Easy Piña Colada Recipe

This Piña Colada is an easy cocktail recipe full of refreshing tropical flavors. Ready in just 5 minutes and 5 ingredients, it couldn’t be any simpler to get sunshine in a glass!

Our Piña Coladas have a velvety-smooth texture and explode with all the tasty flavors of the tropics! If you have ever been on a warm tropical vacation you have probably sipped one of these while soaking up the sun. That isn’t happening so much right now with all the limitations we have so we are making these at home to bring vacation to you!

I love drinking these wonderful cocktails when I’m hanging out in my backyard on weekends or warm Friday nights. And let’s be honest adding the cute little fancy colorful umbrellas and all the garnishes to this makes me stupid happy.

What is a Piña Colada?

Piña Colada cocktails are a classic drink that hails from San Juan, Puerto Rico. They are the national drink of Puerto Rico too! They are traditionally made….like this! The ultimate frozen cocktail, or alternatively they can be served over ice versus blended.

The important defining quality for the classic drink is that it uses Coco Lopez cream of coconut.

What Is Cream Of Coconut?

Cream of coconut is the most commonly used base for piña coladas and it turns out…it’s for good reason. It is NOT coconut cream as is commonly confused (let’s be honest we even confused it the first time we made this recipe).

We tested coconut milk, coconut cream (different than cream of coconut), sweetened condensed milk and other variations of coconut cocktail mixers thinking we could improve upon it. Turns out it’s a classic for good reason. This stuff is legit!

Basically cream of coconut is coconut plus a bunch of sugar. There’s some ways to make this healthier (which we talk about below) which back in the day I would have righteously suggested.

But I gotta tell you, we taste tested 12 different kinds of these drinks and even though I want to be snobby and say you don’t need it…you need it. They also should have come up with a more unique name for this ingredient but I digress.

Our original recipe called for coconut cream and while you can absolutely use coconut cream (especially if you don’t like it too sweet). But even a non-sugar lover like me still picked the cream of coconut or coconut milk. If you need to skip the sugar, bump up the volume of pineapple for sure to compensate.

PINA COLADA INGREDIENTS:

So what are we throwing down in this easy piña colada recipe? Just the basics here!

• Cream of Coconut: As discussed above, this stuff is legit
• Frozen pineapple: Buy it at the store like a normal human, or go super extra and freeze your own
• Rum: White rum or vodka in a pinch, I don’t personally want to taste the alcohol so I skip the spiced rum
• Pineapple juice: I buy the tiny cans of it so I don’t end up wasting an entire big bottle
• Ice: Crushed ice, nuff said

Once you are done mixing it up you’ll want some fresh pineapple, maraschino cherries and I like to toss on a few lime slices just because I put lime on literally anything I can. A paper straw and paper umbrella aren’t required but let’s be honest…they kinda are.

To make the best Pina Coladas you want to use frozen pineapple. You can buy frozen pineapple from a store (let’s be honest I have 3 kids and that’s what I do 99% of the time) but if you are feeling quite fancy, you can make it yourself. When freezing pineapple you start by cutting the pineapple into appropriate sizes.

Place pineapple pieces in a resealable plastic bag and remove as much air as you can. Make sure to lay them flat in the freezer. Freeze until solid, at least 3 hours. Especially if pineapples are super ripe and in season this can give you an elevated experience. I am exhausted, so just making a cocktail feels like being elevated but you do you boo.

How to make pina colada?

You make this recipe by adding ice, frozen pineapple, pineapple juice, cream of coconut, and rum into your blender.

Blend until creamy and frosty, you don’t want big chunks of frozen pineapple lurking in your drink!

Then pour this delightful drink into glasses and garnish the rim with sweet pineapple slices. Enjoy!

How Do I Make This A Virgin Pina Colada?

All you need to make this a non alcoholic pina colada is to skip adding the rum! It’s absolutely delicious without alcohol and makes a fantastic baby shower drink to whip up for a mama who is tired of boring seltzer water drinks!

What Can I Substitute For Cream Of Coconut?

If you can’t find cream of coconut you can use coconut cream or the thick part off the top of a can of full fat coconut milk. Keep in mind it will have almost none of the sweetness that the cream of coconut does so you will want to increase the pineapple or add a sweetener to compensate for that. In a pinch you can also substitute sweetened condensed milk but you won’t get any coconut flavor in there.

Can I Make Pina Coladas Ahead Of Time?

Yes! This is a perfect make ahead cocktail and it can be mixed ahead of time to enjoy later. The important thing to know is that the ice will melt so it will be more watery. You can reduce the ice to 1/2 a cup and blend, then serve with ice at the beach or poolside to help compensate for that fact!

If you love this cocktail we know you are going to love these other amazing recipes!