No-Churn Pina Colada Frozen Yogurt

A tropical trio of flavors – pineapple, coconut, and rum – come together in this refreshing pina colada frozen yogurt. It’s incredibly easy to make and no fancy ice cream maker is needed.

May 23, 2023

Two things I really love about today’s frozen yogurt recipe are you only need a handful of ingredients and you don’t need an ice cream maker. Oh wait, three things – it’s delicious.

This recipe is so simple to make. Just add the ingredients (except the toasted coconut) to a food processor, blend until smooth, transfer the mixture to a loaf pan, and place it in the freezer. The most difficult part is waiting for it to freeze. Let me quickly take you through the process.

Place all the ingredients, except the toasted coconut, in a food processor and blend until smooth.

This blended mixture is ready for the freezer.

Freeze the yogurt mixture in a loaf pan lined with plastic wrap. Make sure the plastic wrap hangs over the sides of the pan for easy removal once the mixture is frozen.

Once frozen, cut the pina colada frozen yogurt into chunks, place the chunks in the food processor, and blend until smooth. This second go around in the food processor gives the frozen yogurt a creamier texture.

After processing the frozen yogurt chunks until smooth, return the mixture to the loaf pan and freeze until scoopable, about 45 minutes.

While the fuss of making frozen yogurt in an ice cream maker is eliminated with this food processor method, you will notice a difference in the consistency and texture. Frozen yogurt made with a food processor will be less creamy and will have an icier texture. Giving the frozen yogurt a second go around in the food processor, as was done in this recipe, will enhance the creaminess.

I did use Greek yogurt instead of regular yogurt in this frozen dessert. Compared to regular yogurt, Greek yogurt adds a little extra creaminess. Another ingredient that helped to provide a creamier texture was cream cheese. To cut back on calories, I used reduced-fat cream cheese and it worked great.

The game-changing ingredient that really made this frozen yogurt exceptional was the toasted coconut rum. Beyond the tropical flavor it provides, the rum makes the frozen yogurt more scoopable. Alcohol lowers the freezing point of the mixture which keeps the frozen yogurt a bit softer and easier to scoop. If you’d like to eliminate the rum that’s totally fine. To keep the tropical flavor profile, I would add a 1/2 teaspoon of rum extract and a 1/2 teaspoon of coconut extract to the recipe. Also, without the rum the frozen yogurt will need to be left at room temperature for about 5 minutes to bring it to a scoopable state.

Just a quick side note about the brand of rum I used — it was Siesta Key Toasted Coconut Rum. Talk about amazing! My husband and two dear friends visited the distillery in Sarasota Florida where this rum is made. What an education in rum production and what a delicious tasting session. If you love rum and you’re in the area, it’s a great stop.

To your health,

Darlene

NO-CHURN PINA COLADA FROZEN YOGURT

Yield: 6 servings

Serving Size: 1/2 cup

Prep: 10 minutes

Ready: about 4 to 6 hours

INGREDIENTS

12 ounces (about 2 1/2 cups) frozen pineapple chunks
1 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt (such as FAGE Total 2%)
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk (such as Borden Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk)
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) reduced-fat cream cheese (such as Philadelphia 1/3 less fat cream cheese)
1/4 cup coconut rum (such as Siesta Key Toasted Coconut Rum)
3 tablespoons coconut, toasted

DIRECTIONS

Line a 9-by-5-inch metal loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving overhang on all sides for easy removal once yogurt mixture is frozen.
To a food processor set up with the “S” blade, add pineapple, yogurt, sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese, and rum and blend until smooth. Transfer mixture to prepared pan, cover with additional plastic wrap and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.
Lift frozen yogurt out of pan using plastic wrap overhang. Place on cutting board and cut into 1-inch pieces. Place frozen yogurt chunks in food processor and blend, scraping down sides, until smooth. Return blended mixture to pan and freeze until scoopable; about 45 minutes. This second processing of the frozen yogurt yields a slightly creamier texture. When ready to serve, top each portion with 1/2 tablespoon toasted coconut.

Nutrition Information per Serving

192 Calories, 5 g Total fat, 3 g Saturated fat, 0 g Trans fat, 14 mg Cholesterol, 64 mg Sodium, 25 g Total carbohydrate, 1 g Dietary fiber, 18 g Total sugars, 13 g Added sugars, 7 g Protein, 0 mcg (0%) Vitamin D, 115 mg (8%) Calcium, 0 mg (0%) Iron, 160 mg (4%) Potassium

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Test Kitchen and tested by Darlene Zimmerman, MS, RD

Full disclosure — I did not receive payment or free product from any company mentioned in this article.