Pineapple Mango Vitamin C Booster Smoothie – this smoothie will help you work in extra vitamins, minerals, fiber, and all the goodness that plants can offer, including an extra boost of Vitamin C to help combat colds and flu, sickness, and germs.
After I’ve run 5 miles or finished the most grueling yoga class, and I’m hot, tired, and on empty, smoothies go down so easily.
Especially the kind that taste like a tropical vacation.
I’m blessed to live in San Diego, and it’s been in the mid-70s the past few days during the middle of the day. It still gets cold enough at night that we have to turn the heat on, but for a few glorious hours in the middle of the day, it’s picture-perfect. That’s when I run or do yoga and after a hard workout, I don’t like heavy things but need something to recharge.
This sweet, creamy, citrusy, vegan, Vitamin C-packed smoothie is so refreshing and hits the spot.
I try to incorporate as much Vitamin C into my diet as possible. It’s an easy thing to do and something that helps prevent sickness, and I’ll take all the prevention I can get. With a 6 year old who’s constantly bringing home every other kid’s cooties, germs, sniffles and sneezes, any little bit of immune-boosting powers is welcome. Citrus fruits like pineapple or orange-colored fruit in general, such as mango, are high in Vitamin C.
I love both pineapple and mango and have a dozen other smoothie recipes that use one or the other, but it’s a favorite combination I never tire of. I always keep frozen pineapple and frozen mango chunks on hand, perfect for blending into smoothies. You don’t need to add ice if you use frozen fruit, preventing a watered-down drink.
A smoothie just isn’t a smoothie without a banana included for creaminess and they’re a huge source of potassium. If you’re active, making sure you’re getting enough potassium helps to prevent leg cramps and muscle cramps in general. Other good potassium sources include skin-on baked potatoes, prunes, spinach, and lima beans. Given those choices, bananas sound better and better.
I peel over-ripe bananas, break them into chunks, and keep them in a big Ziplock in my freezer, making it easy to toss a few chunks into smoothies. When blended, they add plant-based creaminess that’s unparalleled to anything else. Bananas are naturally sweet, inexpensive, and always available.
Blend together the fruits, milk, sweetener, splash of vanilla, and blend until smooth and creamy. I like to make this smoothie with coconut milk; it’s plant-based, healthy, and I have a coconut obsession. Use almond, soy, or your favorite milk. If you’d like to splurge, a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt makes it taste like dessert-in-a-cup.
Sweeten it using granulated sugar, agave, honey, stevia, a couple Medjool dates, or your favorite sweetener. Some people don’t sweeten fruit-based smoothies because the pineapple, mango, and banana are already sweet, but it depends on your palette and how sweet the fruit was when it was frozen. Sometimes pineapple and mango were frozen in a slightly under-ripe state and are a bit too tart to enjoy. I like my Lemon Bars extra tart, but not my smoothies.
Since I have to wash my blender anyway, I make double the amount I need. I fill freezer-safe platstic cups with the extra portions, freeze them, and when I’m ready for a smoothie, just nuke the cup for a minute. It saves time not having to remake and then rewash my blender. And having a fruity, creamy, healthy, vegan beverage ready and easily grab-able, prevents me from reaching for cookies, which are equally grab-able.
I’ve read that if you want to eat healthier, simply having fresh veggies or fruit cut up and in containers in your fridge, totally ready to snack on, makes it easier to snack on the good stuff. It’s so easy to grab a bag of chips or a handful of jelly beans when you’re hungry and your willpower is nil if you’re not prepared with your snacks. A little prep work saves time and helps you stay on track. And that’s my approach with smoothies waiting in the freezer.
The pineapple flavor dominates, reminding me a bit of a virgin pina colada. Between the mango, banana, and coconut milk, it’s a healthy, frothy, creamy, vegan treat. I’ll drink to that.
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Pineapple Mango Vitamin C Booster Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
- 1 cup frozen mango chunks
- 1 medium ripe banana, peeled and frozen in chunks
- 1 cup milk, regular, almond, soy, coconut, etc.
- 1 teaspoon+ vanilla extract
- sweetener, to taste (sugar, agave, stevia, honey, maple syrup, dates, etc.)
- optional suggestions, see below
Instructions
- All ingredients and amounts are to taste. Use seasonal fruits or vary the quantities of fruits, to taste. I used bagged, frozen fruit from Trader Joe's. Using frozen is preferred to fresh since smoothie is automatically kept cold, without adding ice which waters it down.
- Place all ingredients in the canister of a Vita-Mix or blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Serve immediately. Pour extra into a freezer-safe cup and freeze for up to 1 month, thawing before serving (or microwaving for about 30 seconds); double or triple the recipe to create planned leftovers - perfect to grab for busy morning breakfasts or as easy snacks.
- Optionally, consider adding a scoop of protein powder or dollop of yogurt for extra protein; or blending with juice to increase the amount of Vitamin C; add coconut flakes, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, or your favorite smoothie add-ins' to either the blender canister before blending or garnish smoothie with them after blending.
