Meet my new favorite milkshake.
Featuring young coconut meat and fiber-rich dates, this milkshake is a healthy option for anyone, but it’s especially appropriate for pregnant women. I’ve been affectionately referring to it as my “mama milkshake.”
Coconuts are thought to be rich in anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties, which may help strengthen the immune system and ward off illnesses, and they’re also a fantastic source of calcium, potassium and magnesium. Paired with antioxidant-rich cocoa powder and deliciously sweet dates, which are believed to help improve labor, this is a healthy treat I feel good about indulging in.
I recommend making enough to share, because my husband loves this chocolate shake as much as I do!
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Chocolate Coconut Milkshake (Vegan)
serves 2
Ingredients:
1 cup young coconut meat
1 1/2 cups water, or coconut water
6 soft Medjool dates, pitted
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 handfuls of ice, as needed for texture
Directions:
Combine the coconut meat, water, dates, cocoa powder and vanilla in a high-speed blender, and blend until completely smooth and creamy. Add the ice, and blend again until the shake is icy-cold and thickened. Serve immediately.
Chocolate Coconut Milkshake (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 1 cup young coconut meat
- 1 1/2 cups water , or coconut water
- 6 soft Medjool dates , pitted
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 handfuls of ice , as needed for texture
Instructions
- Combine the coconut meat, water, dates, cocoa powder and vanilla in a high-speed blender, and blend until completely smooth and creamy.
- Add the ice, and blend again until the shake is icy-cold and thickened. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Per Serving: Calories: 114, Fat: 8g, Carbohydrates: 10g, Fiber: 2g, Protein: 1g
Notes:
- Since it can be difficult to find organic young coconuts at most grocery stores, I like to purchase bags of organic young Thai coconut meat from Exotic Superfoods available in the freezer section at most Whole Foods. Of course, you could also open a young Thai coconut yourself, if you feel so inclined– and use the coconut water in the shake, as well!
- I wouldn’t recommend using shredded coconut for this recipe, as it will most likely create a grainy texture, rather than a smooth and creamy shake. (Unless you don’t mind a different texture.)
- I prefer to use raw cacao powder in my non-baked recipes, but regular cocoa powder should provide a similar flavor.
Enjoy!
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite milkshake flavor?
I tried young coconut meat and fresh coconut water at Whole Foods the other day and it was literally the best thing EVER. Great idea to buy it in the freezer section for convenience!
I miss young coconut meat and juice. We just moved back to the States from Singapore and it was abundant and fresh from Thailand. I’ll have to look for it frozen in Whole Foods now 🙂
I ate a lot of fresh young coconut meat when I was growing up. This sounds absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to try it!
i couldn’t find it at my whole foods.
Yum! I love anything with coconut. Definitely making this and topping it with Trader Joe’s Coconut Chips!
This looks so refreshing!
You can’t go wrong with anything coconut, that’s for sure!
This looks great! I ate so many dates towards the end of my pregnancy and had the easiest labor.. not sure if the dates really helped induce but can’t hurt to try 🙂
Dark chocolate, lemon, or coconut flavors are usually tops with me for anything. My fav milkshake flavor is probably chocolate, albeit I haven’t had one for so long – I can’t quite remember the taste of a real milkshake.
Oh, yummy!! I need to look for coconut meat!
In your opinion, when baking with cocoa powder, is there any benefit to sticking to the raw cacao powder, or does it make sense to just reserve that for raw desserts?
Thank you!
Coconut & chocolate are 2 of my favorite flavors, so I’m happy to try this! I’m a little intimidated by opening a young coconut correctly & have just a regular blender, so I’m thankful for your back up plan of the bagged kind :0).
Looks so yummy!
Oh this looks fabulous! I’ve never seen the coconut meat at Whole Foods, but I will have to check that out! I have always wanted to try it but never had much luck with whole coconuts. Coconut and chocolate are my favorite foods!:) I love vanilla shakes, but prefer to make chocolate green smoothies:) Thanks for sharing this!!!:)
Is 1 cup of coconut meat equivalent to two servings? Is this how much you get out of a young coconut? Just curious…it can be easy to overindulge!
Wow! That coconut meat looks amazing! I’ve never tried it before or would even know where to look to get some… hopefully one day I can find some and then make this delicious milkshake : )
WOW! That looks so yummy. I am in love with anything dark chocolate. I will have to try coconut meat, have never had the pleasure yet!
