They’re Great For Breakfast Or An Afternoon Pick
The Spruce
Smoothies are a convenient and colorful way to start your day, but some recipes can be filled with added sugar and fat. For a healthy meal or snack, stick to the basics: fruit and veggies.
Every successful smoothie contains two main ingredients: fruit and/or vegetables and a liquid, such as fruit juice, vegetable juice, or milk. Other possible ingredients include yogurt, nut butter, seeds, spices, herbs, and more. Many smoothies also include a few ice cubes to keep the mixture nice and cold. Often, recipes can be tweaked to meet different dietary requirements or tastesfeel free to swap out dairy products for non-dairy ones or change up the spices and juices.
All of these smoothies recipes are loaded with good-for-you vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, and protein. They’re made with only natural ingredients and range in flavors from mango to chocolate to veggie. You’re sure to find a breakfast smoothie for every day of the week.
How To Make A Smoothie In A Blender
Smoothie aficionados will tell you a blender is the way to go for smoothie making. A good quality blender is going to break up your ice, pulverize your fruit, and yield a not-too-thick, not-too-thin smoothie consistency. Plus, a blender is an incredibly useful multipurpose kitchen tool to own for way more than just smoothies.
A great blender is the one thing I think every healthy kitchen needs, says Alder. You can make amazing soups, desserts, smoothies, sauces, and more in it. And clean-up is effortless.
Best Protein Shake And Smoothie Recipes
Get lean and strong with the ultimate list of protein shakes and protein smoothie recipes. These protein shake recipes take your protein powder to the next level with the addition of healthy, delicious ingredients to help you reach your fitness goals!
High-Protein Foods | Low-Calorie Foods | Low-Carb Foods | Healthy Snacks | Protein Shake Recipes | Protein Pancake Recipes
Dive into these homemade protein shake recipes that taste like dessert but fuel your muscles and your recovery. With flavors covering everything from luxurious chocolate to tangy orange cream to tropical coconut, these protein drinks help you feel good, work hard, and hit your fitness goals.
Learn how to make a protein shake the most decadent part of your day! With nutritious boosters that add antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, these healthy shakes are great for breakfast, snacks, and pre- or post-workout.
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How To Make A Smoothie Creamier:
- Avocado is ideal for adding creaminess to smoothies. Its mild flavor disguises its nutritional wallop. After removing its skin and pit, you can add a whole avocado to your smoothie, or save some for the next day. As an alternative, add ice cream, frozenyogurt, or vanilla yogurt for more creaminess. Work your machine back up to its highest speed, and process for 10-20 seconds.
- Tip: Smoothies need a good blend of liquid and solid ingredients to achieve just the right texture.
How To Make A Smoothie With Frozen Fruit
As we mentioned, making a smoothie with frozen fruit is a great way to go. Its an especially good move at the times of year when your favorite fruits arent in season.
And since you want your smoothie to be cold and frosty, theres no fuss here. Just throw your favorite frozen fruits into your smoothie and blend. You might even find that you need little or no ice because youre getting the coldness and iciness from your frozen fruit.
Bananas, mangos and blueberries always come out best frozen! says Adler. Strawberries and raspberries tend to be more bitter and have more seeds. So for those, you might want to go fresh.
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Smoothie Bowl Toppings 101
Youve made a smoothie bowl! Now, the question is what do you put in a smoothie bowl? Its pretty much up to you! What sounds good? Most of us want to keep things on the healthy side, so you might not want to top your smoothie with, say, M& Ms, although you totally could! What were trying to say it, truly, the sky is the limit when it comes to what you could put on your smoothie bowl. Weve got some great topping ideas to get you started:
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Chia seeds
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And our very favorite?! Melted coconut oil. It becomes gloriously magic shell-like!
Do You Have To Add Ice
No, ice cubes are not necessary to make a smoothie, as long as youre using frozen fruits. Replace 1:1 ice cubes to frozen fruit is recommended. The ice will create a smooth, thick, chilly texture, or frothy if only a small amount is used. I like to add both ice cubes and frozen fruit together to create the perfect consistency.
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More Info On Each Easy Smoothie Recipe:
Strawberry Banana Smoothie: This is a pretty, light pink, sweet, and creamy cold drink thats perfect all year long. Its forever one of my classic favorites, and I make sure to stock up on strawberries when theyre in season so I can freeze them for year-round enjoyment. My kids ask for this one all the time, so you can say its a household requirement around here!
Simple Tropical Smoothie: This has a sweet flavor and reminds you of summer, no matter what month it is. My sunshiny Henry loves this one its summer in a glass. The color is a lovely cream-orange, and its always a hit at our house. Costco sells frozen mango and pineapple cubed and ready to go for a great price.
Very Berry Simply Smoothie: This is made with mixed frozen berries that you can get in the freezer section, including blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. I mean, who doesnt love berries?! It almost tastes like ice cream, and it hits the spot any time of day. I make it on movie nights and call it a milkshake. Meanwhile, my kids have no idea it doesnt actually include ice cream!
