Recently I found myself typing the words “how to build a better smoothie” into a search engine while sipping on a watered down, brown beverage that I tried to convince myself was a smoothie. After coming home from the Saratoga wedding, I found myself wanting to kick my nutrition up a notch. I decided an easy way to do this would be to add a smoothie a day into my routine for a week or so.
Since I’m not usually a smoothie gal, I made the common mistake of throwing a bunch of healthy items into the blender and hitting go. I suppose I figured the Blendtec had the ability to magically transform any combination into a delicious smoothie. I mean, it has a special smoothie button and everything.
Shocker; I was wrong.
I asked for advice on my Instagram stories and was flooded with great tips and tricks for building a better smoothie and just as many responses asking me to share what I learned. Ask and ye shall receive!
Over the past week, I’ve implemented these pearls of smoothie wisdom and tried several recommended recipe. I’m happy to announce that I’ve had seriously tasty success.
How to Build a Better Smoothie
To determine the amount of liquid, fill up the cup you want to drink out of with your liquid of choice. How many times have I made a smoothie only to fill my cup up halfway? Or end up with double the amount I need. Such a simple, helpful tip!
Add the liquids to the blender first. This allows the blender to create the liquid vortex that will easily pull down the other ingredients to blend.
Powders and seeds should be poured directly into the liquid before any other ingredients. This is so the powders can fully dissolve into the liquid so you won’t be left with a chalky texture. Seeds (like chia seeds) are good to add now (and let them sit for a few minutes) so they can absorb some of the liquid in order to plump up and better blend into the smoothie.
Frozen ingredients should go in last. Whether you are using frozen fruit, frozen veggies, or ice cubes, the weight of those ingredients will help weigh all the other ingredients down.
Similar to a meal, consider your mix of macro-nutrients. Fruit is great, however it can be high in sugar, so a fruit-heavy smoothie without fat and protein to balance it out will result in a sugar high, followed by a crash.
Some great add-ins to add some staying power to your smoothie include nut butters, avocado, full fat Greek yogurt, coconut oil, or flaxseed oil.
Don’t overload the healthy. I tend to get excited about packing nutrients in, but I can tell you from firsthand experience that trying to cram maca powder, spirulina, acai powder, goji berries, and bone broth protein into a single smoothie is a recipe for a gag-worthy result. Pick a super nutrient powder or two at the max, and use in small increments until you know how you tolerate the taste. Spirulina is not for the weak!
Invest in a quality blender. Of course there is always the Vitamix or Blendtec, but if you aren’t wanting to invest that much, the Ninja Professional Blender is an incredible blender at a price that makes sense.
Consider the ratio of ingredients. A good breakdown is typically:
- 1 cup fruit
- 1-2 cups of veggies
- 1 Tbsp fat (nut butter, avocado oil, etc)
- 3/4 cup liquid of choice
Of course, there are endless ways to doctor it up! Weelicious has a great smoothie add-in chart here. And apparently she shares a new smoothie recipe every morning in her Instastories, I was told.
Add spices. Cinnamon and nutmeg can add some serious flavor to a banana-based smoothie. Cocoa powder tossed in with peanut butter is going to be delicious. Cayenne or ginger will add some pizzazz to a lemon and coconut water blend. Have fun with it!
Don’t be too bold with the greens. There is a reason baby spinach got such a reputation; you really can’t taste it! But dandelion greens? Arugula? They’re going to be recognizable, and not in a good way!
Switch up your liquids to add variety. Almond milk and coconut water are fairly common, but branching out and trying tea, kefir, kombucha, juice, or coffee as a base can really shake things up.
To make it extra thick, freeze the fruit and some of your liquid of choice too. Freezing coconut water or almond milk into cubes will thicken up your result. Just add a few cubes in with the liquid portion.
Start at a low speed and work your way up to high. If you increase the speed too quickly an air pocket will form and the blades will just spin around without actually blending the ingredients.
And a final note on smoothie color! Berries are often then culprit behind brown smoothies. If you’re after a bright green color, don’t add berries of any kind, or at the very least stick to strawberries (just a couple!) or blueberries on their own (will end up being dark purple). However, berries can be delicious so if you’re pouring into an opaque cup- who cares?!
Tested and Approved Recipes:
Back on Track Green Monster (Banana Free)
The Busy Mom’s Oatmeal Bowl Smoothie For Kids
Strawberry Banana Hidden Cauliflower Smoothie
Ok smoothie lovers, help a girl out!
Which tips did I miss?
Which tips have proven to be the most important in your smoothie making?
