Dragon Fruit substitute

Best substitute

Frozen strawberries plus a few blueberries or raspberries (for smoothies and bowls)

1 cup frozen strawberries plus 2 tablespoons blueberries replaces 1 cup red dragon fruit

Best for smoothie bowls

Different taste

The best answer for a smoothie bowl, because it delivers the thick frozen body and a deep pink-magenta colour, which is what red pitaya is actually doing in those recipes.

Other dragon fruit substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Diced kiwi, pear or honeydew melon (for fruit salads and the flesh itself)
Close match
Use the same amount by volume
The closest match to what white dragon fruit actually tastes and feels like in the mouth: mild, watery-sweet and lightly crisp.
What changes
Kiwi even brings small edible seeds.
Best for
fruit salad, fruit platters, yogurt bowls, salsas, garnishes, agua frescas
Kiwi is much more acidic, so a salad built on it tastes zippier where dragon fruit is gentle; pear and honeydew are closer on flavour but bring no seed crunch. None of them look anything like dragon fruit, so if the recipe was chosen for looks this is not your swap.
3Freeze-dried strawberry or raspberry powder (for pink pitaya powder)
Different taste
Use the same amount by volume
The direct replacement in any recipe calling for pitaya powder, which is used almost exclusively to colour smoothies, lattes, frosting and doughs pink.
What changes
Best for
pink lattes, frosting and icing, smoothie bowls, macarons, yogurt, protein shakes
Berry powders are tarter and sweeter and taste unmistakably of berry, whereas pitaya powder is nearly flavourless, so this changes a pink latte from mild to fruity. It also colours slightly warmer and more coral than pitaya's cool magenta.
4A small amount of beetroot juice or beet powder (for colour only)
Different taste
Use 1 to 2 teaspoons juice, or ¼ teaspoon powder, for every serving
The most efficient way to get pitaya's colour into something without altering its flavour much, because a tiny quantity goes a very long way.
What changes
Best for
smoothies, icing and glazes, drinks, lemonade, doughs and batters
Add it a little at a time and taste, because past a certain point beetroot tastes earthy and slightly of soil, which is a distinctive way to ruin a smoothie. It also fades to brown when heated and shifts colour in alkaline batters.
5Frozen pitaya or dragon fruit puree packs
Different texture
One 3.5 oz pack is roughly equivalent to ½ cup fresh flesh
Worth mentioning first if you can get it, since frozen unsweetened pitaya packs are stocked in the freezer aisle year-round while good fresh fruit is expensive and often underripe.
What changes
Best for
smoothie bowls, smoothies, sorbet, popsicles, drinks
Frozen packs are usually red-fleshed and puree smoothly, so you actually get better colour than from a supermarket white-fleshed fruit, but you lose the seed crunch and the neat cubes. Check whether the pack is sweetened before adding any sugar.
6Watermelon, cubed (for refreshment and mild sweetness)
Different texture
Use the same amount by volume
A good option in agua frescas, coolers and summer fruit plates where dragon fruit was chosen simply for being mild, wet and refreshing.
What changes
Best for
agua frescas, fruit coolers, fruit salad, sorbet, salsas
Sweeter, far juicier and completely soft, so it waters down a salad and cannot be cut into the neat cubes that make dragon fruit look good on a plate. In a blended drink it is genuinely close and much cheaper.

What is Dragon Fruit?

Dragon Fruit is Dragon fruit, also called pitaya or pitahaya, is the fruit of a climbing cactus, with leathery pink scaled skin and flesh that is either white or vivid magenta, studded with tiny crunchy black seeds, and a flavour so mild it sits somewhere between a pear and a melon.

Cooking tips

The most useful thing to know is that white-fleshed and red-fleshed dragon fruit are not interchangeable for appearance. White pitaya is very pale and almost translucent when blended, and it will give you a beige-grey smoothie no matter what the recipe photo shows. Every dramatic pink pitaya bowl on the internet uses the red or magenta-fleshed variety.
Red dragon fruit stains everything, including hands, chopping boards, plastic and grout. It is the same betalain pigment family as beetroot. Work on a board you do not mind, and do not be alarmed if it colours things a day later.
Supermarket dragon fruit is very often picked underripe, which is the main reason people find it flavourless and disappointing. Ripe fruit gives slightly when pressed, like a ripe avocado, and the little leafy scales on the skin start to dry and brown at the tips. A rock-hard fruit with bright green tips will not improve much on the counter.
Because the flavour is so faint, dragon fruit almost always needs help. A squeeze of lime, a pinch of salt, or a drizzle of honey transforms it from bland to refreshing, and this is true whether you use the real fruit or any of the substitutes above.
The tiny black seeds are edible, are meant to be eaten, and provide the only textural interest the fruit has, a bit like a kiwi. Do not try to strain them out of a puree, since without them a dragon fruit smoothie is texturally featureless.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave the dragon fruit out?

In most recipes, yes, more easily than almost any other fruit, because it contributes very little flavour and no structure. A fruit salad or a smoothie will taste essentially the same. The exception is anything where the pink colour is the point, such as a pitaya bowl or a pink drink, in which case you need a colour source: berries, beetroot or freeze-dried berry powder.

Why does my dragon fruit taste like nothing?

Either it is a white-fleshed variety, which is genuinely very mild even at peak ripeness, or it was picked underripe, which is extremely common in supermarkets. Red-fleshed pitaya has more flavour and more sweetness. In both cases a squeeze of lime and a pinch of salt makes a large difference.

Is pitaya the same as dragon fruit?

Yes, pitaya and pitahaya are simply the Spanish-derived names for the same cactus fruit, and the words are used interchangeably in recipes and on frozen packs. If you see pitaya powder, that is dried red dragon fruit sold as a natural pink colouring.

What can I use instead of pink pitaya powder?

Freeze-dried raspberry or strawberry powder at 1:1 by volume is the practical answer, or a small pinch of beetroot powder if you want the colour with almost no flavour change. Both colour a latte, frosting or smoothie convincingly pink, though berry powders add real tartness that pitaya powder does not have.

Can I substitute dragon fruit for acai in a bowl?

Only for the look, and even then it goes the wrong way. Acai is dark purple, faintly bitter and chocolatey, while dragon fruit is bright magenta and sweet-mild, so the two make visually and texturally different bowls. They are both thick frozen purees, so the mechanics work, but nobody would mistake one for the other.

Related substitutes

More fruits substitutes

Dragon Fruit substitute

Other dragon fruit substitutes

2Diced kiwi, pear or honeydew melon (for fruit salads and the flesh itself)

3Freeze-dried strawberry or raspberry powder (for pink pitaya powder)

4A small amount of beetroot juice or beet powder (for colour only)

5Frozen pitaya or dragon fruit puree packs

6Watermelon, cubed (for refreshment and mild sweetness)