How To Make A Healthy Unicorn Frappuccino

Has anyone actually tried the Unicorn Frappuccino from Starbucks? Me neither. But I have been seeing it all over my Instagram feed and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted. Thank goodness it’s no longer available, for reasons I will get into later. But first, can we just admire this magical smoothie I created? Serious unicorn vibes.

This Healthy Unicorn Frappuccino is made with 100% natural ingredients. It’s refined sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free and most importantly, void of toxic chemicals and food additives. Real unicorns know it’s what’s inside that counts and we should focus on nourishing our bodies with whole, nutrient-dense foods. Fruits and vegetables contain powerful antioxidants that fight free radicals, prevent disease and give you that healthy unicorn glow!

I’m not usually one to count calories because I focus on eating a whole foods diet. In my opinion, the quality of ingredients is far more important than the numbers on a nutrition label. However, when it comes to processed foods, nutrition facts can help us make more informed choices. For comparison purposes, I broke down the nutritional info for this recipe to take a look at the differences between the two.

As you can see, there is quite a big difference in nutrition facts and ingredients. The Starbucks version contains a whopping 59g of sugar per serving – more than three times the amount in my recipe! Those sugars consist of refined sugar, dextrose and artificial flavours, whereas the latter is naturally derived from fruit. The Starbucks frappe contains almost double the calories and carbohydrates, and five times the amount of sodium. My version contains only slightly less fat, however it is derived from coconut cream (a much healthier source). The long list of hard to pronounce ingredients is enough to scare me away from Starbucks forever. Carageenan, maltodextrin, mono and diglycerides, xantham gum, potassium sorbate!? If you have to google any of these ingredients, chances are they are NOT good for you.

I’ve been seeing a lot of unicorn frappe recipes going around on Instagram and blogs like Pop Sugar and Refinery 29. Unfortunately most of these aren’t very healthy either and contain ingredients like kool-aid mix, sour candy, condensed milk, food colouring, ice cream and artificial syrups. They’re also very complicated to make and require a whole list of ingredients. I wanted to create something that was not only nourishing for your body but hopefully a bit easier to put together as well.

That being said, I know red pitaya can be tricky to find in Toronto. I did a bit of research and found a great supplier in Chinatown called K&K Tropical Fruit. I get passion fruit there sometimes and have found other interesting things like jackfruit, starfruit and soursop. If you’re in the U.S., you can find Pitaya Plus packs in the frozen section at Whole Foods. It’s definitely a bit of a splurge, but I think this smoothie in itself is a treat. I don’t always have the time to make an Instagram-worthy breakfast and it’s nice to save coconut whip for special occasions.

So without any further ado…I present you the Healthy Unicorn Frappuccino!

Share your creations on Instagram with #wholeheartnutrition and tag me @wholeheartca.