This tasty Strawberry Piña Colada smoothie is a creamy, sweet, frozen drink with coconut, pineapple, and strawberries. Adding strawberries makes for a fun and unique take on the classic frozen Pina Colada. (This beverage is non-alcoholic.)
Try some of our other frozen dessert drinks like this Jamba Juice Strawberry Wild, Caribbean Passion Smoothie, or traditional Pina Colada.
Strawberry Piña Colada
Kneaders®, a local bakery/cafe, is one of my family’s favorites for a breakfast out — we typically get their French toast, cinnamon rolls, and a smoothie or two to share. I’ve shared my copycat French Toast recipe based on the cafe’s recipe and today I’m sharing a copycat recipe for our favorite smoothie they make — Pink Pina Coladas.
It’s a super-sweet, creamy, and totally irresistible treat. Not really a nutritious, breakfast-type smoothie, but we pretend it’s breakfast fare anyways. 🙂 I mean, there is some fruit in it so that counts, right?!
But for those days we’re craving a Strawberry Piña Colada from home, this copycat recipe definitely comes in handy. We can’t tell the difference between the two! Not to mention, it’s also a lot more economical to make these drinks at home.
Ingredients
- Pineapple-orange guava juice. Kneaders’ strawberry piña colada recipe uses guava juice, but we love the tropical flavor of this particular juice blend. If you can’t find this specific juice, try half guava and half pineapple juice instead. Alternatively, use just pineapple juice.
- Cream of coconut. This is sweetened coconut cream with the consistency of a very thick syrup. It’s almost like sweetened condensed milk, consistency-wise, and has an intensely sweet coconut flavor. Cream of coconut is frequently used in tropical drinks (like a classic piña colada) and it’s also used in dessert recipes. See “quick tip” below for more info!
- Pineapple sherbet. Sherbet is not quite ice cream and not quite sorbet. It’s made with fruit and water (like sorbet) but has buttermilk, cream, or milk added (like ice cream). This gives it a slightly creamier texture than sorbet. However, if you need a dairy-free treat, pineapple sorbet works great in this recipe as well!
- Frozen strawberries and frozen pineapple. We want to use frozen (not fresh) fruit to ensure this Strawberry Piña Colada is nice and thick as well as very cold.
- Ice. Ice helps cool down the drink and contributes to the desired thick consistency.
Quick Tip
Cream of coconut is not the same as coconut cream. Coconut cream is the cream made from coconut milk and is unsweetened and very thick. It is also not the same as coconut milk.
Cream of coconut can often be found near coconut cream, among Asian or Mexican products, or in the section of the grocery store with cocktail mixes (near piña colada drink mixes). Use your store locator app on your phone if you have one!
Strawberry Piña Colada Tips
- While it might seem silly to actually measure out the ingredients for this smoothie (instead of just eye-balling and throwing everything in), I do recommend measuring ingredients the first few times you make this, or until you have a feel for the quantities. Throwing random ingredients in a blender without measuring can often end up giving you WAY too much of one ingredient and not enough of another. The result ends up being a smoothie that doesn’t taste right.
- When measuring the frozen fruit, pack it into a measuring cup to get an accurate measurement.
- To get the thick consistency you want, you’ll want to use a very high-powered blender. Since most of the ingredients are frozen, it takes some patience to blend the mixture, but it will give you a super thick smoothie. Less powerful blenders struggle to reach all of the fruit and often end up smashing things in a very un-smoothie-like way.
Quick Tip
I recommend drinking this Strawberry Piña Colada all in one sitting, preferably right after making it. This beverage really doesn’t sit or store well.
More strawberry treats
- Strawberry Scones made with Greek yogurt
- Strawberry Shortcake Trifle with lemon cake bites
- No-bake Strawberry Ice Cream Pie with cheesecake chunks
- Strawberry Frozen Yogurt made in an ice cream maker
- Strawberries and Cream Cake with sugared strawberry topping
Strawberry Piña Colada
Equipment
- Blender high-powered
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pineapple-orange guava juice see note 1
- 1 cup pineapple sherbet or pineapple sorbet for dairy-free
- 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
- 1/2 cup frozen pineapple
- 1/4 cup canned cream of coconut see note 2
- 1/2 cup ice about 7 ice cubes
Instructions
- To measure the fruit, pack it tightly into measuring cups. In a high-powered blender, blend all the ingredients in the order they are listed. Blend until completely smooth and no chunks remain. If you aren’t using a high-powered blender, you may need to stir ingredients a few times between blends.
- Divide the drink evenly between 2 large glasses and enjoy immediately. This drink doesn’t store well and doesn’t do well being made ahead of time.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What could you substitute pineapple sherbert with? I can’t not find it in my area.
me encanta y quiero aprender hacerla
Gracias! 🙂