8 Simple & Easy Smoothie Recipes
on Jan 10, 2017, Updated Oct 23, 2024
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These simple & easy smoothie recipes are easy to make, have just a few ingredients, and taste great. These fresh and delicious smoothies are a great way to get your family excited to drink their fruits and veggies!
Smoothies are a fun, affordable snack the whole family will enjoy. The best part is that there’s no right or wrong way to make one. There are so many fruits, vegetables, and other ingredients that can be mixed and matched, and each can be its own favorite delicious drink.
These easy smoothie recipes are great to have on hand for inspiration, but don’t be afraid to use whatever you have on hand. Smoothies make a quick on-the-go breakfast and a filling after-school snack. While you’re at it, make up some Homemade Granola Bars or Oatmeal Energy Balls to go with your smoothie—no baking required!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple Recipes: These are ultra-simple recipes (just 4-6 ingredients per smoothie), so you’ll have everything you need to start.
- Basic Ingredients: You won’t need to go to the health food store to make these because there are no specialty ingredients.
- Small Batch: The recipes only make a small amount, so you can try them all and see what your favorites are without making too much.
- Unlimited Variety: You can add anything you like to make the smoothies your own! Just take the basic recipe, use your favorite fruits, and get creative with the additions.
Recipe Ingredients
Strawberry Banana
- Frozen banana
- Strawberries (fresh or frozen)
- Unsweetened Greek yogurt
- Unsweetened milk (nut, soy, or animal)
Tropical Smoothie
- Frozen banana
- Pineapple (fresh or frozen)
- Mango (fresh or frozen)
- Orange
- Unsweetened Greek yogurt
- Ice (not needed if using frozen mango and pineapple)
- Unsweetened milk (nut, soy, or animal)
Yummy Tip: Coconut milk is amazing in this smoothie!
Very Berry Smoothie
- Frozen banana
- Mixed frozen berries (fresh or frozen)
- Unsweetened Greek yogurt
- Unsweetened milk (nut, soy, or animal)
PB or Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie
- Frozen banana
- Peanut butter
- Unsweetened Greek yogurt
- Unsweetened milk (nut, soy, or animal)
- Cocoa powder & sweetener to taste for a chocolate-PB smoothie!
Cherry Pomegranate Detox Smoothie
- Frozen banana
- Sour cherries
- Pomegranate seeds (arils)
- Ice cubes
- Unsweetened milk (nut, soy, or animal)
Green Goddess Smoothie
- Frozen banana
- Green grapes
- Kiwi
- Baby spinach leaves or other leafy greens
- Ice
- Unsweetened milk (nut, soy, or animal)
Extra Green Smoothie
- Frozen banana
- Blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- Orange
- Baby kale and/or baby Swiss chard
- Ice
- Unsweetened milk (nut, soy, or animal)
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Recipe FAQs
There is NO right or wrong way to make a smoothie! These recipes are just starter ideas for you to work off of. My biggest tip is that if you’re using fresh fruit, throw in a little ice to thicken them and make them colder.
A good blender is worth it because it can whip up a thick and delicious smoothie in about 45 seconds. I use a Blendtec, but others swear by their Vitamix blenders. Both are investments but worth it if you have a family of smoothie lovers.
This is totally up to you! I have used and loved all kinds of milk for smoothies, including ordinary cows’ milk, raw cows’ milk, and lots of nut and plant milk, like unsweetened rice, almond, coconut, and cashew.
I don’t add sweeteners besides fruit to my smoothies, but sometimes, my kids want them to be sweeter. Honey, maple syrup, fruit juice, sweetened milk, or sweetened yogurt can all add a little sweetness.
You can replace the banana with some plain Greek yogurt + a little sweetener + ice OR add half an avocado + a little sweetener + ice. Both combinations replace a ripe banana nicely in a smoothie and still give you a rich, creamy texture.
Expert Tips
- Too Thick: If the smoothie is too thick or not blending well, add more milk, water, or juice depending on the recipe.
- Extra Goodness: Make them more nutrient dense by adding hemp seed hearts, ground flaxseed, chia seeds, spirulina, protein powder (whey, brown rice, pea, etc.), and/or cacao nibs.
- Frozen Fruit: When fruit is in season or on sale, stock your freezer to make your smoothies more affordable. Here’s how to freeze bananas and how to freeze apricots.
- Make-ahead Smoothies: Save time by prepping your smoothies ahead of time by making some frozen smoothie packs. These can even be stored in mason jars so the final blending can be done inside the jar with an immersion blender.
Additional Smoothie Ingredient Ideas
Each of these options would make a great addition to any of these easy fruit smoothie recipes.
- Hemp seed hearts
- Seeds — ground flax seeds, chia seeds
- Healthy fats — coconut oil, avocados
- Nut butters — peanut butter, almond butter
- Spirulina
- Protein powder (whey, brown rice, pea, etc.)
- Cacao nibs
- Goji berries
- Matcha powder
- Bee pollen
- Cottage cheese
More Yummy Snack Recipes to Consider
Breakfast Recipes
Protein Shakes
Snacks
Breakfast Bars
Breakfast Recipes
Chia Seed Pudding
From Scratch Recipes
Celery Juice
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ review and share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!
