Tips For Blending A Dragon Fruit Smoothie
The only hard part about a smoothie using frozen puree is getting it to blend! When youre 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. Heres 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 packages 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 dont add too much water: it can water down the flavor.
More Smoothie And Juice Recipes
This dragon fruit smoothie is healthy, refreshing and absolutely tasteful. I hope you give it a try for yourself and your little ones. Fresh, flavorful and oh-so fabulous smoothie for the win! And if youre looking for more delicious smoothie recipes, Smoothie Project is full of 100 different ones, all with a variety of tasty flavors!
If youve tried this healthy-ish feel good Dragon Fruit Smoothie recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then dont forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on so I can repost on my stories!
Preparing A Dragon Fruit Smoothie
To make preparing smoothies easy, keep frozen fruit stocked in the freezer. I typically have a combination of frozen bananas, berries, and grapefruit ready to throw into smoothies. Lately, I have been adding dragon fruit to the mix because the vibrant color makes my day!
Once the fruit is frozen, toss it in the blender with a non dairy milk, like almond or coconut, a squeeze of lime, and a scoop of protein powder. I like this whey protein isolate because its pure protein no carbs or artificial sweeteners it tastes great, and adds the BEST creamy and light texture to smoothies.
Ive added mango and banana to my dragon fruit smoothie. I like the sweetness and creaminess of both of these fruits, since the dragon fruit is lower in sugar.
Also try:
- lemon juice
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Red Dragon Fruit Smoothie
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Isnt this Red Dragon Fruit Smoothie gorgeous? This completely plant-based smoothie gets that pretty fuchsia shade from red dragon fruit. If youve ever seen a dragon fruit in the supermarket and wondered what to do with it, this is one of my favorite ideas. Just scoop that beautiful, delicately sweet fruit out of its exotic, dragon-like skin, dump it into a blender, and whizz it all up to make a delicious, colorful, nutrient-rich smoothie. The most common type of dragon fruit is white-fleshed with dark black seeds . However, I was lucky enough to find red dragon fruit, which has deep, pink-red flesh with black seeds. The taste is similar, but the color of your smoothie will vary depending on the variety of fruit you use.
Its really cool, because dragon fruit is grown locally in my home state of California, and I have one growing in my garden right now. So, while it may seem exotic, you can find it locally in many parts of the U.S. In fact, dragon fruit originates in the Americas and is an indigenous food here in warmer parts of the hemisphere, but now grows in many other warm climates around the world. Dragon fruit actually grows on a fruit-bearing cactus! Rich in fiber, vitamin C, essential fatty acids , and antioxidant compounds, this fruit is a great addition to a healthful plant-based diet.
What Is Dragon Fruit
Dragon fruit is also known as pitaya. It is a super fruit indigenous to Central and South America that is now grown all over the world. It is a brightly colored pink fruit that has a mild but refreshing taste. Pitaya, or Dragon Fruit, has a faint, sweet taste, comparable to that of an earthy watermelon. All of its seeds give it the consistency of a kiwi.
Dragon fruit has amazing health benefits. Its low in calories but filling, high in vitamin C, and, yes, mesmerizing to look at. Catherine says that if youre trying to cap your calories, you can sub more dragon fruit for half of the bananawhich also will make the color of the smoothie even brighter.
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Is Dragon Fruit A Superfood
Dragon fruit contains a variety of nutrients, most notably high vitamin C and iron.
Its low calorie content helps give it superfood status because of high nutrient density.
My suggestion? Enjoy dragon fruit occasionally as you would any other fruit, unless you happen to live in SE Asia where the fruit is plentiful and inexpensive!
Pitaya Smoothie Recipe Tips
- If using fresh dragon fruit, make sure to get ripe fruit, as one thats not ripe has almost no flavor.
- Fresh Dragon fruit keeps on the counter for only a few days.
- When buying, keep in mind that organic dragon fruit has the sweetest flavor, as does those imported from Thailand.
- If you want a thicker Smoothie, blend it slowly, scrape the sides of the blender often and add in liquid in small increments until you get it the perfect consistency.
- Use the tamper to help to blend.
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Fresh Vs Frozen Fruits
The major difference between smoothies made with fresh and frozen fruits are the consistency. If you like super thick smoothie, use frozen fruits if you like a thinner and liquidy smoothie, use fresh fruits.
If you cannot find the fresh dragon fruit with red flesh, you can buy frozen dragon fruit pitaya packs at health food stores or Whole Foods next to acai packets. If you dont care about the color, you can always use the white-fleshed varieties.
