn’t realize I had the spicy siracha, which set my mouth on fire when I tasted it! Re-made it with less siracha and another spoonful of coconut sugar, it was the perfect sweet-spicy combo, that we drizzled over top.
★★★★★
Oh my! Glad you made it work Karin, and you all enjoyed. Love it when the picky ones are satisfied!
The whole family loved it! The left overs were gone before I got any so I guess I’ll make it again soon. Thanks for the delicious recipe!
★★★★★
Amazing Anna, thanks for sharing!
I made it with chicken instead of tofu and it was a big hit. A wonderful variety of flavors.
★★★★★
Perfect Ragna- glad you enjoyed!
So many good flavors in this dish. Thank you. We will be making it again!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed this Gretchen!
This was absolutely delicious!! Easier than I originally thought it would be because it seems like a lot of ingredients but it cones together very quickly. Thank you very much for sharing!
★★★★★
Awesome Jana- gald you gave it a go!
Oh Sylvia- this recipe was divine! There was just so much going on flavor-wise, and I mean in the BEST possible way. The rice was so tasty that I will make this all on it’s own. I misread the instructions could not find what to do with the sauce, I just re-read them (post-dinner) and see now that I was to mix it in with the tofu and veggies. No worries- it all turned out with the sauce drizzled over the top and a squeeze of fresh lime. My husband was effusive about his meal and said “I can’t wait to eat this again tomorrow”.
Great to hear Lisbeth- we are so happy you enjoyed this!
I made this last night and it was excellent! The entire family loved it.
★★★★★
Wonderful Dawn, so happy to hear this!
This was absolutely fantastic. We added a few snap peas and tried kaffir lime leaves as a substitute for lemongrass – worked like a charm. Really love this recipe, especially the curried rice is a thing that we will cook more often now; it’s so flavourful and makes the whole dish really complex and interesting. Thank you!
★★★★★
Perfect! Love the improving and additions!
My girlfriend and I tried this last night and it was wonderful! All the green veggies were just what we needed. We only did half the sriracha in the sauce and used chicken. The next time we make it, I think we will leave out the chicken. We feel like it took away from all of the other amazing flavors that were present. Great recipe! Will repeat!
★★★★★
Great, glad you enjoyed!
What is a substitute for coconut milk? Can’t have it for health reasons.
You can just leave it out and use broth or water. Adding a tablespoon of ghee is nice or (vegan butter).
Is that really the right calorie count per serving?
Opps, sorry! Big mistake on the nutritional info.😂 Hopefully it is fixed now. Thanks Cindy.