A cup of coconut milk ranges from about 40 calories to over 550, depending entirely on which type you’re talking about. That enormous range exists because “coconut milk” refers to at least three very different products: thick canned coconut milk used in cooking, light canned coconut milk, and the diluted carton beverages sold alongside almond and oat milk in the dairy aisle. Knowing which one you’re using makes all the difference.
Canned Coconut Milk: The High-Calorie Version
Full-fat canned coconut milk is the richest option. One cup contains roughly 445 to 552 calories, depending on the brand and how thick the product is. Almost all of those calories come from fat. A single cup packs about 48 to 57 grams of fat, and the vast majority of that (around 43 grams per cup) is saturated fat. Protein is minimal at about 4.5 grams, and carbohydrates are low as well.
This is the coconut milk you’d use in curries, soups, and rich sauces. Most recipes call for a partial can rather than a full cup, so the per-serving calorie hit in a finished dish is usually much lower than the per-cup number suggests. A standard can is about 13.5 ounces, or just under two cups.
Light canned coconut milk is simply a thinner version with more water and less coconut cream. It runs about 125 calories per half cup, which puts a full cup in the 250-calorie range. It works well when you want coconut flavor without the full richness.
Carton Coconut Milk Beverages
The coconut milk sold in refrigerated cartons alongside other plant milks is a completely different product. It’s mostly water with a small amount of coconut and added ingredients for texture and nutrition. Calorie counts for one cup of popular brands in 2024:
- Silk Unsweet Coconutmilk: 40 calories, 2 g carbs
- So Delicious Organic Unsweetened: 45 calories, 1 g carbs
- 365 by Whole Foods Organic Unsweetened: 50 calories, less than 1 g carbs
- So Delicious Organic Original: 70 calories, 8 g carbs
- Silk Original Coconutmilk: 70 calories, 6 g carbs
- Califia Farms Organic Unsweetened: 90 calories, 3 g carbs
Unsweetened versions generally land between 40 and 50 calories per cup. Original or sweetened varieties add sugar, bumping calories to 70 or higher and carbs up to 6 to 8 grams. These beverages are what most people pour into coffee or cereal, and calorie-wise they’re comparable to unsweetened almond milk.
Coconut Cream Is Even Richer
Coconut cream, which is thicker than coconut milk and contains less water, packs about 1,060 calories per cup, or 68 calories per tablespoon. If you’re scooping the thick layer off the top of a chilled can of full-fat coconut milk, that’s essentially coconut cream, and it’s significantly more calorie-dense than the liquid beneath it.
Coconut Milk Powder
Powdered coconut milk is a shelf-stable option that you reconstitute with water. The dry powder contains about 500 calories per 100 grams. Your actual calorie intake depends on how much powder you mix per cup of water, so check the package instructions. Once reconstituted, it typically falls somewhere between a carton beverage and full-fat canned milk.
How It Compares to Other Milks
For carton beverages, coconut milk sits in the same ballpark as other plant milks. Unsweetened almond milk runs about 30 to 40 calories per cup, soy milk around 80 to 100, and oat milk about 90 to 120. Unsweetened coconut milk beverages at 40 to 50 calories per cup land on the lower end of that spectrum. Whole dairy milk, by comparison, has about 150 calories per cup.
Canned coconut milk is in a different category entirely. At 450-plus calories per cup, it’s closer to a cooking fat than a beverage, which is exactly how it’s used in most kitchens.
Nutrients Beyond Calories
Canned coconut milk doesn’t naturally contain much calcium, vitamin A, or vitamin D. Carton beverages, on the other hand, are almost always fortified. A typical sweetened coconut milk beverage contains about 459 milligrams of calcium per cup (roughly 35 to 45 percent of the daily value), along with added vitamins A, B12, and D2. If you’re using coconut milk as a dairy replacement, the fortified carton versions are the ones that will help fill nutritional gaps.
One thing all coconut milk shares is a high proportion of saturated fat relative to its total fat content. In canned coconut milk, about 90 percent of the fat is saturated. The carton beverages have far less total fat, so the absolute amount of saturated fat per serving is small, but it’s still the dominant fat type present.