Bahama Mama Tropical Smoothie Copycat
A perfect replica of the Bahama Mama smoothie from Tropical Smoothie Café! This tropical drink features strawberries, pineapple, white chocolate, and coconut cream.
Why you’ll love it:
First of all, it tastes just like the real thing! When I decided to recreate my own Bahama Mama smoothie, the first thing I did was take a trip to Tropical Smoothie Café.
I asked plenty of questions to get to the bottom of what’s in a Bahama Mama smoothie. It’s not white chocolate chips and coconut milk. It’s white chocolate powder, concentrated coconut (like coconut cream), strawberries, pineapple, and water.
Since white chocolate powder isn’t sold at the regular grocery store, I used white chocolate sauce instead. It came out perfect, just like the real deal.
It’s no wonder it’s a fan fave – the blend of strawberries, pineapple, and white chocolate is a match made in smoothie heaven.
Key Ingredients:
You only need four ingredients for this Bahama mama copycat recipe!
Frozen pineapple – It’s important to use frozen fruit to get a thick and frosty texture! I buy a big bag of frozen pineapple at Costco. It’s super sweet and cost effective.
Frozen strawberries – For that sweet strawberry flavor. Again, buy frozen strawberries instead of fresh. If you only have fresh, you can hull and freeze them on a sheet pan overnight.
Coconut cream – For a concentrated coconut flavor! It has a much stronger coconut flavor than coconut milk. Use the scoopable cream on top.
White chocolate sauce – White chocolate chips don’t blend smooth, so I prefer white chocolate sauce. It’s made to go in hot AND cold drinks, which means it doesn’t seize or clump in a cold smoothie. You can find it in the coffee aisle at any well-stocked grocery store.
Turbinado sugar (optional) – Tropical Smoothie Café sweetens their smoothies with turbinado sugar. I prefer not to do this as it packs in a lot of excess sugar. If you want the smoothie sweeter, feel free to add turbinado or more white chocolate.
How to make a Bahama Mama smoothie:
This Bahama Mama recipe is super easy to make!
Combine ingredients – In the pitcher of your blender, combine the frozen pineapple, frozen strawberries, coconut cream, white chocolate syrup, and water.
Blend until smooth – Blend until thick, smooth, and creamy. Add a splash more liquid and blend for 5 more seconds to make it a pourable consistency.
Taste and adjust – Taste and adjust the flavor as desired. If you like the smoothie thinner, add a splash more liquid. If you like it sweeter, add more white chocolate or a teaspoon or two of turbinado sugar.
Pour and serve – Pour into a smoothie glass and enjoy!
Recipe Tips:
- For best results, use a high-speed blender. A quality blender with a powerful motor gives you the creamiest results! Look for a motor with at least 900 watts. It doesn’t have to be the latest model. You can typically find older models on sale for a steal!
- Be sure to use frozen fruit. Fruit is more than 80 percent water, which means fresh fruit blends into liquid! Frozen fruit is what thickens a smoothie and gives it a frosty texture.
Variations:
- White chocolate – Tropical smoothie café uses white chocolate powder which is harder to find. Ghirardelli sells it and it can be purchased online, but to keep things simple I used white chocolate sauce. If you can’t find sauce, you can swap it with white chocolate protein powder or white chocolate chips. White chocolate chips add texture, but still taste delicious.
- Coconut – You can add coconut chunks or shredded coconut for more coconutty flavor if you like!
- Dairy-free/vegan – It’s easy to veganize this copycat recipe! Just swap the white chocolate with vegan white chocolate chips.
Storage Tips:
Smoothies are best enjoyed fresh! Thankfully, it takes less than 5 minutes to whip up a Bahama Mama smoothie so there’s no need to make it ahead of time.
However, if you do have leftover smoothie, I always recommend freezing it into smoothie pops! Pour the smoothie into a popsicle mold, add popsicle sticks, and freeze overnight.
Enjoy the smoothie pops on a hot summer day! They taste best when they begin to melt a little.
FAQs:
A Bahama Mama smoothie is a popular smoothie from Tropical Smoothie Café. It boasts a tropical flavor with strawberry, pineapple, coconut, and white chocolate!
The healthiest options at Tropical Smoothie Café are the smoothies made with whole fruits and veggies, without added sugar. Almost all their smoothies contain added turbinado sugar so it’s best to ask them not to add it!
While the menu doesn’t specify this, almost all the smoothies contain turbinado sugar. It’s the same thing as raw sugar and even though it’s less processed than white sugar, it’s still added sugar!
I used Torani white chocolate sauce for this recipe! You should be able to find it in the coffee aisle at well-stocked grocery stores. It adds the white chocolate flavor without any grit or texture!
More Tropical Smoothies
Bahama Mama Smoothie
Equipment
- high-speed blender
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons white chocolate sauce I used Torani brand, Note 1
- ¾ cup cold water
- 3 tablespoons coconut cream
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- 1 cup frozen pineapple
Instructions
- In the pitcher of a high-speed blender, combine the white chocolate sauce, water, coconut cream, frozen strawberries, and frozen pineapple.
- Blend until thick, creamy, and smooth. The smoothie should be very thick at this point. Add a splash more cold water and blend again for 5 seconds.
- Pour into a smoothie glass and enjoy!
