Drinking a smoothie is an excellent way to start your day. Not only are they convenient and portable – meaning you can enjoy them anywhere, anytime – but they can also be very healthy and nutritious.
Plus, some of us aren’t quite ready for a big meal early in the morning but still need something to get us through to lunchtime. In this case, drinking a smoothie can help us to get everything we need, without having to wolf down a big plate of food.
With a wide range of possible ingredients – like fruit, vegetables, dairy products, nuts, seeds, herbs, and spices – smoothies are also endlessly customisable. This means that you’ll never get bored of all the options available, and they can be adapted to suit any palate or dietary preferences.
But making sure a smoothie is both tasty and nutritious is a delicate art – and the limitless possibilities can easily become overwhelming. So, to give you a hand, we’ve pulled together a list of seven smoothie recipes to kick-start your day, as well as some tips on inventing your own.
Why make your own smoothies at home?
With so many pre-made options available these days (like shop-bought and ready-to-order smoothies), you might be wondering why you should make your own smoothies at home. And the main reason is that they’re generally better for you.
For a smoothie to be healthy and nutritious, it should be made with whole foods and little added sugar, but shop-bought varieties tend to be made from more processed ingredients (like purées) and contain more than our recommended daily allowance of added sugar. By making smoothies ourselves, we can stay in complete control of what goes into our blenders (and bodies).
Plus, making your own smoothies at home means you can get creative while saving money. With the price of bottled smoothies being what it is these days, even if you need to invest in a blender, it’s still a far cheaper option in the long run.
Keep reading for some tasty and nutritious smoothie ideas.
7 tasty and nutritious smoothie recipes to kick-start your day
1. Green breakfast smoothie
Green smoothies have been all the rage for a while now. Their delicate combination of sweet fruit and savoury vegetables makes for a well-rounded flavour. Plus, they’re a great way to get your daily dose of leafy greens, like kale and spinach.
This green breakfast smoothie recipe from BBC Good Food is a tasty and refreshing way to start your day. It combines banana and coconut with superfoods spinach and spirulina. To give it a bit of a boost, why not add some vanilla protein powder?
2. Orange, carrot, and basil smoothie
Combining fruit, vegetables, and herbs, this orange, carrot, and basil smoothie from Jar of Lemons is a perfect choice for a warm summer’s day.
If you aren’t a fan of basil, you might want to try swapping it out for ginger.
3. Blueberry and banana protein smoothie
If you’re looking to start your day with a smoothie that’s jam-packed with protein, you don’t necessarily need to add protein powder. In fact, there are loads of natural sources of protein you can incorporate.
This blueberry and banana protein smoothie recipe from Hurry The Food Up makes use of low-fat cottage cheese and chia seeds to pack the protein in (over 20g, in fact), while still remaining tasty.
4. Tropical pineapple and carrot smoothie
Whether you want to enjoy something light and refreshing on a hot summer’s day, or you need a little sunshine to keep the winter blues away, this tropical pineapple and carrot smoothie recipe from Peas and Crayons is perfect for every occasion.
Combining a variety of sweet tropical fruits with the earthy taste of carrots, this recipe demonstrates how fruit and vegetables can work together to make something nutritious and delicious.
5. Healthy chocolate and banana smoothie
Who says you need to feel guilty about enjoying the taste of chocolate? Yay For Food’s healthy chocolate and banana smoothie combines cocoa powder with frozen bananas, ground cinnamon, unsweetened almond milk, chia seeds, and baby spinach.
This recipe gives you everything you need for a satisfying and nutritious smoothie – and it’s vegan too.
6. Pumpkin spice green smoothie
Do you enjoy a pumpkin spice latte when autumn rolls around? If so, why not give this smoothie from Bites of Wellness a try?
It’s an unusual but tasty recipe combining the earthy, warming flavours of pumpkin spice with the nutritional benefits of a green smoothie.
Plus, it includes chia seeds, vanilla protein powder, and a nut butter of your choice, so it’s full of protein and will keep you fuller for longer. Promised to taste ‘anything but green’, this is the green smoothie for people who don’t like green smoothies.
7. Triple berry smoothie
Using more veggies instead of fruit can be a great way to keep the sugar content down in your smoothies. But if you don’t have any to hand or you don’t like them in your smoothies, then choosing low-sugar fruits like berries, stone fruits, and citrus fruits can be the next best option.
So why not try this triple berry smoothie from Delish, which contains strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries?
Some tips for creating your own smoothies
At the most basic level, smoothies are made from two ingredients: a base (like fruits or vegetables) and a liquid (like milk, a milk alternative, coconut water, or fruit juice). Although, when making a smoothie on the fly, the possibilities for customisation are truly endless.
So, here are some tips and advice for making your own smoothie…
- Use frozen fruits. Using frozen fruit (either shop-bought packets or freshly frozen) will give your smoothie that refreshing, icy consistency. It also means you won’t be in a rush to use up all your ingredients.
- Try combining multiple bases. The best smoothies combine multiple bases – for example, strawberry and banana. However, just like in some of the examples above, don’t be afraid to mix fruits and vegetables together. Some popular combinations are kale with mango and apple with carrot.
- Use more vegetables. If nutritional value and overall health benefits are one of your priorities when it comes to smoothies, then it’s a good idea to include some vegetables.
As we’ve already mentioned, vegetables contain less sugar and calories than fruit. Leafy greens like kale and spinach are popular choices, but you can also get creative and try things like cauliflower and beets.
- Consider adding some herbs and spices. Herbs and spices can really take the flavour of your smoothie to a whole new level. Try adding things like ginger, mint, basil, and turmeric.
- Why not add some rolled oats? If you’re worried about your morning smoothie not keeping you full for long enough, then blending up a scoop of whole rolled oats alongside all your other ingredients will help to make it extra satisfying. Oats will also give your creation a boost of vitamins, minerals, protein, and fibre.
- Consider adding some protein sources. Extra protein in your smoothie will help you to stay fuller for longer. Plus, if you like to exercise in the morning, then a post-workout protein-packed smoothie will help your muscles to recover.
Some popular choices are almond butter, chia seeds, and kefir. Things like almond butter and chia seeds are also great sources of healthy fats.
Final thoughts…
So, if you ever need a quick, efficient, and convenient breakfast; want to eat a little healthier; or just fancy something lighter and more refreshing than a traditional breakfast, why not give one of our seven smoothie suggestions a try? Alternatively, you could even make one up yourself using our tips and advice.
For more mealtime ideas, head over to the food and drink section of our website. Here, you’ll find everything from quick and easy meal ideas to cuisines from around the world. Or, you can check out what culinary demonstrations are coming up over on Rest Less Events using the button below.