This Dragon Fruit Banana Smoothie is bright pink, creamy, and so refreshing. All you need is 4 ingredients, bananas, yellow fruit (pineapple or mango), dragon fruit, and hemp hearts for a protein boost!
Why You Will Love This Recipe:
- This smoothie is full of healthy whole foods that support the body's functions.
- The bright pink dragon fruit or pitaya makes this smoothie beautiful just like my recipe for dragon fruit popsicles! If you want a bright pink smoothie but don't have pink dragon fruit try my strawberry smoothie recipe.
- This smoothie is friendly for all dietary needs, it is gluten free, plant based, therefore no dairy, no yogurt or milk.
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Ingredients
You need 4 simple ingredients for this smoothie, you can also switch it up according to what you have in your freezer!
- Pink Dragon Fruit or Pitaya: You can use frozen or fresh pink dragon fruit. I live in Canada and found pink dragon fruit in a mixed pack of tropical fruit from Real Canadian Super Store and picked out the dragon fruit.
- Frozen Mango OR Pineapple: Use either of these yellow fruit to bring out a sweet tropical flavour in this smoothie.
- Banana: Use fresh banana to make this smoothie creamy and sweet. You can also use frozen banana, just let it thaw for a few minutes before making this smoothie.
- Hemp heart: Hemp hearts are high in protein, if you don't have them you can skip them or use chia seeds (they are great for boosting energy) instead.
See recipe card for quantities.
Dragon Fruit Facts
Did you know this fruit grows from different cactus? It does! Some call dragon fruit pitaya, or strawberry pear! It can have a pink or yellow outside that looks like a bulb with little spike-like leaves that look like flames around it. The fruit has a white or red (purple!) inside with little black seeds (comparable to kiwi seeds, and even can taste like kiwi!). As it is native to Central America it can be hard to get around the world, however, it is cultivated in tropical locations. It is easier to buy fresh white flesh dragon fruit in the produce section, the pink fruit frozen, or as a pink powder in North America.
Nutrition of Dragon Fruit
Key nutrients of dragon fruit are: High in antioxidants, magnesium, potassium, vitamins A, and C, and zinc.
This fruit is lower in carbohydrates and sugars than other tropical fruit. Dragon fruit is also a prebiotic food, which means it feeds the good bacteria in your intestinal tract.
Nutrition Of Bananas
Bananas are known for their high potassium content, however, they are also a good source of folate, vitamin C, B6, sodium, and calcium. Eating bananas can support those with heart disorders, high cholesterol, ulcers, diarrhea, and high blood pressure.
Eating Healthy
Remember: When I think about nutrition I like to think about eating a wide range of all kinds of whole foods. This supports the body so there are no gaps in the nutrition I am receiving in my diet, and it stops me from hyper-focusing on specific foods or nutrients.
Think diversity and variety! That's why I like smoothies, you can add lots of different great whole foods!
How to Make a Dragon Fruit Banana Smoothie
Place all the ingredients (banana, dragon fruit, seeds, and mango or pineapple) in the blender container.
Blend on smoothie mode or start on low speed and slowly go to high speed until everything is smooth.
The smoothie will be quite thick, you may need to scrape down the sides while blending.
Pour into a large smoothie glass or 2 smaller glasses and enjoy!
Top tips
- Make sure to put the soft unfrozen fruit in the bottom of the blender container, this helps it blend better and supports the blender blades.
- If you don't have a high power blender, let the frozen fruit sit for 5-10 minutes at room temperature to melt and soften before blending.
- If the fruit is too thick for your blender, stir every 10 seconds or you can add a little milk.
Smoothie Rating
I give all my smoothies ratings 1 to 3 for thickness, sweetness, and if they are kid-friendly. Thickness, 1 means thin, and 3 means very thick. Sweetness, 1 means not very sweet, and 3 means sweet. Kid-friendly, 1 means not very liked by my toddler, and 3 means very liked by my toddler, (this rating often depends on the flavor and texture, and color).
Thickness: 2.5
Sweetness: 2
Kid-friendly: 3
FAQ
Purple or red fruit can be found in the freezer section of Costco (US), Real Canadian Super Store (in a mix), or from Spud (CAN lower mainland or Calgary). It's often common to find dragon fruit in the produce section, however usually it's the bright pink fruit with white inside not the purple or red inside. Alternatively, you can buy dragon fruit or pitaya as a pink powder.
A high powder blender is one that can hard things (like frozen fruit, or nuts) into something smooth with no trouble.
When I blend frozen fruit, any tiny seeds, or raw nuts in my Vitamix it comes out perfectly smooth. Therefore I love and will always recommend Vitamix.
Here's the one I have, and use it every single day.
High-power blenders can do amazing things these days and if you are keen to make healthy food this is one of the first things I recommend investing in!
Other Smoothies
Ready to try other healthy smoothies?
I wanna know if you made this Banana Dragon Fruit Smoothie!! Take a pic and share it on Instagram & tag @besidethemountain. I’d totally love to see it!
Dragon Fruit Banana Smoothie
Equipment
- 1 blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup Frozen or Fresh Dragon fruit
- 2 Bananas
- 2 cup Frozen Pineapple or Frozen Mango
- 2 tablespoon Hemp hearts
Instructions
- Place the unfrozen fruit on the bottom of the blender, add the hemp hearts on top, then the frozen fruit.
- Blend until smooth, stop and scrape down the sides as needed. (If you don't have a high power blender see note below).
- Pour into 1 large glass or 2 medium glasses.
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