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I hope you like coconut.
Because I sure do!
A friend of mine brought over a few fresh coconuts for us to enjoy while watching the Olympics last week, hoping I could demonstrate how to open them. Of course, I was happy to oblige!
Not that my method for opening coconuts is very professional… but it does get the job done.
I simply use a cleaver to whack around the middle until a “lid” is created, then open that lid using the cleaver as leverage. And I always, always keep my spare hand behind my back, to make sure I keep all of my fingers in tact!
We lucked out with this batch of coconuts– all three were in good shape!
Usually I buy at least two coconuts at a time, because you never know if one is going to be spoiled. Signs of spoilage include green edges around the white outer shell (though, this doesn’t always mean it will be bad inside), pink-tinted coconut meat, or sour-tasting coconut water.
Note: If opening a coconut intimidates you, you can now purchase frozen organic coconut meat and water in the freezer case at most Whole Foods locations. You can also usually find already-opened coconuts, or ask a nearby produce manager to open it for you!
With all this delicious coconut meat to use up, I decided that pudding was in order. Creamy, dairy-free pudding that’s naturally sweetened and ready in minutes!
And because I can’t make up my mind, I made two flavors–> starting with my old favorite, vanilla.
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Creamy Vanilla Coconut Pudding
serves 1-2
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh coconut meat, from one young Thai coconut
1/4 cup fresh coconut water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon raw honey, or 12 drops liquid stevia
pinch of fine sea salt
Directions:
Add the coconut meat, coconut water, vanilla extract, salt and sweetener into a blender pitcher, and blend until very smooth and creamy. For best results, use a high-powered blender like the Vitamix or Blendtec.
Adjust sweetness to taste, if necessary, then chill for an hour before serving. It will thicken up even more in the fridge!
*For quicker chilling, add 4-5 ice cubes while blending, and serve immediately!
Serve chilled, and enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh coconut meat , from one young Thai coconut
- 1/4 cup fresh coconut water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon raw honey , or 12 drops liquid stevia
- pinch of fine sea salt
Instructions
- Add the coconut meat, coconut water, vanilla extract, salt and sweetener into a blender pitcher, and blend until very smooth and creamy. For best results, use a high-powered blender like the Vitamix or Blendtec.
- Adjust sweetness to taste, if necessary, then chill for an hour before serving. It will thicken up even more in the fridge!
- Serve chilled, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Per Serving: Calories: 317, Fat: 27g, Carbohydrates: 17g, Fiber: 7g, Protein: 3g
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If you prefer chocolate pudding, the following is for you.
This chocolate variation reminded me of the childhood classic– but without the sugar or preservatives of the boxed stuff!
–> Click here for the chocolate recipe.
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Whichever flavor you choose, I hope you enjoy it!
Reader Feedback: Do you like using young Thai coconuts? I hesitate to share recipes calling for them too often, since I know they can be intimidating to open or hard to find, but they really do make for some darn good creamy treats!
Just tried this but coconut isnt smooth. Do i need to cook it first?
I decided I wanted chocolate pudding so I followed your instructions, doubled the recipe and then added 1/2 pouch of Hershey’s instant chocolate pudding. It’s the best pudding I’ve ever had. Not even a close second. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
I think there is something to it being young Thai coconut…i used some frozen fresh coconut meat from an Asian market….. it did not specify which kind, or at least if it did I couldn’t read it 🤣🤣
Anyways, it was super yummy flavor, but not a pudding texture for me (I have a Blendtec). So to get what the writer has made here, make sure it’s a young green Thai coconut ( I’ll have to see if I can
Find it!!)
I made this just now and it is amazing! I live in Miami Florida, and had 2 green coconuts I cut off my tree. I cut the coconut open for the water, and then scraped out all the meat- wasn’t sure what to do with it so I Googled “coconut meat recipes” and wow am I glad I found this!
It was perfect! I used a high-speed blender (Vita-mix), I substituted almond extract because I was out of the Nella. So I made a coconut almond putting, I also use agave nectar to sweeten rather than honey. All I can say is I found my new favorite recipe! I got tired of trying to chew all that coconut so I end up not using it. I’ll use it all now!
EXCELLENT!!! JUST LOVED IT.
I love young coconuts. They are super easy to find at an Asian store and I’ve seen more at regular grocery stores. I’ve made a “coconut shake” by blending all the coconut water and all the meat scooped out. I’m so gonna make the pudding recipes. I would love to see more creative young coconut recipe ideas on here. The challenge is getting into them. Using the knife I always have pieces of the shell. Had my husband try a big open drill piece….don’t do that! I had to strain all my water since it put pulp like shell all in the water!
I just made the vanilla pudding, omg it is amazing, I never knew what to do with these things, now I am hooked!!
Waste of time, ingredients and money if you do not own a viamix or high end blender. I tried using a high quality food processor because that’s what we have and the best I could get it was grainy almond meal consistancy after almost 20 min of blending. Really wanted to love this
I just made some Indonesian coconut pudding with mung bean flower. Take a look if you like. http://earthlychow.com/delicious-indonesian-coconut-pudding-tepung-hunkwee-puhun-tjemara
Instead of vanilla I used a spoon of cacao and it turned out amazing