Healthy Coconut Recipes

Making fruit smoothies at home saves time and money. For this easy smoothie, combine strawberries, mango and banana with a bit of cashew butter and ground chia seeds for body and richness.

This carrot and apple smoothie is creamy and has a light tropical flavor thanks to coconut milk. It's naturally sweetened from the carrots and apple, and the combination of ginger and lemon juice adds just a bit of spice and helps balance the flavor. The turmeric, fresh or dried, gives the smoothie a vibrant bright orange color.

The assortment of vegetables in this vegan one-pot dish add varying textures and flavors to make each forkful exciting. The sweet potato balances the savory spices nicely. Serve this bright and flavorful curry with rice or rice noodles.

This easy energy ball uses natural ingredients to give you a quick bite of energy when you need it. Dried apricots and honey hold together the coconut and oats, while ginger and tahini deepen the sweet flavors. Ready in just 25 minutes, you can have these as a grab-and-go breakfast, afternoon snack or sweet treat after dinner.

Add protein and fiber to your smoothie--without dairy or protein powder--with lentils. They're a sneaky source of plant-based protein in this healthy smoothie recipe.

Think of these easy no-bake cookies as a healthy makeover of one of our favorite Girl Scout Cookies--chewy caramel, dark chocolate and toasted coconut come together with fiber-boosting oats instead of sugar and flour. And the best part? They take only 15 minutes from start to finish.

This low-carb vegetable soup is chock-full of veggies swimming in a creamy coconut broth flavored with Thai red curry paste. It's hearty enough to eat on its own, but feel free to add chicken or tofu to boost the protein.

Make a batch of these granola bars ahead of time and you'll have a tasty, lunchbox-ready snack on hand. These nut-free granola bars are packed with chocolate chips and shredded coconut for a sweet treat. Whether you like a chewy granola bar or a crunchy one, the bake time is easily adjusted to suit your preferences.

Give your blueberry smoothie a tropical update with the rich flavors of coconut milk and coconut cream. Freshly squeezed orange juice lends bright flavor to this healthy smoothie recipe, but if you're short on time, bottled will work just fine.

The tropical flavors of a piña colada make for one delicious ice pop. Be sure to reach for ripe bananas to get the perfect sweetness (without any added sugar!) for this clean-eating-friendly frozen treat.

Cauliflower and tofu are ideal ingredients for this soup. The cauliflower soaks up the cooking liquid, and the tofu keeps the dish light, allowing the bold flavors in the liquid--predominantly the curry paste and lemongrass--to take center stage in this slow-cooker tofu stew.

Give basic cinnamon oatmeal a spice upgrade with the warm and toasty notes of chai. Coconut milk makes these overnight oats ultra-creamy and delicately sweet too.

We love the maple-nut flavor combination of this heart-healthy granola, but feel free to substitute your favorite nuts or dried fruit for your own custom blend.

Strawberries and banana are the sneaky way to hide the fact that there's 1 1/2 cups of spinach in this smoothie. It's so berry delicious that you'll be making it every morning.

Learn how to make a nonalcoholic piña colada with this easy recipe. Ripe bananas get blended with fresh pineapple and coconut milk for a refreshing beverage. Serve in a festive glass.

A unique take on banana bread, this recipe introduces the banana-coconut flavor combination. This creative, diabetic-friendly recipe is the perfect solution for using over-ripe bananas and is easy to make.

This easy fish recipe with a flavorful garlic, thyme and coconut sauce is perfect for a healthy weeknight dinner. Serve with brown rice, to soak up the creamy sauce, and a green salad with vinaigrette.

This green-as-a-shamrock "nice cream"--made with almond milk, coconut cream and bananas--is loosely inspired by the Shamrock McFlurry. Whip up this dairy-free dessert for St. Patrick's Day or anytime you're craving a minty treat. (To keep this recipe vegan, be sure to choose vegan chocolate chips.)

Shrimp and rice get a tropical-fruit makeover in this healthy 400-calorie dinner. Instead of rice, we've combined riced cauliflower and coconut milk for light coconut rice topped with spicy shrimp and a juicy mango-avocado salsa to cool it all down. Squeeze on some fresh lime juice before digging in to take this easy meal to the next level.

This light and creamy orange creamsicle nice cream uses coconut cream instead of milk or heavy cream to achieve its silky texture. The subtle coconut flavor blends well with the bright acidity from fresh orange juice.

Add some flavor of the Caribbean to your weeknight dinners with this healthy and easy jerk chicken recipe. The chicken is cooked on a grill pan rather than an outdoor grill--make sure the pan is well-heated before adding the chicken to achieve the crisp char you would get from an outdoor grill. A simple side of coconut rice and peas completes this satisfying and nutritious meal.

Make mornings a little easier when you soak oats overnight for a quick and easy breakfast.

Though it tastes like those iconic vanilla-and-orange popsicles, this creamsicle breakfast smoothie recipe is a balanced breakfast with carbohydrates, protein and, thanks to the addition of coconut water, essential electrolytes. Coconut water serves up more than 10 percent of your daily dose of potassium--an electrolyte you lose through sweat--in every cup, making it a great hydrator for light workouts. Plus, this creamy orange-mango smoothie only contains about 30 mg of sodium per cup, whereas sports drinks usually deliver about 110 mg of sodium per cup.

Classic carrot cake goes vegan in this easy recipe, and gets covered with coconut whipped cream to replace the traditional cream cheese frosting. A mixture of flax and water makes a sturdy substitute for eggs in this vegan cake. Plus, sweet crushed pineapple helps to make this cake delicious with less added sugar.