Coconut Rice with Black Beans, Plantains, and Mango Salsa – Recipe
Coconut Rice with Black Beans, Plantains, and Mango Salsa
At my house, we eat food in styles from all over the world, but rice is far and away our most popular substrate. I’m always experimenting with new ways to cook rice as well as new things to serve with it.
Today’s dish is Caribbean inspired, with coconut milk-scented rice, black beans, plantains, avocado, mango, and a mango salsa. It is especially good for serving to kids, because they can easily pick and choose the ingredients they enjoy. The mango salsa is moderately spicy, adding some extra interest for adults. (And that same salsa could be applied to a wide variety of other meals, ranging from Mexican to southeast Asian).
The coconut rice reheats really well, so you can easily make it the day before and just warm it up in the microwave at dinner time, making this whole meal something that can be thrown together in 20 minutes for a weeknight supper.
Plantains, of course, are in the banana family but are less sweet and more starchy. They are popular in much of the Caribbean and West Africa, as well as Guatemala. In this recipe I simply pan fry them to produce a delicious, slightly caramelized surface and a tender, creamy interior.
Coconut Rice with Black Beans, Plantains, and Mango Salsa
Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free
For the rice:
- 2 1/4 cups basmati rice (3 standard rice-cooker cups)
- 1 thirteen-ounce can coconut milk
For the sauce:
- 1 ripe mango, cubed
- 1 to 2 jalapeno or serrano pepper (or if you are insane, some part of a habanero), seeded and roughly chopped
- 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup finely diced red onion
- 1 handful cilantro
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
For the dish:
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil or vegetable oil
- 2 ripe plantains, peeled and sliced into generous 1/4″ thick coins
- Kosher salt
- 2 cups cooked black beans, heated, seasoned with salt (or if you like, with garlic, onions, epazote, etc. as you please)
- 1 ripe avocado, sliced
- 1 mango, cubed
- 1 handful cilantro
- flaky sea salt
- 1 lime cut into quarters
- For the rice: Cook the rice in your usual way, on the stovetop or in a rice cooker, but replace one can’s worth of water with the coconut milk, then add in an extra quarter-cup of water.
- For the sauce: Roughly puree all ingredients in a mini food processor. Just 10 seconds or so should be sufficient, as you want to retain some texture. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- To complete the dish: Warm your serving bowls or plates. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it is shimmering, add the plantains in a single layer. Fry, until brown on one side, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side until browned and tender, about two more minutes. Sprinkle with Kosher salt.
- To serve, you may either divide the rice among four bowls and top with the plantains, beans, avocado, mango, cilantro and sauce, or serve all of the ingredients separately and let diners make their own. Pass the lime quarters to squeeze over the finished plate as desired.
Beautiful color!! Looks delicious. I was going to mention that you can buy spiced banana chips (not plantain) at the indian store…i use them when I want a bit of a crunch on my food..dare i say “garnish”? 🙂 You’re very creative – I’d love to see how you would use banana chips too!
This looks absolutely scrumptious! I love mangoes, I love black beans, and I love coconut rice, so combining them is clearly the obvious thing to do! I think I will need to make this dish, thanks for sharing 🙂
Serendipity…I was just thinking about how I was going to use some cilantro from my garden and work it into a meal that adults & kids will enjoy. Thank you! (We’re all still enjoying cauliflower, almost weekly, btw…)
I could definitely see banana chips used to add some crisp to a dish like this!
Michael Natkin
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The latest from my blog, Herbivoracious: Coconut Rice with Black Beans, Plantains, and Mango Salsa – Recipe
Hi, Michael…I just found and joined your site today…so cool to see you here too! I think I’ll follow your advice! This recipe sounds fantastic, like something I’d only find in a restaurant.!
lol..I just realized, I was on Herbalicious!
Do you do anything particular with the beans Michael? Generally I used canned black beans to save time but I can’t imagine just dumping canned beans onto the plate.
Hey Stephanie – If using canned, just rinse them and heat them with a tiny bit of water, and maybe mash them slightly. My preference would be home-cooked ones, cooked to the point where they are just starting to break down a bit, like in the picture. If you can cook them with a few leaves of epazote, so much the better!
Michael Natkin
Find me:
The latest from my blog, Herbivoracious: Coconut Rice with Black Beans, Plantains, and Mango Salsa – Recipe
i totally loved this combination! Rice is something we make many times a week, but to make coconut rice and combine with a bunch of my other favorite things (read plantains and mango) never crossed my mind. You are a genius!
