Smoothies are a delicious way to get nutrition into your body whilst whipping up a super quick meal. Whether you enjoy smoothies for breakfast, snack or dessert, they are a great way to increase your daily servings of fruits and vegetables.
How to Make a Good Smoothie
A good smoothie should contain a liquid (water or plant-based milk), fruit, healthy fat (such as flaxseed, almond butter or chia seeds), and optional ingredients such as ice, green leafy vegetables, and (vegan/non-vegan) protein powder.
By including these ingredients it helps the smoothie to be packed with protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals, healthy fat, carbohydrates and hydration. These types of ingredients will help you to feel satisfied, satiated and hydrated until your next meal.
Add the liquid to the blender first and then the solid ingredients to avoid chunks of food getting stuck under the blades. This enables the blender to blend all the ingredients to a smooth texture.
There are many ingredients to make healthy delicious smoothies and here I am picking one to help you have a base ingredient for making go-to smoothies. This base ingredient is great when you feel lost on what to throw together and blend, it will become your favourite ingredient when creating simple quick smoothies for any meals during the day.
My favourite smoothie ingredient is banana. Here is why it’s the winner base ingredient.
Banana: Favourite Smoothie Ingredient
- Thickens up the smoothie
- Provide a creamier texture
- Adds a creamy subtle flavour
- Denser calories compared to berries which means higher satiety from the smoothie so you go longer without wanting to eat again
- Compliments other fruits such as blueberries and raspberries
- For those who don’t like leafy greens but know they need them, bananas do a great job at masking the flavour.
Check out this article 6 Amazing Reasons to Eat Bananas!!
Here are 5 favourite smoothies using banana to make delicious creamy shakes for breakfast and snacks.
Top 5 Smoothie Recipes with Banana
1. Banana Toffee Shake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup ice
- 1 to 2 scoops chocolate vegan protein powder
- 1/2 large banana
- 1 medjool date
Method
1. Add all ingredients to a blender. Blend until smooth.
2. Strawberry Breakfast Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 cup ice
- 1 to 2 scoops plain or vanilla vegan protein powder
- 2 tbsp rolled oats
- 1/2 cup strawberries
- 1/2 large banana
- 1 tbsp flaxseeds
Method
1. Add all ingredients to a blender. Blend until smooth.
3. Peanut Butter Banana Shake
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 cup ice
- 1 to 2 scoops chocolate or vanilla vegan protein powder
- 2 tbsp hemp seeds
- 1/2 large banana
- 1 1/2 tsp peanut butter
Method
1. Add all ingredients to a blender. Blend until smooth.
4. Vanilla Almond Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 cup ice
- 1 to scoops vanilla vegan protein powder
- 2 tbsp unsalted almonds
- 2 tsp almond butter
- 1/2 large banana
Method
1. Add all ingredients to a blender. Blend until smooth.
5. Fruity Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 cup ice
- 1 to 2 scoops vanilla protein powder
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
- 1/2 large banana
- 1 tbsp flaxseeds
Method
1. Add all ingredients to a blender. Blend until smooth.
Enjoy nutrient-packed, quick meal banana smoothies that make your belly and taste buds happy.
Rebecca is a personal trainer and health & wellness coach who is passionate about helping women to feel healthy, happy and LOVE life. As a coach with a huge passion for vegan nutrition, holistic health, enjoying exercise and self care, Rebecca is on a mission to help women thrive!
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