Easy Coconut Pineapple Smoothie Recipe

It’s not every day that you get to go on a luxurious beach vacation, but it is possible to interject a little bit of tropical flair to your everyday life with this coconut pineapple smoothie! Packed with frozen pineapple, banana, and coconut milk, this dairy-free smoothie tastes like a creamy, dreamy piña colada that is nourishing enough to have for breakfast.

This smoothie is a wonderful addition to a balanced diet, especially because of the nutritional powerhouse that is pineapple! Pineapple is loaded with vitamins and minerals, plus it’s got lots of enzymes that can help aid digestion. And most importantly? Pineapple is delicious! And in this smoothie it adds a sweet, tropical flavor that can’t be beat.

What do I need for your coconut pineapple smoothie recipe?

You only need three, maybe four, ingredients, and you may already have them all! You’ll need:

• Frozen bananas. Bananas add some sweetness to this snack. And since they are frozen, they give the smoothie a creamy texture (which means you don’t have to dilute it down with ice!).
• Pineapple. You can’t have a pineapple smoothie without pineapple! Canned or fresh pineapple will both work.
• Coconut milk. The stuff from the can is what you want here—you can often find it with the international foods or baking ingredients.
• Honey or maple syrup. Both bananas and pineapples have a natural sweetness, so you may be able to skip this one. Sweeten to taste.

Can you mix pineapple and milk?

This pineapple smoothie recipe calls for coconut milk for two reasons:

1. We wanted that classic pina colada flavor combo of coconut + pineapple.
2. Pineapple and dairy milk do not typically play nicely together. The acidity of the pineapple can easily curdle the milk. Non-dairy milk like coconut milk will give you a smoother, tastier smoothie.

Don’t I need ice?

Not if you are using frozen bananas! Most smoothie recipes that call for ice do so because it chills and thickens the smoothie. But frozen fruit can do that too—and the fruit won’t dilute your smoothie flavor.

One exception! If you choose to use fresh fruit instead of frozen, you’ll need to add a handful or two of ice to the blender.

How do I make a pineapple smoothie?

For the best results, you’ll want to add the ingredients to the blender in this order: coconut milk first, then the bananas and pineapple. Slowly increase the speed of your blender, and process until smooth and creamy. Add honey or maple syrup to taste, and enjoy!

How do I make this smoothie vegan?

Good news—this one is already vegan! Just be sure to use maple syrup instead of honey if you sweeten it.

What’s the best blender for making smoothies?

If you’re in need of a new blender, here are the three we recommend:

• AFFORDABLE: Cuisinart Hand Blender—This immersion blender stores away neatly, and is powerful enough to blend up a smoothie!
• MEDIUM: Ninja Professional Blender—We used this one in the Wholefully kitchen for years, and it’s a great high-powered blender.
• PRICEY: Vitamix Professional Blender—A Vitamix is the cream of the blender crop, and it’s what we use everyday in the Wholefully test kitchen. It’s a dream to use, and will last you a lifetime!

What fruit blends well with pineapple?

Pineapple’s sweet-tart flavor complements so many fruits! Some of our favorite fruits to pair with pineapple include:

• Coconut! You’ll find that tropical pairing here, and in our no-banana pineapple spinach smoothie.
• Banana. Banana’s mild flavor adds a subtle creamy sweetness to pineapple smoothies and desserts.
• Mango. Tropical fruits gotta stick together! You can try the coconut-mango-pineapple combo in our mango smoothie.
• Papaya or passionfruit. Two more tropical fruits that play nicely with pineapple.

Is there a way to pack more nutrition into this pineapple smoothie?

This recipe makes a simple coconut pineapple smoothie that is already packed with Vitamin C and potassium, but you can add whatever seeds or powders that you’d like to make it even more nourishing! For this one, I might add:

• Turmeric. Turmeric is an anti-inflammatory with lots of health benefits that will make your pineapple smoothie an even brighter yellow.
• Hemp seeds. These seeds are nearly flavorless, but they will add so much plant-based protein and essential fatty acids to your smoothie. I much prefer these to chalky protein powders to boost the protein levels in my smoothie.
• Local bee pollen or honey. Local honey and bee pollen may help keep seasonal allergies in check, and they taste great!
• Chia seeds or ground flax seeds. Give your smoothie a boost of omega-3s with these little seed powerhouses.

Once you find the combination of mix-ins that you like, you can freeze them as booster packs for future smoothies!

Where can I find more smoothie recipes?

• Clementine Avocado Smoothie
• Cold Buster Smoothie
• Spinach and Pear Smoothie
• And 20+ other smoothie recipes at our big “how to make a smoothie” post!