Add A Little Liquid And Blend Some More
This step is KEY. The amount of liquid can keep your smoothie bowl thick or turn it into a smoothie! The trick is the start small and add more as needed.
Grab your favorite milk substitute and add a very small amount, 1-2 tablespoons at a time. Continue blending on low then slowly increase to medium, using your tamper OR stopping to scrape down the sides of the blender jar, as needed, to ensure all the fruit gets blended.
How To Make It
Unlike baking recipes, for instance, smoothie recipes do not have to use exact measurements. You can adjust according to taste. The only difference in choosing between fresh or frozen fruit is how thick you want it to be. Frozen will make for a more milkshake-thick smoothie, whereas fresh will get thickened up slightly by the ice, but have a more liquidy texture. Or you can combine frozen and fresh fruit.
You can use any kind of soft fruit you want, such as berries, bananas, peeled peaches or nectarines, melons, even grapes, and puree, and know you can always add a bit more fruit or ice to thicken it or a bit more milk to thin it out.
Best Blender For Smoothies
First things first, lets talk about the blender situation. I know there are hundreds of blenders on the market and it can be very daunting to find the right one for you. One thing I have learned with the handful of blenders that Ive owned is that quality matters. Usually, quality and price coincide and its totally true.
Ive found that the more expensive and higher quality blender I have, the more success I have with what I am makingespecially smoothies. The most recent and BEST blender I have ever had is a Vitamix.
We have the Vitamix 5200and it runs you about $430 on Amazon. I do not have a single bad thing to say about this beast. Its super powerful, easy to clean, and it makes making smoothies along with other things a breeze. I can tell you right now that this is the best blender I have ever owned and theres no turning back.
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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
Making Smoothie With Mechanical Food Chopper
If automatic is not your preferred route, you can always go mechanical. The noise of your regular blender can be annoying at times. To avoid using a non-electric chopper and a food processor, you can just turn by hand.
This cool gadget does not need any electricity. It comes in a compact size that you can carry along on long tours and vacations. If the weather is beautiful outside, this can also be your best friend for some outdoor smoothie making.
A single soft fruit such as a banana, mango, or peach adds a cup of liquid water, milk, or greek yogurt to this great little device. Next, turn the handle on top a few times until the mixture is as smooth as you want it to be.
A great, noiseless drink can thus be made with the help of a mechanical chopper. You can make a lovely dessert anywhere with this kind of device.
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Does Smoothies Aid Weight Loss
Smoothies are already branded as a weight loss product due to the substitution with meals and breakfast. pre-workout and post-workout smoothies are going in trend. The celebrities and nutritionists always preach the wonders it does to the body. The exact balance of fruits and veggies is an important factor for weight loss. The low-fat liquid base such as non-dairy milk or yogurt with the addition of supplements like protein powder can boost the extra nutrients.
Especially the green drink are a good source of vegetable intake and it is obvious that the leafy green veggies like spinach and kale are strong phytochemicals rich in calcium and vitamins K.
Green leafy veggies not only control the sugar levels but also lower the possibility of chronic illness. Here is the recipe of blended green smoothie which helps to boost metabolism:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup to fresh or frozen fruits of your choice
- 1 cup green leafy veggies
- ½ cup non-dairy milk
Directions:
Add fruits and veggies in a blender. First, run the blender at high speed to get a thick puree then add almond milk to get the desired texture and thickness.
Whats The Best Blender To Make This Smoothie
Because of the orange slices, we recommend working with a high-powered blender to get this orange smoothie nice and, well, smooth! Here are two recommendations:
- STARTER: Ninja Professional BlenderFor under a $100, you get an incredibly powerful blender that makes a dreamy, creamy smoothie.
- SPLURGE: Vitamix Professional BlenderA Vitamix is the top of the line when it comes to blenders, and its what we use everyday in the Wholefully test kitchen.
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+ Healthy Smoothie Recipes
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This roundup includes over 30 Healthy Smoothie recipes including fruit smoothie recipes, weightloss smoothie recipes, breakfast smoothie recipes and SO many more! Im sure youll find a smoothie here to love.
