Sweet ripe cherries, how I love you so.
The same goes for smoothies. While I drink them year-round since I live in SoCal where it never gets really cold, my smoothie habit has been in serious full swing since summer started. I usually drink one a day, and lately my smoothies have been extra summery.
A week or two ago I bought a huge watermelon. I was eating a lot of it on its own when I was hot and sweaty from working out or being outside in the hot sun or in my simple and favorite (and super refreshing!) strawberry watermelon smoothie. But I wanted to come up a new way to enjoy watermelon. And sweet cherries. And smoothies… which led to today’s recipe!
A couple of months ago I went to a fitness event and ZICO was there giving out coconut water samples. In all honesty, I’ve never been a coconut water drinker, but I tried their chocolate flavored coconut water and was surprised that I really liked it! They gave me some samples to take home, which had been sitting in my fridge until this smoothie idea popped into my head.
I like how coconut water provides a lot of potassium and electrolytes, which is ideal for these hot summer days. I used ZICO’s chocolate coconut water as my smoothie liquid, but you could always use regular coconut water and add extra cocoa in if you’d like.
Some of the benefits of dark red cherries?
They’re high in fiber and antioxidants like flavonoids and Vitamin C. Studies have shown that the goodness found in cherries can protect against cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s. This nature’s candy also has been shown to reduce inflammation through its powerful phytochemicals. To put it simply, cherries rock.
I still have a lot of sweet cherries handy ready to be eaten, and the recipe ideas are just swirling around in my head. Chances are another cherry recipe will be popping up on the blog sometime in the next few weeks!
Cocoa Cherry Watermelon Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup of watermelon
- 3/4 cup sweet red cherries pitted
- 1 TBSP cocoa powder
- 6 oz chocolate coconut water*
- A few handfuls of ice
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth.
- Pour into a glass and immediately enjoy while it's cold!
Notes
**There's a natural color separation that may happen with the smoothie. It's all good!
Nutrition
Tell me.. Are you a coconut water fan? Do you ever combine cherries and watermelon in smoothies?
The imagery reminds of me of cherry coke for some reason! But this looks way way better! Yum!!!
Haha. Probably true, but much healthier than cherry coke! 😉
Ohhh I love the idea of using chocolate coconut water here!! This looks awesome!
Thanks, Annie! It’s a bit of a unique combo, but so good!
I am a coconut water fan and I had no idea they had chocolate flavor now!! Count me IN! And this smoothie sounds delicious, too. It would be a great post workout treat.
I’m sure if you’re a fan of regular coconut water, you’d enjoy the chocolate flavor too! It’s like a lighter version of chocolate milk.
Oh yum! This is such a unique combo! I love all of these flavors too.
I have tried coconut water and I really like it but I’ve never had the chocolate flavor. I’m intrigued!
You should totally try the Zico chocolate coconut water if you spot it somewhere – I give it a thumbs up, and like I said, I’m not even a coconut water fan usually!
I LOVE CHERRIES!!!!! I mean, as of, about a month ago…LOL. I always liked, like, sour cherries, cherry jolly ranchers, etc…but never the actual CHERRY…then a co-worker had be try a ranier cherry one day a few weeks ago and IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!! So now i’ve been eating them everyday and they are a staple in my fridge. Seeing all the benefits makes me wanna continue eating them everyday!
Ha, got to love when you find new foods to love! It’s funny how our tastebuds can change, right?
I need to check this out. I know coconut water is so good for you, but I can’t stand the taste of it alone. I bet it’s fabulous with the coca and fruit in this though!
Putting it in a smoothie is a good way to mask the taste if you aren’t crazy about it – you should give it a try!
I drink smoothies year round but it really kicks up a notch during summer! This sounds FANTASTIC. Chocolate and cherries go so well together and you managed to get watermelon in too??? Awesome.
Thanks girl! Agreed, how can you not kick up your smoothie intake during the summer?! They’re just so refreshing.
I love chocolate and cherry together, but I never would have thought of putting some watermelon in it. Great idea!
It’s a bit of a strange but good combo!
Oh man, this sounds SO good!
Thanks, Brittany!