Flan de Coco (Coconut Flan)
Updated September 22, 2025
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff.
- Total Time
- 1½ hours, plus overnight chilling
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1 hour 25 minutes, plus cooling and chilling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
¾ cup/150 grams sugar
4 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 (11-ounce) can sweetened condensed coconut milk
1 (13-ounce) can coconut milk
Pinch of salt
Toasted shredded coconut, for garnish
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
21 grams carbs; 139 milligrams cholesterol; 290 calories; 2 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 17 grams saturated fat; 22 grams fat; 67 milligrams sodium; 6 grams protein; 19 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees, and set an 8-inch round cake pan, deep pie pan, low-sided soufflé dish or flan mold next to your stovetop.
- Step 2
Make the caramel: Put sugar in a low-sided, small saucepan over medium heat. When it begins to melt, about 2 minutes, lower heat and continue cooking without stirring, until it starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Tilt and swirl pan to incorporate any unmelted sugar and continue to cook gently until dark brown, about 5 minutes more. Turn off heat.
- Step 3
Quickly pour hot caramel into the flan pan. Tilt to cover the bottom completely with caramel. Set aside to cool; caramel will harden.
- Step 4
While the caramel cools, put eggs, egg yolks, both coconut milks and salt in a mixing bowl or blender. Beat or blend well. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, if you like.
- Step 5
Pour flan mixture into the caramel-coated pan, cover with foil, then place in a roasting pan. To make a water bath, add boiling water to the roasting pan so it comes halfway up the flan pan.
- Step 6
Bake on the middle rack for 60 to 65 minutes. To test doneness, remove foil and insert the tip of a paring knife in the center of the flan. The custard should still be a little jiggly, but the knife should emerge clean. Remove pan from water bath, cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours, preferably overnight.
- Step 7
To serve, run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the custard, then carefully invert the pan over a platter. Flan will be surrounded by caramel sauce. Sprinkle with toasted coconut. Cut into wedges to serve and spoon some caramel sauce over each serving.
Private Notes
Comments
You can make your own sweetened condensed coconut milk by combining a 13.5 oz. can of coconut milk and 1/4 cup of sugar in a saucepan. Over medium heat, mix together and bring to a low boil. Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer rapidly for about 45 minutes, stirring frequently. It will thicken as it cools. Best to do it the day before.
My abuela made the best flan period. She would make the flan mixture as described in this article, but first she would get an empty full size coffee can and pack about 1 1/2" of shredded coconut at the bottom. She would drizzle her caramel mixture over the coconut would add a wallop of Jack Daniels for effect, then pour her flan mixture over this. She would take her can to the backyard where she would place the can in a ring of hot charcoal and cook for a few hours. truly perfect flan heaven
I enjoyed this recipe. the only thing I would change is add a little bit of vanilla extract.
What kind of caramel sauce goes on top?
Would it be possible to substitute the sweetened condensed coconut milk with sweetened condensed milk and coconut extract?
Followed the recipe to the letter and cooked it in a water bath at 350. I strained the mixture through a superfine mesh twice to make sure it would be smooth but it came out grainy and curdled. Inedible. Not sure what went wrong.