Boost With Healthy Fats
Healthy plant-based fats enhance absorption of fat-soluble vitamins . They also add calories to a meal replacement smoothie without making it huge!
- Try adding 1/4-1/2 avocado for extra vitamin E and folate.
- Chia, flax, and hemp seeds add plentiful omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and fiber.
- Nuts and nut butters add protein, fat, and calories, turning single-serving smoothie into a calorie-sufficient meal that can work well with an intermittent fasting schedule.
- Young coconuts, with their high water content and soft flesh provides one of the richest souces of caclicum , as well as electrolytes and medium-chain fatty acids .
How To Make A Smoothie The Ultimate Guide
With so many types of blenders and smoothie recipes, it can be a little confusing trying to figure out the best way to make a smoothie.
- Is there a right way to make a smoothie at home ?
- What ingredients should I use and how much ?
- Does it matter which type of blender I use ?
Whether you are experienced or brand new to making smoothies our goal is to make this the most comprehensive guide on how to make healthy smoothies.
First we will cover the 5 simple steps for making any smoothie.
Then we will go into more details on using different blender types and answering common questions about smoothies and smoothie ingredients.
The main focus of this guide is about making healthy smoothies not dessert smoothies because we want to get healthy. Let’s Get Started !
Side Note – We assume you already have a blender since you are reading this article. If not, this page summarizes the top blenders for every budget and links to the best model/price for each blender line.
Can You Use Frozen Vegetables In Smoothies
I probably dont have to tell you how healthy vegetables are. Many studies have shown that regular consumption of veggies can have great effects on your health, since veggies carry nutrients that out bodies need to function. For some though, even when they know the nutritional value of vegetables, they have trouble hitting their daily intake. But what if I told you there may be a way to combine the delicious flavor of smoothies with the health benefits of vegetables? Is it even possible to work such magic?
Can you use frozen vegetables in smoothies? Yes, you can use frozen vegetables in smoothies. Adding vegetables to your smoothies can help you reach your daily intake of vegetables easier and add a great texture and consistency to the smoothie.
Not only can you make some downright tasty veggie smoothies, but there are some great combinations to try, along with more information on this question down below.
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Vegetable Smoothie Recipes That Youll Love
When you think of a smoothie, you might picture a delicious fruity drink. But smoothies do not need to be limited to just fruits.
Vegetables are packed with so many nutrients, a vegetable smoothie can be tasty and a simple way to make sure you get important nutrition in your diet. Making a veggie smoothie is a great way to squeeze another serving of vegetables into your day.
If you are not sure where to start when it comes to making a raw vegetable smoothie, then youre in the right place. Here are six smoothie recipes that you will love.
How To Make Vegetable Smoothies
How to / How To Make Vegetable SmoothiesWe love getting some leafy green goodness into our daily smoothies. But, there are also other veggies out there that add amazing nutritional benefits to smoothies. Weve had requests for adding more veggie smoothie recipes. So were here to help with some tips on how to make vegetable
How to / How To Make Vegetable Smoothies
We love getting some leafy green goodness into our daily smoothies. But, there are also other veggies out there that add amazing nutritional benefits to smoothies. Weve had requests for adding more veggie smoothie recipes. So were here to help with some tips on how to make vegetable smoothies that taste great and provide maximum health benefits to keep you feeling in tip-top shape.
We often add carrots, beets, pumpkin, sweet potato, and cucumber to our smoothies, but did you know you can add almost any veggie? Its true! And we know there are a few of us out there that would rather drink veggies than sit down to a plate of them. Or maybe you just want to add as many veggies into your day as you can, and smoothies are a great way to go.
It can be tempting to just start tossing a bunch of veggies into the blender and hope for the best. Weve saved you the trouble with a list of the best veggie and fruit combos for smoothies and how to add them in for the tastiest blends.
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How To Make A Smoothie With Nutribullet Personal Blender
Popular personal blenders such as Nutribullet, Nutri Ninja, Magic Bullet and others have really grown with the popularity of green smoothies in recent years.
The recipes you see for large blenders will usually be for making more than 1 serving. Whereas, the personal blender recipes you will find are portioned to make 1 serving .
NOTE: Nutribullet suggests putting the ingredients in the opposite order than what Vitamix does. For a Nutribullet you would have the hard ingredients closest to the blade and the leafy greens at the top to be blended last.
Example of how to make a green smoothie with a Nutribullet using Tall Cup
Add Greens: 1 cup of Spinach, kale, or similar leafy greenAdd Fruits : Mix any healthy fruits on top of the greens up to the cups fill line so you see about 50% green and 50% fruits.Add -¼ cup of Boost (Healthy Nuts, seeds, or superfood berries like Goji / Acai.Add water to fill line.
