Dragon Fruit Dole Whip (Dairy Free)

Cool off this summer with our super easy Dragon Fruit Dole Whip! This colorful frozen treat is dairy free and paleo, and naturally colored and sweetened. You can even make this sorbet/nice cream into popsicles as well!

Want to cool off from the summer heat? Make this super easy and brightly colored Dragon Fruit Dole Whip!

We took the idea of a traditional Dole whip recipe and gave it a fun twist with red dragon fruit (pink pitaya)! It creates a beautifully colored sorbet or nice cream-style dessert that’s naturally colored and dairy free.

Regular Dole whip usually contains powdered sugar (at least the original recipe does), but we wanted to make this recipe naturally sweetened without white sugar, so we just used a little bit of maple syrup instead to enhance the flavors.

Food allergy notes:

• Dairy free
• Gluten free/grain free
• Paleo
• Peanut free
• Soy free

How to make dragon fruit Dole whip

If you’ve ever made Dole whip before or nice cream, you know how easy this is to make! You’ll just need to make sure that you have cut up and frozen your bananas ahead of time so they’re ready for this recipe.

Here are the steps for making this recipe. This is just an overview of the steps, the full recipe card is at the end of the post.

1. Peel and slice a few ripe bananas, then put in the freezer until completely frozen (several hours or overnight).
2. In a high powered blender, add the frozen fruit, the coconut milk, lime juice, and maple syrup.
3. Add a little bit of pineapple juice, and blend. If your blender isn’t a powerful one, add a little bit more pineapple juice to help it blend smoothly. The amount of pineapple juice you use will depend on your blender, start with a little (1 Tablespoon) and add more as needed to facilitate blending.
4. Stop the blender and scrape down the sides as needed, then blend again until smooth and the consistency of soft serve ice cream.
5. Serve immediately or put in a freezer proof container to fully freeze for later.
6. If you freeze this for later, allow to thaw a bit at room temperature for easier scooping, or microwave for 30-45 seconds to make it easier to scoop.

When we took most of our photos, we had put it in the freezer then scooped it out later for photos. So it’s not as “whippy” as it would be if we had taken photos right out of the blender!

Making our Dole whip without bananas

If you can’t have bananas or you just don’t like them, you can make this recipe without them! We played around with this recipe and made some of it without the bananas and it’s still delicious.

Not using bananas will make this recipe not quite as creamy, but it’s still yummy and will have an even brighter pink color.

We also added this to the notes in the recipe card, but here’s the ingredients for making this without bananas (you’ll follow the same instructions that are listed):

• 2 1/2 cups frozen pineapple
• 1/2 cup frozen dragon fruit cubes
• 1/2 cup canned coconut milk
• Juice from 1/2 lime
• 1 to 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
• Splash of pineapple juice as needed to aid blending
• Follow the same instructions for the recipe with bananas   

How to make this without coconut milk

Full fat canned coconut milk helps make this nice cream recipe creamier and adds some fat (which makes it smoother).

But if you can’t have coconut, a thick oat milk or other thick dairy free milk (like cashew milk) should also work well in this recipe.

Using frozen fresh pineapple vs. canned pineapple

We used bags of frozen fresh pineapple in our Dole whip which tastes amazing, but the enzymes (like bromelain) in fresh pineapple can make your tongue a little tingly. And for some people it’s weird or uncomfortable.

If you don’t want to use fresh pineapple for this recipe, you can use canned pineapple to make this recipe instead. Canned pineapple has been cooked before it’s canned, so the proteolytic (i.e. protein digesting) enzymes are neutralized.

Cooked pineapple = no bromelain irritation.

To use canned pineapple in this recipe, thoroughly drain a can or 2 of pineapple chunks (packed in 100% juice or water) and put in a freezer bag to freeze fully. Then use this frozen canned pineapple to make your dragon fruit Dole whip.

We used canned pineapple for a few of our recipe tests for this, and it works great. I don’t think it’s as flavorful as using the frozen pineapple that’s made from fresh pineapple, but if fresh pineapple enzyme bothers you, this is a great option.

How to make dragon fruit popsicles

We had some fun trying out a few ways to make and serve this dragon fruit dole whip. One day we made some of it and it was a little more liquid/melty than I wanted, so I poured it into popsicle molds.

Making this recipe is a great way to make this Dole whip a little easier to eat for kids and easier for portions. No thawing and scooping out of a freezer container!

Check out our other allergy friendly frozen dessert recipes!

• Gluten Free and Dairy Free Ice Cream Recipes
• Dairy Free Pineapple Popsicles
• Peppermint Chocolate Chip Nice Cream