8 Healthy Smoothie Recipes
Ingredients
Strawberry Banana
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 cup strawberries, (fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened Greek yogurt
- 1 cup unsweetened milk, (nut, soy, or animal)
Tropical Smoothie
- 1/2 frozen banana
- 1/2 cup pineapple, (fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 cup mango, (fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 orange, (peeled)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup ice, (not needed if using frozen mango and pineapple)
- 1 cup unsweetened milk, (nut, soy, or animal)
Very Berry Smoothie
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 cup mixed frozen berries, (fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened Greek yogurt
- 1 cup unsweetened milk, (nut, soy, or animal)
Peanut Butter Smoothie
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter
- 1/2 cup unsweetened Greek yogurt
- 1 cup unsweetened milk, (nut, soy, or animal)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup unsweetened Greek yogurt
- 1 cup unsweetened milk, (nut, soy, or animal)
- Sweetener to taste, (I like to add a little honey to this one to sweeten up the cocoa a bit)
Cherry Pomegranate Detox Smoothie
- 1/2 a frozen banana
- 1/2 cup sour cherries
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds, (arils)
- 1/2 cup ice
- 1 cup unsweetened milk, (nut, soy, or animal)
Green Goddess Smoothie
- 1/2 a frozen banana
- 1/2 cup green grapes
- 1 kiwi, peeled
- 1 cup baby spinach leaves
- 1/2 cup ice
- 1 cup unsweetened milk, (nut, soy, or animal)
Extra Green Smoothie
- 1/2 a frozen banana
- 1/2 cup blueberries, (fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 an orange, peeled
- 1 to 2 cup baby kale and/or baby swiss chard
- 1/2 cup ice
- 1 cup unsweetened milk, (nut, soy, or animal)
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients for one of the smoothies above to the jar of your blender.
- Place the lid on the blender and blend until smooth, about 1 minutes on medium to medium-high speed.
- Enjoy right away.
Notes
- Bananas are the backbone of these simple smoothie recipes because they add a natural sweetness and make the creamiest smoothies!
- If you have leftover smoothie, place it in a popsicle mold and freeze. Then you or the kids can enjoy them later as a popsicle.
- Feel free to add things you like, such as a little sweetener if needed or “superfoods” like a few teaspoons of any of the following: chia seeds, hemp seeds, flax meal, etc.
- For those who don’t love blended foods, try a smoothie bowl with a bit of the blended smoothie and allow them to top with their own additional toppings.
I like to add a little stevia to the smoothies.
great
Thank you for the very simple recipes, I am just started the smoothie trend. I cannot eat bananas, but noticed that someone commented they add thickness and sweetness to the smoothies. Do you have any recommendations for something to replace the bananas with on your recipes?
I like to add a little greek yogurt in it’s place or additional frozen fruit!
I don’t like eating regular bananas either (got indigestion if they aren’t ripe enough). I use ripened Asian bananas and they taste much better. They would look old, spotted, ready to be thrown away but once peeled, they looked perfect, tasted so sweet, not mushy at all and never gave me the indigestion feeling. I buy them green or yellow with spots when available and use them when they ripened well
Do you use nonfat or full fat greek yogurt? Thanks
Whatever you like or have on hand. I typically use full fat.
I started smoothies as a healthy alternative to eating different fruit . My 6 year old daughter and i love drinking smoothies.
I’m one of those people that doesn’t like bananas (gasp!!). My question is, do you actually TASTE the bananas,or is it more to add the sweetness? Thanks!!!
I’d say in most cases you can’t even taste it, but if you are a nana hater you might thinking differently!
It’s adds a sweetness and a thickness and more depth. You don’t taste is necessarily no. It’s definitely a necessity tho! It’s so delicious
you can tell its there but it doesn’t taste like banana it makes it thicker and I usually add one if I think the smoothie is too fruity
I love your tips and your recipes ,my children love smoothies , and they love doing it themselves especially my teenage son who is 13 years old, , Thank you for sharing .
How fun that your son can make them himself! My kids are getting a bit older and more independent and I love seeing them try new things in the the kitchen too!
These smoothies look great! Thanks for sahring.
I recently found your blog and I love it! Thanks for these yummy recipes. I am excited to try them all. Smoothies are one of the easiest ways to sneak veggies to my picky eaters! And I agree that bananas are the best in smoothies!
I am just starting to make smoothies consistently as an attempt to get my almost 20 month old to get fruit/veggies in each day so I was super excited to see this post in my email! I know you have a toddler, what do you add to his smoothies to make sure he is getting enough protein, healthy fats, etc? I just don’t know the best things to add into hers…
Smoothies are my all time favorite way to get good things in my babies! I have an (almost) 18 month old and a 3 year old so I totally know what you are talking about. When I feel like they need fat and protein I always add a heavy hand of Greek yogurt. I generally add unsweetened and just let the fruit sweeten it, but you can add what you like. So much fat and protein there! I also add a handful of raw cashews to theirs. They are delicious and not as “nutty” as peanut butter. I’m also a big “super foods” fan so I almost always throw in some chia seeds, hemp seed hearts, and flax seed for good measure, they blend right up. My three year old doesn’t like green smoothies now (it’s new, in the last year or so he’s gotten funny about them thanks to his older siblings) so if I’m hiding greens in it, I have to add blue berries or the triple berry mix from Costco so that it’s a nice dark purple color. And my last thought, if they get to help make it, they will like it more. They love to help. Ok, I lied, two more thoughts. They LOVE straws, they are a must. Unfinished smoothies and whatever is left in the blender is always made into popsicles. They have a popsicle almost every day in the afternoon and you just can’t feel bad about that. ENJOY! Did that help at all? Good luck mama! You are doing great!