Hopefully you know by now that I LOVE a good smoothie recipe. I have SO many good ones here on my blog so I wanted to round them all up in one place for you. I split this list up into 3 common smoothie categories: healthy smoothies, green smoothies, and smoothie bowls.
Theres something here for everyone and Im sure that youll find more than one new smoothie to love 🙂
I love creating new smoothie flavor combos so please let me know if you ever have a suggestions or recipe recommendation! Im also always experimenting on so follow along there for even more recipes!
Start With Frozen Ingredients And Blend On Low
Place the frozen fruit in the blender and use the lowest speed to chop them up. Use no more than 1 fresh ingredient and place on the bottom before the frozen fruit. If you use any soft fruit you will need LESS liquid in step 2.
Use the tamper if you have one, or stop the machine and scrape ingredients down into the blade and repeat. Doing this first helps to ensure you end up with a smooth mixture when you continue to blend in the next steps.
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Best Smoothies For Kids
Are you worried about your picky kids? Not now, thanks to good quality blender reviews that make parents life easy. Smoothies are a great source of energy, the proper blending of fruits and veggies can retain the fibre intact in the drink. Unlike other energy drinks, the blended smoothies are quite light on the stomach and rich in protein, minerals, vitamins, and fibre.
Interestingly, the little picky eaters can easily intake the nutrients from fruits and veggies without knowing it. Here are a few famous smoothies among kids:
- Chocolate-Cherry Smoothie
- Carrot and orange smoothie
What Is Causing My Blender To Fail To Blend Frozen Fruit
If you are blending frozen fruit, this is not an uncommon occurrence, and one or both of the following could cause it:
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Always Add The Liquid First
Filtered water, coconut water, and milk substitutes are the top choices Blender Babes recommends, followed by juice or regular milk.
This is because most fruit juices are high in unhealthy sugars and add unnecessary calories to your smoothie. .
Dependant upon your blender, the types of fruit and veggies you add, and whether the fruit is fresh or frozen, Blender Babes recommends using anywhere from 6 to 8 ounces of liquid for regular smoothies and 12 to 16 ounces of liquid for more green smoothie recipes.
Typically for highly green smoothies, meaning lots of leafy greens, or the more frozen fruit you use, the more liquid you will need.
How Can Internet Shopping Help You Purchase The Best Green Smoothie Blender
Online purchasing has been, is currently, and will continue to benefit millions of people worldwide.
- Users can prevent all kinds of hesitancy and even shame since they can see the cost and make sure your allowance.
- Anyone may shop at any time and from any location. For instance, it is super simple to shop on the Amazon website at midnight during a flight.
- You can monitor your shipping, so you know precisely where your product is and when it will reach your place.
- Customers profit from the effect of online banking as well as the convenience of payments.
- Online buying allows shoppers to have a more seamless purchasing experience by enabling people to know the prices and benefits ahead of time. Those are just the reasons why individuals enjoy doing their online ordering.
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What If I Dont Have The Right Ingredients To Make One Of These Smoothies
There is NO right or wrong way to make a smoothie! These recipes are just starter ideas for you to work off of But dont feel like you need to stick with them to make a delicious smoothie. I never measure for smoothies and often throw in what I have on hand. My main tip, however, is if youre using fresh fruit, be sure to throw in a little ice to add that frozen element.
How Do I Make A Strawberry Banana Smoothie
For the best results, youll want to add the ingredients to the blender in this order:
Then blend away, slowly ramping up to full speed! When the smoothie looks silky, take a taste test and decide if you want to add any sweetener. If you do, add the honey or maple syrup and blend for a few more seconds. If not, pour and enjoy!
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Do You Need A Special Blender To Make Smoothies
As I mentioned, sort of. You will either need a bullet blender or a jar blender. I dont advise that you use a stick blender.
Any hand blender is going to be lacking in design when it comes to smoothies. There are plenty of ways that you can use a stick blender .
But yes, as a rule youre going to need a special blender. One that has a container and also one thats powerful enough to blend up what you need blended.
But do you need a special blender? That word is kind of loaded. What exactly is a special blender? Is that some sort of magic blender that only makes smoothies? No, you just need a strong blender capable of blending up fruits and, if you want, vegetables.