- Recipe is vegan (use vegan milk, avoid honey), gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free as written. Take care any ingredients used are suitable for your dietary needs.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Do you have a favorite healthy smoothie recipe?
What do you do or make that keeps you centered, on track, and healthy? Any tips to share?
This post is brought to you by Ocean Spray Diet . With 5 little calories, it is made with real fruit juice and has a big, bold taste. Get more out of your diet.
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Oh yum, this smoothie looks and sounds so good! It makes me think of summer too!
Smoothies are always my mid-afternoon pick-me-up–I need them to keep trucking with work until dinnertime. :) I have everything I need to make this one, so it will be made very soon!
Oh, and unrelated, I made your chocolate chia seed pudding for breakfast this weekend. OMG, so delicious! I’ve been a chia fan for a while, but was a little bit eeked out by the pudding concept. Glad I took the plunge because it is amazing.
Thanks for LMK that you tried the chocolate chia seed pudding. Wow, it’s been ages since I’ve even thought about that recipe. Blast from the past for me! Lots of those chia seed recipes were circa 2009-10 on my blog. I cringe just thinking about the photography :) Glad the recipe was a hit!
I pinned this one! We do a lot of smoothies at our house. I always have frozen bananas and whatever fruit we didn’t eat all of the week before in the freezer. We eat lots of Cuties, but if they start looking over-ripe, I peel and section them and they go into freezer bags. This week it was grapes. I use equal parts banana and another fruit in the Vitamix and we call it “ice cream.” My 3-year-old granddaughter loves it. Loveovers go into ice cube trays, then baggies. Anyway. . .I’ve never used pineapple or mango! Can’t wait to try these! Thank you!
Thanks for the pin & enjoy the recipes with your granddaughter…that’s so sweet you two make smoothies together! :)
Cold smoothies are my favorite thing after a long sweaty run! This one looks so creamy and delicious!
Saw your lovely shot on food gawker – here’s my green smoothie…Now that it is warming up, this will be breakfast again…https://lizthechef.com/2012/01/26/my-morning-green-smoothie/
Looks so good! And healthy :-)
That looks super refreshing! Hopefully next winter I’ll be enjoying the warm California winters. But I can’t believe you have to turn your heat on after a high in the 70s. I try to avoid turning our heat on at all costs. Even in the dead of winter (now) I keep it on 60 at night because I don’t like it on.
There is something about the dry air that gets so cold at night. I’d rather not shiver and shake and wear 10 sweaters & turn the heat on instead. I hate running the heat, too. The fake hot feeling is not enjoyable but the houses are so poorly insulated here. It’s not like MN or WI houses…trust me!
This smoothie is motivating me to hit the gym since I havent gone in about 6 months..haha. On dreary days like today, my body craves tropical fruits like pineapple and mango. Here’s to hopefully sunny days ahead!
I’d go insane, like crazy, if I didn’t work out. Not just the physical, but the mental/emotional. Keeps me centered :)
You have so many delicious smoothies posted – if only I had all the ingredients now to make one =). I love smoothies. When I was pregnant I drank one pretty much every single day. I really need to start doing that again =). Your smoothies look divine.
When I was pregnant, I lived on ginger ale and saltines…for months! And fresh fruit. I don’t know why I wasn’t making smoothies?! I could have seen myself being able to keep them down and back then, anything was a bonus :) You were smart!
This smoothie looks wonderful, Averie! I love the flavors!
This smoothie does look like a tropical vacation! I have Spring Fever..it’s still cold where we live and San Diego weather sounds perfect to me.
I love your tip about putting the peeled over-ripe banana chunks into the freezer and adding it into the smoothie. It is literally making my mouth water! It was a heat wave up here in Utah (32 degrees!) that I was able to go out running! This is a must have smoothie after a run! Thank you for sharing!
I always have a stash on hand – makes it so much easier to just grab a couple chunks out of the baggie!
We are smoothie lovers around this house! Your smoothie was recreated in our home this very evening for my Simeon! His absolute favorite smoothie is pineapple and mango, so I always have those two fruits in the freezer. We always have bananas on hand, too, fresh and frozen so all these ingredients were readily available tonight! What a delicious smoothie, Averie! Seriously, the coconut milk with those three fruits combined with the vanilla – WOW. It was so delicious! It tasted like a tropical ice cream. :-D
Thanks for trying it…ALREADY! Didn’t think many people would b/c I realize it’s still ‘winter’ for many people even though it’s warm in San Diego. Chilly at night but nice during the day. But leave it to you, to make it, and on the same day! Thank you! And I agree, it was like tropical ice cream. Perfect description!
Ooh I wish my body could handle pineapple! These look aweeeesome.
You could skip it and use…any other fruit in it’s place from peaches to oranges to strawberries…whatever sounds good!
I am so jealous of your weather! It must the perfect thing when this smoothie is by your side!