In 2017 Starbucks released their iconic Unicorn Frappuccino (see my healthy version here) but last summer they went one step further and launched the vibrant sugar-loaded Tie-Dye Frappuccino – a tropical fruit flavoured, milk-based frappuccino topped with vanilla whipped cream, dusted with coloured powders. Of course, since then I’ve been wanting to create my own Healthy Tie Dye Frappuccino!
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Which, brings both you and me here. I’m not gonna lie the Starbucks version sounded heavenly and looked hella cute too, but it contained a whopping 58g of sugar and 400 calories! I knew straight away that I didn’t want to go down the super sugary route, but I still wanted to make my healthier remix as close to the real thing as possible. The description and ingredients list on the Starbucks website was pretty cryptic and without tasting it myself I didn’t know how I was going to pull this off.
So, I spent hours scouring the internet trying to read and watch as many reviews as possible. The overall consensus was that the main flavour profile was banana accompanied by some sort of fruity note. This was anything from mango, peach or lime. But overall it mainly tasted like banana and a more artificial banana taste than a natural one. I concluded that I was dealing with a banana-split milkshake with a sour, tropical fruity aftertaste. It was sweeter than the Unicorn Frappuccino but nowhere near as sour.
This Healthy Tie Dye Frappuccino is a show-stopping tropical explosion that will make your inner child jump for joy. Made with all-natural ingredients and a jolt of Hybrid Herbs Ginseng to keep you alert.
The drink itself was dyed with beetroot, spirulina, and turmeric which to my purist, clean eating self was a breath of fresh air and made me feel like looks-wise this was pretty achievable. But from a little research, I found that the drink was pretty much just a yellow banana base and the inside of the cups were coated with coloured powders to create the tie-dye effect.
Now that I knew how the drink tasted, looked, and was roughly made I wanted to look at the most common complaints. The main complaint was that the drink was pretty watery so I knew that I wanted to make a thicker version which meant making the 3 separate layers altogether. I know this probably sounds like a right faff, but in reality, you just blend up a layer, transfer to a glass or bowl in the freezer, rinse out the blender and repeat until you have all 3 layers made.
Another complaint was the lack of caffeine in the drink, and as you all know I love me a functional drink. I knew I had to throw in something punchy that wouldn’t take away from the overall taste or colour. Being a really vibrant drink I found that Hybrid Herbs’ Ginseng made the perfect addition to give that much-needed pep, and the best thing is that a little goes a long way. I was tempted to order in a banana extract online but decided to stick with the natural ingredients I had in my house already and I’m really glad that I did because the end result was gorgeous! Although if I could get my hands on some Banana Medicine flower I think that it would absolutely make the drink.
Anyway, the drink went down an absolute storm. Anya guzzled down giant glasses, as did I. I also sprinkled a little xylitol on top for added crunch which Anya loved. If you’ve got some extra time on your hands you can stir in things like beetroot powder, turmeric, and blue spirulina to create the cute dust that Starbucks uses but I didn’t have much time for that. I also used whipped cream straight out of the can because I’m super classy like that. If you’re vegan don’t worry there are plenty of decent creams in a can these days.
So, enough of my rambling, if you’d like a show-stopping tropical explosion for your inner child then check out the recipe for my super-duper Healthy Tie Dye Frappuccino below!
Looking for something else magical or vibrant to eat? Why not try my Beauty Balls with Tremella Mushroom, Fermented Unicorn Zebra Cheesecake, or Medicinal Mushroom Dalgona Coffee Lemonade. Oh, and if you want to keep up to date with my deliciousness then sign up for my newsletter and I’ll love you forever – who am I kidding? I already do!
- 1½ frozen ripe bananas
- 110g frozen mango
- 2-3 tbsp agave
- ½-1 tsp Hybrid Herbs Ginseng
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ tsp vanilla powder or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 190ml cashew milk
- 1½ cups crushed ice
- 60ml beetroot juice
- 70g frozen raspberries
- 2 tbsp agave
- ½-1 tsp Hybrid Herbs Ginseng
- ¼ tsp vanilla powder or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 125ml cashew milk
- 2 cups crushed ice
- 1 frozen banana
- 2 tbsp agave
- 2 tsp blue spirulina
- ½-1 tsp Hybrid Herbs Ginseng
- ¼ tsp vanilla powder or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 125ml cashew milk
- 1½ cups crushed ice
- Whipped cream
- Xylitol
- Place all of the ingredients for the yellow layer in the order listed, except for the crushed ice, into a high powered blender and blend until smooth. Add the crushed ice and blend again, until smooth. Taste and sweeten if necessary. Transfer to a freezer-safe bowl or container and place into the freezer.
- Rinse the blender and repeat the process for the red and blue layers.
- When you're ready to assemble spoon the different colours into separate glasses and using a chopstick or skewer swirl the colours. It won't have a tie-dye effect immediately but leave for 5 minutes and watch the colours run! Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of xylitol if you wish.
Ingredients yield enough for 4 large pint glasses or 6 x 330ml glasses.
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