Basic Smoothie Recipe

Intro: Basic Smoothie Recipe

Customize your perfect smoothie with this easy, basic smoothie recipe!  The basic ingredients in my smoothies are:

• Fruit -I use frozen fruit because it's easy to come by, easy to store, and frozen at its peak of ripeness, so you never have to worry about it going off.
• Banana - everyone I know adds half a banana to their smoothie.  I don't like bananas (unless they're ice cream.)  But they're good for potassium, and for making a thick, smooth shake.
• Juice - juice makes the frozen fruit easier to blend and the resulting smoothie easier to drink.  If you are using fresh fruit, you can probably skip this part.
• Dairy (or non-dairy) - I use nonfat greek yogurt for my dairy and to boost the protein content.  Milk, almond milk, soy milk, etc. can also be substituted
• Supplements - optional.  I like to use a blend of spirulina (green energy!) and protein powder.  You can also add a good dose of liquid vitamins, amino acids, probiotics, freshly ground flax seeds, or whatever you like.  I try to avoid too many additives though, because it can change the flavor of your resulting smoothie.

• If you really must make it sweeter, try a drop of honey or use a naturally sweet juice, like apple.

This smoothie was made with frozen blueberries and mango, non-fat Greek yogurt, pomegranate juice for an anitoxidant boost, and Spirutein.   I use an immersion blender to mix it up, but I also love using my Magic Bullet!

Of course, the beauty of the smoothie is there's no one right way to make it.  Have fun, and good health!

Comments

[MattBeeBee]

2 tablespoons greek yogurt
Fresh strawberries,blueberries, and rasberries
A splash of orange juice
Some spinach like xial said
Cilantro leafs
A tiny bit of serano pepper seeds
An ice cube
And about 1/8 a cup of flax seed
A teaspoon of honey

[marley61]

I use KALE instead of Spinach, better for you............

[greentrees]

Awesome smoothie help thanks so much. I am new to the smoothie art form and you have given me heaps of ideas :)

[nsands]

I'm trying this

[Xial]

I like adding raw spinach to smoothies when I make them.
The smoothies come out green, but as long as your spinach content is under 25% of the total smoothie ingredient value, it still tastes sweet and refreshing, and not so much like you're sucking down liquid chlorophyll. :)

Fruit of choice here is pineapple, with strawberries as a close second. I don't like bananas, either, so I generally skip them.

For a while, I was adding freshly made hemp milk for its health benefits, but I stopped doing that and went to fruit juice for the sweetness. I may go back to hemp milk if I can get back to making it, since I can add a packet of stevia to the blender (I make 20-30 ounces of smoothie at a time, usually).

Sometimes, I'll add a fiber supplement, but I should see about flax seeds, and find a decent source of protein to add that isn't soy. :)

Either way, this /is/ a good start. :)

[scoochmaroo]

I'm partial to whey protein myself, just for its flavor. I do like spinach in my juice blends, so I'll have to give it a shot in my smoothes! Why not try hemp milk + fruit juice?

[modern man]

Good instructable. My favorite started out with a recipe for "tigers milk" from a friend's mom.
-1/2 cup OJ
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 raw egg
- 1 tbsp of honey
Very sweet & a great breakfast. I've since changed it more into a smoothie:
- 1/2 cup OJ
- 1/2 cup yogurt (flavored or plain, non fat or full fat)
- 1 raw egg
- 1 banana
- 1/3 cup frozen strawberries (slightly thawed in the microwave) also used rasberries or blueberries
- 1 tbsp honey
I calculated it to about 500 calories, but it sure starts your day right. Maybe I'll try adding some spinach like Xial.
Like you said, experiment & have fun.

[scoochmaroo]

This is great! I was just wondering the other day if I could add an egg to it to give it a protein boost. Sounds like it works! I'll definitely give this a try.

[PKM]

My personal favourite is two slightly over-ripe bananas, half a cup of milk and a teaspoon of hot chocolate powder. Delicious, quick, thick and full of energy!

[splazem]

Yum! This is a great starter for people. Now I have to wait for an idea...