What Is Coconut Pudding?

Coconut pudding is a chilled dessert built on coconut milk or coconut water, thickened until it holds its shape. That is the whole idea. Everything else is regional.

What coconut pudding is made of

At minimum: coconut milk, a liquid, a sweetener, and a setting agent. The setting agent is what decides the texture and whether the dessert is vegan.

Agar agar. From seaweed. Sets firm and clean, holds at room temperature, plant based. This is the traditional choice across most of Asia.
Gelatin. Animal derived. Softer, wobblier, melts in the mouth. Not vegan.
Starch. Corn or tapioca. Thick and creamy, closer to American style pudding.

If you are avoiding animal products, this is the only question that matters. A coconut dessert can easily not be vegan.

The versions you will run into

Haupia, the Hawaiian one

Coconut milk thickened with starch, chilled, then cut into firm squares. Served at luaus and often layered into pie. Dense and sliceable rather than spoonable.

Thai coconut pudding

Usually a two layer sweet, a lightly salted coconut cream layer over a sweeter base, often with pandan. The salt on top is the signature.

Coconut sago

Tapioca pearls suspended in sweetened coconut milk. Loose and drinkable rather than set, and common across Southeast Asia.

Coconut chia pudding

Not really the same family. Chia seeds swell in liquid to thicken it, so it is a soaked seed dish rather than a set custard.

Coconut pudding in boba shops

When a boba menu offers pudding as a topping, it is usually an egg and milk custard, not coconut, and it is usually not vegan. Worth asking.

How ours is made

KOKONUT starts with coconut water and coconut milk, sweetened lightly with organic coconut sugar and set with agar agar. No dairy, no gelatin, no soy, no gluten.

Agar gives it a specific texture that people usually describe as bouncy and clean, closer to the meat of a young coconut than to custard. It also means the jar keeps in the fridge and never needs a freezer.

Full ingredient list on a plain jar: coconut water, coconut milk, filtered water, organic coconut sugar, natural flavors, agar agar, sea salt, and under 0.2% xanthan and guar gum.

Nine flavors, and where to get them

Plain coconut, black sesame, matcha, Vietnamese coffee, taro, mango, peach, strawberry, and a limited edition peach gum jelly.

Shop bundles, browse single jars, or find us in person on the store locator.

Questions people ask

What is coconut pudding made of?

Coconut milk or coconut water, a sweetener, and a setting agent, most often agar agar, gelatin or starch.

Is coconut pudding healthy?

It is dessert. What varies is the ingredient list. A short list of coconut, water, sugar and agar is a different product from a powdered mix with a dozen additives, and that is the comparison worth making.

Is coconut pudding vegan?

Only if it is set with agar or starch rather than gelatin, and made without condensed milk. Every KOKONUT flavor is.

How long does it keep?

Keep it refrigerated. It is perishable, not a shelf stable cup.