Enjoy Fruit And Vegetable Snacks
Snacks are a great way to add extra servings of fruits and vegetables to your diet. They can be eaten at any time during the day when you feel hungry. Keep a stash of fresh fruit and vegetables in the fridge for when you get a craving. This is a great way to make sure you always have something healthy to eat on hand. Keep some healthy fruit and vegetable snacks available, such as bananas or oranges, carrots, or celery sticks. Prepare a fruit bowl in the fridge as a healthy snack to munch on instead of chips when watching TV or eating snacks after a workout. In addition, use fruit and vegetable juices as healthy snacks to replace unhealthy processed drinks like soda or sports drinks.
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How Do You Freeze Fresh Vegetables For Smoothies
While there are a few ways to freeze fresh veggies, the first and foremost thing you absolutely must do is to wash them thoroughly. If you do not wash your vegetables properly, then you can get sick. Since you arent using them for cooking, there isnt that sanitizing heat to kill all the germs that may be on the vegetables.
After washing them thoroughly in hot water, large vegetables such as celery, zucchini, and cauliflower, should be cut up for ease of storage. Smaller vegetables such as spinach can be frozen right away unless of course, you want to cut them up, thats up to you. The smaller they are, the faster and better theyre going to be blended up later.
I highly recommend blanching veggies before freezing, even after washing. Its another step, but it will ensure every germ is dead.
One way to freeze veggies is to store the prepared vegetables in air-tight freezer containers or bags and stick them in the freezer. Sometimes they can stick together, so you might want to separate them into single serving sizes before freezing.
Another way is to stick them into ice trays to freeze. After they are fully frozen, they should be stored in an airtight freezer-safe container. Leaving them in the ice trays isnt recommended, as they may become contaminated by other things that are in the freezer.
What Is A Fruit Smoothie
A fruit smoothie is a drink made from blended fruits with a liquid base of fruit juice, yogurt, milk, ice cream, or other dairy product. Once you blend all your fruity ingredients into a smooth mixture, you have your perfect smoothie.
You can use various fruits to make a fruit smoothie, including bananas, oranges, apples, kiwis, peaches, and more. First, we’ll look at some fruit smoothie recipes that you can try. However, before we dive in, let’s look at the steps to make a basic smoothie.
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Make Smoothies Ahead For The Perfect Fast Food
We know life can get crazy busy especially in the morning. Thats why we think green smoothies are the healthiest fast food for people who are constantly on the go.
You can blend your green smoothie the night before and store it in your fridge . Use an airtight lid to limit oxidation and keep it as fresh as possible. When ready to drink, give it a good shake before you open.
If you follow these five green smoothie tips, we pinky promise your green smoothies will be love at first sip! Now, heres a favorite recipe we make for friends and family whove never tried a green smoothie before
How To Use The Blender For Smoothies
How to Make Smoothie with a Countertop Blender
A typical countertop blender like a Vitamix has the blade on the bottom and you add ingredients from the top. You should reference the specific instructions for your blender but below are the common steps to follow.
The best way to make a well-blended smoothie with a countertop blender is :
Step 1 : Add the liquid and soft ingredients like greens or soft fruits like bananas or oranges.
Step 2: Then add hard vegetables and frozen fruits on top.
Step 3: Have hard ingredients like nuts or ice on top. Some people will add their superfood or protein powders once the other ingredients are purified.
You want to have the softest ingredients towards blade. You should start the blender slow and move slowly to high speed to purify the ingredients.
You want to see the liquid create a vortex and the time to blend will depend on your blender strength and ingredients.
With a high powered blender like a Vitamix it usually takes 30-45seconds to purify the ingredients.
Example of how to make a green smoothie with a Vitamix
Add 1 cup of liquid: Choose 1 liquid Add 1 Green : 2 cups spinach / 1 cup kale / ½ head romaine lettuceAdd Fruit/Hard Vegetable :1 apple1 cup peeled mango
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How To Make The Perfect Smoothie With The Consistency You Want
The smoothie thats right isnt necessarily the one thats perfect for your brother. Or your friend. Or the person across the street. Learning how to make the perfect smoothie with frozen fruit, or with any other ingredient, means making the smoothie that you think is perfect.
Still, there are some steps you need to follow no matter how you want your creation to turn out.
Version : How To Get 10 Servings Of Fruits And Vegetables In One Green Smoothie
Its a challenge to get five or more servings of fruit and vegetables each day. I always struggled with it.
Its not exactly fun to eat carrot sticks, celery, and spinach.
Plus, eating a salad is time consuming when you have little time to sit and eat.
