Sugar Free Smoothies At Tropical Smoothie Cafe

Disclaimer: I am NOT sponsored by Tropical Smoothie Cafe. I just like fun beverages.

Before anyone comes for me let me just clarify the title of this post. Being that smoothies have fruit, there isn’t going to be a “sugar free” smoothie.

That being said, I am going to show you how to customize any smoothie from Tropical Smoothie Cafe so that your drink doesn’t have over 50g of sugar and your blood sugar isn’t going through the roof.

Do Tropical Smoothie Cafe Smoothies Have Sugar?

Yes, Tropical Smoothie Cafe smoothies have sugar.

There is definitely a health halo around smoothies. A lot of people think that smoothies are good for you and therefore do not contain sugar. Yet, this could not be further from the truth.

Does Tropical Smoothie Cafe Add Extra Sugar To Their Smoothies?

Yes, Tropical Smoothie Cafe does add extra sugar to their smoothies. This is in the form of a turbinado sugar.

The sugar serves two purposes: to make your drink sweeter (and taste better) and it helps blend everything together for a smoother product.

How Many Grams Of Sugar Is In The Turbinado At Tropical Smoothie Cafe?

One scoop of turbinado sugar at Tropical Smoothie Cafe contains 54g of sugar.

With the exception of some smoothies, most smoothies use one scoop of turbinado sugar.

Are Tropical Smoothie Cafe Smoothies Healthy?

This question is kind of tricky to answer, especially because I do not like to demonize any particular food. I also think that we eat for reasons outside of health. Sometimes, our food choices are guided by taste alone.

I do think there are health benefits in the smoothies that Tropical Smoothie Cafe offers, such as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

For example, the Peanut Butter Paradise smoothie has protein powder for satiety, peanut butter for fats, and banana for sweetness and carbs!

What’s The Healthiest Smoothie At Tropical Smoothie Cafe?

The Detox Island Green smoothie has the lowest calories and sugar content. If you are trying to order right off the menu without customizations, I would suggest opting for the Detox Island Green Smoothie.

What Is The Sugar Substitute At Tropical Smoothie Cafe?

The sugar substitute at Tropical Smoothie Cafe is Splenda. You can add Splenda to any smoothie in place of the turbinado sugar.

Which Is Healthier, Smoothie King Or Tropical Smoothie Cafe?

Both Smoothie King and Tropical Smoothie Cafe use frozen fruit that has been thawed out for their smoothies. Depending on which smoothie you get, I would argue that they are comparable in terms of nutrition and cost.

However, I personally like the taste of Tropical Smoothie Cafe more. I think the smoothies have a better mouthfeel and I like the styrofoam cups.

What Smoothies Can Not Be Made Sugar Free At Tropical Smoothie Cafe?

You can customize every smoothie on Tropical Smoothie Cafe’s menu to be lower sugar. But there are some smoothies that will inherently taste different than their full sugar counterparts.

For example, a Pomegranate Plunge contains banana, strawberries, pomegranate juice from concentrate, and cranberry juice from concentrate. You can replace the pomegranate and cranberry juice with fruit of your choice, but it probably won’t taste like “pomegranate plunge” anymore.

How To Make Smoothies At Tropical Smoothie Cafe Sugar Free

The following pictures will be screenshots that I took from the Tropical Smoothie Cafe mobile app. I highly recommend downloading the app and exploring the menu ahead of time.

Step 1: Avoid The Turbinado Sugar

Once you click on a smoothie to order, you’re going to scroll down to the section that says “customize your sweetness”. From there, you can choose one of three options:

• Sub Splenda
• Half Turbinado
• No Turbinado

I am not the biggest Splenda fan and I find that the smoothie is sweet enough with just the fruit, so I usually just click “no turbinado”. However, it is completely up to your preference.

Note that if you do not customize your sweetness, the smoothie will just come with the standard amount of turbinado.

Step 2: Replace Juice And Juice Concentrates With Fruit

This one is definitely the trickiest step because there are a lot of juice concentrates that just sound like fruit.

According to their nutrition facts brochure (linked here), the following fruit are from concentrate:

• Coconut
• Cranberry
• Lime
• Kiwi
• Pomegranate
• Orange Juice

So, if you see any of those in your smoothie, I would recommend replacing them with frozen fruit.

Unfortunately, Tropical Smoothie Cafe was unable to tell me any information about the exact sugar content in their concentrates.

Step 3: Add Protein (not required by highly recommended)

I always recommend adding protein when possible to avoid blood sugar spikes.

If you are on the go and don’t see yourself eating for a while, I would add protein powder. Tropical Smoothie Cafe offers two types of protein powder: whey protein and pea protein powder (vegan).

You can also add nonfat yogurt as well if you don’t want to add protein powder.

But, if you are drinking your smoothie with a meal, you can save yourself the extra charge.

Step 4: Request The Smoothie To Be Double Blended

Without the turbinado sugar, you may find your smoothie to be slightly icier than you’d like it. Thus, I recommend requesting your smoothie to be double blended. That way, you can avoid those big ice chunks.

At the moment, Tropical Smoothie Cafe doesn’t have this option on their app. What I do is either place the order on the app and call the store, or just order everything in person.

Example Order

Let’s say you’re looking to order an Acai Berry Boost with less sugar.

First, you’ll want to remove the turbinado.

Then, replace the pomegranate juice with frozen fruit. I would recommend additional blueberries or strawberries.

Next, add protein powder or nonfat yogurt for protein. Completely optional.

Finally, request your smoothie double blended to ensure ultimate smoothness.

And there you go! Your smoothie has now went from 101g of sugar to less than 47g. I say “less than 47g” because the nutrition brochure doesn’t give you the exact amount of sugar

Conclusion

Tropical Smoothie Cafe’s menu can be very confusing, especially when you are trying to lower your sugar intake and still enjoy what the chain has to offer.

I hope that this post on sugar free smoothies at Tropical Smoothie Cafe gives you the confidence to go in and order something yummy!

Further Research

I have written articles about sugar free beverage options at places like Dutch Bros, Starbucks, Dunkin and Sonic. You can check them out in my “nutrition” section of the blog, linked here.