Healthy Smoothie Recipes

[magpie]

Post your recipes!

I'm particularly interested in what people put in vegetable smoothies because I can never make those taste good. I love fruit and smoothies but I eat way too much fruit and am not willing to do green smoothies unless I can get them to taste good.

 

[Hiraeth]

I don't make them anymore, but I used to just mix dark greens like spinach and kale with some fruit. It never worked out well for me because I'd have to add much more fruit in order for it to taste good too. I'd usually freeze the fruit for a while and then add them in. My combinations would usually be something like one cup of greens, one banana, and a cup of mango bits.

I'd try recipes online where the ratio between greens and fruit was roughly 3:1 and it would always come out gross. I'd have to chug that shit down in order to stomach it. I now just eat my fruit in its solid state because smoothies never filled me up and I'd always become bloated afterwards. Sorry, I don't think I was any help, but I wanted to share, haha.

 

[Eilonwy]

Smoothie base (I don't measure, so I'm estimating. I'll be making some tomorrow and I'll try to remember to measure and make corrections if necessary.):

3 or 4 chopped up medjool dates (if you use a regular blender, soften the dates by stewing them first, otherwise they don't blend well)
about 1 cup of fresh pineapple
1/2 an avocado
1.5 cups of orange juice
about 1 cup of red or purple grapes (fresh or frozen)
about 1/2 to 2/3 cup frozen chopped spinach
1 cup plain kefir (I like evolve brand best)

Blend first four ingredients until smooth. Add grapes and spinach and blend until smooth. Add any extra ingredients and blend until smooth. Always add the kefir last and blend until mixed--don't over-blend the kefir.

The base tastes good to me as is, but I sometimes add other fruits and veges.

Other veges I've had success with:
kale (in small amounts it doesn't taste too bad, but definitely can taste kale)
other leafy greens with mild flavors
dandelion greens (good for you and mild flavored)
cucumber

Other fruits I've had success with:
blueberries
strawberries
lime (tastes very good!)
lemon
pears
peaches
figs

certain combinations make the color unappealing, but it still tastes good. YMMV.

 

[Amargith]

Young spinach leaves with apple or pear works pretty well, though I cannot drink it every day.

I'm betting though that if fruit/sweetness is your issue, you can go complete spinach and add in a couple of dried fruits (pre-soaked) for sweetness. It would allow for a serious powerboost in greens while having the taste mitigated by your favourite dried fried (medjool dates, figs, apricots, you name it).

I find kale annoying in smoothies, though I like the taste, coz my blender doesn't seem to be able to fully turn them into liquid (and then you got small flakes sticking in your teeth ), but that said, if you don't mind that or your blender doesnt do that crap, this trick would work with kale as well.

Meanwhile, I find that I can get the bulk of my veg from simple clear soups, which is way more appealing to me than putting them in smoothies. (as a side note)

 

[Mole]

I think a top of the line blender like Vitamix gives the best results.

And not only are we improving our health we are also changing our taste.

And taste is what we are used to and a matter of habit, so to change our taste to healthy eating takes a while.

It takes about 21 days to form a new habit, where we practise our new habit every second day, and recover ourselves and integrate our new habit, on every other day.

And after 21 days of practice every second day the habit becomes second nature and we don't have to think about it anymore.

Learning a new habit is like learning to play the piano, it depends on practice. But if we are narcissists expecting instant gratification, practice and new habits are beyond us.

 

[kyuuei]

Kale sucks in smoothies. Cook it instead.

Spinach is the only thing I really stick into green smoothies.. it's very very light in taste, beautiful green color, and does not need much masking at all. It isn't bitter. Anything bitter or strong tasting will suck in a smoothie.

I do a 60/40 ratio... the 40 being the greens.

Some of my favorites:

- Coconut milk
- Spinach
- Pineapple
- Mango
- A couple dates and cashews soaked overnight
- 1/2 banana frozen


- Tofu, silken firm
- Melted chocolate
- Strawberries, 1/2 fresh and 1/2 frozen
- Soaked dates
Mash up the other ingredients first and blend well, add the chocolate in after and blend again.

- Vanilla milk
- Spinach
- Banana, frozen
- Vanilla paste
- Vanilla wafer cookies, crushed

Fully Raw Kristina actually does have some good recipes on her youtube channel, though I don't really like her overall messages.

 

[ceecee]

I agree on spinach vs kale. I love kale in salad or something like that but not in smoothies. I've also found that mint leaves tend to help when you don't like the green stuff taste.

Healthy Breakfast Smoothies With 5 Ingredients or Less | Greatist

I don't like cashew milk but I do like almond milk, I think you can substitute without issue. Cacao nibs you can find all over or online.

 

[Eilonwy]

Measured ingredients and revised recipe:

Smoothie base (I don't measure, so I'm estimating. I'll be making some tomorrow and I'll try to remember to measure and make corrections if necessary.):

3 or 4 chopped up medjool dates (if you use a regular blender, soften the dates by stewing them first, otherwise they don't blend well)
about 1 cup of fresh pineapple
1/2 an avocado
1.5 cups of orange juice
about 1 cup of red or purple grapes (fresh or frozen)
about 1/2 to 2/3 cup frozen chopped spinach
1 cup plain kefir (I like evolve brand best)

Blend first four ingredients until smooth. Add grapes and spinach and blend until smooth. Add any extra ingredients and blend until smooth. Always add the kefir last and blend until mixed--don't over-blend the kefir.

The base tastes good to me as is, but I sometimes add other fruits and veges.

Other veges I've had success with:
kale (in small amounts it doesn't taste too bad, but definitely can taste kale)
other leafy greens with mild flavors
dandelion greens (good for you and mild flavored)
cucumber

Other fruits I've had success with:
blueberries
strawberries
lime (tastes very good!)
lemon
pears
peaches
figs

certain combinations make the color unappealing, but it still tastes good. YMMV.

 

[Lexicon]

My favorite smoothie combo is the following:

1/4-1/3 cup frozen blueberries
a chunk of fresh ginger, about half the size of a pingpong ball
1/8-1/4 cup fresh whole almonds
3/4-1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt (I use Dannon Light n' Fit Greek yogurt; it seems to be the lowest sugar one I can find around here that isn't 'plain')
2 cups fresh raw spinach
1/8-1/4 cup V8 Healthy Greens juice

I pulverize all of this in my Nutribullet blender, with the tall cup.
Once it's all liquefied, I add 1 more cup of fresh spinach & run it again. I really pack it in there, sometimes.

The spinach is super bland/totally concealed by the ginger & blueberries. It tastes like a spicy/sweet fruit smoothie, but it's packed with fiber, protein, probiotics, & all the great stuff from both fruits and vegetables. If for some reason the ratios or taste seems off, I add a bit more ginger or a packet of stevia.