Here's A Clever Way To Use Leftover Coconut Milk That You'll Want To Try ASAP

A staple across Asian and Caribbean cuisines, coconut milk's versatility sees it go into everything from a vegetable coconut curry to a mango coconut chia seed pudding, as well as drinks and desserts. But what happens when you have some coconut milk leftover after making a big batch of a Thai curry or a meaty stew? You don't have to throw it away; just freeze it into ice cubes and toss it into your next smoothie.

Freezing coconut milk and using it in smoothies has several advantages. For one, freezing increases the nutty milk's shelf life. An open can of coconut milk will only last for three to four days when stored in the fridge, and 10 days when refrigerated in a tightly sealed container. However, freezing increases its lifespan to a month. All you have to do is pour the leftover coconut milk into an ice cube tray and stick that in the freezer. You can then transfer the solidified cubes into a freezer-friendly ziplock bag. When you're ready to make a smoothie, just take out a cube and add it to the blender.

The addition of coconut milk not only offers a healthy mix of vitamins and nutrients, such as Vitamin C, magnesium, and iron, but it can also serve as a great plant-based milk to add to smoothies for people with lactose intolerance or who want to avoid dairy. Moreover, it adds a flavor of its own to smoothies, infusing them with a subtle sweet and nutty flavor. Coconut milk also gives your smoothies a thick and creamy texture.

Usually, you'd want to thaw coconut milk and then blend it before adding it to your recipes. The cream present in the coconut milk can separate from the water upon freezing, resulting in a gritty liquid. Blending helps to reintegrate all of it together so that the coconut milk lends your dishes a creamy finish instead of a watery one. However, the great thing about using frozen coconut milk in smoothies is that you can skip this step. Because you're going to blend the smoothie anyway, you can directly toss a few cubes into the blender along with the other smoothie ingredients and give them a nice whirl.

Coconut milk's nutty notes pair particularly well with tropical fruits, complementing their sweet and tangy flavor profile. So go ahead and pop a cube or two in your mango and pineapple smoothies, or pair them with tart fruits like berries in, say, a strawberry or blueberry smoothie. You could even add it to a banana and chocolate smoothie for a decidedly milkshake-like sweetness and creamy thickness. And, if you really want to go all out on the creaminess of coconut, you can also add coconut cream to your smoothies along with coconut milk cubes — the former has a thicker texture. Or, top your smoothie with crunchy coconut flakes to lean in on the coconut flavor and add a textural contrast to the creamy drink.