WHAT IS THE NUTRITIONAL ANALYSIS OF THIS RECIPE???
Ooh, looks fantastic….look ethnic meals!
That looks delicious! I love it when people use coconut flavors in ways that I haven’t expected. Mainly because I love coconut!
This recipe brings me back to my childhood. I look forward to making it for my family.
I made this recipe for my wife and I last night, and we both loved it! Thanks for sharing, and I’ll definitely be keeping a constant eye on this blog.
Everything about this recipe was perfect. Portions, ingredients, flavor, texture, we’re in food heaven right now. I could eat this everyday, makes me feel like I’m on an island in the Bahamas. Amazing.
Delicious! I sauteed the black beans with a little shallot, and added lime juice to the salsa. Very easy and quick, especially using our new rice cooker for the coconut rice (it turned out PERFECT).
Thanks, Anne! I like your ideas for some flavor boosts. You might also like this version of the coconut rice: https://herbivoracious.com//2009/03/coconut-rice-recipe.html .
Michael Natkin
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The latest from my blog, Herbivoracious: Turkish Chickpea and Potato Stew with Baharat – Recipe
I tried this – yum, but then I’m a sucker for coconut!
Huge success at our household. I left out the peppers in the salsa, but chopped them fine so that those who wanted “hot” could sprinkle them on later. I used about a half cup of “thin” coconut milk, and Japanese “sushi rice” (which I used without washing or anything). That worked out fine, although the coconut flavor was quite mild. I cooked the plaintains somewhat darker than yours (more of a dark brown than a pale yellow), and the slightly-caramelized flavor was a really nice addition. Also added some epazote to the black beans while I was cooking them, even though that’s not traditionally carribean.
Nice! Love the addition of epazote… it is just so dang good with black beans. If you want a more pronounced coconut flavor in the rice, you can try this version: https://herbivoracious.com//2009/03/coconut-rice-recipe.html
Michael Natkin
Find me:
The latest from my blog, Herbivoracious: Vegetarian Frijoles Charros – Mexican Cowboy Beans with Smoked Onion – Recipe
I wanna make this but i am confused as to what to do with the black beans….are they seasoned or just plain?
Hey Ling – seasoned at least with salt. You could also saute some onions and garlic and simmer the beans with them for a bit, or add some epazote while they cook. I've edited the recipe to be more specific.
Thanks,
Michael
Michael Natkin
Find me:
The latest from my blog, Herbivoracious: Vegetarian Frijoles Charros – Mexican Cowboy Beans with Smoked Onion – Recipe
What a work of art! I love plantains. I should try making mango salsa. I used to just buy it from Costco, but I don’t live in the states anymore, and yours looks better. I love the avacado on the side, but I have a bitter relationship with cilantro.
This is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. I told my husband that we were having this for dinner and he looked suspicious. (He dislikes all things green and meals without meat.) So he insisted that I cook chicken for his as well. I was using the stovetop for this and something else at the same time so I had to wait to cook his chicken after everything was done so i plated it and told him to come get his— chicken will be done in a few. Well he starts eating and says stop the chicken! this is too good on its own!! I don’t want the meat! To say the least, it was a miracle. I recommend this to everyone!
That's awesome. My whole theory is that food should simply be delicious and satisfying so that needing meat becomes a non-issue. Totally makes me happy to hear when that is working!
This was so good and quick to make on a weeknight! Everybody wanted seconds and leftovers to take to school/work the next day! Love the blog, excited about the book!
I had this today and it was soo delicious! I added lime to the sauce and had a slice on the plate to squeeze all over everything too! So good, thanks! 🙂
Nice call on the lime! In fact I’m going to edit that into the original recipe, it deserves to be there.
Thanks! I feel so special right now! 🙂
Made this for lunch and loved the flavors together! One thing though- the onion in the mango sauce was still so raw that it burned my eyes while eating it! Did anyone else experience this? My husband and I decided that next time we’ll gently cook the onions just a bit and make the mango sauce first, then let it sit for awhile to allow the flavors to blend. I think we must be the only one to experience this- we were so eager to eat it that we ate through the onion tears, couldn’t stop! Thanks for the recipe!
