How To Make Virgin Piña Coladas

You won't believe how easy it is to make homemade Virgin Piña Coladas! Just 3 ingredients and a blender, these non-alcoholic frozen mocktails are naturally gluten-free, vegan, paleo, and perfect for kids! This naturally sweet and creamy tropical treat is a refreshing combo of pineapple and coconut that's ready to be enjoyed in minutes!

Close your eyes and imagine you're lounging on the beach with palm trees swaying in the breeze and a sweet, creamy, frozen piña colada in hand. I may not be able to take you to a tropical destination, but I can give you the recipe to create a little tropical treat right at home! Coconut and pineapple, cool, creamy, and frosty, a sweet and refreshing mocktail that everyone in the family can enjoy!

Besides banana daiquiris, piña coladas were my other favorite (non-alchoclic) cocktails! Fruity, frozen, tropical island drinks are always a crowd-pleaser and without alcohol, everyone in the family can enjoy a cool and creamy sip! When the hot summer weather arrives, a frozen mocktail always sounds like a good idea! Bonus points for you, this is the best virgin piña colada recipe you'll find...

Why It's The Best Homemade Recipe

• Naturally Gluten-Free, Vegan, & Paleo
• Allergy-free (Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free, Peanut-Free, Wheat-Free, Sesame-Free, Corn-Free)
• No Added Sugar
• Kid-Approved
• Only 3 Ingredients & No Added Ice
• Less Than 5 Minutes To Make
• Easily Scalable For A Crowd

What Is A Piña Colada?

A traditional piña colada is a blended alcoholic cocktail of 3 parts pineapple juice, 1 part cream of coconut (coconut milk with sugar added), and 1 part white rum. It's typically shaken or blended with ice. Typically you'll see it served in a hurricane glass with a maraschino cherry and pineapple wedge. The drink originated in Puerto Rico and the name piña colada, (in Spanish), literally means "strained pineapple", which is a reference to the freshly pressed and strained pineapple juice used in the drink's preparation. Puerto Rico made it their official drink in 1978!

Ingredients For A Virgin Piña Colada

• Coconut Milk: This recipe works with any type of coconut milk. However, I'll dive into the nuances below! For this recipe, I used light canned coconut milk. Since there is ample natural sweetness from the pineapple, you don't need to add any sweetener, unless you want a sweeter beverage. In this case, add a sweetener of choice to your taste preferences.
• Frozen Pineapple: For a thick, frozen piña colada without ice, you must use frozen pineapple! If you happen to have fresh pineapple, be sure to cut it up and freeze it before making this recipe!
• Pineapple Juice: To get this thick frozen drink moving, a touch of 100% real pineapple juice does the trick and does the job of replacing the rum!

Cream of Coconut vs. Coconut Milk vs. Coconut Cream

Coconut Milk

To start, coconut milk, is the liquid extracted from a coconut pulp. You'll find light coconut milk, which has water added to it to reduce the natural fat content. There is also regular which is not thinned out with water and is much thicker and richer (think or skim vs. whole milk). Coconut milk can be used in tons of recipes, from curries to simply swapping it for dairy. Note that refrigerated coconut milk beverage is more like light canned coconut milk in consistency, but contains added enrichments, sometimes sugar, and is not shelf-stable (unless you get shelf-stable!). It's also important to note that it has less of a real coconut taste since it's not straight coconut milk.

Coconut Cream

Coconut cream is the thick cream you'll find on the top of a chilled can of coconut milk. The cream separated from the liquid when chilled (i.e. coconut is a saturated fat). It holds all the delicious coconut flavor and is prime for some coconut whipped cream!

Cream of Coconut

Cream of coconut is sweetened coconut cream, think of condensed milk. It's thick and syrupy and is used for drinks and cocktails such as the piña colada or some desserts. There are typically stabilizers and added thickeners since this is not a natural form of coconut milk.

How To Make A Non-Alcoholic Piña Colada

1. Add all three ingredients to a high-powered blender.
2. Blend until smooth, thick, and creamy!

No Need For Ice

You do not need to add ice to this virgin piña colada! The frozen pineapple cubes act like ice in this recipe. They provide flavor, creaminess, and natural sweetness! Without ice, you won't have to worry about a watered-down colada! Of course, if you prefer a thinner beverage, you can add more pineapple juice to this recipe.

How To Serve & Garnish

Since you want to drink these healthy piña coladas right away, pour the blended drinks into chilled glasses so they don't melt! You can pop your glasses in the fridge for a few minutes before serving. Then garnish with a fresh pineapple wedge, maraschino cherry if desired, and serve with a straw! And if you really want to be legit...add an umbrella!

Recipe Tips & Tricks

• After you blend your ingredients, take a spoon to taste test to adjust the level of sweetness. From there, add extra sweetener if desired.
• If you want a more liquidy drink, add more pineapple juice. If you want it even thicker, add more frozen pineapple.
• If you don't want alcohol, but want the flavor of rum, add ½ teaspoon of rum extract!
• If you're not serving kids and do want alcohol, go ahead and add some rum!
• You can easily double, triple, quadruple this recipe if you're serving a crowd.
• If you want to make these vegan piña coladas ahead of time, you can blend everything up and store it in the fridge. However, when serving you'll have a more liquidy drink, but the flavors will still be there! I'd suggest serving them over crushed ice if you make them this way.

More Easy Summer Beverages:

• Virgin Banana Daiquiris
• Frosty Coconut Mint Green Tea Mocktail
• Pineapple Strawberry Smoothie
• Homemade Healthy Lemonade
• 4-Ingredient Orange Julius Cocktail

Print

Whether you need a family-friendly beverage to sip poolside or you don't rely on alcohol to get the party started, these frosty refreshing Virgin Piña Coladas are a delicious and healthy treat for everyone to enjoy!

So tell me:

+ What's your favorite fruity "mocktail"?

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