Peanut Butter Simple Smoothie: This one is a whole big glass of peanut buttery goodness that tastes like dessert but is packed with protein. I cant get over it. Its probably one of my very favorites because I love, love, love peanut butter.
Fresh Fruit & Veggies
Of course, you can skip the frozen produce and make a smoothie with that amazing fresh fruit you just picked up at the farmers market. Youll just need to add plenty of ice if you like it chilly, and stick with soft, ripe fruits.
For best results, dont use tougher skinned fruit, like pears and apples unless youre using a powerful blender, suggests Adler.
Some of her favorite fresh ingredients for smoothie are include fresh spinach and ripe avocado. Spinach is detoxifying and vitamin packed, but with an actually sweet taste and no bitternessthis is ideal for those that are nervous about anything green in their smoothies.
And ¼ to ½ of an avocado can turn any smoothie into a decadent meal you can eat with a spoon. The healthy fats found in an avocado will help you stay full for hours.
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Why You Should Make This Banana Smoothie
Ive made a version of this easy banana smoothie recipe more times than I can count. Its perfect on its own and is the best base recipe for adding more ingredients like fruit, nut butter, and veggies.
Here are a few more reasons we love it:
- You need less than 5 minutes to make it.
- You can use fresh or frozen bananas.
- Its easy to adapt to what you have in the kitchen.
- This smoothie is perfect for breakfast or a snack.
- Kids love it!
- You can even make the smoothie ahead of time, freeze it, and save it for later.
Are You Looking For Even More Smoothies No Worries Weve Got You Covered:
- Clementine Avocado Smoothie. If youve never added avocado to your smoothie before, you are missing out! The flavor is so mild, that you cant taste it, but the texture is dreamy, creamy smooth, and the healthy added fats help keep your fuller longer.
- Cold Buster Smoothie. When youre feeling under the weather and your throat is sore, this smoothie for colds is soothing and nourishing.
- Coffee Smoothie. Get a jolt of caffeine and your breakfast all in one cup! This is packed full of coffee flavor.
- Persimmon Smoothie. Packed full of autumnal flavor, this spiced smoothie is creamy and sweet!
- Spinach and Pear Smoothie. Bright green and fresh in flavor, this smoothie is a perfect light breakfast.
- Sweet Potato Smoothie. Sweet potato in a smoothie? YUP! It tastes like a delicious pie. Youll love it!
- Apple Smoothie. This smoothie is packed full of healthy spinach, but tastes like apple pie!
- Pumpkin Pie Smoothie. This pumpkin smoothie is perfect for the weather is still warm but your heart wants fall to show up.
- Dark Chocolate Raspberry Smoothie. This smoothie is rich and dark, and it tastes decadent enough you could sip on it for dessert!
- Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothie. All the flavors of your favorite sandwich in a tasty smoothie! Pick your favorite jelly to add to this peanut butter smoothie.
- Tart Cherry and Spinach Smoothies. We show serving this cherry smoothie as a light breakfast in a bowl, but you could easily pour it in a glass and sip away!
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Ways To Thicken A Smoothie
Frozen fruit or ice is the first way to thicken smoothies. However yogurt, bananas, coconut milk , avocado, tofu, and nut butter can assist in creating a creamy consistency. If using tofu, start off with ¼ to ½ cup cubes of silken tofu. For avocado, use ½ of the fruit first so the taste doesnt become too rich.
What Are Some Great Smoothie Recipes
Alright, now that youre fully versed on how to make a great smoothie, let me share with you some of our absolute favorite combos! Click on any image to jump over to that specific smoothie recipe.
Classic Simple Smoothies
These smoothies are a great place to start. No weird ingredients that you have to special order, just fresh, real food that you can find at any typical supermarket.
Wild Blueberry Lemon No Banana Smoothie
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Tips And Tricks For Making Smoothies No Recipes Required
This is a guide to help you whiz up the most delicious possible smoothies in your blender, even without using recipes. We’ll talk favorite ingredients, all-important smoothie texture, add-ins for protein and sweetness, and tips for getting the most out of your equipment. We’ll discuss regular fruit-based and other sweet smoothies as well as savory smoothies, and we’ll answer lots of questions about how to make those ubiquitous, sometimes hazardous-looking green smoothies work for you.
S To Make A Perfect Fruit Smoothie
No matter what kind of fruit smoothie recipe you are making, you can follow these steps.
Now that you have a great idea of making any fruit smoothie let’s look at how to make some of the most popular fruit smoothies.
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How Long Do Frozen Fruit Smoothies Last
Frozen fruit smoothies, and all smoothies in general, will last up to two days in the refrigerator.
Its best to keep them in airtight containers. Mason jars, for example, can help to prevent the fruits from oxidizing.
Keeping your smoothie in the freezer will guarantee a longer storage period. You can pour it into a freezer-safe jar and leave it to defrost an hour before drinking it.