Ingredients:
- 1 apple with skin, cored
- 1 orange, peeled
- 1 cup frozen, wild blueberries
- 1 small plum tomato
- 4 cups or handfuls of fresh baby spinach
- 1/4 avocado
- 1 scoop protein powder or your favorite superfoods
Serving Size: You can either drink this as one big meal, or share with a partner. You can also split this smoothie into breakfast and lunch portions if you are doing a green smoothie cleanse.
Nutrition Information
For this smoothie, Ive included the full nutrition information for this recipe. The source of data is from the USDA database.
As you can see, this smoothie gives you an excellent start to meeting your full nutrition needs. Combined with healthy, whole foods throughout the day, you are ensuring that your body is getting what it needs from fresh, whole foods rather than relying on synthetic vitamin pills.
Calories: 433
Omega-3 Fatty Acids: 163%Omega-6 Fatty Acids: 10%
* Without protein powder, this smoothie has 9 grams. If you do add protein powder, check the label for additional calories and protein amount. One serving of NutriBiotic rice protein brings this smoothie up to 21 grams!
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Ditch The Ice And Freeze Some Fruits
Want your green smoothie to be extra chilly? Freeze your favorite fruits like ripe bananas , grapes, pineapple or berries. This is also a great way to not waste ripe fruits . You can also freeze your leafy greens in a freezer-safe bag. Just make sure to add your frozen greens straight to the blender .
Best Vegetables For Smoothies
Published: by Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN //
This post highlights the best vegetables for smoothies and recipes that use them! Youll learn about the best greens for smoothies and the best veggies to blend. Use my tips to get your daily vegetables in a smoothie that actually tastes good.
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, see my affiliate disclosure.
When my readers ask about easy ways to increase their veggie intake, I almost always mention smoothies! Drinking vegetables is more palatable than eating veggies for some people. Plus, you can put a LOT of produce in a single smoothie.
Even better, whipping up a smoothie requires minimal prep time. But making a vegetable smoothie that actually tastes good does require some thought. Thats why I put together this post on the best vegetables for smoothies. Spoiler alert: leafy greens arent the only veggies you can blend.
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Why Add Veggies To Smoothies
- Its an easy way to get in an extra serving of veggies for your daily intake
- Adding more veggies means adding less fruit-keeping your smoothie low in sugar
- Veggies are densely nutritious and great to consume for overall health
I encourage everyone to set a goal for 2018 to try and add some more veggies to your diet!
Now lets move on to the other ingredients in these smoothies.
I always like to add some sort of superfood to my smoothies to make them as nutritious as possible.
The Secret To A Perfect Superfood Smoothie Is:
- A serving of veggies
- A serving of some type of fruit
- 1-2 servings of extra add-ins
- liquid
Tips & suggestions:
- Keep bananas, berries, and some veggies in your freezer to have on hand for smoothies all the time!
- If using fresh fruit, you may want to reduce the liquid content or add ice for a thicker texture
- Add-in any of your favorite superfoods to any of these smoothies!
- If you love these 3 veggie-packed smoothies for beginners youll also love my favorite green smoothie recipe!
If you tried these 3 Veggie-Packed Smoothies for Beginners or any other recipe on the blog let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment/rating below! Be sure to follow along on , and for even more deliciousness!
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Choose A Good Blender
Believe it or not, you can actually make a smoothie without a blender. However, it limits the ingredients you can use to only a few soft ones. And, to make it work well, you have to start with a store-bought smoothie mix.
For a really creative smoothie, a blender is a necessity. A good one, if you plan to use ice. If theres ice, even a top-notch food processor might work better than a so-so blender.
Include A Variety Of Fruits And Vegetables
It is important to include a variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet. This will help you get the most benefit from their nutritional content. Choose different types of fruits and vegetables each week to ensure that you are getting the most vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants possible. Try new fruits and vegetables that you havent tried before. There are so many different types of fruits and vegetables out there, youre bound to find some that you love.
In conclusion, increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables isnt difficult, but it does require some effort on your part. Try some of the methods mentioned in this article to make sure youre getting the nutrients your body needs. Not only will you feel better overall, but youll also look great!
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How To Make Green Smoothies Taste Good
The secret to ultra-smooth green smoothies is in blending the liquids and greens together first, then adding in the rest of your ingredients. This step prevents having chunky bits of spinach or kale floating around your smoothie!
Then well need a creamy base. I usually use chopped and frozen bananas. Pro tip: Cut your bananas into 7 pieces then freeze, that way when you need to pull the bananas out of the freezer for the smoothie, youll know exactly how many pieces equals one banana! If youre not a fan of bananas, plain yogurt works well too!
Next we have fruity flavors. You can use virtually any fruit youd like here, but today were going with kiwi and pear.
Finally, we have the optionals. You can throw in optional superfoods, like chia or flax seeds. You can also add optional flavor enhancers, like cinnamon, vanilla extract, or cocoa powder!