What Desserts Go with Thai Food?

Thai bananas in coconut milk by Thai Jasmine

Traditionally, desserts are rarely offered or eaten with Thai food. Most Thai restaurants in Thailand don’t even offer desserts on the menu, as a matter of fact.

But at the few Thai restaurants that do offer desserts, there are a wide range of offerings from brownies to cakes to ice cream. It doesn’t seem that there is a specific best pairing of desserts with Thai food.

Many of the local Thai desserts utilize the sweetness of coconut milk because coconut is native to Thailand. Sweetened coconut milk is often poured over slices of fresh yellow mango, which is an excellent choice of dessert if you are aiming for authentic Thai.

Sticky rice, called khao neow, is another favorite Thai dessert that is especially popular in the northeast of the country. Sticky rice can be eaten alone or combined with fruit, especially bananas and mango, to for my a wonderful combination.

But as Thailand modernizes, it is seeing the proliferation of Western bakeries that offer the usual fare of pastries and Western desserts. It is not difficult to successfully pair them with Thai food to create a sweet finish to your meal.