Here we’ll learn together how to make dragon fruit tea three different ways! Let’s reap the amazing health benefits of dragon fruit while enjoying some delicious hot tea.

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Dragon Fruit Made Popular By Pitaya Bowls and Starbucks Refreshers

Dragon fruit has been made much more popular through the popular pink Pitaya bowls and Starbucks refreshers.

Everyone knows Pitaya bowls are a blessing from above. The pink dragon fruit frozen yogurt is usually made with dragon fruit powder, then topped with tropical fruit, granola, and maybe some honey. YUM!

But let’s chat Starbucks. Nothing against ‘Starbies’, but their dragon fruit drink doesn’t even contain actual dragon fruit unless you count a couple freeze-dried dragon fruit pieces floating on top.

The ingredients in a Starbucks dragonfruit refresher, taken from the Starbucks website:

ICE, MANGO DRAGONFRUIT REFRESHERS BASE [WATER, SUGARS (SUGAR, WHITE GRAPE JUICE CONCENTRATE), NATURAL FLAVORS, CITRIC ACID, NATURAL GREEN COFFEE FLAVOR, REBAUDISIDE-A], FREEZE DRIED DRAGONFRUIT PIECES.

Ingredients in Starbucks Mango Dragon Fruit Refresher

This Starbucks dragonfruit refresher has 19 grams in a grande alone, not to mention the artificial flavor. It’s a sugary albeit delicious drink.

I’m not judging you if you enjoy this drink as a treat. I’ve been known to order a starbucks dragon fruit drink or a pink drink with coconut milk. This vibrant colored drink is so yummy on a hot day as a summer drink!

I hate to disappoint, but this will not be a Starbucks copycat recipe. But if you’re looking to reap the benefits of real, fresh dragon fruit from a drink with simple ingredients and a lot less sugar; you’ll find a delicious dragon fruit tea from the recipe below (made 3 ways).

What Is Dragon Fruit?

Dragon fruit, also known as Pitaya, is a tropical fruit and member of the cactus family. It is a native fruit of South America.

It starts as a flower and blooms on a cactus. I believe the name dragon fruit came from the outside leathery scales.

The look and texture kind of reminds me of a kiwifruit, with a lot less of the tang. Dragon fruit has a much more mild taste when compared to kiwi.

Are There Different Kinds Of Dragon Fruit?

Surprisingly, there are four different kinds of dragon fruit. They all have tiny black seeds that can be eaten, much like kiwi.

Each different kind of dragon fruit is characterized by the color; white dragon fruit, red dragon fruit, pink dragon fruit, and yellow dragon fruit. There is also a rare dragon fruit called sour dragon fruit, so technically there are four kinds.

Not to mention the dragon fruit variations within those different dragon fruits. You can read more about those here.

5 Main Health Benefits of Dragon Fruit

There are numerous health benefits from eating and using dragon fruit.

1. Rich in antioxidants like vitamin C, betalains, and carotenoids.
2. High in fiber (7 grams of fiber per cup of dragon fruit)
3. Promotes a healthy gut by containing lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria (good bacteria for the gut)
4. Good source of magnesium to help with over 600 important chemical reactions in the body
5. Contains some iron along with vitamin C to help the absorption

What Are The Health Benefits of Dragon Fruit Peels?

You may think you can only use and consume the inside flesh of dragon fruit. This is the way most people consume dragon fruit. Surprisingly, you can also enjoy the outside peels of dragon fruit!

Dragon fruit peel can be eaten raw (although the peel is quite hard and chewy), sautéed and consumed in a veggie stir fry, pureed and mixing into anything, or steeped and drunk as a tea like I’ll show you in this blog post.

You may ask why you anyone would want to consume dragon fruit peel. It’s loaded with anthocyanin, a powerful kind of antioxidants that gives the dragon fruit its vibrant colors.

This antioxidant could help control blood sugar levels, fight and prevent cancer, slow lipid/fat accumulation, prevent heart disease, and improve vision health. Some pretty big claims!

A lot of the studies showing these health claims were done on rodents, but the power of antioxidants in the body is still unmeasured. I would give it a chance if I were you.

What Does Dragon Fruit Tea Taste Like?

Dragon fruit tea made by simply steeping dragon fruit pieces in hot water has a mild but sweet taste and a slight tropical flavor. The tea isn’t very strong, but you can steep it longer if you want a stronger taste. For a sweeter drink, add honey or sugar of choice.

The color of dragon fruit tea is most vibrant when the dragon fruit peels are dehydrated. Otherwise the dragon fruit tea is almost translucent in color with a slightly pink hue to it (depending on the dragon fruit variation you have).