What is your favorite smoothie recipe or combination?
montessoriishmom says
This is so great! I love the smoothie recipes from both Oh She Glows cookbooks, but often I just want to make a smoothie on a whim and dont have all of the ingredients for an actual recipe, so these tips are so helpful! That blender looks great as well – I could use a new blender, but really don’t use it often enough to justify a Vitamix.
Erica says
Fantastic tips! My favorite combo is non-dairy milk, baby spinach, avocado, plain yogurt, pineapple, and mango. Like you mentioned, I avoid the berries because they make it an unpleasant brown color instead of such a pretty bright green! The food network always tells me you eat with your eyes first lol! Love my Nutribullet for smoothies and for making baby food. I’ve been using it for around 3 years now. But I could see how making smoothies for 3 people eventually (once baby is ready) I’ll probably need to use a blender. I’ve heard good things about the Ninja products!
Brynn says
Adding spice and fats have been a game changer for me. I love to mix blueberries, spinach, fresh ginger and sunflower seed butter for the most amazing, filling smoothie!
Gina says
I like to soak my chia seeds in water the night before (about 1 tbsp of seeds in 2-3 tbsps of water). That way in the morning the seeds are nice and soft and you can blend right away without having to wait for the liquid to absorb. You don’t even taste or notice the seeds in your smoothie and they also don’t get stuck at the bottom of the blender. It is also an easy way for me to get some protein in by adding protein powder and/or gelatin (grass-fed).
Elizabeth says
Daddy is the smoothie king in our house. Two things that he uses to make any smoothie delicious: 1. banana, 2. canned mangos.
Meghan says
-Beets! They make the prettiest red colored smoothies. Plus they are really great for flushing out your system.
-Bee pollen
-Hemp hearts for extra protein
-Lemon juice adds extra freshness.
– Avacado adds creaminess and good fat
– I Second the heavy duty blender too. We used to use a bullet and the flecks of spinach or kale made me gag.
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Kelly says
Thank you for this! My daughter loves smoothies and we have been struggling at home to get the consistency and quantity right.
Betty says
Your tip to add cinnamon and nutmeg to a banana-based smoothie was genius. No smoothie in our house is made without banana, but adding those spices really did make a big difference. All great tips, thanks so much for sharing!
Rachel says
I learned my favorite tip from a blog called Wholefully! She recommended making “smoothie booster pucks” or ice cubes. Basically, you blend up all of your superfoods (spinach, kale, chia seeds, oatmeal, etc. – whatever you want!) with some water and freeze the mixture in ice cube trays or silicone muffin pans. Once they’re frozen, store the pucks in freezer bags. That way you don’t have to get out every ingredient, every time to make a smoothie with boosters, and it also works in a pinch when you don’t have things like spinach on hand!
Amanda L says
I do the same thing! I buy a bag of juicing greens and make green ice cubes bc I could never have the right amount of fresh greens on hand – I like your idea of adding even more ingredients to them!
Aggie says
This is by far the BEST smoothie guide ever created! Thanks a milllion!
Laura says
Great tips! I can’t believe I never thought to measure out the amount of liquid beforehand! Duh! I always end up with smoothies that are either too big or too small.
Frozen banana and almond butter are staples in my smoothies. I also love adding cherries, hemp hearts, cocoa powder, and if I have leftover coffee, I love making a mocha flavoured smoothie!
Miranda says
What a timely article! I get my Vitamix on Sunday and am SO EXCITED to make all the smoothies! Off to get some staples for making the best smoothies ever. Thanks for the great post!
Amanda L says
I can’t believe how many “duh” moments I had while reading this post! I ALWAYS have issues with the smoothie being too thick and creating a void at the bottom – I can’t believe I never thought to do the liquid first and also vary the speed (I ALWAYS go top speed bc more obviously equals better, right?) I currently have a ninja blender and a Kitchen Aid blender, both are ok (the kitchen aid works MUCH better) but a Vitamix is on my (long) list of wants. Anyway, my 3 year old drank a green smoothie this week thanks to these tips (he had previously told me he doesn’t like brown smoothies, just green ones) so this post was much appreciated!
Brittany Dixon says
I always went to high speed first too and laughed at the “suckers” that started at low speed- LOL! A palm to forehead moment for me for sure 😉
Paige C. says
Thanks for posting this! I definitely make the too much liquid for the cup mistake. Excited to get home and try some of these ideas!
Brittany Dixon says
Yay! Hope they work out for you as well as they did for me!
Annies Jones says
Thank Brittany. My kids love smoothies. I am so excited to make these smoothies for them now.