A simple cantaloupe smoothie recipe perfect for cool summer refreshment.
Refreshing, light and nourishing, a cantaloupe smoothie is a beautiful thing on a hot summer day.
One of the things I love about a Cantaloupe smoothie, or a Cantaloupe Frappé, as I like to call it, is that it is so easy to enjoy. This delightful cold refreshment is ready in minutes. And with all the multi-ingredient smoothie combinations around, there is something to be said about a one-fruit smoothie:
Less prep. Less mess. Less work. More pure flavor. Cantaloupe Frappé is the perfect one-fruit smoothie for summer. Easy, quick and amazingly refreshing.
The perfect solution to over-ripe cantaloupe: Blending it into a frappé saves the day!
My Cantaloupe Smoothie is also a Frappé
Ever since meeting my Italian mother-in-law — a native Italian raised along one of the most beautiful emerald coastlines of the European Mediterranean — any icy blender drink has thereafter been called a frappé at our house. “Facciamo un frappé!” let’s make a frappé, was commonly proposed during the summer, and was probably one of the few Italian phrases I was fluent in Italian at the time. Priorities! Culinary Italian before the rest was pretty much how it went.
This was around the time the modern English term smoothie started being used. And the Italian name frullato (from frullare: to blend) works too. But for all intents and purposes, and pleasure, I continue to prefer the frappé appellation — a term in the Italian vocabulary, as well as the English dictionary, and borrowed from French — which literally means to hit, in this case, with ice. The name just sounds as refreshing as it is.
In Italy, a frappé is often blended fruit, ice and milk, but definitions vary from region to region, and country to country around the world. In Greece, it’s got an instant coffee thing going on. Coffee, ice cream, cocoa, syrups, you name it, find their way into frappé, even liquors. Shaken, blended, with milk, sans milk, with ice, with frozen fruit, add what you like, it’s all good.
And whether you call this a cantaloupe smoothie, a cantaloupe frappé or un frullato di melone (I’ve never heard it actually called cantalupo in Italy), it’s all good.
Tips on Making a Cantaloupe Smoothie
- My favorite way to make a cantaloupe smoothie is to freeze the cantaloupe cubes first. That way, the flavor doesn’t get diluted with ice, and remains naturally sweet without having to add sugar.
- When making a fruit smoothie with ice instead of frozen fruit, you want to make sure to put the fruit in the blender first so that the blender’s blades can first grab the fruit to blend, which then helps break up the ice.
- Of course, this can easily be dairy free. We enjoy it with almond milk, and sometimes make it with just water.
- For serving size, in order to keep sugars in check, a good rule of thumb is to use only as many slices of cantaloupe as you would actually eat.
I don’t know about you, but I love how food and beverages can evoke beautiful images and memories. Along with a nice hit of icy refreshment, the summer flavors of a cantaloupe smoothie evoke images of the beach for me — a feel good hit, especially nice for times when I’m in the city. Something like this:
Serving Ideas
A cantaloupe smoothie, or frappé, is ideal:
- smack dab in the middle of a hot summer afternoon
- as a virgin apéritif served in a cocktail glass
- as an after-dinner treat
Click here for instructions on how to pick a good cantaloupe, how to know when it’s ripe, a good way to cut a cantaloupe, and other cantaloupe wisdom.
Recipe
Tools
- Blender
- long knife
Ingredients
- 3 wedges very ripe cantaloupe, (8oz, ½lb 225g), ideally frozen for at least an hour, if possible, cubed
- 2 ice cubes (if needed)
- ¼ cup milk (optional), dairy or non-dairy, or water
- 1 Tbsp honey (if needed) or sugar
Instructions
- Put the cantaloupe cubes into a blender. If cantaloupe is not frozen, add ice cubes on top. If desired, add milk. Blend to desired consistency.
- Taste and adjust for sweetness and density, adding a little honey or sugar and/or a little liquid if needed. Voilá. Enjoy! If you grow mint or have some around, place a pretty sprig on top.
