Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk

One US cup of sweetened condensed coconut milk weighs between 288 and 304 grams (10.2 to 10.7 ounces), depending on the brand or product and which source measured it. That range is the answer; a single number would not be. Every figure behind it is below, with the method each source used.

Also called condensed coconut milk, coconut condensed milk, sweetened coconut condensed milk, dairy-free sweetened condensed milk, vegan condensed milk.

Coconut products compared: cup weights side by side, the source behind each, and why they differ.

Sweetened condensed coconut milk weighs 288 to 304 g per US cup (10.2 to 10.7 oz). The Andre Prost and A Taste of Thai labels give 2 tablespoons at 38 g, 304 g per cup, and King Arthur gives 288 g. Brands differ in how much coconut fat and sugar they carry, which moves the weight past the 5% tolerance, so this entry publishes the range. Nature's Charm's printed 8 teaspoons for 40 g would make it no heavier than water and is rejected.

It is the dairy-free counterpart of sweetened condensed milk: coconut milk cooked down with sugar until thick and syrupy, used in fudge, caramel, no-churn ice cream, pies and bars. Formulas differ more than the name suggests. Nature's Charm, sold at Whole Foods and iHerb, is coconut milk, cane sugar and salt, about 60% sugar and 12.5% fat by its own label. Andre Prost and Iberia list cane sugar first, ahead of water and coconut cream, with xanthan gum. Let's Do Organic is coconut milk and cane sugar with much more fat: 10 g in 2 tablespoons, where Nature's Charm has 5 g in a 40 g serving.

Andre Prost's label, as listed by Eat This Much, gives 2 tablespoons at 38 g, and Food Lion's listing of the 11.6-oz can shows the same 2-tablespoon serving at about 9 per can, which fits: 329 g divided by 38 g is 8.7. A Taste of Thai's label gives the same 2 tablespoons at 38 g. Both are 304 g per cup. King Arthur's chart lists a cup at 10 1/8 oz, 288 g. Nature's Charm prints its 40 g serving as 8 teaspoons on most US listings and as 2 1/2 tablespoons on another, 240 or 256 g per cup.

The physical check works from the labels' compositions. Sugar dissolved in water is dense, about 1.29 g/mL for a 60% syrup, and coconut fat is light, about 0.92 g/mL. Nature's Charm's composition, 65% carbohydrate, 12.5% fat and the rest almost all water, works out to about 1.30 g/mL, 308 g per cup. Let's Do Organic's label, with 10 g of fat, 16 g of carbohydrate and 1 g of protein per 2-tablespoon serving, works out to about 1.2 g/mL, 280 to 290 g per cup. The sugar-first labels at 304 g and King Arthur's 288 g both sit inside that span, at the sweet end and toward the fatty end. The dairy version on this site, with milk protein in place of coconut fat, weighs 306 g per cup.

Nature's Charm's 8 teaspoons is the exception. 40 g in 8 teaspoons is 1.01 g/mL, the density of water, which a liquid that is 60% sugar cannot be; by its own composition 40 g fills about 2 tablespoons. The 2 1/2 tablespoon version, 1.08 g/mL, is also too light. The figure is recorded as a rejected source with its own correction page. King Arthur's 288 g is not a correction: it is close to what a coconut-milk-first formula should weigh.

Practical guidance: weigh it for fudge, caramel and ice cream bases, where the sugar ratio decides the set. Two tablespoons are 36-38 g, 1/4 cup 72-76 g and 1/2 cup 144-152 g. Cans are small: 7.4 oz (210 g) for Let's Do Organic, 11.25 oz (320 g) for Nature's Charm and 11.6 oz (329 g) for Andre Prost, against 14 oz (397 g) for a can of dairy sweetened condensed milk, so a recipe written for "one can" of condensed milk needs about 400 g, more than one can of any of these. Scrape the can well; the syrup clings to the sides.

The following published figures for sweetened condensed coconut milk are rejected here, with the physics or standards reasoning behind each rejection on its own page:

• Nature's Charm Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk (producer label): 240 g per cup