Easy, healthy frozen fruit bars made with a whole fruits, 100% juice Kiwi Strawberry Mango Smoothie recipe. A no sugar added easy popsicle recipe that can double as a refreshing smoothie recipe.

Popsicle recipes are a great way to cool off when the summer heat hits. For over a month now I’ve been in full popsicle mode developing new, refreshing, delicious popsicle recipes for you to enjoy. My kids have thoroughly enjoyed every popsicle! From popsicles like these delicious Chocolate Covered Strawberry Popsicles and Chocolate Covered Banana Popsicles to Strawberry Lemonade Otter Pops (I’ll be sharing the recipe very soon).

We love homemade popsicles! We love them so much that if I let me littles have them whenever they wanted they’d live off them. No, seriously! I don’t like to be the bad guy by crushing their frozen popsicles dreams and telling them they can only have one. As a mom, homemade popsicles = healthy popsicles. My kids love them and I have peace of mind that these popsicles are filled with all natural yumminess!

HOMEMADE POPSICLES CAN BE HEALTHY AND DELICIOUS!

That is one of the main reasons why I, as a mom, love homemade popsicles vs the sugar-filled store bought ones. These Kiwi Strawberry Mango Smoothie Popsicles are filled with whole fruit and 100% juice. No sugar added. No high fructose corn syrup. Just plain and simple sweetness directly from the fruit itself.

HOW DO I MAKE HEALTHY POPSICLES WITHOUT ADDING EXTRA SUGAR?

• Use fruits that are NATURALLY sweet. –This can include whole fruits such as bananas, apples, berries, mango, pineapple. Avoid fruit like lemon, lime, plums, and unripened fruit.
• Choose fruits at peak ripeness. –There are a lot of fruits that sweeten as they ripen. Choosing fruits when they are in their prime will add natural sweetness without adding artificial sugars. This will make for a sweeter popsicle than if the fruit were not at peak ripeness. This is especially true if using fruits like mango, most berries, peaches, etc. This point is helpful if you are freezing your own fruit for this or another popsicle recipe. Most whole frozen fruits have been picked and frozen at their peak and should make delicious, naturally sweet popsicles.
• Use 100% fruit juice such as Apple, Kiwi Strawberry Apple.

SMOOTHIE VS POPSICLES VS OTTER POPS

This recipe can be made into several different refreshing Kiwi Strawberry Mango Smoothie treats. Here are a few options we’ve tried while developing this recipe. Each method uses the same recipe but depending on your personal preference can be delivered differently.

Kiwi Strawberry Mango Smoothie–a smooth frozen fruit summer drink that is quick and easy to make. Ready to enjoy in 5 minutes or less. Cannot be made ahead or it will begin to melt.

Kiwi Strawberry Mango Smoothie POPSICLES–same great flavors frozen solid in a popsicle mold typically using popsicle sticks. This method produces professional looking 100% fruit popsicles. Wide-mouthed popsicle molds are easier to fill than smaller otter pop bags. Can only produce as many popsicles as you have molds (typically 6-10 depending on your molds). Popsicles have to be completely frozen before enjoying. Freezing typically takes 3-4 hours.

Kiwi Strawberry Mango Smoothie OTTER POPS–again, same great flavors frozen solid in OTTER POP BAGS.

The biggest advantage to otter pops for me is that I can produce way more otter pops at once than I can with molded popsicles. Otter pops take less space in the freezer than popsicle molds do. Not being constricted to 6-10 molds but rather the amount of otter pop baggies I have on hand is a huge benefit.

Depending on how many otter pops and how spread out they are in the freeze will determine the rate at which they freeze. If there are 20 otter pops stacked in a pile, it might take them overnight to freeze but if they’re spread out in a single layer it might only take a couple of hours.

A disadvantage to otter pops is that they take a little longer to fill because the opening of the bags is smaller. I find convenience in using a small funnel when filling the bags.

WHERE DO I BUY OTTER POP BAGS?

Amazon rocks! check out the links below if you want to order your own.

I use these otter pop bags–> here. They hold about 4 oz each. They are a little longer and skinnier which makes them much easier to cut in half to share.

If you want a smaller otter pop, these otter pop bags –> here hold about 3 oz each. They’re a little wider and shorter.

HOW MUCH DOES THIS STRAWBERRY MANGO SMOOTHIE COST?

This smoothie recipe made into popsicles is delicious and inexpensive to make. Here’s my break down.

• 100% Kiwi Strawberry Apple Juice (bought the concentrate and mixed it up at home) – $0.75
• Frozen Mango Chunks – $1.07
• Frozen Strawberries – $0.58
• Fresh kiwi (optional) – $0.66

The total cost of this recipe was just over $3. That’s a 30-35oz Strawberry Mango Smoothie or 10 popsicles for $3! That comes out to about 30¢ per 100% whole fruit popsicle. That’s a killer deal!

If all popsicles were made equal (unfortunately they’re NOT–thank goodness these no-sugar-added Strawberry Mango Smoothie Popsicles are so much better) I would let my kiddos have them for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack! With these yummy frozen fruit bars being 100% fruit I can at least let them have a popsicle as their fruit portion of the meals, right? 😉

DO YOU LIKE POPSICLES AND FROZEN TREATS?

You may also like these other summer recipe:

• HOMEMADE OREO MINT ICE CREAM – creamy, loaded with Oreos and soooo good.
• EASY HONEY LEMONADE – only 3 ingredients!
• HEALTHY FROZEN YOGURT BARK – perfect for a snack, breakfast or dessert
• BERRY BANANA BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE – easy antioxidant and protein-packed smoothie

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you love is refreshing frozen fruit bars as much as we do.

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