Desiccated Coconut Recipe: What Is Desiccated Coconut?

Desiccated coconut is a dried coconut product made by grating and dehydrating fresh coconut meat. You can sweeten the coconut meat, dry it as-is, or toast it to enhance its nutty flavor. Make your desiccated coconut in a low-temperature oven or a dehydrator; once you’ve learned how, follow similar steps to make shredded coconut or coconut flakes by shredding or shaving the coconut instead of grating it.

Coconuts are versatile fruits that get processed into various products, including coconut meat, coconut oil, coconut water, coconut milk, coconut sugar, and coconut flour. (Learn how to make coconut milk.) Desiccated coconut and coconut flour both come from coconut meat that has had its moisture content removed. The difference is that coconut flour no longer has the natural fat content of the desiccated variety, so they’re not interchangeable.

The main difference between shredded and desiccated coconut is the texture. Desiccated coconut has a fine texture, while shredded coconut has a larger particle size, like shredded cheese, instead of finely grated cheese. You can use a vegetable peeler to shave the coconut meat into larger strips known as coconut flakes. Depending on your preference, you can prepare any type of dried coconut as sweetened or unsweetened.

Desiccated coconut is readily available in grocery stores, but if you have access to fresh coconuts, making it at home can be a fun project. Here’s how to make desiccated coconut with ease.

1. 1. Look for mature coconuts. Young coconuts, harvested for coconut water and their jelly-like, gelatinous interior, aren’t meant for drying. While tasty, the tender young coconut meat won’t yield properly desiccated coconut. Look for firm, round coconuts with a thin exterior layer of brown husk instead of a thick green one. Alternatively, you can purchase coconut meat already extracted from the shell.
2. 2. Peel the coconut meat. Coconut meat has a layer of brown fiber that, while edible, can harden during the dehydrating process. Peel the outer layer, so you’re left with just the white part before processing it.
3. 3. Use a food processor. Desiccated coconut has a delicate, snow-like texture. Grating it by hand can be quite laborious, especially if you plan on making enough to cook with. Instead, chop the coconut into chunks and pulse it in a food processor for an even, fine texture to speed up the process. For a more shredded texture, use the largest holes on a box grater to shred the coconut.
4. 4. Sweeten to taste. Fresh coconut has a gentle sweetness and fragrant coconut flavor. Depending on what you’ll be using it for—such as this coconut macaroon recipe—you might want a sweeter end product. For sweetened coconut: Make a simple syrup with a one-to-one ratio of sugar to water, heat it gently to dissolve the sugar, then stir it into the grated coconut and sweeten to taste before dehydrating.
5. 5. Store properly. Homemade desiccated coconut has a shelf life of about four months. Store it in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.