10+ BEST SMOOTHIES
These smoothie recipes give new life to your favorite fruits and veggies ñ in a slurpable drink! They’re packed with good-for-you ingredients, made in less than 5 minutes, and can be enjoyed any time throughout the day.
HOW TO MAKE A GREAT SMOOTHIE
When it comes to making a smoothie, don’t overthink it. The best ones are often made from improvising with what you have on hand. Toss in your slightly browned banana, sprinkle in a handful of spinach that’s about to go bad, or use up that half can of coconut milk. Just a little bit of each can go far in a delicious blended drink.
While there’s no right or wrong way to make a smoothie, here’s a few tips to for making a healthy, well-rounded smoothie.
Choose a liquid base. Choose filtered water, coconut water, or any dairy-free milks (such as oat milk, almond milk, hemp milk, or cashew milk) for an extra creamy smoothie. Steer clear of fruit juices most of the time though, as it adds unnecessary sugar.
Start with frozen fruits. To keep your smoothie chilled and creamy, it’s best to use frozen fruits. You can use store-bought frozen bags, or chop and freeze fresh fruit.
Add vegetables for a dose of greens. Fresh leafy greens such as spinach or kale are an easy way to sneak in greens. But you can also add in frozen zucchini or frozen cauliflower to pack in extra nutrients and fiber in these low sugar smoothies.
Consider adding healthy fats. Healthy fats will help absorb all those fat-soluble vitamins and nutrients from your fruits and vegetables! All you need is a dollop of almond butter, a drizzle of coconut oil, a slice of avocado or a variety of seeds such as chia seeds or flax seeds.
Superfood & protein add-ins are a plus. Give your smoothie an extra boost with the simplest ingredients. These can range from spices such as cinnamon or turmeric, to superfoods like maca powder or goji berries. For more superfood options, take a peek at my post on how to make the healthiest green smoothie.
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE TO BURN FAT
I’m a big proponent of eating healthy as much as possible and participating in a regular exercise routine. That looks different for all of us with our varied interests, schedules, time constraints and lifestyles. There’s nothing that helps boost your metabolism more than exercising to build muscle.
More muscle means more fat-burning capabilities.
For me, that’s running 3-5 times a week and lifting weights three times a week. When it comes to boosting your metabolism, exercise goes hand-in-hand with healthy eating. Certain foods have fat-burning and metabolism-boosting abilities. Adding them into your diet can help magnify weight loss efforts. I’m a huge fan of smoothies, especially when I can use natural ingredients to transform them into a weight loss smoothie.
Give your body energy (i.e. high-quality calories) to power it through a workout. The workout helps build muscle, which burns more calories (i.e. fat) the rest of the time. See how nicely that works? It’s a beautiful thing!
Raspberry Chocolate Smoothie
“I really love this weight loss smoothie because it tastes super-decadent, but in reality is just loaded with a ton of natural, unprocessed, and healthful ingredients. The cocoa powder is a good source of flavonoids that are both brain and heart-healthy, and also makes the smoothie taste like I’ve added a ton of chocolate. In addition to the healthy cocoa, this smoothie also has other healthy ingredients like raspberries that are a source of immune-boosting vitamin C, and the spinach that’s a source of energizing B vitamins. If I have this smoothie post-workout, I’ll also add a plant-based protein like sprouted rice or pea protein to help my muscles recover more quickly.”
1 banana
1 handful spinach
1 cup raspberries
1 tablespoon almond or cashew nut butter
2 tablespoons raw cocoa powder
10 oz unsweetened almond, hemp or coconut milk
1 scoop or serving plant-based protein powder (optional)
NUTRITION: (With scoop of protein) 391 calories / 15 g fat / 38 g carbs / 12 g fiber / 12 g sugar / 34 g protein
NUTRITION: (Without scoop of protein) 257 calories / 15 g fat / 32 g carbs / 11 g fiber / 10 g sugar / 8.6 g protein.
Coconut Mango Breakfast Shake
This yummy Coconut Mango Shake is a perfect healthy breakfast smoothie recipe.
The coconut and mango make it tropical and decadent, and it has Chia seeds in it for an extra protein and nutrition boost, and a creamy breakfast shake texture.
If you’re more into creamy weight loss smoothies, this weight loss shake could become your healthy breakfast recipe go to.
If your embarking on a detox smoothie diet, I recommend picking up a great smoothie blender! Check out the 15 Best Blenders for Weight Loss Smoothies here.