Or you can keep them in popsicle molds. It creates a more fun and convenient experience.
Alternatively, you can store the frozen ingredients separately instead. You wont have to wait hours before defrosting to get your smoothie ready.
Plus, it may result in a fresher frozen fruit smoothie.
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How To Build The Perfect Smoothie
Can you believe April is here? My year runs alongside the school calendar, so I particularly cant believe the school year is almost over! April brings the start of some warmer weather, and of course, April vacation which after that the school year simply flies by. The next few months are exceptionally exciting for me, and I cant wait to soon share all of the excitement that is going on with you guys, my internet family!
But lets get to this weeks Healthy Food Friday with American Express. This month we are focusing on smarter money and budget-friendly healthy foods. Starting off with bananas seemed like a no-brainer. Bananas are a power fruit. They are packed with health benefits, there are so many ways creative ways to incorporate them into your daily diet, and bonus, they are a total budget-friendly fruit!
Aside from some other delicious uses for bananas , I cant get enough of frozen bananas in my morning breakfast or post-workout smoothie. Lets talk about building a perfect smoothie, shall we?
Step One: Choose a base, 1 cup
Step Two: Choose your fruit , 1-2 cups
Step Three: Make it green, 1 cup
Extras:
Step Four: Make it creamy, 1-2 tbsp
Step Five: Add a boost, 1-2 tbsp
Step Six: A Little Something Sweet
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Best Blenders For Smoothies
OK, youve got all of your smoothie ingredients prepped and ready to go, now how are you going to blend them up?
The key here is powerful.
You want to use a blender capable of completely mixing up all of the ingredients until they are smooth and creamy.
Here is a list of the best blenders for making fruit smoothies:
- Nutribullet A wonderful personal-sized blender option. Make sure you use the larger cup in order to fit all of the ingredients without going over the max fill line.
- Ninja Blender is also another great option!
How To Make A Smoothie Thicker
A common problem with smoothie making is to have it come out thin and runnyafter all, you wanted a smoothie, not juice. This is an easy problem to solve. Simply throw in some of those ingredients well known for thickening smoothiesice, avocado, protein powder, chia or flax seedsand re-blend, says Alder.
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Is It Healthy To Have A Smoothie Every Day
If youre looking to put your own blender to use and start making smoothies at home, youre already one step ahead with saving yourself money and ensuring you have full control over what goes into your drink. Enjoying a smoothie every day is totally fine if you make sure it has a good balance of nutrients.
That said, dietitians say its actually better to chew and swallow food rather than drinking it for fullness, so its probably best to limit your intake to one smoothie a day and enjoy proper meals and snacks throughout the day. And if youre aiming to make your smoothie a meal, try to include at least 25 grams of protein if its a snack, go for at least 10 grams of protein.
These delicious, healthy smoothies make it easier to eat right with nutrient-rich fruit and veggies, creamy milk, protein, probiotic-rich yogurt, and other nutritious ingredients. Just a note: Some of these recipes contain fruit juice or honey to up the sweetness, but if youre looking to cut added sugar from your diet, you can nix those ingredients.
Some of these recipes are from Smoothies & Juices, the new book from Preventions Healing Kitchen series. Give these recipes a try, and feel free to tweak and experiment to create your own perfect blend.
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Basic Steps For How To Make A Fruit Smoothie
1. Add your frozen fruit of choice
In this case, we used blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. However, any type of frozen fruit will work great!
2. Add a yogurt or banana base to thicken
Plain greek yogurt and/or bananas are great for thickening smoothies.
3. Add protein powder
Adding protein powder helps sweeten the smoothie and, of course, adds protein. This is always an optional step!
4. Add your milk of choice
Our favorite is unsweetened almond milk, but cashew milk, coconut milk, oat milk, and regular dairy milk are all great options as well.
To make the smoothie: Simply blend everything in a single serving blender and enjoy! Another option is to pour the smoothie into mason jars and freeze for quick smoothies throughout the week. Simply thaw in the refrigerator a few hours before youre ready to drink it !
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How To Make A Smoothie Less Bitter:
- Pineapple and oranges both add lots of fruity sweetness. Banana, in addition to being sweet, seems to neutralize bitter flavors. Strawberries are also good choices for green smoothies. Also try adding a bit of vanilla bean or vanilla extract, agave, cacao, or unsweetened cocoa powder. Flavored protein powders will also mask the taste of bitter greens. After adding these ingredients, work your machine back up to its highest speed, and process for 10-20 seconds.
- Tip: Baby greens are generally milder than mature greens. Tastes do change and adapt to new eating habits. Try working up to bitter greens by combining small amounts of them with the spinach in your smoothie. Then gradually adjust the ratio as your taste buds adapt. Chalky taste: Add more fruit and/or other ingredients in the recipe. Work your machine back up to its highest speed, and process for 10-20 seconds. Adding more protein powder can give you too much of a good thing use amounts recommended on the label.
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