Homemade Coconut Milk with Fresh Coconuts
Learn how to make homemade coconut milk with fresh or shredded coconut! Easy, creamy homemade coconut milk recipe with just 2 ingredients - coconut & water!
Servings: 4
Calories: 354kcal
Ingredients
- 1 whole mature coconut or 2 cups of dried shredded coconut flakes
- 1 ¾ cup hot filtered water
Instructions
If Using Fresh Coconut:
- Drain the coconut water. Find the three "eyes" of the coconut and poke holes into them with a sharp knife or skewer. Pour out the coconut water into a glass and set aside for later use.
- Wrap the coconut in a towel and hit it with a hammer or meat tenderizer along the equator. You can also use the back of a meat cleaver and strike it along the equator.
- Take the pieces of coconut and use a butter knife or straight edge spatula to remove the coconut meat from the tough outer shell.
- Optional: remove the outer thin brown skin from the coconut meat using a peeler. I recommend this if you plan to use the leftover coconut meal. Hint: You can dry the coconut meal to make your own homemade coconut flour.
Making the Coconut Milk:
- Add the fresh coconut meat (my coconut yielded about 3 cups) or the dried shredded coconut flakes to a high speed blender.
- For rich, creamy coconut milk, add just enough water to cover the coconut meat (I added 1 ¾ cups of hot water for 3 cups of fresh coconut meat). Feel free to add more water for a thinner coconut milk. If using fresh coconut, you can also use the drained coconut water.
- Blend on high until you get a thick and creamy consistency, about 1 - 3 minutes.
- Pour into a strainer, nut milk bag, cheesecloth, or kitchen towel. Squeeze out the coconut milk until you're left with the dried coconut pulp. This is coconut meal, which when dried, is called coconut flour.
- Refrigerator the coconut milk and serve chilled. If using fresh coconut especially, the coconut milk will separate into coconut water and coconut cream in the fridge. Give it a good stir to combine before serving. You can also scoop out the coconut cream for later use but this would change the coconut milk flavor if removing the cream.
Notes
Makes about 3 cups of coconut milk if using fresh coconut meat. Makes about 2 cups if using shredded coconut flakes.
Storage: It stays fresh for up to 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Calories: 354kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 30g | Sodium: 20mg | Potassium: 356mg | Fiber: 9g | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 2.3mg