4 Healthy Smoothie Recipes For An Easy Weekday Meal
Healthy smoothies aren’t just about the ingredients. Balance is important too. I’m sharing my tips for making a nourishing, balanced smoothie with protein plus four delicious smoothie recipes.
Smoothies are one of my favorite lazy meals. They can be balanced, nourishing and satisfying when you don’t feel like cooking or eating anything specific or when you need a meal on the go. They’re such an easy way to eat fruits and vegetables and load up on antioxidants, phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals and fiber. Plus, blending these high fiber ingredients makes them easier to digest.
Smoothie recipes are often very high in sugar, and imbalanced, offering more carbs than protein and fats. It helps to balance sweet ingredients with protein and fat for blood sugar stability, or else you might be hungry again soon after finishing the smoothie. I like to prioritize balance without sacrificing flavor, which can be tricky. But these four fruit smoothie recipes do just that. These protein shake ideas are especially great if you’re prioritizing protein in your diet.
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Nourishing Smoothie Formula
Making a well balanced and nourishing smoothie takes a mindful approach to ingredients and portions.
Fruit (~1 cup)
I like to utilize lower sugar fruits or lower glycemic fruits, like berries, in smoothies, but tropical fruits, like banana and pineapple, can add a lot of flavor as part of the mix. Everyone has different carbohydrate needs, but I’m mindful with carbohydrate ingredients like bananas, honey, dates and oats, especially when a recipe call for multiple sources of carbs. If there are multiple carb ingredients to a recipe, I just make sure to portion each accordingly so it’s not too carb heavy.
Vegetable (~1/4 cup)
I personally prefer milder veggies in smoothies but you can add virtually anything. Fresh spinach and riced cauliflower won’t affect the flavor too much, so the smoothie will be more palatable. You can also use a greens powder or spirulina too.
Protein (10-30g)
Making smoothies with protein is important, especially if you’re consuming it as a meal. Protein powders are an easy way to boost the protein content in smoothies but if you want protein shakes without protein powder then high protein yogurt like Siggi’s or Greek yogurt blend really well into smoothies.
Fat
Nourishing fats that work well in smoothies include nuts and nut butters, coconut milk and avocado.
Liquid
Ordering a smoothie out will likely contain dairy alternative milks and/or fruit juices. Using a quality nut milk can be great for texture and flavor, but fruit juice just adds more sugar. When prioritizing balance, I’d opt for non-dairy milk like oat or almond, coconut water or plain filtered water (I use this the most for ease!).
Silky Smooth(ie) Texture
Smoothie texture is important so I have a few tips to get your desired texture.
Blender
The blender you use to make smoothies makes a huge difference. If you’re blending ingredients with a lot of fiber (kale or cauliflower) or seeds (strawberries/raspberries), you’ll want to use something with more wattage. The Vitamix or comparable blender can be great for larger smoothie batches, but personally, lately we’ve been really impressed with the Nutribullet with the same wattage as the Vitamix (1200 watts).
Liquid Ratio
You want just the right amount of liquid so that your smoothie isn’t too thick or watered down. Admittedly, I always struggle with this so I usually defrost frozen fruit ahead of time so that it blends easier with less water. If it’s too thick, I add more liquid as I go. More fibrous ingredients along with protein powder makes smoothies much thicker, so the liquid ratio will also depend on your ingredients.
Ingredients
There are some ingredients that enhance a smoothie’s texture. Banana is the first thing that comes to mind. Not only does it add natural sweetness, it helps to create a silky smoothness. I also like using Greek yogurt because it adds a nice thickness but also acts a bit like a liquid.
Smoothie Recipes
Blueberry Almond
This blueberry smoothie is so satisfying and flavorful. The recipe is forgiving so the measurements don’t have to be exact.
1/3 of a banana
1/2-1 cup frozen wild blueberries
1/4 cup raw almonds or 1 tbsp almond butter
Liquid- water or almond milk
a few dashes of cinnamon
Protein powder or high protein yogurt
1/4 cup of fresh spinach
Lemony Yogurt Smoothie
This smoothie recipe is bright and healing, and includes lemon zest, turmeric and ginger. I would use Greek yogurt or other high protein yogurt instead of coconut based yogurt (like plain or vanilla Siggi’s).
Creamy Cinnamon Roll Smoothie
This smoothie is made with oats (could be omitted), banana, vanilla extract, cashew butter and cauliflower for a nourishing, high fiber (and tasty!) smoothie.
Healthy Mint Chocolate Chip Smoothie
Banana, spinach, avocado and mint are mixed to give a nourishing milkshake like smoothie. I’d use vanilla Siggi’s or protein powder, and mix in cacao nibs for the chocolate crunch. If you don’t have fresh mint, mint extract could work.