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I’ve been trying to get my family to eat more fruits and this worked perfectly. Even my kids loved it!
Danielle
It’s official: I’m hooked on papayas.
Papaya mango smoothie, papaya in curry, papaya covered with brown sugar and lime, Thai green papaya salad (alright, so far that one just exists in my head)… but all around, sweet and savory and everything else, I am just adoring everything about this tropical fruit.
Did you know that papayas have these big seeds in them? Er, actually, they’re little. But there’s a lot of them. They are squishy and they taste bitter and spicy and they go straight to the garbage. Gar-bage. I said it.
But actually, every time I cut into one of these gorgeous fruits and before I scoop those seeds into my reject bowl, I just stand in awe for a minute and try to think of yet another angle for photographing how beautiful that sweet, juicy coral-pink-yellow fruit is against the texture of the squishy black seeds.
It’s stunning, really.
This smoothie is my current go-to. I’ve used combinations of pretty much every tropical fruit ever. Mango, papaya, banana, pineapple, pomelo, orange, coconut… gang’s all there. Or not – you can just make this smoothie with a simple papaya, mango, and milk. And maybe a tablespoon of honey or sugar because… I need it. Seriously. This is not fancy stuff. It’s simple ingredients coming together perfectly.
Since they’re in season now, the custodian at our school picks papayas right off the tree on the school property. He slices them up and serves them to all the teachers for a snack. That. Is cool.
Also. This week I bought the world’s biggest papaya from a market on our street. I stopped in on my morning run, and now magically I want to go running every day because fresh juicy papaya, leading to fresh juicy papaya mango smoothies, will be my reward. Win, win, winnn!
This papaya was different than the ones I get at the grocery store – more reddish colored on the inside and more, um, big. And how amazing is the green-yellow pattern outside? It’s amazingly amazing! Why can’t we grow these in the Midwest again?
Truthfully though, as much as I will miss having papayas for breakfast and the precious kiddos at the shelter, our hearts are getting ready to go home. It’s becoming a daily exercise to be present and whole-hearted as we are starting to think ahead to good ol’ Minnesota, our family, our friends, and everything else that awaits us there.
We have 40-something days left to live this chapter of our lives, and my hope for Pinch of Yum in this final stretch is that in addition to being a place for food lovers, it can allow you to experience the beauty of the ministry that we’re a part of and the people who have committed their lives to this work. “Living Abroad” posts have been really fun to write and even more fun to look back on, so thank you for allowing some space for that to happen here this year. I so sincerely appreciate all your encouraging and positive comments about this place and our experience.
Ok, I’m done.
Smoothie. Love. Go.
Quick update: for all my blended stuff these days, I get the best results with my new Blendtec Designer Series Blender. If you’re in the market for a new grown up blender, this has your name all over it.
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Papaya Mango Smoothie
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
This papaya mango smoothie is made with just papaya, mango, milk, and honey! The end result is smooth, creamy, and refreshing.
Ingredients
- 2 large, ripe papayas
- 1 large, ripe mango
- 1 orange
- 3/4 cup coconut milk (I used the kind from a can)
- 1/2 cup regular milk
- 1 tablespoon honey
Instructions
- Cut the papayas in half and remove the seeds. Cut the peel off the halves, roughly chop the peeled papaya and place in the blender. Cut a mango in half around the pit (there’s a large pit down the middle), scoop the flesh out of each half and place in the blender. Peel an orange, separate the sections, roughly chop into small pieces, and place in the blender.
- Cover the fruit with the coconut milk, regular milk, and honey. Blend until very smooth. Add ice and blend until smooth, or serve chilled.
Notes
I don’t have a freezer so ice isn’t an option for me. 🙂 Instead, I just keep all the ingredients in the fridge so when I want to make a smoothie, it’s all already cold and I don’t have to wait for it to chill.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: papaya mango smoothie, mango smoothie, fruit smoothie
Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links.
Keep the seeds! Incredibly healthy, anti parasitic secret! Dry and crush them blend in smoothies or just brave the taste as is by the spoonful. Just be careful, a little goes a long way🖤
I changed it up a bit cuz it was too sweet. Canned coconut milk is sweet enough without having to add the honey. I had to add a lime to cut the over sweetness of the honey. Next time I will not use honey. I did use a mixture of frozen pineapple, papaya, and mango and used almond milk instead of cow milk. Turned out delish!
Glad to hear it, Anna!
Looks amazing, thank you so much!!
Real magic)
I want it too
I don’t really like coconut so if I just used the rest of the recipes would it taste the same or at least good? Also his seems like a delicious smoothie and I love mangoes and with a bit of auger papaya so pls get reply and can’t wait to have an explosion of taste!
Ps I hope that you have found a great future in Minnesota
Very sweet papayas and mangoes are locally available in Kenya, come and sample them..
it’s A very very good..i make every time.
i live on a tropical island (The Bahamas) where papayas and mangoes are seasonal. a must try. I will replace the regular milk with unsweetened almond or coconut milk.
I just made this and it is delicious! Thank you very much!
We love hearing that, Tessa! So glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
This is a very good article. Thank you for a great information.
Looks really yummy.
I like to eat papaya salad, I like Thai Food.
Ok, I lived in the Midwest (Michigan and Iowa) most of my life. Therefore, and I could never find this fruit fresh, but I know some of the Asian grocery stores will have it frozen. Here in Florida, I get it fresh. The name is MAMEY (Mah -may) or zapote. It is a brown skinned, football shaped, tropical fruit. The beauty, and I know you are hooked on the beauty inside the papaya, is on the inside. There is a big black pit, not quite as big as an avocado pit. The flesh is redish-brown, almost the color of a sweet potato. It is gorgeous! Now, what do you do? You cut it in half, take the pit out, and scoop the flesh into s blender. Add milk, a pinch of salt, a couple of ice cubes, and 1 Tb honey. Blend, blend for a few minutes….Pour the precious smoothie into a glass…Taste AMBROSIA!!!
Here is a link of what the fruit looks like: http://www.amcostarica.com/022503.htm
In this weather we make smoothies daily. Mostly, mangoes because that is what we have in the backyard. Have you tried green mango smoothies?
No, I haven’t! Are they sweet or more spicy?
More of sour but still a little bit sweet. Hope you can try it before leaving Cebu.
The papayas in the Philippines are just delicious!
You can actually use the seeds as a meat tenderizer 🙂
Wow – cool! I had no idea!
I was from the Philippines living in Minneapolis now. HA! 🙂 Anyway, my first reaction reading this what, where in the Minnesota world can she get good looking papayas and mangoes? So I head on to your ABOUT link. 🙂 Now you made me miss my original home. 🙂
I have spent a good amount of time thinking about if and how it’s possible for people in the midwest to get these luscious fruits! Because I’m gonna want more when I come home! If you figure out a good solution, let me know. 😉
I just had myself a green smoothie which was pretty… okay I guess, haha! Yours however look far more delicious ! Papaya and mango – so tropical and very easily available where I am so this is definitely something I have to try. Btw, that’s like the hugest papaya I’ve ever seen!
I’ve been trying to get my family to eat more fruits and this worked perfectly. Even my kids loved it!
That’s great! Glad you guys liked it!