Smoothies seem like a very innocent choice when rushed for a meal or snack. What can go wrong with fruit, vegetables, ice, and a protein source?
As it turns out, quite a bit if you’re getting one from a restaurant. It’s actually hard to find a healthy smoothie recipe when you’re outside of your home.
Many restaurants use artificially sweetened fruit, juice from concentrates, or add so much honey it’s gone well past being a healthy option. This leads to an intense sugar rush, followed by a crash. After this happens, it’s common to go searching for more sugar because you are now exhausted, and the cycle continues.
With this in mind, we’ve created a template for creating a healthy smoothie, and also a recipe for our favorite post-workout smoothie. If you would like a reminder on what your nutrition needs to focus on following exercise, check out our nutrition deep dive post here. Creating a healthy smoothie recipe isn’t difficult – just focus on all natural ingredients and you’re more than half way there.
Healthy Smoothie Recipe: Template
- Begin your smoothie by choosing a base liquid. This can be milk, milk substitute, fresh juice, or even water.
- Add 1-2 cups of ice, depending on how thick you like your smoothies to be.
- Next, pick one serving of fruit to add. Common choices include berries, bananas, and apples.
- Now, add a vegetable. Leafy greens like spinach do a wonderful job of adding micronutrients to your smoothie, and don’t taste like anything when blended with other ingredients.
- Choose a protein source. Our favorite sources are protein powder (whey protein isolate, or a plant-based option) and/or Greek yogurt.
- OPTIONAL: Add a healthy fat serving. This can be avocado for creaminess, nut butter for taste, or a serving of seeds to mix things up.
Blend everything together in a blender or food processor, and enjoy!
Healthy Smoothie Recipe: Post Workout
After a workout, you want to focus on carbohydrates and proteins. Fats are extremely important in your overall diet; in the immediate time following a workout, they simply take a back seat in importance.
With that in mind, there are two servings of fruit in this smoothie, and the fat is left out. There is 2% Greek yogurt added along with protein powder to give better texture, and just a touch of fat to help absorb the micronutrients in the fruit and vegetables. Try it out, and let us know what you think!
ingredients:
- 1 Cup Ice
- 6 ounces Almond Milk (or regular milk)
- 1/2 Cup Raw Spinach
- 1 Cup Frozen Berries
- 1/3 Cup 2% Greek Yogurt (may substitute for vegan option, or leave out)
- 1 Serving Vanilla Whey Protein Isolate (may substitute for vegan option)
- 1 medium Frozen Banana
Steps:
- Add all of the ingredients to the blender, being sure to pour the almond milk in last. Adding the almond milk last keeps the ice from slightly melting, refreezing, and therefore becoming harder to blend.
- Pulse your blender or food processor a few times, until the ice is broken up, and the ingredients have started to mix.
- Turn your blender or food processor on, and allow to mix until you see the vortex in the middle of your blender form, or until things look uniform in your food processor.
- Continue to blend for another 60 seconds, then pour into a large glass and enjoy!
