How to Make a Smoothie

How to Make a Smoothie

Making smoothies is hardly rocket science and there are plenty of recipes out there, but here are some tips for creating your own smoothie. We also have 5 smoothie recipes to get you started!

Ingredients

• 2 to 2 1/2 cups cubed soft fruit, fresh or frozen, or a combination
• 1 cup of liquid, usually juice or milk
• 1/2 cup of yogurt (optional)
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup ice (unless you are using all frozen fruit)
• a teaspoon or two of sugar, honey, agave or another sweetener (optional)

How to Make It

1. Put the ingredients in a blender and whir it up!
2. This will make two large smoothies.  

Unlike baking recipes, for instance, smoothie recipes do not have to use exact measurements. You can adjust according to taste. The only difference in choosing between fresh or frozen fruit is how thick you want it to be. Frozen will make for a more milkshake-thick smoothie, whereas fresh will get thickened up slightly by the ice, but have a more liquidy texture. Or you can combine frozen and fresh fruit.

You can use any kind of soft fruit you want, such as berries, bananas, peeled peaches or nectarines, melons, even grapes, and puree, and know you can always add a bit more fruit or ice to thicken it or a bit more milk to thin it out. 

Blueberry and Coconut Milk Smoothie

Makes 2 smoothies

You can use whatever berries you like, which makes this the recipe to grab after a berry-picking expedition in the summer.  

Ingredients

• 11/2 cups blueberries
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1/2 cup ice cubes
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

How to Make It

1. Place the berries, coconut milk, ice cubes, honey and lemon juice into a blender. Pulse a few times, then puree until it is smooth.
2. Pour into glasses and serve.

Strawberry Banana Orange Smoothie

Makes 2 smoothies

This is a kid-pleaser and an overall crowd-pleaser. You could use raspberries or blueberries instead of strawberries.

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh strawberries
• 1 banana, frozen (sliced into chunks)
• 1 teaspoon honey, or to taste
• 1/2 cup orange juice, preferably fresh
• 1 cup ice cubes

How to Make It

1. Place the strawberries, banana, honey, orange juice, and ice into a blender. Pulse a few times, then puree until it is the desired texture.
2. Pour into glasses and serve.

Banana Avocado Smoothie

Makes 2 smoothies

If you’ve not tried avocado in a smoothie, you should! Avocados are actually a fruit, so it makes more sense than you think. And they are so naturally smooth and creamy, the texture of this smoothie lives up to its name.

Ingredients

• 1 banana, frozen (sliced into chunks)
• 1/2 avocado (cut into chunks)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons honey, or to taste
• 1/2 cup ice cubes

How to Make It

1. Place the banana, avocados, coconut milk, milk, honey, and ice into a blender.  Pulse a few times, then puree until it is the desired texture.
2. Pour into glasses and serve.

Berry Banana Smoothie

Makes 2 smoothies

If you use all frozen fruit you will have a very thick smoothie–some frozen fruit will give you a medium-thick drink and all fresh fruit will be a thinner (but still very satisfying) smoothie.  If you use all frozen fruit, you’ll probably want to add a bit more juice so this mixture will puree up smoothly in the blender. As with all smoothies, feel free to play with the combination of fruit.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1/2 banana, fresh or frozen (sliced into chunks)  
• 1 tablespoon fruit preserves, such as raspberry, strawberry or mixed berry
• 1 cup crushed ice
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup berry juice

How to Make It

1. Place the strawberries, blueberries, banana, preserves, ice and 1/2 cup berry juice into a blender.  Pulse a few times, then puree until it is the desired texture, adding more juice if desired.
2. Pour into glasses and serve.

Chocolate, Banana, and Peanut Butter Smoothie

Makes 2 smoothies

If a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup became a drink this is what it would taste like. You could use vanilla extract instead of the chocolate, but it does add that extra layer of chocolate fabulousness.

Ingredients

• 1 banana, frozen (sliced into chunks)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon chocolate extract
• 1 cup ice cubes

How to Make It

1. Place the banana, milk, peanut butter, chocolate syrup, chocolate extract, and ice into a blender.  Pulse a few times, then puree until it is the desired texture.
2. Pour into glasses and serve.