Papaya smoothie is one of the most popular tropical smoothies—and for good reason! It’s mildly sweet and creamy, with a hint of melon taste. It’s also a great post-workout drink because it contains loads of vitamin C to help reduce muscle pain.
A papaya smoothie is a delicious and healthy drink that includes ingredients such as papaya, almond milk, and a few other fresh fruits. Drinking a papaya smoothie is a refreshing way to enjoy these exotic fruits. Moreover, the drink is low in calories and high in fiber, vitamin C, and potassium. Have you been craving something like this?
What Is Papaya?
Papaya（木瓜） is a tropical fruit that is grown on trees in warm climates and tropical and subtropical regions in Central America, Hawaii, Mexico, and Brazil but has also been widely cultivated around the world for its delicious taste and health benefits. It is a member of the Carica genus in the family Caricaceae (belonging to the same family as cucumbers and watermelons) and has soft, greenish-yellow skin and sweet flesh that can be scooped out with a spoon.
Ingredients
To make this juice-type beverage at home, you need to find the right ingredients.
Papaya: You can buy this from the grocery store easily. I highly recommend using ripe papaya, which makes this smoothie so flavorful and delicious. Use the kind of papaya with bright yellowish orange flesh inside with those black seeds.
Normally you can also buy papaya from regular grocery stores or any Asian grocery stores.
Fresh whole coconut: You need to extract fresh coconut water from the coconut. My family all loves coconut! If you don’t know how to open a coconut, you can start by holding the coconut in place. Usually, coconuts have 'eyes,' where the shell is the thinnest at the top. Poke a hole in the eyes with a screwdriver and drain the coconut water!
Mango, banana, and lime: I use both ripe mango and banana for this recipe. You can skip the banana if you don’t want it to thicken the smoothie. I squeeze a wedge of lime juice into the papaya smoothie for extra flavor in this recipe.
Almond milk: This smoothie can be made with water or milk. If you prefer a richer flavor like me, I strongly suggest using almond milk, which has a unique nutty flavor. Whatever your preference, you could substitute it with any other non-dairy milk like soy or cashew milk if that's what you have on hand.
Optional
If you're looking for a simple way to digest more fiber and omega-3 fatty acids, add flax seeds to your papaya smoothie, which will help lower your cholesterol while fighting off inflammation in your body.
You can do much more with a smoothie than just drinking. If you want to add more crunch to it, make some popsicles with this recipe!
How To Pick Ripe Papaya
Papaya is very perishable, so you need to know how to pick ripe papaya to enjoy its deliciousness. Papayas can be found in green, yellow, or orange varieties, with different colors corresponding to different ripening stages.
Ripe papayas are usually yellowish-orange. The most obvious sign that your papaya is ripe is when its skin turns completely red or yellow and begins to wrinkle around the stem end of the fruit. If you open your papaya and it looks too green inside (with no red coloration), it’s still not ready.
Larger pieces of fruit may be less ripe than smaller pieces because they have more seeds. Check for damage. Avoid papayas with bruised or soft skin, which probably won’t be very tasty.
Smell it! Give the papaya a sniff — a ripe one should smell sweet and tropical like pineapple or mangoes but not too strong or sour smelling like a banana peel or overripe melon.
If you accidentally bought an unripe papaya, place it in a paper bag with an apple overnight to help it ripen more quickly.
Health Benefits Of Papaya Smoothie
Papaya is super nutritious and has several health benefits. It contains vitamin C, folate, vitamin A, and B6 and is also rich in dietary fiber, potassium, and magnesium. A papaya smoothie can help you receive your daily dose of these nutrients.
Papaya is also rich in fiber and antioxidants and lowers cholesterol and blood pressure. Papaya has vitamins that help to cure dehydration, and heat stroke and make the immune system stronger. This fruit contains a large amount of papain, which is an enzyme that helps digest proteins.
Storage
It is best to drink smoothies as soon as they are made. This smoothie can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours in glasses covered with plastic wrap.
Conclusion
This is a super simple and quick-to-throw-together smoothie when you are on the go in the morning. I hope you enjoyed this papaya smoothie as much as I did. It's a terrific way to start your day, especially when the combination of papaya with other ingredients makes for a delicious and nutritious drink. Whip up a batch and enjoy your papaya smoothie!
Papaya Smoothie
Ingredients
- half of a large papaya mine was about 4 cups and half, cut into chunks
- 1 small fresh mango peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 ripe banana peeled and sliced
- 1 fresh lime wedge juice
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup fresh coconut water
- ½ cup ice cubes
- 2 cups unsweet almond milk
Instructions
- Peel and cut the papaya in half lengthwise. Scoop the seeds from the papaya and discard them with a spoon. Cut up papaya, mango, and banana into chunks.
- Add all ingredients and ice cubes to the blender. Squeezed the juice from one lime wedge directly into the blender. Blend on high speed for 30 seconds, or until the mixture is smooth and thick.
- Pour into glasses and enjoy.
Notes
- You can always adjust the amount of almond milk and fruit.
- If you want to add more crunch to your smoothie, make some popsicles with this recipe!
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