For the bananas, I recommend using frozen bananas so that you dont need to add ice to your smoothie. They make your smoothie thick and creamy!
How Do You Cut This Fruit
I was def intimidated the first time I bought a fresh dragon fruit. Do I slice it down the middle, side to side, or peel it? Does it have a core like mango does? I conquered my fear, and now Im here to help!
The easiest way to cut a fresh dragon fruit is right through the middle. Im talking about the thick belly part. Then just scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Its seriously that easy! Now you just need to not scoop it directly into your mouth, and instead scoop it into your blender for this dragon fruit smoothie recipe.
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Banana Dragon Fruit Smoothie
This Dragon Fruit Smoothie is vibrantly colored, tastes sooo good, uses 4 smoothie ingredients and can be blended together in just 3 mins.
Suitable for Gluten Free and Vegan diets. Weight Watcher Points included.
This Dragon fruit smoothie recipe is simple and affordable, and uses frozen or fresh fruit, almond butter and almond milk.
This is one utterly delicious fruit smoothie that youll want to whirl up for healthy breakfasts, snacks and more. Plus you will swoon over the gorgeous magenta color, thanks to the pink-fleshed dragon fruit.
All you have to do to whip up this bright coloured banana smoothie is blend for a few mins, pour in your favorite mason jar and youve got a nutritious breakfast ready to go. Perfect for those busy mornings when you need something healthy on-the-go.
Folks, I know youve seen these drinks all over Instagram, now you can enjoy one too. #doitforthegram
How To Eat Dragon Fruit
Dragon fruit is available fresh or frozen at grocery stores, and its similar to an avocado in the sense that you cut it in half, and then scoop out the flesh inside to eat. You can eat it on its own, add it to salads, or smoothies like this one. If you can find fresh dragon fruit, feel free to cut it into chunks and freeze those in an airtight container for this smoothie. The freezer packs Ive found are 100g each, or just over 1/2 cup of puree.
If youre like me and can only find frozen dragon fruit at the moment, there are convenient freezer packs available of dragon fruit puree. Im using Pitaya Plus brand in this recipe, because thats what is available at my local store, but any similar freezer packs would work! I like to run the packs under my faucet for a moment to loosen them up, then I cut the bag in half to easily squeeze them into my blender.
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Dragon Fruit Smoothie Ingredients
Whiz up a blender of this dragon fruit smoothie recipe and you wont believe the brilliant color! Its hard to look away from the beautifully bright color. Dragon fruit is popular as a smoothie bowl , but we like it best as a straight-up smoothie. More on that below! Here are the ingredients youll need for this smoothie recipe:
- Frozen dragon fruit puree: Its easiest to find dragon fruit for smoothies in the frozen section at your grocery store. See more below!
- Banana: All you need is a room temperature banana: no need to freeze!
- Frozen pineapple and mango: Its 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 : Lime juice helps bring out the fruity flavor: but its optional if you dont have lime on hand.
Tropical Dragon Fruit Smoothie
by Amber
Tropical Dragon Fruit Smoothie is a refreshing smoothie made with pineapple, mango, banana, strawberries, dragon fruit and a pinch of honey.
Since making that Dragon Fruit Sorbet a couple weeks ago, my mind has been set on creating some more amazing recipes with this tropical fruit. With summer vacation just beginning, smoothies are high on the to-do list for breakfast and snacks with the kids. This smoothie is a huge hot with the whole family. Its colorful, sweet, refreshing and healthy!
Nutrient Dense Smoothie
Each serving of this Tropical Dragon Fruit Smoothie contains about 4 servings of fruit rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals!
Dragon Fruit
A mild tasting fruit rich in iron and calcium and loads of antioxidants. The outer layer is bright in color and the insides can either be white or bright pink/red. I used the bright pink/red so a white dragon fruit will result in a different color smoothie but taste just as fantastic! Dragon fruits are easy to prepare. Simply cut the fruit in half lengthwise and scoop out the inside to dice.
Pineapple
Pineapple is a delicious fruit high in fiber and magnesium.
Mango
Mango is a sweet fruit high in vitamin C with a fruity aroma. Picking a good mango from the store is much like picking a good avocado. Color isnt a great indication of ripeness. Instead, you want to feel the fruit and give a gentle squeeze. Mango should have slight give to it but not be too soft or too firm.
