Perfect Dragon Fruit Smoothie – A Couple Cooks

This vibrant pink dragon fruit smoothie recipe is easy and delicious! It’s the perfect tropical puree with mango, pineapple and banana.

You’ve heard to eat the rainbow, so here’s a recipe that delivers the best pink puree around. Try a Dragon Fruit Smoothie! Dragon fruit is a bright fuchsia tropical fruit that’s become extremely popular in smoothies and smoothie bowl recipes. Pair this vibrant fruit with banana, mango and pineapple for a puree that’s sweet tart and pure delicious. Our kids couldn’t stop sipping it…and neither could we.

Ingredients in a dragon fruit smoothie

Whiz up this dragon fruit smoothie in a blender and you won’t believe the brilliant color! It’s hard to look away from the beautifully bright pink. Dragon fruit is popular in both smoothies and smoothie bowls, where you top the puree with fresh fruit, granola, nut butter and other toppings. Here are the ingredients you’ll need for the smoothie recipe:

• Frozen dragon fruit puree: It’s easiest to find dragon fruit for smoothies in the frozen section at your grocery store.
• Banana: All you need is a room temperature banana: no need to freeze!
• Frozen pineapple and mango: It’s easy to find frozen pineapple and mango at your local grocery, and this helps to enhance the icy texture and sweet tart flavor.
• Lime juice (optional): Lime juice helps bring out the fruity flavor. It’s optional if you don’t have lime on hand.

What is dragon fruit, anyway?

Dragon fruit is a tropical fruit that’s native to Mexico and Central America, but today it’s grown around the world. The most common type of this fruit is bright pink on the outside with green scales, which is how it got its name.

When you cut into a fresh dragon fruit, the flesh is white with black seeds. The flavor is sweet and fruity, almost like kiwi with a touch of citrus.

How to buy dragon fruit: fresh or frozen

Where to find dragon fruit at the store? If you’re making a dragon fruit smoothie, it’s easiest to buy dragon fruit as a frozen puree. While you can find it whole and fresh at a grocery store, usually it’s difficult to find. The frozen puree is available in the frozen section at many grocery stores, and you can also buy it online.

This smoothie recipe is customized for frozen dragon fruit. If you do have access to fresh dragon fruit, you can use the same weight of peeled, chopped fruit in the recipe below. Then use a frozen banana instead of fresh to get the proper frozen texture.

Tips for blending a dragon fruit smoothie

The only hard part about a smoothie using frozen puree is getting it to blend! When you’re using lots of icy ingredients, sometimes the blender can get stuck. We learned some tips from making our Acai Smoothie that also relate to this dragon fruit smoothie recipe. Here’s what to know:

• Use a good blender. Of course this smoothie works in any blender, but a quality blender makes the process much easier! Best case is a high speed blender.
• Thaw the frozen packets under warm water until you can break them into smaller pieces. Then remove the packaging. Breaking them into pieces is helpful for blending.
• Add the liquid to the bottom of the blender first. This helps the blades to spin freely and not seize up with the frozen fruit.
• Add more water as necessary. Stop, scrape and add a bit more water as necessary until the smoothie comes to the right texture. Just don’t add too much water: it can water down the flavor.

Protein adders!

This dragon fruit smoothie recipe doesn’t have lots of protein on its own, like some of our other smoothies do (like our Vanilla Protein Smoothie or Yogurt Smoothie). It’s a vegan smoothie that’s fully made of fruit! To add plant-based protein, here are some ideas:

• 1 tablespoon nut butter. The best nut butters to pair with the tropical flavors are almond butter or cashew butter. 1 tablespoon adds 4 grams protein.
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds. This quantity adds 4 grams protein and 11 grams fiber to your smoothie (see this Chia Seed Smoothie).
• 1 scoop protein powder: Use your favorite protein powder to add a boost!

Toppings for a dragon fruit smoothie

Want to turn this dragon fruit smoothie into more of a meal? Add toppings! You can turn it into a dragon fruit smoothie bowl top it just like an Acai Bowl, or just put the toppings right into the smoothie. Here are a few toppings we recommend:

• Almond butter: Our favorite for dolloping smoothies! It adds just the right savory flavor.
• Kiwi: Sliced kiwi makes a nice color contrast.
• Strawberries or raspberries: The pink berries make a beautiful monochromatic look.
• Blueberries or blackberries: These berries make a contrast.
• Coconut flakes: Use toasted coconut for a crunch!

Want to make it into a smoothie bowl? You can do that too. Remember that smoothies for smoothie bowls should be on the thick side (don’t add too much liquid when blending). It’s also nice to freeze the bowl while assembling the toppings to avoid too much melting once you add the puree.

More smoothie recipes

Looking for healthy smoothie recipes? We’ve got ’em. Try one of the following:

• Fruits: Banana, Peach, Apple, Grape, Acai Berry, Watermelon, Orange, Mango Pineapple, or Pineapple Smoothie 
• Berries: Strawberry, Coconut Milk, Mixed Berry, Fruit, Kiwi, Blueberry, Strawberry Banana, Strawberry Mango, or Blueberry Banana Smoothie 
• Greens & veggies: Kale, Celery, Pumpkin, Avocado, Cucumber, Avocado Banana, Green, Beet or Spinach Smoothie 
• Creamy: Yogurt, Coffee, Oat Milk, Vanilla Protein, Oatmeal, Chocolate Banana or Peanut Butter Smoothie 

This dragon fruit smoothie recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.

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