Hey Amanda – I’m glad you liked the dish overall and sorry the onions were too strong for you. Some onions are stronger than others and also some folks like raw onions more than others. I just love them, so I could easily have too much of them in there for your taste!
A couple thoughts about the onions…..
Try red onions……they are usually not as strong……or try soaking the onions in cold water for a bit…..this should remove some of the raw/strong flavor and some of the sulphur which is what makes you tear
Yeah it could very well be that I’m just a wuss with onions. Will let you know how it goes with slightly cooking the onions first!
Just made this. Wow, Michael! That was really, really great. Looking forward to making it again in the summer! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Michael, great website. Congratulations on the new book, I will try several of the recipes. Coconut rice was the first recipe search that lead me to your site several months ago. I also enjoyed the articles you wrote about various topics. I sent you a private email as well, hope you get it.
This was fantastic. I didn’t have coconut milk, so I used shredded unsweetened coconut that I got from an Indian store. I also had roast chicken and added jerk spice. This was the best meal I have made in a long time. So lucky to run across ripe mangos and avocado. My plantains were yellow and slightly sweet. My husband sprinkled on jamaican curry hot sauce which was great. Will add black beans next time.
Thanks!!!
Oh my gosh, how did I miss this? This is my kind of recipe and has all the flavors our family loves ! Must bookmark this Coconut Rice with Black Beans, PLANTAINS & MANGO !!!! Do you think I can add avocados to this? Or should I minimize the fruit if I add an avocado? My sons will love this. Thanks again, Michael!
Avocado would be 100% appropriate on this dish!
Michael, this dish is amazing. Thanks for creating it. I’m in tears that my leftovers are gone!
I just recently stumbled upon your blog, and tonight I made this dish. Amazing is all I can say. Totally loved it (as did my husband). Will definitely be making this one again. Thank you!!!
Just made this last night and it was really delicious. The only change I made was to leave out the jalapeno (I’m a weaksauce when it comes to heat) and to put some sriracha on my husbands rice and we both agreed it was one of the best things we’ve had. Thanks for a great recipe!!!
Awesome! Glad you liked it, and it sounds like you worked out the ideal solution to your heat mismatch :)!
I absolutely love your blog and I am so excited about the coconut rice. That is something I have always wondered how to make and who knew it was so easy! I only just started my blog and you have inspired me!
Mmm, yummy! Being a born and raised New Yorker, I love recipes that speak Puerto Rican 😉 . This also has a South Pacific/South Asian touch I like (I’ve had coconut rice in Thai restaurants). Now I’m dying to try it!
We had this for supper last night and it was amazing. We increased the garlic in the salsa substantially and also used a whole habanero (they’ve lost some heat due to being frozen.) I can’t believe I’ve never had plantain before. It is going to become a regular in our house. Delicious!
Yum! Coconut Rice! DELISH!
Just made this. ..it was amazing! One of the best dishes I have ever made 🙂
thank you. now i am sitting at work and craving mango….. its good job I have a supermarket on the way home, will be shopping:)
Made this tonight and it was delicious. Even though I went it a little “off recipe,” it was so good. I don’t get along with cilantro, so I subbed in some cumin and parsley. Had to use sweet potatoes instead of plantains because my local market didn’t have any. Last thing was adding red and green bell pepper to the black beans. I had brown basmati rice, which came out wonderfully with the coconut. I could eat this weekly!!!
I’m glad you adapted it to your needs and tastes!
I’ve made this dish many times, sent it for friends to make, and every time, it’s a knock out of the park! I have a friend who suffers from a lot of allergies, and this dish has been a savior for her! Love the flavors, easy to make, 100% awesome. I’ve been following your blog for years now, but this is the recipe I always come back to! Thanks for being awesome!
Sincerely,
Another Jewish Seattle-ite!
Thanks, Tiffany!
I was pretty sure this dish would be a bland disaster, simply because the black beans have no spice. However, I made it for dinner last night, and it was a super hit with my Indian family! I didn’t have plantains, so I used potatoes instead, but I followed the recipe as is. We all felt this dish really doesn’t need anything other than salt. It was perfect!
I’m glad you liked it, and of course you could certainly spice up the beans if you like. I’d think cumin would be nice.
Love this recipe. I have been a vegetarian since 1987 and finally my husband has decided to join me. I need to make things that will convince him that this is the way to go. This should help! Thanks so much.