P.S. Made your mock caesar salad tonight and with every bite I appreciated your amazing recipes!
I could not find the coconut meat at my Whole Foods. It is $100 a case on the internet for 11 1 pound bags. I don’t think I have that much freezer space. Shoot! It sounds delicious.
Officially addicted to this shake. I use unsweetened shredded coconut and it is fabulous. Thanks for the tip re: dates. 37 weeks along and counting down! Good luck!
I found the coconut frozen meat at Whole Foods, and this shake is soooo delicious! It is my new favorite as well!
This is my favorite shake. Thank you Megan
I had no idea you could purchase coconut meat in a bag!! Very cool. I love chocolate and coconut, so I think I’m going to check out this yummy-sounding shake.
Hi Megan! I always go to your site for inspiration on eating healthy. I’ve just started gradually removing sugar out of my life (I’ve had quite the bad and addictive relationship with sugar in the past years) and your blog holds a lot of support, hope, and inspiration for me.
This and all your recipes always sound so delicious and so good for you! My only dilemma is that so any healthy blogs nowadays say “throw in a high speed blender” – which usually means a Vitamix. All I have is a normal blender, a spice grinder, and a small generic food processor. I want to try so many recipes, but often get deterred when recipes say “high power” or “high speed” blender. Most of the time, when I try this, it comes out kinda lumpy. Advice?
Thank you so much for a top recipe….My kids and I are starting Paleo at the end of the week and I am trying to excite them into it because we are taking away the milk and all “yummy” things in their eyes….they looooved this so thank you, they now know it’s not all bad.
My local grocery doesn’t sell young coconut meat, but they sell young coconuts! So a couple of hacks at it later and I had both enough meat and enough coconut water for this recipe, and at about 1/2 the price. Once you get the hang of opening it up, it’s kind fun!
Thanks, Megan!! This recipe is DELICIOUS. Tried it this morning and took it to work. It was so filling and satisfying, without the boatloads of sugar that other milkshakes would have. A comparable chocolate smoothie/shake would probably put me in a coma. I felt calm, energized and just amazed that this shake could carry me so far into the day–about noonish. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes. 🙂
**I should add: that was ONE serving that kept me full until the afternoon. I drank the second half around 4pm, before leaving work, knowing that I needed some energy to stay at work until 6pm and get through my commute without crashing…
Delicious! I made this using a small box of organic coconut cream because that is all I had on hand and it was so yummy! Thank you 🙂
The most delicious chocolate shake I have ever made. I added 1 scoop of vanilla whey protein as a post workout meal and I’m soo satisfied with the result. Thank you very much for your great recipes.
This is so good although I did make a few modifications. I omitted the dates and used a dropper-full of stevia instead. Additionally, I added a handful of spinach. I replaced the coconut water with coconut milk. The result was fabulous!
I make this simply with the meat and juice of one young coconut plus ice cubes – no sweeteners necessary and it is thick enough to eat with a soup spoon
This was amazing! So rich and decadent!!
Wow, this was good. Success!! Just like a chocolate shake.
I don’t have a Whole Foods close by and its hard to find Coconut Meat. Can you use Coconut Manna? Is that similar? Thanks 🙂
If the coconut meat is unpasteurized – is it safe to consume while in your first trimester?
I’m not one to post comment stuff… However, hands down, best milkshake EVAH! So nice to have the texture of a milkshake and great chocolate flavor since I’ve taken dairy out of my diet. Can’t wait to try your other recipes. Thanks for sharing this!
I think I might just be able to cure my ice cream addiction with this fabulous shake. I find the young coconuts at the local asian market and really enjoy hacking it open with the back bottom corner of the largest knife I have. Simply delicious! Thank you
Do you have a homemade coconut milk recipe and the nutritional data on it? We are searching for accurate data on fat content in homemade coconut milk. We have used shredded coconut 2:1 ratio with water in a vitamix but have seen data anywhere from 60grams of fat per cup using this method, to 5grams of fat… thanks!
I think it’s really hard to do nutritional data on homemade milks because no one knows exactly how much of the fat and calories stay in the pulp that is strained out of the milk. I read somewhere that they thought more fat went into the milk, leaving almond pulp relatively lower in fat, so I assume that might be the case for homemade coconut milk, too.
Added a couple tablespoons of cream. More ice than specified. KNOCK OUT HOME RUN…THANK YOU!