Virgin Pina Colada Recipe

Thick, creamy, cold, and refreshing healthier virgin pina colada recipe made with coconut cream and sweetened naturally with pineapple. 

Nothing says summer vacation quite like a pina colada. Creamy, cold, sweet, and tropical, pina coladas always make me think of tropical Hawaiian vacations. Though we aren’t going on a big vacation this summer, we have been blending up plenty of healthy-ish virgin pina colada smoothies.

While most pina coladas are filled with sugar, this version is sweetened naturally with pineapple. Taste-wise though, this virgin pina colada tastes exactly like the ones from hotel pool bars.

I tried to emulate our favorite virgin pina colada smoothies from hotel pools we love, like this one at the Bacara Resort. Side note: I took this iPhone picture a few weeks ago. Notice those plastic straws? It looks like they will be banned here in Santa Barbara, which I think is great. At home, we use reusable glass straws.

I recently found out that the piña colada is the national drink of Puerto Rico and was likely created with the cream of coconut, Coco Lopez. I don’t recommend this brand, however, as it’s sweetened with sugar.

How to Make a Virgin Pina Colada

Making a virgin pina colada couldn’t be easier. It’s just like making any other smoothie. As you may know, I have many smoothies here on the blog. A few tropical favorites to check out are Chia Mango Smoothie, Green & Glowing, Peach Smoothie, Dragon Fruit Smoothie, Acai Bowls, and Matcha Smoothies! For those times you might want a less rich pineapple smoothie, here’s my light Pineapple Smoothie recipe made with mango and banana. 

Virgin Pina Colada Ingredients

Virgin pina coladas require just a few simple ingredients: pineapple juice (or coconut water), frozen pineapple chunks, and coconut cream. Don’t miss our post all about How to Cut a Pineapple. The coconut cream is the secret that makes this “smoothie” so incredibly velvety smooth. I don’t recommend swapping it out for coconut milk. We find this recipe to be plenty sweet, but if you want yours even sweeter, you could add a few drops of liquid stevia. I keep a bag of pineapple chunks in the freezer to add to smoothies.

Blend for a minute or two and these three ingredients transform into the most decadent tasting virgin pina colada. For thicker smoothies, use less liquid, and for thinner, drinkable smoothies, use more.

While this recipe is just a simple pineapple-coconut smoothie, it feels so summery and fun. My kids ask for them all the time.

If you wan’t to get extra fancy, you can line the rim with shredded coconut. Aloha, friends!

More Tropical Recipes

• Tropical Fruit Platter
• Mango Avocado Salsa
• Veggie Kabobs with Pineapple 
• Vegan Pineapple Nice Cream
• Vegan Mango Nice Cream