Loaded with healthy ingredients and perfect for breakfast or a snack, smoothies are a great way to add energy-boosting proteins and healthy fats to your diet. Even better, it takes just minutes to blend your own from scratch—and we guarantee they'll taste better than any smoothie pack you'll buy in the store. Experiment with a range of wholesome ingredients from avocado and berries to oats and spinach for blends that are not only good for you, but taste delicious. To help you expand your smoothie repertoire, we'verounded up our best smoothie recipes in a rainbow of colors and flavors.
How to Blend the Perfect Smoothie Every Time (No Recipe Required)
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Banana-Blueberry Smoothie
With just three ingredients, this banana-blueberry smoothie is an all around winner. In addition to the fruits, all you need is nonfat plain yogurt—and your blender!
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Banana-Oat Smoothie
Like many of our best smoothie recipes, this one is versatile. The recipe calls for old-fashioned rolled oats, but you can use quick-cook oats if that’s what you have on hand. The low-fat yogurt and fat-free milk can also be substituted for any type of yogurt or milk, including non-dairy varieties.
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Avocado, Spinach, and Pear Smoothie
Fresh tasting with a luscious mouthfeel, this is our favorite avocado smoothie—and it's vegan to boot. The green fruit makes it rich so there's no need for yogurt or other dairy, while spinach ups the green factor and the nutrition. Pear might seem a surprising choice, but its delicate sweetness is just what this smoothie needs.
This smoothie is all about the pineapple. You can use fresh or frozen pineapple chunks, but frozen gives the drink a thicker, more luxurious flavor. The sweetness of the pineapple is tempered by the refreshing bite of fresh ginger, while low-fat yogurt adds protein, and a touch of cinnamon brings it all together.
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Apple Smoothie
This vegan smoothie stars Granny Smith apples, along with bananas and orange juice, and skips both dairy and alternative milk or yogurt. Vanilla and honey complement the fruits, and flaxseed adds omega-3 fatty acids and acts as a thickener.
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Editors' Favorite Green Smoothie
This four-ingredient healthy smoothie is packed with spinach and romaine lettuce, and sweetened (and thickened) with frozen mango chunks. A little lemon juice is added for balance.
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Strawberry Coconut Smoothie
One sip of this light pink smoothie and you'll instantly be transported to the tropics, thanks to a llittle light coconut milk that plays a big role. A full cup of frozen strawberries and a banana make it refreshingly cold and creamy.
The 1/2 cup of old-fashioned oats blended into the mix makes this smoothie thick and heart-healthy. Top with 1/4 cup chopped nuts, such as almonds or walnuts, for a more filling meal.
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Pom-Berry-Banana Smoothie
Pomegranates are packed with antioxidants and add to this smoothie's beautiful deep-berry color. There's also an entire orange (peeled and pith removed, of course), that gives this recipe a boost of vitamin C.
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Peanut Butter Berry Smoothie
Consider this dairy-free drink the smoothie version of a PBJ. There’s creamy peanut butter and frozen mixed berries, as well as banana and almond milk. No sweeteners needed, a pinch of salt bring the flavors into harmony.
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Smoothie Parfait
Jam-packed with superfoods that will keep you charged and ready to go for the day ahead, this smoothie parfait recipe is a winner. Plus, you can make it the night before so you can grab and go in the morning.
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Strawberry Slushie
The secret to this sweet strawberry slushie is to blend it just before it reaches a smooth consistency, giving it the texture we all know and love.
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Carrot Mango Smoothie
A two-ingredient smoothie? Yes, please. Carrots are full of vitamin A (which helps with vision) and fiber, and we use their juice in this recipe. Mangoes are also full of nutrients and add a subtle tropical sweetness that makes this smoothie so delicious. The only other ingredient needed is a dash of nutmeg.
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Pumpkin Smoothie
It might not be your first thought as a powerhouse smoothie ingredient, but once you taste this pumpkin drink, it's sure to become a new staple in your smoothie repertoire. Frozen banana, maple syrup, fresh ginger, ground cinnamon, and whole milk come together for a tasty treat.
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Green Ginger-Peach Smoothie
Nutrient-rich baby spinach gives this smoothie recipe its green goodness. Peaches and honey lend a natural sweetness.
With the right ingredients, smoothies can be an excellent way to boost your fiber intake. Some of the most fiber-rich foods are also common smoothie ingredients, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains (such as soaked oats), nuts, seeds, and legumes (such as white beans).
Eating a protein-rich snack before bed could support muscle repair and help slow down age-related muscle loss, particularly if you exercise routinely (24). Smoothies are an easy and tasty way to sneak in protein-rich milk before bed.
Whole-grain toast or bagel: Add some complex carbs to your meal by pairing your smoothie with a slice of whole-grain toast or a whole-grain bagel. Greek yogurt: Greek yogurt is high in protein, which can help keep you feeling full and satisfied. Pair your smoothie with a serving of Greek yogurt for added protein.
While they provide several health benefits, drinking too many smoothies can negatively affect your health. They can add a lot of unforeseen calories, especially when a smoothie is simply a beverage with a meal.
Whether or not a smoothie can replace a meal really depends on what's in it. If you're only adding frozen fruit and water, then that's not a meal; that's a light, refreshing snack. In general, a meal should have a few food groups. I recommend trying to have carbs, protein, fat, and fiber at meals whenever possible.
This can be milk, or a dairy-free alternative such as soya or almond milk, natural or flavoured yogurt, fruit juice, or for a tropical flavoured smoothie, low-fat coconut milk or coconut water. It's important to add the liquid to your blender before adding the fruit, as this will prevent the blade from getting damaged.
In the Morning. If you typically have a hard time getting started in the morning, prepping your smoothie ingredients in your blend cup or pitcher in advance makes things easier. ...
Healthy late-night snacks for weight loss include Greek yogurt with berries, a small handful of nuts, sliced veggies with hummus, or a piece of fruit. These options offer a balance of nutrients and won't derail your weight-loss efforts.
Even the biggest smoothie aficionados need a little crunch sometimes, and making a smoothie bowl is the perfect way to beef up your favorite recipe. Add a low-sugar, high-protein granola and some nuts, nut butter or seeds along with your fruit toppings to help keep you full for hours on end.
Smoothies also go down faster than foods that need to be chewed, so your brain often doesn't get the signal as quickly as it should that you're full and need to stop eating, Warren says. The faster it's in and out of you, the less full you feel.
If your smoothie doesn't have protein, fiber and healthy fat, you may feel hungry shortly after drinking it, Scott says. This can make it easier for you to overeat. “It takes about 15 minutes for a conversation to take place between your stomach and brain that you're full,” Shapira says.
Are Smoothies Good for Weight Loss? They can be. "Nutrient-packed, well-balanced smoothies can contribute to a healthy weight loss strategy, contingent upon the ingredients used, the macronutrient composition, and the satiety they offer,” said Routhenstein.
"Smoothies can make a healthy breakfast, but they've evolved into having a health halo even if you put a lot of fruit juice and syrups into them," Taub-Dix says. "It can make you feel invigorated for a little bit because of the sugar high, but then you're left feeling hungry shortly afterward."
Many shop-bought smoothies are made from cheaper, more processed ingredients such as fruit purées and juices. These purées concentrate sugars whilst removing many of the nutritional benefits of the whole fruit such as the fibre, phyto-nutrients, vitamins and minerals.
Although it's better to eat whole fruit than drink fruit juice or smoothies, ifyou want to have some it's better to limit the quantity to the recommended portion of 1 small glass a day (150ml) and make sure your drink goes further by diluting it with water. '
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