My Perfect Pina Colada Recipe

A pina colada should taste like pineapple and coconut; it shouldn’t be too sweet or be more ice than drink; and it should be easy to make! You don’t want to spend an hour in the kitchen. You want to be relaxing right now, sipping your drink, and I don’t blame you one bit. To make my perfect pina colada, all you need is a few ingredients, five minutes, and a blender. Enjoy!

Hello, all!

I think it’s TIME for a fruity drink. Who’s with me?

Now, I’m not going to say this everyone’s perfect pina colada, but it is my perfect pina colada. It’s been a while since I’ve thought about pina coladas and how to make them, but, if I’m going to have one, I want the best one.

I mean, why not?

My first memories of them are from a long time ago, when my parents visited Puerto Rico and came back with a thirst for the drinks. We had cream of coconut and pineapple juice in the house for years after. I only had the rum free versions at that point, but the combination of pineapple and coconut was hard to beat, rum or no. 🙂

And, of course, since then I’ve had my share of them when on vacation, sitting on the beach. Now WITH rum. 😉 A daiquiri or a colada is almost required in those situations and I can’t say I’m too fussy about beach coladas. The beach is enough.

However, when I had a craving recently and I made myself a pina colada, something wasn’t quite right. I couldn’t taste the pineapple, and the cream of coconut was too sweet and not coconuty (Is that a word? It is now!) enough.

But I knew what to do. And that was to tinker with the recipe until I had a pina colada worth drinking on my deck when I’m not in relaxed, vacation mode.

Luckily the answer was a simple one that is only a titch more work than the recipe I started with on this journey. It comes down to two things.

How do you make the Perfect Pina Colada

To make the perfect Pina Colada, puree and strain canned pineapple chunks. Then blend together the strained pineapple, coconut cream, cream of coconut, and rum. Serve with ice, pineapple slices, and maraschino cherries.

All good. And that’s it. It’s really that easy! Everything you need to go from blah to yum. 🙂 A quick puree of pineapple chunks, strain out the woody bits, and back into the blender with the coconut and, of course, the rum. Can’t forget the rum. Pour over ice and drink.

If you try my recipe for my Perfect Pina Colada, I would love to hear from you in the comments with your experience and rating! And I’m happy to answer any questions you might have.

– Happy Drinking, Annemarie

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

My Perfect Pina Colada Recipe

My pina colada has plenty of pineapple flavor, lots of smooth coconut, and not too much sugar. Perfect for sipping on a warm day! Serve it over ice and think about summer.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Total Time5 minutes mins

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: Caribbean

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 350kcal

Author: Just a Little Bit of Bacon

Ingredients

• 2 8 oz cans pineapple chunks in juice
• 3 oz cream of coconut, preferably Coco Lopez
• 3 oz coconut cream, unsweetened
• 6 oz rum
• ice to fill the glasses
• pineapple slices and maraschino cherries for garnish, optional

Instructions

• Puree the pineapple chunks until smooth. Pour the pureed pineapple through a fine, mesh strainer to remove the pulp. You will have about 12 oz of juice left.
  
• Add the strained juice, cream of coconut, coconut cream, and rum to the blender and puree until smooth.
• Divide ice among 4 glasses and then pour in the pina colada. Garnish with pineapple slices, maraschino cherries, and little umbrellas if you wish.

Notes

• Brands I Use: I prefer the Coco Lopez brand of cream of coconut, and the Thai Kitchen brand of coconut cream.
• Alcohol Free Version: To make a virgin Pina Colada, use coconut water in place of the rum.