More Smoothie Blender Recommendations
I did want to share some other great blenders that I have personally owned and recommend depending on your price point.
Low cost:Ninja BL480D Blender$99 this is a great single serve blender for those that want to conserve space. Plus you cant beat the price point.
Medium cost:Ninja Kitchen System $229 Ive owned the Ninja Kitchen System for about 5 years and I love that its interchangeable between a blender, food processor, and single-serve smoothie blender. For $229, you really do get it all!
High cost:Vitamix 5200$429 at the highest price point, the Vitamix is THE BEST kitchen appliance Ive ever owned. It will literally crush, pulverize, mix, or puree anything and everything because its so powerful! I highly recommend, 10/10!
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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!
Are Smoothies Healthy For You
Before we dive into the quest of how to make a fruit smoothie, lets dive into the why. Our philosophy here at Wholefully is that smoothies can be an incredibly nourishing part of your diet. Just like with our juicing recipes, we say its always better to eat whole fruits and veggies where possible. But its not always possible! Smoothies do make it easy to pack in all the nutrients of your favorite produce into one drinkable cupwhich is great when youre on the go or short on time.
And lets be honest, smoothies are just freaking delicious! We are big believers that you also need to nourish your soul with your food, and if drinking a perfectly tangy and sweet smoothie brings a smile to your face, then thats healthy as healthy can be.
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Layering Ingredients In The Proper Sequence
Adding ingredients into the blender in the right order is key for breaking down those tough, fibrous, leafy, or icy ingredients into a smooth consistency. According to Vitamix, this is the recommended way to layer in each ingredient, depending on the size of your kitchen blender:
- Large containers : First add any wet ingredients , followed by dry goods, leafy greens, fresh fruits/vegetables, then frozen ingredients last.
- Small containers : First add frozen ingredients, fresh fruits/vegetables, leafy greens, dry goods, and wet ingredients last.
Make The Perfect Smoothie
Smoothies are a nutritious, flavorful option for breakfast or an afternoon snack, and it is simple to make at home in your blender. It doesn’t rely on exact quantities and can be customized according to flavor preferences and nutritional needs. Nor do you need an expensive, high-powered blender to produce the perfect smoothie:this Hamilton Beach blender, a Best Bang for the Buck pick, will let you serve up healthy, tasty smoothies by following these simple steps.
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The Best Smoothie Ingredients
The popularity of smoothie comes with the balanced intake of fruits and vegetables, the right amount of each ingredient can turn it into the healthiest drink to enjoy. To make thick and creamy consistency of the desired yummy drink, the best famous blends consist of.
Fruits:
Fresh or frozen both can be the base of smoothies such as bananas, berries, strawberries, peach, mangoes, and pineapples.
Vegetables:
Going green is the new mantra of todays generation so adding a bunch of spinach or kale can get more antioxidants. Other veggies that can make a good match with fruits are cucumber, carrots beetroot, ginger, and pumpkin.
Natural sweeteners:
To cut the extra fructose from the diet these natural sweeteners can also be a good source of minerals and vitamins such as diets, coconut water, maple syrup, and honey.
Nuts and Herbs:
Adding nuts in the smoothie can significantly increase the day to day fibre with important nutrients. These nuts are rich in fatty acids, proteins, and other vitamins. Almonds, walnuts, chia seeds, and hemp seeds are common examples. Similarly, the herbs or spices such as cinnamon, fennel, lemongrass, basil and parsley not only enhance the taste but also have strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
- Others: Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, cheese, tofu, cocoa powder and beans can add extra flavour to your smoothie.
Frozen Fruit Smoothie Recipe
Frozen fruit can always be found stocked in our freezer.
When that moment strikes and I have literally NOTHING else to make, a frozen fruit smoothie can always save the day.
It doesnt even matter what fresh or frozen fruits Im working with. They can ALL be turned into a creamy and delicious smoothie.
That is, if you have this basic formula on hand.
I would never leave you hanging, though. In addition to this simple guide, youll also find a few recipes you can start off with and then add in all of the nuts, seeds, milks, juices, yogurts, and protein powders your heart desires.
Because after you finish reading this post, youll never need me again. Well, at least not when it comes to making incredible frozen fruit smoothies!
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