Forget hurricane glasses overflowing with a sticky-sweet concoction of sugary mixers and subpar booze. This frozen piña colada recipe is more dignified—but no less fun. When made with care, the preeminent summer drink balances sweetness and tang, has a creamy coconut edge, and packs a punch.
You’ll need a good blender to achieve this rum cocktail’s slushie-like texture, but you’ll also need room in the freezer, so clear some space on an easy-to-access shelf before you get started. Using fresh pineapple slices adds extra brightness to the drink; if you can’t find a good one, an 8-oz. bag of frozen pineapple chunks will work. This version owes its richness to both cream of coconut and coconut milk, which get blitzed along with the other piña colada ingredients. Freeze the mixture (yes, in its blender jar!), then blitz again to reach that coveted texture. No matter where (or when) you’re serving this frozen cocktail, a little umbrella and a cocktail cherry (or a fresh pineapple wedge) is a nice finishing touch.
If you’re short on time or freezer space but still hoping for a tropical drink at home, this Bird of Paradise with rum, pineapple juice, and Aperol comes together quickly, as does a mai tai or a mojito.
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What you’ll need
Blender
$40 At Amazon
Reusable Storage Bags
$48 At Amazon
Coco Lopez Coconut Cream
$23 At Amazon
Luxardo Maraschino Cherries
$24 At Amazon
Recipe information
Total Time
3 hours 45 minutes
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
½
6
2
8
1
2
3
Preparation
Step 1
Place ½ fresh pineapple, peeled, cut into 1½" pieces in a resealable plastic bag, laying them flat. Freeze until solid, at least 3 hours.
Step 2
Purée frozen pineapple, 6 oz. sweetened cream of coconut, 2 oz. unsweetened coconut milk, 8 oz. white rum, 1 oz. fresh lime juice, and 3 cups ice in a blender until smooth. Transfer blender jar to freezer; freeze until mixture is thickened (it should be the consistency of a milkshake), 25–35 minutes.
Step 3
Blend again until mixture is the perfect slushy frozen drink consistency. Divide among 4 glasses. Top off each with ½ oz. dark rum (if using) and garnish each with a maraschino cherry and a lime wedge.
Do Ahead: Pineapple can be chopped 3 months ahead; keep frozen. Piña colada can stay in freezer up to 4 hours after first blend.
Editor’s note: This piña colada cocktail recipe was first printed in February 2016. Head this way for more of our best summer cocktails →
Leave a Review
Reviews (88)
Back to TopWow, this recipe is really good! I may have to get a Slush Puppy machine so I can have them instantly! 🐶
Anonymous
New Hampshire
1/15/2018
Love this recipe absolutely perfect but I will experiment with other rum such as mango pineapple banana rum they have all kinds of different rums but this stuff is very good as the way it is whipped up in a Ninja blender with a breeze to make and yeah it will rock your effing world
Fireonhigh
8/14/2018
Here's what I did so yall can try to follow: 1 20 oz can of Dole pineapple chunks in juice 1/2 15 oz can Coco Lopez 1 tablespoon lime juice 2 tablespoons milk or cream or whatever you got Pinch of salt 1.5 ice cubs trays standard size Blend, put in glasses, freeze for a few minutes, remove, top with alcohol (I like dark rum), whipped cream if you like, and a straw. I like the float because the alcohol doesn't melt the drink and you can either mix it in if you like or do what I do and sip some alcohol when I want it and then just pina colada when I want.
Anonymous
San Diego
9/18/2018
Really great recipe. I recommend making your own version of Coco Lopez, otherwise the overall recipe is really delicious. Coco Lopez on its own is delicious but it tends to separate in the can and depending on how long it has been sitting on the shelf, it's wiser to create your own version with coconut cream and sugar (and a pinch of salt!); it takes about a minute to make. Art of Drink has a great homemade cream of coconut recipe, and i've tried both Coco Lopez and the homemade version. The homemade version is perferable, IMO.
Anonymous
4/3/2019
I was tired of my lady, we´d been together too long Like a worn-out recording, of a favorite song So while she lay there sleeping, I read the paper in bed And in the personals column, there was this letter I read "If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain If you´re not into yoga, if you have half a brain If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape I´m the love that you´ve looked for, write to me, and escape" I didn´t think about my lady, I know that sounds kind of mean But me and my old lady, had fallen into the same old dull routine So I wrote to the paper, took out a personal ad And though I´m nobody´s poet, I thought it wasn´t half bad "Yes, I like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain I´m not much into health food, I am into champagne I´ve got to meet you by tomorrow noon, and cut through all this red tape At a bar called O'Malley's, where we´ll plan our escape" So I waited with high hopes, then she walked in the place I knew her smile in an instant, I knew the curve of her face It was my own lovely lady, and she said, "Oh, it´s you" And we laughed for a moment, and I said, "I never knew" "That you liked Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain And the feel of the ocean, and the taste of champagne If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape You´re the love that I´ve looked for, come with me, and escape" "If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain If you´re not into yoga, if you have half a brain If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape I'm the love that you've looked for, come with me, and escape"
Anonymous
YOur MOm
4/9/2019
Pretty good but not boozy enough for me. Full 1 oz dark rum floaters instead of .5 oz helped. Next time I will also try upping the lime juice to 3 oz and or adding an ounce of orange juice for more citrus flavor.
Austin, TX
5/13/2019
Just made it and it is delicious! Perfect and refreshing. I would not I'm a lightweight, so no floater for this guy.
sugliac
Winston-Salem, NC
5/17/2019