Coconut Mango Breakfast Shake
When it comes to creamy weight loss smoothies, this is one of the best!
Packed with healthy superfoods, it’s a great addition to any detox smoothie diet.
PREP TIME
3 mins
COOK TIME
0 mins
SOAKING TIME
8 hrs
TOTAL TIME
8 hrs 3 mins
COURSE
Breakfast, Smoothies
CUISINE
American
SERVINGS
1 serving
CALORIES
235 kcal
EQUIPMENT
Blender
INGREDIENTS
1x
2x
3x
2 tablespoons Chia seeds
1 cup Coconut milk can substitute with Almond milk
Ω teaspoon vanilla extract
Ω cup chopped frozen organic mango
Ω teaspoon flaked coconut optional
INSTRUCTIONS
Allow the seeds to soak in your fridge for 8 hours (I do this overnight) shake the jar a couple times before you go to bed and a couple times in the morning before you make the breakfast shake. This will allow the seeds to better expand.
Add all of the ingredients to the blender.
Blend until smooth.
Serve.
Wash the blender immediately to avoid food sticking.
NOTES
Allow the seeds to soak in your fridge for 8 hours (I do this overnight) shake the jar a couple times before you go to bed and a couple times in the morning before you make the breakfast shake. This will allow the seeds to better expand.
Number of servings: 1 Serving size: 1 smoothie Calories: 235; Fat: 11; Fiber: 12; Protein: 7; Carbohydrates: 29
NUTRITION
Calories: 235kcal
KEYWORD
breakfast, Smoothies
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This superfood breakfast smoothie recipe is one of our favorite recipes for weight loss! Try it out with your favorite detox smoothie diet (or check out our FREE Detox Smoothie Diet below)�-
Best Fruits for Smoothies
Easy Smoothie Bowl
Pretty much any fruit is great for smoothies. Use fresh fruit, frozen fruit or fruit canned in water or its own juice. One great tip is to freeze your fresh produce if you know you won’t get to eat it before it goes bad. This works with overripe bananas, strawberries, blueberries, sliced apples and more (here’s more information on how to freeze your own fruit).
Berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries)
Mango
Pineapple
Peach
Banana
Apple
Melon
Cherries
Apricot
Stone fruits
Stone fruit smoothieQuite an extravagant little drink this. The recipe calls for nectarines, plums, avocado, cherries, walnuts and Medjool dates. You could add more of one and less of another depending on your own preference and the availability of the various fruits. Packed with goodness, and incredibly drinkable.
Best Vegetables for Smoothies
Use raw or frozen vegetables. Usually, the sweetness of the fruit masks the vegetable flavor but you may need play around with combinations and amounts to find what works for you. These veggies are all a good place to start.
Carrot
Kale
Spinach
Avocado
Cucumber
Cauliflower
Pumpkin
Everyday Green Smoothie Healthy Smoothie Recipes
This green smoothie packs in healthy nutrients thanks to a serving of kale, chia seeds and avocado.
The green smoothie seems like the picture of weight loss ó but Newgent warns that not all green smoothies are created equal. If the smoothie contains good carbs, protein and healthy fats, she says, then they absolutely can be helpful for weight management.
So, how does one go about making a healthy green smoothie? A lot of it comes down to your taste preferences, but remember to stay away from adding foods loaded with sugar ó like honey and maple syrup.
This green smoothie recipe follows Newgent’s guidelines for a healthy recipe: Avocado for healthy and beneficial fats, a serving of chia seeds for plant-based protein and one-and-a-half cups of nutrient-dense kale.
Get the Everyday Green Smoothie recipe and nutrition info here.
Wake-Up Call
Berry smoothie
“Combining a non-dairy, low-calorie smoothie first thing in the morning with a roughly even portion of high-quality protein and good carbs is a great start to anyone looking to lose weight and be healthy. Starting the day off with a smoothie such as this will pull your body out of it’s overnight fasting state, and the carbohydrates from healthy, mixed berries combined with high-quality protein will give you the quick energy and protein uptake your body needs first thing in the morning without being ‘too much.”
cup frozen mixed berries
Handful of spinach
8 oz unsweetened Silk almond milk
1 scoop plant-based vanilla protein powder (Reisinger uses VegaOne Vanilla Performance Protein)
NUTRITION: 230 calories / 2.5 g fat / 20 g carbs / 5 g fiber / 7 g sugar / 26 g protein