I like to add one or two green tea bags to my dragon fruit tea if I’m enjoying this in the morning. If it is the evening, I would steep it longer for a stronger flavor and add some raw honey once it is ready.

What You’ll Need For This Recipe

Kitchen Tools

• Tea kettle
• Dehydrator or Oven (optional for method #3)

Ingredients List

The most wholesome ingredients; simply Dragon Fruit and Water.

You can of course add honey, maple syrup, sugar, or simple syrup to your tea once it has steeped.

How To Make Dragon Fruit Tea

Method #1: Fresh Dragon Fruit Tea

Wash and chop your dragon fruit with the peel on. Boil water in a tea kettle then take the kettle off the heat. Add 2-4 tablespoons dragon fruit to the boiling water and steep for 10-15 minutes. Strain and enjoy!

Method #2: Fresh Dragon Fruit Peel Tea

Wash your dragon fruit and scoop out the flesh (feel free to consume this part). Slice the dragon fruit peel. Boil water in a tea kettle then take the kettle off the heat. Add 2-4 tablespoons of dragon fruit peels to the boiling water and steep for 10-15 minutes. Strain and enjoy!

Method #3: Dried Dragon Fruit Peel Tea

Wash your dragon fruit and scoop out the flesh (feel free to consume this part). Slice the dragon fruit peel. Dehydrate your dragon fruit peel slices for 10-12 hours at 130 F.

The peels should be dry enough when they are crispy and break when bent.

Boil water in a tea kettle then take the kettle off the heat. Add 1-2 tablespoons of dragon fruit peels to the hot water and steep for 10-15 minutes. Strain and enjoy!

Notes:

• 1 tablespoon dragon fruit per 4-6 ounces of water to make the tea. Add more if you’d like a stronger taste.
• You can also add a green tea bag or herbal tea to give your dragon fruit tea more depth of flavor.
• Use any variation of dragon fruit you want. Each color of dragon fruit may produce a different color and taste to the tea.
• My favorite method is drying the dragon fruit peels to make the tea. It gives the tea a more vibrant color and tastes a bit better in my opinion.

How To Make Dragon Fruit Tea

Here we’ll learn together how to make dragon fruit tea three different ways! Let’s reap the amazing health benefits of dragon fruit while enjoying some delicious hot tea.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Steep Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Course Drinks

Servings 4

Equipment

• Tea Kettle

Ingredients

  

• 1 Dragon Fruit any variety

Instructions

 

Method #1: Fresh Dragon Fruit Tea

• Wash and chop your dragon fruit with the peel on. Boil water in a tea kettle then take the kettle off the heat. Add 2-4 tablespoons dragon fruit to the boiling water and steep for 10-15 minutes. Strain and enjoy!

Method #2: Fresh Dragon Fruit Peel Tea

• Wash your dragon fruit and scoop out the flesh (feel free to consume this part). Slice the dragon fruit peel. Boil water in a tea kettle then take the kettle off the heat. Add 2-4 tablespoons of dragon fruit peels to the boiling water and steep for 10-15 minutes. Strain and enjoy!

Method #3: Dried Dragon Fruit Peel Tea

• Wash your dragon fruit and scoop out the flesh (feel free to consume this part). Slice the dragon fruit peel. Dehydrate your dragon fruit peel slices for 10-12 hours at 130 F.
• The peels should be dry enough when they are crispy and break when bent.
• Boil water in a tea kettle then take the kettle off the heat. Add 1-2 tablespoons of dragon fruit peels to the hot water and steep for 10-15 minutes. Strain and enjoy!

Video

Notes

1 tablespoon dragon fruit per 4-6 ounces of water to make the tea. Add more if you’d like a stronger taste.
You can also add a green tea bag or herbal tea to give your dragon fruit tea more depth of flavor.
Use any variation of dragon fruit you want. Each color of dragon fruit may produce a different color and taste to the tea.
My favorite method is drying the dragon fruit peels to make the tea. It gives the tea a more vibrant color and tastes a bit better in my opinion.

Keyword Dragon Fruit, Healing Drinks, Healthy Drinks, Herbal, Herbs, Medicinal, Tea

What Else Can You Do With Dragon Fruit?

If you’re looking for other ways to use dragon fruit, here are a few ideas.

• Freeze the dragon fruit and make a dragon fruit smoothie
• Chop and sauté into a dragon fruit stir fry or fried rice
• Make dragon fruit salads along with other fresh fruit
• Blend into a yummy drink
• Try dragon fruit diced into salsa
• Freeze dragon fruit popsicles

For some of these recipe ideas plus many more, check out this page.

If you don’t want to just eat your dragon fruit, you can also use it for other goals like skincare or hair care! Read more about that here.

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