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Indulge in a creamy and fruity piña colada recipe that can be prepared in just 5 minutes! Satisfy your craving for a refreshing, sweet and fruity cocktail that will transport you to a tropical paradise.
Making a pina colada from scratch is incredibly easy and much better than using a store-made mix. With this recipe, you can always have the necessary ingredients to enjoy a delicious tropical drink whenever desired!
Ingredients In the Perfect Pina Colada
- Frozen Pineapple & Pineapple Juice: we’re getting a double dose of pineapple flavor, but a frosty sensation from the frozen pineapple chunks.
- Coconut cream & Cream of coconut: this is going to add our coconut flavorings and sweetness. The combination of the two gives the most coconut flavor without an overwhelming sweetness, plus the bonus of extra creaminess!
- Ice: makes this a nice frozen cocktail drink.
- Rum: this recipe uses a white rum.
Coconut Cream vs Cream of Coconut
These are two very different ingredients. This particular recipe uses both of them to achieve the perfect creaminess and sweetness to our drink.
- Coconut cream: Coconut cream is created by cooling coconut milk and removing the layer of cream that rises to the surface. It has a thick texture and a distinct coconut flavor, but it is not sweetened. You can usually find it in cans located near the coconut milk.
- Cream of coconut: Cream of coconut is a sweetened coconut cream that is often used to add flavor to tropical drinks, ice creams, and more. Find it online or at the local liquor stores. One popular brand is Coco Real.
Best Rum for a Pina Colada
For a refreshing, mellow pina colada, use a white rum. White rum has a more neutral flavor and a light or clear look. Aging in wooden barrels gives dark rum a deep coloring and a more robust flavor.
With the addition of our pineapple and coconut ingredients, it’s not necessary to use coconut rum. Coconut rum tends to have a sweeter flavor. Using a flavored rum will change the taste of your drink.
If using any rum other than white rum, I would advise you to taste and adjust the recipe as needed to get your desired flavor.
How to make a Pina Colada
- Add all ingredients to a blender.
- Blend until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust any if needed.
How to Garnish
- Pineapple Wedges: slice the pineapple, creating wedges you can add to the edge of a glass or cocktail spears.
- Cherry: top with sweet cocktail cherries for a pop of color.
- Tiny Umbrellas: find these in most markets in the alcohol aisles or online.
Pina Colada Mocktail
Making a virgin Pina Colada is the same method, just leave out the rum or substitute with a non-alcoholic white rum.
More Cocktail recipes
Pina Colada
Ingredients
- 5 ounces frozen pineapple chunks
- 4 ounces white rum
- 5 ounces cream of coconut or Coco Lopez
- 2 ounces coconut cream
- 4 ounces pineapple juice
- 1½ cups ice
Topping
- cherries
- fresh pineapple slices
Instructions
- Add the ingredients to a high powered blender.
- Blend until smooth and creamy.
- Add more ice as needed to get desired consistency.
- Serve immediately. Garnish as desired with pineapple slices and/or cherries
Video
Equipment
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photography by the talented KJandCompany.co
I love this so easy so delicious did you come up with this, if yes how?
Either way I LOVE IT.??????
So glad you liked it! And I did come up with it, I’m sure other people have done something similar. But I just like to try things out in the kitchen 🙂
Cream of coconut can also be found in liquor isle, should be in with mixed drink items …I am a big fan of pina coladas I make for them for my grand daughters, alcohol free of course!
Best homemade Piña Colada recipe. Absolutely loved it!!!
Let me restate my last comment. I meant with out making this certain recipe here lol. They were pretty much the same thing.
I use to make this a while back and I can vouch with out even making it that it is pretty tasty indeed! ???
This sounds so good! I would love to try it! Do you know if I can get cream of coconut at a place like Kroger or Walmart?
Hi Maria! Absolutely! I typically get mine from Walmart. Check the Hispanic food aisle, they typically have coconut products there.
Easy to make and delicious! I loved it, but my husband said was too sweet for him. I think he was comparing it to the pina coladas we got in Jamaica LOL. Will definitely make again. Recommend.
I made this the other day, and it was SO DELICIOUS! I didn’t have pineapple juice, so I just used some canned pineapple (along with the juice it came in) and it was DIVINE! I will be impressing guests with this recipe!
Thanks so much Melissa! I’m so glad you liked it 🙂 Isn’t it so easy to make. I love that you added the pineapple into it, I may have to try that next time.
Oh man, I am ALWAYS in the mood for pina coladas and this looks so good–like paradise in colada form 🙂
Oh yum! This sounds so delicious! I had no idea cream of coconut existed until a couple years ago when I had to search it out for another recipe. Now I need to go get some more, because this sounds divine!