Banana
Strawberries
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This Dragon Fruit Smoothie Is So Simple To Make:
Simply blend frozen raspberries, blackberries, dragon fruit, strawberry yogurt, chia seeds, ginger, lime, and milk until smooth. If the mixture is too thick, add a little more milk. If its too thin, add more fruit or thicken with more chia seeds.
You can make this smoothie ahead of time and store it in the fridge for up to 24 hours if you want.
Okay Like I Promised I Will Leave You With My Personal Essential Seven List:
1. Eat and drink more healthfully: drink more smoothies!
2. Exercise regularly: 5 days a week of exercise including working with a personal trainer 2x week, bootcamp-type classes 3x week. Getting 10k steps in a day especially on the days Im not at the gym.
3. Save, spend, and earn wisely: as always, work smarter not harder in regards to earning potential. Meal plan so I reduce trips to the grocery store. Eating at home more on the weekends so eating out is more of a treat.
4. Rest, relax, and enjoy: read books more instead of social media , setting up dates with each of my kids and my husband. Getting 7 hours of sleep most nights of the week
5. Stop procrastinating, make consistent progress: this is a really hard one for me. Writing in my planner/calendar regularly instead of keeping it in my head which results in unnecessary stress and anxiety. Write a work schedule and plan for each week so Im prepared and productive on the days I am working.
6. Simplify, clear, and organize: another one I really really need to work on. Get rid of stuff I dont use or need! Keep an ongoing donation basket set out.
7. Engage more deeplywith other people, with God, with yourself, with the world: like #4 set up regular one-on-one dates with my kids and husband and friends , attend Mass at least 2 Sundays a month , practice yoga as often as possible
- 1 scoop Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides, optional
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Ingredient Red Dragon Fruit Smoothie
When dragon fruit is in season or if its available at yourgrocery store, I highly recommend giving this red dragon fruit smoothie recipea try! Luckily, I was able to find frozen dragon fruit at Sprouts FarmersMarket, but fresh dragon fruit will work just as well.
If youve never tried it, dragon fruit is a sweet fruit with a mild flavorsort of like a mix between a ripe kiwi and a melon. For me, its naturally sweet enough that I dont need to add any sugar or sweetener. You dont need to dress it up much to enjoy as a satisfying smoothie!
And, besides than the Instagram-worthy purple color seen in acai bowls, theres no fruit that can compare to pink dragon fruits vibrance. Simply blend with yogurt and milk, and your pink dragon fruit smoothie is ready for sipping!
I like to use frozen dragon fruit because I can have it stored in the freezer anytime, and frozen fruit is great for adding thickness to smoothies. If using fresh dragon fruit, you can get a similar effect by blending with a few ice cubes, or add some extra yogurt for creaminess.
Recipe Tips & Substitutions
- To open the packet of frozen dragon fruit, run it under warm water for about 30 seconds. Then, use your hands to break it in half and use scissors to open the packet.
- Its ideal to use a high-speed blender like a Vitamix or Blendtec, but you can also use a regular blender.
- To increase the protein content of this smoothie to make it a meal replacement, feel free to add a scoop of your favorite unsweetened protein powder. See my list of the best clean protein powders.
- This recipe can easily be doubled.
Read Also: How To Go On A Smoothie Diet
Recipe Notes And Tips
Dragon Fruit Smoothie Recipe Variations
I like to make this recipe with a mix of dragon fruit and banana, but you can add strawberries and raspberries. As I use frozen fruits, theres no need to add ice. If you use fresh ingredients, its best to add some ice to make it thicker. You can also add small amount of vegetables such as kale or spinach for extra nutrients. If youd like to boost the protein intake, feel free to add a scoop of your favorite protein powder.
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The Magic Is In The Toppings
Smoothie bowls are popular because of their toppings! I love making fun designs but dont feel like you need to. Here are some topping ideas:
- banana slices banana lovers, add more on top!
- berries or any fresh fruit works.
- shredded coconut I love adding shredded coconut for extra flavor!
- homemade granola make homemade granola or use store bought to add extra crunch and flavor.
Dragon Fruit Smoothie With Blackberry Is Gritty
Mind you, that a Dragon Fruit Smoothie with Blackberry is gritty or sandy or however you want to call it. The dragon fruit has little black seeds and the blackberry has yellowish seeds. What I do to reduce that is blend and blend and blend. I blend this smoothie for a good 3-4 minutes once its already all blended together to bread down the seeds. You could potentially pour it over a sieve but honestly, I didnt think it tasted bad at all. The texture was actually very nice!
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