Family recipe: The best Coquito (Puerto Rican Eggnog) recipe

As a Puerto Rican, it officially feels like the holiday season when you make your first batch of coquito. Coquito is Puerto Rico’s version of eggnog, using rum (Puerto Rican rum, naturally) and coconut milk. Today I am sharing my adaptation of my family’s traditional coquito recipe (Puerto Rican eggnog), as taught to me by my father. This is the BEST coquito recipe, and it’s so easy to make. If you’ve never had Puerto Rican coquito, you need to make this recipe STAT. Even if you’re not a fan of traditional eggnog, you might find that coquito changes that for you. See my authentic coquito recipe at the bottom of this post, but first I’ll share some background and tips for making and modifying this recipe.

What is coquito?

Coquito translates to “little coconut” in Spanish. It’s sometimes called Puerto Rican Eggnog because of the Caribbean spin provided by the addition of coconut milk and the use of rum instead of bourbon or brandy. Once you try this you will want a batch of coquito in your fridge at all times during the holiday season. It goes down so smooth!

Does coquito have eggs in it?

There is some debate about whether or not coquito should be made with eggs. My family always used eggs, so that’s why I still make my traditional coquito recipe with eggs to this day.

Coquito bottles

It is traditional to store coquito in empty rum bottles, but for gifting I like to portion it out into smaller bottles, as coquito makes great gifts! I give coquito bottles to friends and neighbors during the holiday season (they always look forward to it), and use them for host/hostess gifts as well. In my fridge, you’ll find coquito in rum bottles, but for gifting I use the Korken bottles from IKEA. They are available in 34 and 17 oz. sizes at $3 and $2 respectively, so I stock up when it’s coquito-gifting season.

For presentation I like to snip a sprig of pine from my Christmas tree and tie it to the neck of the bottle with a cinnamon stick and secured by a piece of twine. It comes out super cute, but is a really simple solution for gifting bottles of coquito.

How to make authentic coquito

See the full traditional coquito recipe at the bottom of this post, but here are the basics. First and foremost, you need a good white Puerto Rican rum for making coquito. Bacardi is my favorite rum for coquito. In a blender you combine the rum with coconut milk (I’m a fan of Goya’s Leche de Coco, which you can find in the Hispanic or International section of your grocery store), sweetened consensed milk, egg yolks, cinnamon and nutmeg (you usually have to work in batches). After blending, refrigerate until nice and chilled (it’s served cold). Be sure to shake the bottle before pouring yourself a glass.

Lighter Puerto Rican coquito recipe

You can even make a healthier (but slightly less creamy) coquito recipe by using light versions of the sweetened condensed milk and coconut milk. Sweetened condensed milk is available in fat-free, and Goya has a reduced fat coconut milk.

How strong do you like your beverages?

I’ll be honest; my coquito recipe packs quite a punch. It uses 3/4 of a 1.75 liter bottle of white Puerto Rican rum (about 5 1/2 cups). If this much rum is too much for you, reduce the rum to 2-3 cups per mi papi’s recommendation (which would only require you to purchase a 750 ml bottle of rum). I personally love the strength of my version, but it’s not for the timid.

Here’s our Puerto Rican coquito recipe! If you make it, please tag @fabeveryday on social media and let me know what you think!

Want more like this Puerto Rican Coquito recipe? See these other Puerto Rican recipes from Fab Everyday:

• How to Make Homemade Puerto Rican Sofrito
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• Pinchos de Pollo (Grilled Puerto Rican Chicken Skewers)
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• Shortcut Puerto Rican-Style Picadillo Empanadas (Empanadillas) recipe
• Easy Puerto Rican-Style Vegetarian Empanada Recipe
• Pernil (Puerto Rican Pork Roast)
• Arroz con Gandules (Rice with Pigeon Peas)
• Instant Pot Puerto Rican Arroz con Pollo
• Habichuelas Guisadas (Puerto Rican-Style Beans)
• Instant Pot Estofado de Pollo (or Pollo Guisado, Puerto Rican-Style Chicken Stew) Recipe
• Instant Pot Asopao de Pollo (Puerto Rican-Style Chicken and Rice Stew
• Instant Pot Arroz con Dulce (Puerto Rican-Style Rice Pudding)
• Tembleque (Puerto Rican Coconut Pudding)
• Papa Cruz’s Flan de Coco (Puerto Rican Coconut Flan Recipe)
• Instant Pot Coconut Flan Recipe (Flan de Coco)
• Flan de Chocolate (Chocolate Flan Recipe)
• Coquito Balls (Caribbean-Style Coconut Rum Balls)
• The Best Coquito (Puerto Rican Eggnog) Recipe