Thai Mango Sticky Rice

History

Mango sticky rice, called khao niew mamuang in Thai, pairs steamed glutinous rice sweetened with coconut milk alongside slices of ripe mango. Sticky rice is an ancient food staple in northern and northeastern Thailand as well as in neighboring Laos, where it serves as the daily accompaniment to savory meals; its sweet, coconut-milk version developed as a seasonal dessert, timed to the mango harvest.

This dessert is traditionally associated with the hot season, between March and June, when Thai mangoes reach peak ripeness. Sold both on the street by vendors and in Bangkok’s finest restaurants, khao niew mamuang has become one of Thailand’s most internationally recognized desserts, carried by the worldwide popularity of Thai street food.

Ingredients — for 4 people

• 300 g (1½ cups) glutinous rice (Thai sticky rice)
• 400 ml (1¾ cups) thick coconut milk
• 100 g (½ cup) sugar, a pinch of salt
• 2 ripe mangoes
• Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

Step-by-step Thai mango sticky rice recipe

1. Soak the glutinous rice in cold water for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
2. Drain, then steam the rice in a bamboo basket until translucent and tender.
3. Heat the coconut milk with the sugar and salt, without bringing to a boil.
4. Set aside a third of the sweetened coconut milk for the final topping.
5. Mix the rest of the hot coconut milk into the still-warm rice and let rest 20 minutes for full absorption.
6. Plate the rice with the mango slices, drizzle with the reserved coconut milk, and sprinkle with toasted sesame.

Cooking Method

Technique: steaming the glutinous rice (never boiling) to preserve its characteristic sticky texture, followed by slow absorption of the sweetened coconut milk.

Traditional equipment: a woven bamboo steaming basket (huat) set over a narrow aluminum pot.

Signs to watch for: the rice must soak long enough before cooking, or the grains will stay hard at the center even after steaming.

Nutrition, per serving

Calculated from the raw ingredient quantities above, divided across four servings.

At just over 100 g of carbohydrate, this is one of the more carbohydrate-dense desserts on the site — the glutinous rice itself accounts for most of it, with the mango and sugar contributing the rest. Nearly all of the fat, including 19 g saturated, comes from the coconut milk used both to cook the rice and to finish the dish.

Economic context

Mango sticky rice is tied to a specific harvest window, roughly March to June, when Thai mangoes are at their cheapest and most abundant — a seasonal dessert built around when the fruit is naturally at its best and least expensive, rather than something available identically year-round.

Source: World Bank / FAO, Food Prices for Nutrition database (Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet) v4.0, 2024 data, CC BY 4.0, DOI 10.57966/41AN-KY81. Retrieved 29 July 2026. This figure describes the cost of a healthy diet in Thailand generally — it is not a costing of this specific recipe.

Who this dish suits

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