Try the ultimate alcohol-infused hot weather drink. This frozen pina colada recipe is poured together in a bucket and frozen.
No blending required. To serve, simply scoop and enjoy!
Coconut cream, lime, pineapple juice, and coconut rum are frozen together to make this iconic drink. Grab a glass and a slice of pineapple for a drink that’s ready all summer long!
An Easy Make Ahead Frozen Cocktail
- This frozen pina colada is one of the BEST summer recipes!
- With only 4 simple ingredients, this cocktail can be made at any time, no blender required.
- Make ahead of time and enjoy a scoop or two at a moment’s notice.
- It’s delicious and is an easy make-ahead recipe.
What’s in a Frozen Pina Colada?
Lime-Aid This is a concentrated drink mix with a sweet and tart flavor.
Coconut Cream – Coconut Cream (which is what you do want in this recipe) is thicker than coconut milk and has more flavor but isn’t overly sweet. Coconut Cream can sometimes be a little tricky to find. It can be found in most grocery stores. Do not purchase cream of coconut, it is too sweet and is not the same as coconut cream.
Juice – Pineapple juice is used in this recipe, but any tropical juice will taste great. Lychee, mango, jackfruit, or star fruit juice can all be used.
Coconut Rum – Any coconut rum will work! Malibu or Bicardi coconut rum are both great options.
To Make Pina Coladas Without Alcohol
For a fun twist (or for a virgin pina colada), leave out the rum and scoop frozen pina colada mix halfway into a glass adding club soda or lemon-lime soda.
Because the alcohol keeps it from freezing solid, the non-alcoholic version takes a little bit more to scrape out so freeze in a shallower dish (such as a 9×13 pan). You may need to leave it to sit out a bit longer than 15 minutes before scraping.
And don’t forget to garnish the drink with a maraschino cherry and a slice of pineapple!
How to Make Frozen Pina Coladas
This is the perfect drink for the patio or poolside this summer!
- Mix all the ingredients together in a large ice cream pail (as per the recipe below).
- Place the bucket in the freezer overnight, stirring after 4 hours.
- Take out of the freezer and let sit for about 15 minutes to soften before serving.
Make it up to a week ahead of time and have it on hand for the weekend get-together.
More Summer Cocktails to Try
Did you make this Frozen Pina Colada recipe? Be sure to leave us a comment below!
Frozen Pina Colada (in a bucket)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 48 ounces pineapple juice or tropical juice
- 1 can coconut cream 13-15 ounces
- 12 ounces coconut rum
- 4 ounces dark rum
- 10 ounces frozen lime-aid concentrate 1 can
- Optional: Club Soda or Lemon-Lime Soda
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a large ice cream pail or another bucket.
- Freeze overnight, stirring after about 4 hours.
- Remove from freezer 15 minutes before serving.
- Run a lime around the edge of a glass and dip in sugar if desired.
- Fill glass with frozen Pina Colada mix & enjoy or fill glass half full of Pina Colada Mix and top with soda or lemon-lime soda.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beverage, Drink, Drinks
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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I am going to make a bucket of your pina colatta mix for a party, but I am confused on the coconut cream. I only see it unsweetened. Is that what I should use?
That should work great.
Thank you!
what would i use to make it a strawberry colada? Thank you.
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure Cherie. You could try swapping some of the pineapple juice for strawberry juice. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Hi. Approximately how long should this be frozen for? Would it be possible to make it in the morning for a party that night? Thanks
Freeze overnight stirring after about 4 hours. I have only tried overnight, but if you freeze for about 10-12 hours, I think it would work. Let us know if you try it Alex!
I used half cream of coconut and half coconut milk because I had a hard time finding the other. It worked great!
So glad you enjoyed it!
I wonder if you could use half coconut milk and half cream of coconut, to cut the sweetness and give it more flavor
I have only made it as written, but if you do try it please let me know how it works out for you.
I would love to make this recipe, but what is frozen Lime-aid concentrate, as we don’t have it in Australia, or would there be a subsitute I could use. thanks
You can find a homemade version of Limeade here.
Any idea what size container you need for this? How many oz.? Thanks!
Something that holds about 80 to 90 ounces at least!
My grocery store carries coconut milk or cream of coconut, not coconut cream. I went ahead and used the cream of coconut and replaced the limeade concentrate with the juice of 3 large limes. It had that sweet-tart, delicious flavor. Better yet, you avoid HFCS and come out a few grams less of sugar.
Hope this helps.
Thank you for sharing!
This looks great! Looking for a kid friendly slush for a family lake vacation. Do you think this would work if the adults added the rum after it came out of the freezer to the slushy so the kids could still enjoy?
While I have only made it as written, you could certainly omit the alcohol for the kids!
Hello, I just made this and my coconut cream from Sprouts was all liquid. Is that what it is suppose to look like? I know you said to be aware of cream of coconut and that is NOT what I bought. I also use coconut milk in other recipes and that is not what I bought. But I don’t know what the consistency of coconut cream is suppose to look like? I know Trader Joe’s has a coconut cream as well but I didn’t buy theirs as it said it was extra thick and extra rich and their picture of it looks thick not like a liquid like Sprouts. So what does the coconut cream you use look like? Where do you buy it? Also if I am wanting to make them “virgin” drinks, will it come out ok? Thank you!
Coconut cream should be almost the texture of a heavy cream (and sometimes needs a little shake or stir to mix it all in). The alcohol does keep this from freezing solid so if you aren’t adding alcohol, you’ll want to take it out of the freezer for longer than 15 min before serving. It will likely require a little more scraping to get the right consistency.
I just made some but the coconut cream was kind of chunky, looks like pieces of coconut in it. I wa expecting it to look more like cream. Do you think i got some bad ciconut cream. I had to go to 3 places and finally found it at Krogers.
Coconut cream can sometimes separate a little if it’s been sitting on the shelf a long time. A good stir should help. It can sometimes be tricky to find so I stock up when I do find it.
Do you have to use frozen lime aid I want to mix this up but I don’t have that
You can find a homemade version of Limeade here.
Do you have this mixed for a constant 4hrs in an ice cream maker?
I haven’t tried this in an ice cream maker.
I’m in Australia, if I can’t get lime aid concentrate , is there a substitute I could use instead.?
Here is a Homemade LimeAid Concentrate recipe. I haven’t tried it but I think it would work just fine.
What size of frozen lime-aid concentrate do you use? Thanks!
Mine is 12 oz.
What size limeade concentrate?
The limeaid was 12 oz.
Can you use coconut milk?
Coconut milk isn’t as rich or coconutty as coconut cream so it won’t have as much flavor.
This looks so good! I remember my grandma making pina coladas in a bucket! Who knows what her recipe was but now that I see this, it brings back memories. Cheers!
Cheers!! As always, wish I were sitting on a patio with you and a cheese board… and a bucket of these!