This smoothie recipe is inspired by my favorite treats at Disney World—the Dole Whip. Along with being much healthier treat, it also works as a great weight gain smoothie for those needing to increase their calories.
Tropical Ingredients
A traditional Dole Whip screams pineapple and coconut— yet if you read the ingredients label you’ll find a lot more. For example, dextrose, maltodextrin, citric acid, artificial color, natural and artificial flavors and cellulose gums.
The recipe we’re making today is just 4 ingredients and they are all plant-based whole foods. In other words, our version of a classic dole whip recipe will do your body some serious good! It includes:
- coconut milk
- pineapple juice
- frozen pineapple
- banana
If you really wanna boost the calories, you can add a scoop of homemade protein powder and coconut flakes.
Best Smoothie Recipes for Weight Gain
Whether your fitness routine requires some extra calories, you have a supercharged metabolism or an underlying medical condition, this delicious smoothie is perfect for sneaking in some added calories the healthy way.
There’s a right way to make a smoothie for weight gain, and the formula includes a balanced ratio of protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats. The ingredients in this smoothie come from whole foods that are calorically dense and packed with nutrients. And with this smoothie, we’ve dialed in the taste to make it amazingly good!
Protein: Increasing your protein intake results in lean body mass gains. Non-dairy yogurt, non-dairy milk (unsweetened soy, almond, cashew or oat milk), nut butter, protein powder are all great sources of protein to use in a weight gain smoothie.
Of course, we’re partial to our greatest creation: homemade protein powder. It’s made with the highest quality of organic plant-based proteins.
Carbohydrates provide essential nutrients like fiber, vitamins and minerals to a smoothie while increasing the calories. Oats, banana, berries, mango and pineapple are great carb-heavy ingredients.
Healthy fats are usually high in calories, and can help you gain a healthy amount of weight. Coconut cream, whole fat coconut milk, peanut butter, almond butter, avocado, soaked cashew nuts all blend nicely into smoothies.
Extras: cinnamon, turmeric, leafy greens (spinach, kale), vanilla, coconut flakes, flax and chia seeds
How to Make a Weight Gain Smoothie
When you need to gain weight, it can be difficult to get additional calories from regular meals. Adding a high calorie smoothie to your diet is a great option to maximize calorie intake. Drink a weight gain smoothie as a snack in-between meals to up your calorie intake.
- Shake the can of coconut milk vigorously to combine the fat and the milk before opening and pouring into a measuring cup.
- Add all of the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth and creamy. To thin the consistency, add more pineapple juice or filtered water.
- Serve in a glass with a straw or spoon, depending how thick you made it.
Decrease the Calories in Smoothies
If you’re wanting to lighten up this tasty smoothie, use light coconut milk (or just 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk and 3/4 cup of water). You can also skip the pineapple juice and just use frozen pineapple, which still has the fiber to help maintain your blood sugar levels.
Weight Gain Smoothie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup pineapple frozen
- 1 banana frozen
- 1 cup coconut milk full-fat, chilled
- ÂĽ cup pineapple juice chilled
- 1 serving homemade protein powder optional
- tbsp coconut flakes optional
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients into blender.
- Blend on high until smooth.
- Pour into a glass and enjoy.
Notes
- To add more calories, use canned full-fat coconut milk vs light coconut milk.
- Turn this recipe into a meal replacement shake by adding in 1 serving of my homemade protein powder.
- Use at least 1 frozen ingredient for a refreshingly cool smoothie.
- Feel free to add up to 1 cup of leafy greens per serving.
Nutrition
Healthy Weight Gain Smoothie Recipes
Here’s more recipes we have that are higher in calories, yet packed with nutrients to make sure you gain weight in a healthy way.
- Vanilla Cashew Protein Shake
- Chocolate Protein Shake that’s oozing with peanut butter goodness
- Weight gain smoothie for kids from Your Kids Table
- Protein shake for weight gain is packed with peanut butter, cocoa powder and cherries
I’m a amputated of above the knee which I lost 31 pounds from 110 lbs which left me weighing 79 lbs which I need to put some of this weight back on please help me
Hi BJ! To add more calories, use canned full fat coconut milk vs light coconut milk. Hope this helps
Hello I’m excited to try this! I just wanted to know much (regular) calories it is, not k calories? I tried to figure it out, but I keep getting this number 664000. Please help !
Hi there, 664 calories is the total with a 2 tbsp servings of our Protein Powder. If you’re interested in increasing the calories, using full-fat canned coconut milk is a great option. The kcal is the technical term for what most people just call calories.
This is beyond delicious
This very good smoothie was a winner for my family as well as me thank you.
So glad the whole fam loved it, Christopher!
I am on medication for my multiple myeloma I have bad appetite but I need to gain weight and I thought no the smoothies that help with weight gain iswhat I need
It’s so hard to find recipes that are helpful to those of us trying to maintain or gain weight, thank you for this!
Can I use whole milk instead of coconut milk? I’m not a fan of anything coconut…
Thanks!
Hi Sissy! Great question. You can totally use any milk you prefer for your Dole Whip Weight Gain Smoothie. We recommend plant-based milk like almond or oat milk, yet if whole cow’s milk is your fav, then go for it!
Great I like the recipe
I would like recipes to gain weight .
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!!
I need to gain weight and was so excited to see this recipe as well as links to other weight gain smoothies!
Loving this – Did I say THANK YOU?!!
You’re very welcome, Sue! 🙂
This is a lot of sugar, so I swapped the banana for frozen cauliflower,and did water instead of the pineapple juice. Still so good! Very tropical
Those sounds like great swaps and I bet it was still very delish!
I had everything to make this and went for it. Since I’m not looking to gain weight, I left out the extras and did your recommendation with light coconut milk. It was delicious!!!
So glad you loved it, Susan!