Chocolate Mango Smoothie

EVENT: A- Z RECIPE CHALLENGE
THEME : AN INGREDIENT BEGINNING WITH THE LETTER U
RECIPE: CHOCOLATE MANGO SMOOTHIE – USING UNSWEETENED COCOA
Chocolate Mango Smoothie, using unsweetened cocoa is a delicious, exotic, filling and healthy smoothie to enjoy as breakfast, as a snack or as a light meal. I made this as our Valentine’s Day treat, chocolatey but without any sugar or any other sweetener at all. So yes totally a healthy smoothie and diabetic friendly. Actually, didn’t need to add any sort of sweetener as the mango was sweet.
What is Unsweetened Cocoa
Quite often when I feel like having a chocolatey smoothie for breakfast I reach out for unsweetened cocoa. Cocoa powder as its mostly available, tends to be unsweetened, that is, no sugar is added. However, it does vary from country to country so best to read the ingredient label. Cocoa powder is basically prepared from cocoa beans or cacao. The beans are fermented, roasted and cracked into pieces or nibs. The nibs are then pressed to remove the cocoa butter. The pasty chocolate liquor left is then dried. After that it is ground into unsweetened cocoa powder.
While in countries like UK, Kenya and India we get cocoa powder which naturally is unsweetened and drinking chocolate which has sugar added to the cocoa powder, thing are a bit different in Canada and US. Don’t go looking for drinking chocolate as you may not find it! I learnt the hard way during my niece’s wedding. I wanted to prepare home made chocolates and walked down the aisles looking for drinking chocolate. Came back home a little flustered. Eventually, gave the shopping list to my sister in law and she came with sweetened cocoa… it was like a ‘dah’ moment for me.
Lesson Learnt – ask the locals for the alternate name. Or you can google the American/ Canadian name before going shopping.
Smoothies and Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Often I use either cocoa/cocao powder, or cacao nibs for my smoothies. It does taste a bit bitter but then cocoa powder has its own health benefits.
- Rich in polyphenols, this antioxidant helps to reduce blood sugar, improves cholesterol and helps to control blood sugar levels.
- Cocoa powder helps to reduce mental depression and has a calming effect on the brains.
- I tend to use unsweetened cocoa more often in smoothies as it gives us the taste of chocolate and helps to control blood sugar levels in my diabetic hubby. Its better to pair unsweetened cocoa with a naturally sweet fruit than to have sugar laden chocolate.
Smoothie Recipes
- My collection of smoothie recipes are on my Instagram. Please check out the variety of smoothies, saved as Smoothies.
- Mango Yogurt Smoothie
- Banana Peanut Butter and Oats Smoothie
- Strawberry Finger Millet Smoothie
- Carrot Cake Smoothie
A bit about the group
A – Z Recipe Challenge group started by fellow bloggers Vidya and Jolly, is themed based. This month we have to use any ingredient whose English name begins with U. Now that is the most difficult letter …or I think we are heading for harder times with letter X just round the corner. There is Ugli fruit which I never seen here and Urfa Biber, a Turkish pepper. None of these are available in my country. If I had planned properly much earlier, then I could have photographed Udon Noodle dishes that I prepared when I was in Bali.
Letter U was proving to be difficult for all the participants of the group. So to was decided that we could use unsalted nuts, butter, unsweetened khoya, mawa, cocoa, etc. I chose unsweetened cocoa. You may think that there are quite a few dishes beginning with U but no we have to use a natural product.
Ingredients Required for Chocolate Mango Smoothie:
- Ripe Mango – the more ripe the mango is the better as its naturally sweet.
- Cold Milk – can replace it with a nut milk of your choice for a vegan smoothie.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Oats – can replace the oats with roasted finger millet flour or roasted pearl millet flour.
- Cinnamon Powder – I used cinnamon powder for flavour. Can also use cardamom powder or vanilla extract.
- Almond Powder – can replace with a protein powder

CHOCOLATE MANGO SMOOTHIE - USING UNSWEETENED COCOA
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped mango about 1 large mango
- ½ cup cold milk
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 tbsp oats
- 2 tbsp almond powder
- ½ tsp cinnamon powder
Instructions
- Peel, and chop one large ripe mango into pieces.
- Add all the ingredients into a food processor or blender.
- Process or blend till smooth.
- Pour into glasses and serve.
