This week, you are in for a treat with this delicious coconut sticky rice mango sushi dessert sushi recipe. This is a fun version of my favorite coconut sticky rice dessert. This recipe is perfect for a sushi party!
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Do you love sushi? We are huge sushi lovers! My daughter wanted to have friends come over to visit, and she wanted to make something fun to serve. We had a giant mango that was on the border of being “too ripe,” and we knew its sweetness would work perfectly in this mango sushi dessert.
I based this recipe on one of my favorite desserts, mango sticky rice. Mango sticky rice is a traditional Thai dessert made with glutinous rice, fresh, ripe mango, and sweet coconut milk. If you are a fan of mango sticky rice, you will love this dessert. I love how the creamy coconut sauce melds with sticky rice and mango into coconut sushi rice balls topped with mango. This dessert sushi isn’t too sweet, yet they are completely satisfying.
It is one of my favorite desserts, so we worked hard to create a fun recipe with the same traditional flavors. Here are some other reasons why we love it! If you love easy, kid-friendly dessert recipes, you are going to LOVE these gluten free dessert recipes!
Allergen Information:
This mango sushi is gluten-free, nut-free, egg-free, refined sugar-free, and soy-free. Plant-based butter makes it dairy-free and vegan.
Ingredient Notes:
For the full list of ingredients and amounts, please go to the recipe card below.
- Glutinous Rice – This can be purchased at some grocery stores and any Asian market. You can also get it on Amazon.
- Coconut Milk – I recommend using full-fat canned coconut milk. I do NOT recommend refrigerated coconut milk drinks.
- Butter – Use unsalted butter.
- Mango – The riper the mango, the better!
- Shredded Coconut – Unsweetened is best because the sauce is sweet.
- Coconut Sugar – Be sure to verify your coconut sugar is gluten free.
Substitutions:
- You can swap brown sugar for coconut sugar if you prefer.
- You can use other fruits to make a colorful display for a dessert buffet table.
Step-By-Step Photos and Directions:
Step 1: Soak your glutinous rice in water for 1-2 hours. This helps to give the rice that famous sticky sweetness you love in mango sticky rice desserts.
Step 2: Rinse the rice in a colander and add it to a soup pot with the coconut milk.
Step 3: Cover and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid is mostly absorbed and the rice is soft.
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Step 4: Slice your mango into thin, long slices. This is the star of this fruit sushi recipe, so make sure to use a sweet, ripe mango.
How to Ripen Mango:
You can easily ripen your mango in a paper bag if it isn’t ripe. Just place it in a paper bag for a couple of days after you buy it.
Step 5: To make the sauce, add your ingredients to a small saucepan and cook on low to melt everything together slowly. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Allow to cool before drizzling on the sushi.
Step 6: Once your rice is cooled, you can roll some in your hands to make the balls. Add a slice of mango to each oval rice ball. Once it is cooled, drizzle with the sauce below. Sprinkle shredded coconut over the top as a garnish for your fruit sushi dessert.
Store leftover coconut sushi in an airtight container in the refrigerator. This fruit sushi will keep up to 3 days. I do not recommend freezing this dessert.
Frequently Asked Questions:
The name of this rice is a bit misleading. I think when you are gluten free, any word that starts with gluten is scary. Please don’t worry about this rice because it is perfectly safe and does not contain any gluten.
You can cook glutinous rice on the stovetop or in a rice maker. I used a pot in this recipe because I wanted to monitor the moisture levels of the rice as it cooked in the coconut milk.
Either way, follow the cooking instructions on the package. Some glutinous rice is longer grain than others, affecting cooking times.
If you love making Asian desserts, try this Onigiri recipe or this Che Thai Recipe. Both are delicious. Another interesting dessert is this Es Teler. Let me know what you think!
More Gluten Free Fruity Dessert Recipes:
Love This Recipe?
If you made and enjoyed this recipe, I would be incredibly grateful if you could leave a comment below. Please include which flour blend you used. This will help others know this recipe is delicious. Thank you!
Mango Sushi
Ingredients
For sushi
- 1 ripe mango * see note
- 2 cups glutinous rice * see note
- 1 can coconut milk * see note
- 1 ⅓ cups water
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- basil and shredded coconut to garnish.
For Sauce
- 1 ½ cups coconut milk
- ¾ cup coconut sugar
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Instructions
- Soak 2 cups glutinous rice in water for 1-2 hours.
- Rinse the rice and place in a pot with 1 can coconut milk and 1 1/3 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil, then turn heat down to a simmer.
- When the liquid is absorbed, remove from heat and allow to cool.
For Sauce
- In a saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups coconut milk, 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, and 3/4 cup coconut sugar to a boil. Turn down the heat and allow to simmer until the sauce becomes thick.
Assembly
- When the rice has cooled down, make oval-shaped rice balls.
- Place a slice of mango on top.
- Pour a small amount of the coconut sauce over the top.
- Garnish with sweetened coconut shreds and thinly sliced basil.
Notes
- The name glutinous rice is very misleading. This rice is gluten free and has no similarity to gluten.
- I recommend using full-fat coconut milk.
- You can use brown sugar or coconut sugar. Coconut sugar is low glycemic, so there is less of a sugar buzz.
- To ripen a mango, place the mango into a brown paper bag and let it sit for 2 days. I recommend doing this right after you buy it so it is ripe and sweet when you are ready to make this recipe.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
SPECIAL NOTE
Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, my rule of thumb is to add more flour if your dough or batter is wet and add more liquid if the dough or batter is too dry!
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
(*This recipe was updated from a September 12, 2014 post.)
Hi Natalie, you don’t have to use the sauce at all. There is a lot of flavor in the coconut rice 🙂 Thank you so much for your note.
Thanks for the rice tip Naomi 🙂
I have regular white rice will that work, for in the future what kinds of rice would you recommend, i’ve seen all kinds jasmine things like that but I really don’t recall any saying sticky or glutinous rice.
Hi Lori, Glutinous rice doesn’t contain wheat gluten and is safe on a gluten free diet. I don’t know of another rice that would substitute because of the stickiness. Maybe another reader will comment if they have experience with substituting a different rice.
So the package should say glutinous or sticky rice? I will check the packages out more when I go shopping.
If you scroll down, I show a picture of how the package will say glutinous rice. All brands that I have seen typically put this on the package.
I finally found the sticky rice at our international store, but had to buy a very big bag, so anymore ideas for using it are appreciated, am thinking about making some coconut rice pudding.
Definitely coconut rice pudding. You can also make the mango and sticky rice Thai dessert in a traditional way.
yeah I was going to, but need to go shopping first, that’s about the only recipe I can find for the sticky rice, except for sushi type things, which I love, now I know why mine never stayed together.
I’m back to try another recipe soon as soon as I find out what glutinous rice is, does it have gluten if it does is there a substitute?