If you're going to a party, and you're getting tired of bringing chips and salsa or pico de gallo, you need to give this a try! The same freshness of a fresh tomato salsa, but with the classic flavour of Thai cuisine: sweet, salty, sour, spicy, with creaminess of coconut milk. It'll be your new summer favourite! Perfect with corn chips or rice crackers.
Watch The Full Video Tutorial!
All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!
Ingredients
Here are all the ingredients you'll need to make this recipe. For amounts, check out the full recipe card below.
- Tomatoes, diced
- Coconut milk
- Chili paste
- Fish sauce
- Lime juice
- Garlic, finely grated or minced
- Thai chilies, finely minced
- Sugar
- Lemongrass, finely chopped
- Dried shredded coconut, toasted
- Roasted peanuts, coarsely ground
- Red onion, small diced
- Cilantro, chopped
- For serving: Tortilla chips or rice crackers
How to Make Coconut Tomato Dip
Here are all the steps to make this recipe. If this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success.
- Put diced tomatoes in a strainer set over a bowl; let sit for about 15-20 minutes to drain off excess liquid. (Tip: do this first before you prep all your other ingredients, and by the time you're ready to mix, the tomato will be ready to go!)
- Do not discard the liquid yet, you might need it to adjust the consistency at the end.
- Reduce coconut milk in a small pot until thickened, remove from heat and let cool slightly. Add chili paste to the coconut milk and stir until combined.
- Add fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, garlic and Thai chilies; stir to mix.
- In a mixing bowl, combine drained tomatoes, lemongrass, toasted coconut, ground peanuts and red onion. Pour the dressing over and stir to combine.
- Taste and adjust seasoning with more lime juice as needed.
- When ready to serve, you can add some of the tomato liquid back in if you feel it needs a bit more liquid.
- Stir in chopped cilantro and serve with tortilla chips or rice crackers. Or use as a salsa to serve with fish, shrimp, or even chicken!
Coconut Tomato Dip
- Yield: Serves 3-4
Ingredients
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced
- 3 Tbsp coconut milk
- 1 Tbsp chili paste
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce
- 2-3 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 clove garlic, finely grated or minced
- 2 Thai chilies, finely minced
- ½ tsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp lemongrass, finely chopped
- 2 Tbsp dried shredded coconut, toasted
- ¼ cup roasted peanuts, coarsely ground
- ¼ cup red onion, small diced
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
- For serving: tortilla chips or rice crackers
Instructions
Put diced tomatoes in a strainer set over a bowl; let sit for about 15-20 minutes to drain off excess liquid. (Tip: do this first before you prep all your other ingredients, and by the time you're ready to mix, the tomato will be ready to go!) Do not discard the liquid yet, you might need it to adjust the consistency at the end.
Reduce coconut milk in a small pot until thickened, remove from heat and let cool slightly. Add chili paste to the coconut milk and stir until combined. Add fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, garlic and Thai chilies; stir to mix.
In a mixing bowl, combine drained tomatoes, lemongrass, toasted coconut, ground peanuts and red onion. Pour the dressing over and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning with more lime juice as needed.
When ready to serve, you can add some of the tomato liquid back in if you feel it needs a bit more liquid. Stir in chopped cilantro and serve with tortilla chips or rice crackers. Or use as a salsa to serve with fish, shrimp, or even chicken!
Fred says
Haven’t tried this yet but I’m wondering if it’d be good to make it a little soupy and eating it on some rice vermicelli as a cold noodle dish. Has anybody ever tried this?
Jag says
Hi! I would like to check, how long can you keep this in the fridge for? Thanks!
Andrew says
This has become my "signature" party/picnic dip among family and friends -- I usually make at least double and often quadruple the quantity called for here.
A couple of things that I have found, having made this dish so many times!
- Especially in the winter I often use canned diced tomato instead of fresh tomato
- I like shallots in lieu of red onions, but both work
- For gatherings, I like to make this dip ahead of time. I've found that what works for me is to mix the tomatoes, lemongrass, coconut, peanuts, red onion/shallots, garlic, chilies, sugar, coconut milk and chili paste mixture ahead of time and refrigerate overnight. Then the day of, I just add the fish sauce, lime juice and fresh cilantro and mix thoroughly.
Futile Resistance says
Mine was a lot redder at the end and I preferred it with fresh veg like celery, cauli, carrot etc than tortilla chips. But it worked very well with a nice little subtle boom