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Ube coconut rice pudding is a Filipino-inspired dessert you make entirely in a rice cooker: rice, coconut milk, sugar, salt, and ube extract cook together on the white-rice setting. Eat it as-is as purple ube coconut rice, or blend the cooked rice with hot water for a smooth, creamy pudding.
This is one of my new favorite things to make, mostly because it feels like it should be harder than it is. You throw everything into a rice cooker, press one button, and walk away. No standing at the stove stirring a pot of rice pudding until your arm gives out, no babysitting a simmer. You just come back to a fragrant, purple pot of dessert.
The best part is that it is really two desserts in one. Eaten straight from the cooker, the rice is fluffy and coconutty with distinct grains. Blitzed in a blender, it turns into a silky, spoonable pudding. In my opinion the rice is the better tasting option and the pudding is the better looking one, so really you can’t lose either way.
This one earned a spot in 36 Easy Asian Desserts too.
What Makes This Ube Coconut Rice Pudding So Good
Coconut milk is doing the heavy lifting here. It cooks into the rice so every grain turns rich and creamy, while the ube extract adds that signature nutty, vanilla-like sweetness and a gorgeous purple color. A little shredded coconut mixed in gives gentle texture and a second hit of coconut flavor, and just a pinch of salt keeps the whole thing from tasting flat. It lands somewhere between coconut sticky rice and classic rice pudding. If this easy, hands-off approach is your thing, my ube cheesecake in a rice cooker leans on the same machine for a fuss-free bake.
For a frozen take on ube and coconut together, these King’s Hawaiian Ube Ice Cream Sandwiches layer coconut ice cream with a homemade ube icing drizzle and bruleed pineapple inside toasted King’s Hawaiian rolls.
What Is Ube Extract and Where Do You Find It?
Ube extract is a concentrated flavoring made from ube, the Filipino purple yam, and it delivers both the flavor and the vivid purple color in one bottle (Food52 has a lovely primer on ube if it is new to you). You’ll find it at Filipino and Asian grocery stores or online, usually near the vanilla and other extracts. A little goes a long way, so start with the 2 teaspoons here and add more only if you want a deeper color. Once you have a bottle, it earns its keep in other purple desserts like my ube rice krispie treats.
It also does incredible work in this Homemade Ube Oreo Ice Cream, where ube extract teams up with coconut milk and ube halaya for a deeply flavored, purple ice cream packed with crushed Oreos.
Can You Use Regular Rice Instead of Glutinous Rice?
Yes, this recipe uses regular white rice, not glutinous (sweet) rice, which is what keeps it easy and rice-cooker friendly. Regular rice gives you a fluffy, tender pudding with distinct grains, while glutinous rice would turn it much stickier and denser, closer to a traditional biko. If you want a stickier texture, you can swap in glutinous rice, but you may need to adjust the liquid. If you’re after that stickier, chewier texture, my mango coconut sticky rice leans fully into glutinous rice.
How Do You Turn Ube Coconut Rice into Pudding?
To make the pudding version, add the cooked ube coconut rice to a blender with about 1 cup of hot water and blend until smooth. The hot water loosens the grains so they break down into a creamy, pourable pudding instead of staying fluffy. Add the water gradually and blend to the consistency you like, thicker for a spoonable pudding or looser for something you can almost drink.
Tips for Making Ube Coconut Rice Pudding
1. Rinse the rice first
Wash the rice under cool water until it runs mostly clear to rinse off excess surface starch. This keeps the cooked rice from turning gluey and helps the grains stay tender and separate.
2. Mix the liquids before they hit the cooker
Combine the water, coconut milk, sugar, salt, and ube extract in a bowl first so the sugar dissolves and the ube color spreads evenly. Pouring in a pre-mixed liquid gives you a uniform purple instead of streaky patches.
3. Toss the shredded coconut through the dry rice
Add the shredded coconut to the rice in the cooker and mix it through with your hand before adding the liquid. Distributing it early means every bite gets that little bit of coconut chew.
4. Blend hot for the smoothest pudding
If you’re making the pudding, blend the rice while it’s still warm with hot water. Warm rice breaks down far more smoothly than cold, day-old rice, which tends to stay lumpy.
Storage and Leftovers
Store leftover ube coconut rice or pudding in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. The rice will firm up as it chills, so add a splash of coconut milk or water and warm it gently on the stove or in the microwave to bring back the creamy texture. The blended pudding also thickens in the fridge, so stir in a little water or coconut milk to loosen it before serving. I wouldn’t freeze it, as the rice texture turns grainy once thawed.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups white rice (uncooked)
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ube extract
- 2 tbsp shredded coconut
- 1 cup hot water (for the pudding only)
Use any white rice you like; jasmine gives a nice fragrance. Full-fat coconut milk makes the richest result, but light coconut milk works for a lighter pudding. If you want it sweeter, add another tablespoon or two of sugar to the liquid before cooking.
Instructions
- Wash the rice under cool water until it runs mostly clear.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the water, coconut milk, sugar, salt, and ube extract, and stir until the sugar dissolves.
- Add the rice to the rice cooker along with the shredded coconut, and mix the coconut through the rice with your hand.
- Pour the coconut milk mixture in and stir for a few seconds.
- Cook on the white-rice setting. If you are making the ube coconut rice, you are done. For rice pudding, continue to the next step.
- Once the rice is cooked, add it to a blender with the hot water and blend until smooth. Serve and enjoy.
If you make this ube coconut rice pudding, I would love to know which team you’re on, rice or pudding. Leave a star rating on the recipe card below and drop a comment to let me know how yours turned out.
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Ube Coconut Rice Pudding
- Total Time: 45
- Yield: 4 to 6 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Ube coconut rice pudding is a Filipino-inspired dessert made entirely in a rice cooker with rice, coconut milk, sugar, and ube extract. Eat it as fluffy purple rice, or blend it into a smooth, creamy pudding.
Ingredients
- 2 cups white rice (uncooked)
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ube extract
- 2 tbsp shredded coconut
- 1 cup hot water (for the pudding only)
Equipment
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- Rinse the rice. Wash the rice under cool water until it runs mostly clear.
- Mix the liquid. In a mixing bowl, combine the water, coconut milk, sugar, salt, and ube extract, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
- Add rice and coconut. Add the rice to the rice cooker with the shredded coconut and mix the coconut through with your hand.
- Add the liquid. Pour the coconut milk mixture in and stir for a few seconds.
- Cook. Cook on the white-rice setting. For ube coconut rice, you are done here. For pudding, continue.
- Blend for pudding. Add the cooked rice to a blender with the hot water and blend until smooth. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
- Rinse the rice well so the cooked result stays tender and not gluey.
- Pre-mix the liquid ingredients so the ube color spreads evenly.
- Blend the rice while warm for the smoothest pudding.
- Full-fat coconut milk gives the richest texture; light works for a lighter pudding.
- Leftovers firm up in the fridge; loosen with a splash of coconut milk or water when reheating.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 40
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Rice Cooker
- Cuisine: Filipino
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: 290 kcal
- Sugar: 12g
- Sodium: 220mg
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: 7g
- Unsaturated Fat: 1g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 50g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 4g
- Cholesterol: 0mg