Notes
- Can replace oats with any grain of your choice like roasted finger millet flour, roasted pearl millet flour, cooked quinoa, cooked barnyard millet, etc.
- Replace almond powder with protein powder.
- If the smoothie is not sweet enough for you, add honey, coconut sugar or maple syrup or a sweetener of your choice.
- Can add ice cubes for a super cold smoothie.
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If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
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24 Comments
Archana
February 17, 2021 at 4:21 pm
The season for mangoes starts now we will be plucking mangoes on Sunday. Guess what my first drink will be after eating some mango? Chocolate mango smoothie! Yes!
mayurisjikoni
February 17, 2021 at 8:33 pm
Thank you so much Archana.
Poonam bachhav
February 20, 2021 at 10:16 am
Never tried the combo of mangoes and chocolate , but this cinnamon flavored mango chocolate smoothie sounds absolutely flavorful ! With oats and almond powder going in, it must be filling and nutritious as well.
mayurisjikoni
February 20, 2021 at 12:55 pm
Thank you so much Poonam, please try the combination, tastes really good.
Jayashree T.Rao
February 21, 2021 at 7:36 pm
Chocolate Mango Smoothie looks fabulous. Love both mango and chocolate but never had a smoothie, will soon make it. Looks so good Mayuri.
mayurisjikoni
February 21, 2021 at 9:42 pm
Thank you so much Jayashree.
Shobha Keshwani
February 23, 2021 at 8:42 am
OMG the picture itself is making you want to taste this drink. My favourite fruit mango is there so I will definitely make it. I have never tried combining mango and cocoa.
mayurisjikoni
February 23, 2021 at 5:52 pm
Thanks Shobha, give it a try, mango and cocoa or chocolate together tastes really good.
LISA
February 23, 2021 at 2:13 pm
Wow! This looks delicious AND healthy! I need to start making it for breakfast!
mayurisjikoni
February 23, 2021 at 5:51 pm
Thank you Lisa. Enjoy, when you make it.
Azlin Bloor
February 23, 2021 at 6:25 pm
This is such an amazing combination, and so healthy too. I definitely prefer smoothies that aren’t too sweet, so I know I’ll enjoy this. My lunches are always smoothies, I’ll have to give this a try soon!
mayurisjikoni
February 23, 2021 at 8:21 pm
Thank you so much Azlin. Please do try it.. an excuse to enjoy chocolate for lunch.
Indrani sen
February 23, 2021 at 7:43 pm
This is a must try recipe during the upcoming mango season. It is so refreshing and delicious
mayurisjikoni
February 23, 2021 at 8:19 pm
Thank you so much Indrani and filling too. Please do try it.
Renu
February 23, 2021 at 9:58 pm
This looks very tempting and delicious , and with a favourite of chocolate and mango two favourites this looks the perfect summer drink
mayurisjikoni
February 24, 2021 at 2:52 pm
Thanks Renu, it definitely makes a lovely drink for summer and filling too.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
February 25, 2021 at 8:54 pm
This is just in time for the mango season. I would have never thought of combining mango and chocolate. Thanks for the great idea. I will give this a try soon.
mayurisjikoni
February 26, 2021 at 4:09 pm
Thank you so much Sandhya, try it as the combination is awesome. I’ve even baked cakes using chocolate and mango and its very popular.
Lata Lala
February 26, 2021 at 1:27 pm
OMG… This sounds like a match made in heaven combination Mayuri. While reading your post I am literally drooling over the glass of delicious smoothie.
It looks so delicious.
mayurisjikoni
February 26, 2021 at 4:07 pm
thank you so much Lata, try it when the mango season begins.
Seema Sriram
February 27, 2021 at 1:28 am
Ooo we have mango season right now and the best thing I can think of now is to have some of this delicious smoothie. I love the image of the tall glasses filled to the brim here. So soothing.
mayurisjikoni
February 27, 2021 at 4:30 pm
Thanks Seema, actually the glasses look long but its about a cupful of smoothie. Its my perfect measure for my morning smoothies.
Ankita
March 3, 2021 at 10:47 am
This is an perfect recipe for my kid. First i thought it may be like regular smoothie but after reading your recipe i realised its a healthy smoothie. Looks so good which attracts kids and healthy ingredients attract mommy..😊😊😊
mayurisjikoni
March 4, 2021 at 5:58 pm
Thank you so much Ankita. As the mango was sweet, I didn’t see a need to add honey or maple syrup.