tropical turmeric smoothie
tropical turmeric smoothie

Sunshine Tropical Smoothie with Turmeric

5/5
This tropical smoothie recipe is the perfect blend of pineapple, mango, and coconut water with an anti-inflammatory boost from turmeric. This healthy drink just might brighten your day. It's easy to make, contains no added sugar, and is gluten free, vegan, paleo, aip, & whole30.

Prep Time: 3 minutes

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Recipe Rundown

tropical smoothie with mango, pineapple, and coconut

Ah. Turmeric.

So refreshing, so sublimely tropical. How on earth can a smoothie be this life-giving?

After a good sweat in the yard (or in the garage in my case – getting rid of crapola), that first cool sip of tangy electrolytes? Nirvana. It’s all pineapple-mango blended with briny coconut water for a sweet and tangy buzz that’s like being handed a glass of sunshine by your best bud. Then the turmeric pops in there like, “Hello there!”

pouring pineapple mango smoothie into cup

If you’ve never tried fresh turmeric root. Brace yourself. This turmeric juju is powerful stuff. It’s not entirely pleasant by itself, but when you work it into a poblano vegetable soup or into your standard tropical smoothie, you end up with something health-supportive and dynamic that simply compels you to make it all year long.

How Do You Make a Tropical Smoothie with No Ice?

frozen pineapple, mango, coconut water, turmeric, lime, coconut butter

Ice can cheapen the smoothie experience. For the best texture, use pure fruit: frozen mango and pineapple with a small amount of cool liquid. I like using coconut water as the base for a lighter flavor. Check out the light, smooth texture in this video:

Did you notice that dash of cinnamon at the end? Yeah. Definitely mandatory. Don’t skip that part, but go very easy with it.

tropical smoothie with cinnamon and coconut garnish

Tropical Smoothie Recipe Tips

If for whatever reason you don’t want the pizazz of turmeric, simply leave it out or try ginger instead. Mix and match your favorite tropical fruit or try this fun mangonada smoothie which is a popular Mexican drink with chamoy swirled around the glass.

Smoothie Variations to Try:

Liquids (keep those liquid ratios the same) : Instead of coconut water, try pineapple juice, mango juice, or coconut milk. Look at the label to make sure there’s no added sugar.

Fruit: For an even creamier consistency, add half a frozen banana. Any packaged, frozen “tropical fruit” blend will work in this recipe, but you can also freeze your own ripe fruit – a great option to extend the shelf-life.

Add-Ins: Boost the nutrition and add some texture with a garnish of chia seeds or gogi berries. I really like adding coconut butter for richness, but coconut oil works too.

Serving: I’m a big fan of reusable glass straws and mason jars for practicality, but if I’m feeling extra fancy, I’ll serve the smoothie in a wine glass.

Are Smoothies Healthy?

Blending whole fruit is, by a volumetric stand-point, healthier than juicing because you get a fuller glass from whole fruit which contains fiber. Fiber doesn’t require insulin to digest, so it helps moderate sugar intake.

Secondly, the presence of turmeric in this smoothie provides an anti-inflammatory effect because of the high amounts of curcumin in it. Adding fat to your smoothie (a tiny amount of coconut butter) helps with the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (vitamin A from mango). Pineapple is a great source of manganese, vitamin C, and digestive enzymes.

The bottom line? Eating whole fruit is healthy and by extension, so is a whole-fruit smoothie.

tropical smoothie in a glass with cinnamon and coconut

Bottoms up sunshine!

Sunshine Tropical Smoothie with Turmeric

This tropical smoothie recipe is the perfect blend of pineapple, mango, and coconut water with an anti-inflammatory boost from turmeric. This healthy drink just might brighten your day. It's easy to make, contains no added sugar, and is gluten free, vegan, paleo, aip, & whole30.
5 from 1 vote
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Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Keyword: aip, dairy free, gluten free, mango, paleo, pineapple, smoothie, tropical, turmeric, vegan
Prep Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 3 minutes
Servings: 2 smoothies
Calories: 290kcal
Author: Chef Sara Furcini

Equipment

  • high speed blender

Ingredients

  • 2 cups frozen mango
  • 2 cups frozen pineapple
  • 2 tbsp lime juice from 2-4 limes
  • 2 tsp coconut butter
  • 2 tbsp fresh turmeric peeled and chopped
  • 2 1/4 cups cold coconut water the fresh stuff
  • tiny pinch cinnamon for garnish

Instructions

  • Add frozen fruit, lime juice, coconut butter, turmeric and coconut water to the blender. Blend on high speed until very smooth. Serve right away with a small dash of cinnamon.

Video

Notes

If you want to keep the electrolytes, but you don’t have coconut water: add a pinch of sea salt along with your liquid of choice.
Powdered turmeric may be substituted in this recipe. Decrease the amount to 1 Tablespoon since dried spices are more concentrated.
Coconut water is from the young Thai coconut and is refrigerated. A pink color is normal. You can also used canned coconut water (I like this one because it has a pure flavor with no additives).

Nutrition

Calories: 290kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 291mg | Potassium: 1309mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 47g | Vitamin A: 1881IU | Vitamin C: 152mg | Calcium: 117mg | Iron: 5mg

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Scott G
Scott G
3 years ago

Really enjoying your website – thank you for sharing your talents! I found it though google on “Jade Red Chicken,” and I’m desiring to try your sunshine smoothie, but curious what Coconut butter is?

Also, any chance you can make black beans similar to Chino’s – yum!

Scott
Scott
3 years ago

Wow, thank you for the quick reply. I agree on Chinos, I been going since mid-1990’s. The black beans have a super unique flavor, salty, savory, spicy with a tad bit of sweetness and acid. They blend it, so it is like a refried bean, but this one is black and soupy thick. It certainly is not the prettiest, but once you get past the lack of visual appeal, the flavor hooks most people right in! My five year old daughter just eats the black beans and white rice mixed, with maybe, 1 jade red chicken bite. My Thai wife… Read more »

Scott
Scott
3 years ago

Cool, I can’t wait! Myself and others would be eternally grateful for some taste bud heaven here on earth! Thank you very much!

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