Soursop Milkshake (Champola de Guanábana)
A thick, pale, tropical milkshake made from ripe soursop blended with cold milk and sweetened condensed milk, with just enough lime to brighten the fruit's sweet-tart flavor. A beloved Cuban street and home drink, best drunk the moment it's blended.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Clean the soursop
Cut the soursop open and scoop out the white pulp, pulling it away from the tough skin. Pick through the pulp with your fingers and remove every black seed; they are hard, bitter and not meant to be eaten.
- 500 g soursop pulp
✅ Done when: the pulp is free of skin and seeds, broken into soft chunks
Blend and strain
Put the soursop pulp, lime juice and half the milk in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing with the back of a spoon to push the liquid through; discard the stringy fibers left behind. This step is what gives champola its silky texture instead of a stringy one.
- 500 g soursop pulp (from step 1)
- 250 ml whole milk
- juice of 1/2 lime
✅ Done when: the strained liquid is smooth and pourable, with no fibers or seed bits left
Blend with condensed milk
Return the strained soursop liquid to the blender. Add the rest of the milk, the condensed milk, vanilla and salt, and blend again until fully combined and frothy on top.
- 250 ml whole milk
- 1 can (397 g) condensed milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
✅ Done when: the mixture is pale, creamy and well mixed, with no streaks of condensed milk
Add the ice
Drop in the ice cubes and blend on high speed for 20–30 seconds until the champola is thick, cold and lightly frothy, like a milkshake.
- 6–8 ice cubes
✅ Done when: the ice is fully crushed and the drink is thick and frosty, with no ice chunks left
Serve right away
Pour the champola into tall glasses and serve immediately, while it is cold and foamy on top. It separates and loses its froth if it sits too long, so blend it close to serving time.
✅ Done when: poured and served while still cold and frothy
Clean the soursop
Cut the soursop open and scoop out the white pulp, pulling it away from the tough skin. Pick through the pulp with your fingers and remove every black seed; they are hard, bitter and not meant to be eaten.
- 500 g soursop pulp
✅ Done when: the pulp is free of skin and seeds, broken into soft chunks
Blend and strain
Put the soursop pulp, lime juice and half the milk in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing with the back of a spoon to push the liquid through; discard the stringy fibers left behind. This step is what gives champola its silky texture instead of a stringy one.
- 500 g soursop pulp (from step 1)
- 250 ml whole milk
- juice of 1/2 lime
✅ Done when: the strained liquid is smooth and pourable, with no fibers or seed bits left
Blend with condensed milk
Return the strained soursop liquid to the blender. Add the rest of the milk, the condensed milk, vanilla and salt, and blend again until fully combined and frothy on top.
- 250 ml whole milk
- 1 can (397 g) condensed milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
✅ Done when: the mixture is pale, creamy and well mixed, with no streaks of condensed milk
Add the ice
Drop in the ice cubes and blend on high speed for 20–30 seconds until the champola is thick, cold and lightly frothy, like a milkshake.
- 6–8 ice cubes
✅ Done when: the ice is fully crushed and the drink is thick and frosty, with no ice chunks left
Serve right away
Pour the champola into tall glasses and serve immediately, while it is cold and foamy on top. It separates and loses its froth if it sits too long, so blend it close to serving time.
✅ Done when: poured and served while still cold and frothy
The Story Behind the Dish
Soursop is native to the tropical Americas and has grown across the Caribbean for centuries. In Cuba, where the fruit is abundant, home cooks and street vendors turned it into champola, a thick fruit milkshake sweetened with condensed milk once that ingredient became common in Cuban kitchens.
It is sold from carts and small windows in Cuban towns and made at home whenever a ripe guanábana is at hand, since the fruit spoils quickly and is best used right away.
⭐ Why It's Famous
Its one-of-a-kind flavor, somewhere between pineapple, banana and citrus, makes it a favorite that nothing else quite replaces.
💡 Fun Fact
Soursop's shiny black seeds are mildly toxic if chewed or crushed, which is why Cuban cooks are careful to pick every one out before blending.
Cuba, Caribbean-wide
23.11°N, -82.37°W
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