This piña colada smoothie with pineapple juice, banana, and coconut milk is a tropical dream—creamy, refreshing, and easy to whip up. All that and a cherry on top (and studded through).

Social Learning

Use full-fat coconut milk for its creaminess. The banana also contributes to creaminess, as does the yogurt. I wouldn’t mind amping up the creaminess, perhaps with a touch of heavy cream.

Use fresh pineapple chunks that you’ve stashed in the freezer overnight. If you don’t feel like prepping a whole, fresh pineapple, buy the fresh pineapple chunks that most grocers sell. Canned pineapple simply won’t pack enough flavor or zing. Vanilla provides depth. Ice cubes thicken the texture.

The salt is the secret ingredient in this smoothie. It brighten the flavors, balances the sweetness, and brings out the natural tang of the pineapple and richness of the coconut milk. This especially helps if the pineapple is particularly acidic (which is all too common) or especially sweet (for instance, if it’s somewhat overripe). It also makes the coconut taste even more creamy and nuanced.

I’ve recommended amounts of sugar and syrup that are intended to leave the flavor profile tipped in favor of tang over sweetness. Don’t fret; it’s sweet enough … but I think it’s more interesting if you notice the tang first.

Cherries don’t belong in a piña colada, but I couldn’t help myself. Every right-thinking person garnishes a piña colada with cherries, and I just wanted to bring that into the smoothie itself. 

This recipe will fill three 10-oz. glasses perfectly, or four if you layer the glasses with smoothie and whip.

Ninja Blender

I made this smoothie with a Ninja professional blender. I’m not connected to Ninja in any way, and they know less than you do about the fact that I’m posting about their blender. I happened to pick one up – hardly used (if ever), with all the bells and whistles, in the original packaging) at a “moving away” sale. The reason it makes a difference is, among other things, this blender has two sets of blades: one at the bottom, as you’d expect, but one in the middle of the blender. If I were to try this in a conventional blender, I might start with all the liquid, and then add the solids bit by bit – but there’s no guarantee that it’d work without adding additional liquid. 

Piña Colada Smoothie

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