Smoothies can be a great and fast meal on the go. If made correctly, they can be a source of nutrients, protein, healthy fats, and probiotics. Without these healthy ingredients, many smoothies contain as much sugar as juice or soda. If protein powder is used, many contain processed whey or artificial sweeteners.
As with any food or drink, the most healthy recipe is usually one made at home and smoothies are no exception. My kids love smoothies and I’ve created a system for making homemade smoothies with real food ingredients. Our smoothies rarely have the same flavor twice since we pick new ingredients each time.
For these whey-free smoothie recipes, we select a liquid as the base, add some frozen fruit and/or veggies and add healthy proteins and fats:
Liquid Options
- Homemade coconut milk
- Kombucha
- Water kefir
- Homemade almond milk
- Chilled coffee with coconut oil (I freeze any leftover coffee with this recipe)
- Herbal teas (recipes for ten of my favorites)
- Water
- Cocount water
- Raw milk
Fruit and Veggies
- Ice
- Mango (fresh or frozen)
- Pineapple (fresh or frozen)
- Strawberries (fresh or frozen) (this my favorite berry smoothie)
- Blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- Blackberries (fresh or frozen)
- Banana (fresh or frozen)
- Cucumber (fresh)
- Spinach (fresh
- Watermelon (fresh)
- other melon (fresh)
Proteins
- Gelatin powder (our favorite- we use this collagen hydrolysate form in smoothies since it doesn’t gel and is water soluble.) Here are some other ways we use gelatin.
- Egg yolks
Healthy Fats
- Coconut oil
- MCT oil
- Avocado
- Butter (yes, really) – preferably grass fed
Add-Ins
- Athletic Greens (great superfood powder)
- Cocoa powder
- Vanilla
- Honey
- Stevia
- Vitamin C powder
Favorite Combos
- Iced Coffee: Bulletproof coffee, frozen coffee ice cubes, coconut milk, vanilla, 2 egg yolks, MCT oil, gelatin, and coconut oil
- Sweet and Sour: Kombucha, pineapple, cucumber, banana, 2 egg yolks, MCT oil or coconut oil, gelatin, honey, and vitamin C powder
- The Tropics: Coconut water, pineapple, mango, banana, gelatin, coconut oil, stevia
- Green Giant: Coconut milk, banana, cucumber, spinach, pineapple, MCT oil, gelatin, Athletic Greens, stevia
Whey-Free Smoothie Recipes
Ingredients
- 1 cup liquid of choice
- ½ cup fresh or frozen fruit of choice and ice if needed
- 1 tsp gelatin powder
- 1 tsp healthy fat of choice
- any desired add-ins or vitamins
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Notes
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What is your favorite smoothie combination or strangest one you’ve ever tried? Share below!
The Strangest Food I Ever Ate…
These days I making my own coconut milk from fresh coconuts. Then for a dessert smoothie:
2 cups coconut milk
1 frozen banana
handful of ice
2 TBSP coconut oil
My best smoothie:
1/2 to 1 frozen banana1 cup coconut milk
1 cup frozen berries
BIG handful of turnip greens
1/2 small zucchini
1 tablespoon spirulina
1 egg yolk
Blend until smooth, and then enjoy!
This is one that I enjoy during the mid-afternoon to satisfy that 3:00 pm hunger. My kids love it too!
2 scoops grass-fed organic whey powder
unsweetened coconut milk
unsweetened almond milk
plain organic kefir
plain organic yogurt
1 banana
unsweetened organic cocoa powder
stevia to sweeten
Mmmmm – chocolate milkshake!
This is my go to smoothie that I never tire of:
Huge amount of oragnic spring greens mix – I stuff as much as I can in the blender
1/2 banana (sometimes 1)
frozen berries
coconut oil – 1 T
cocoa powder – 1 T
ice cubes
Blend everything and enjoy the refreshing smoothie. Sometimes I add 1/2 an avocado which makes it really thick and creamy, and with the cocoa it almost tastes like chocolate pudding.
1 cup blueberries (I freeze mine to chill the drink)
two big handfuls of spinach
1 banana
1T flax meal
1/2 to 1 c water
Blend until smooth – it looks like mossy pond water but tastes amazing!
Second favorite is:
3-4 ribs kale, ribs removed
big handful organic baby spinach
1 banana
seasonal fruit + ice OR frozen fruit (from last season)
water as needed
Blend kale with enough kale to make it “go.” Add spinach, more water if needed. Blend. Add banana and other fruit, blend.
Our absolute favorite smoothie is:
1/2 cup kombucha
big handful organic baby spinach
1 TBSP chia seeds
1 TBSP melted coconut oil
1 banana
seasonal fruit + ice OR frozen fruit (from last season)
and another, which i actually got from Todd…is that allowed? at any rate, it’s delicious. and i think i changed it up a little, i can’t quite remember. i tend to make it differently each time, depending on what i have in the house.
pumpkin pie and/or pumpkin banana bread in smoothie form:
1/2 frozen banana
1/2 banana
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 tablespoons organic pumpkin puree
1 (heaping) tablespoon almond butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 – 1 cup coconut (or almond) milk
1 raw egg
oooh, i wonder how it would taste if you put a bit of nutmeg in there, too.
it is soooo hard for me to find smoothies that i like. over the summer i had this one every morning for several weeks, and it kept me fuller longer than the eggs i’d been eating before. (probably the coconut oil.) (although i still love those eggs.)
1 banana
1/2 -1 frozen banana
heaping tablespoon (or two) almond butter (or just a bunch of almonds, if you get them ground up enough)
heaping tablespoon (or two) coconut oil
1-2 raw eggs (pastured/organic)
and that’s it! sometimes i’d throw a date in there, but i decided that that just added some sugars and not much protein. it’d probably be pretty good with a pinch of cinnamon, too! and you could use coconut milk, or almond milk…maybe you could try throwing a veggie in there, but my blender has never worked well enough to get the veggie bits smooth enough and i just can’t stand it…
Try using a Ninja blender. Mine chops all the ingredients into a super smoothie.
I blend starberries, banana, blueberries,black berries , ice and my liquid is coconut water.
I have 1 “go to” smoothie that I stick with and drink 1-2 times a week.
1 scoop Protein Powder ( I use Cookies and Cream personally)
1/4 Frozen blueberries
2 or 3 tablespoons refrigerated (hard) coconut cream ( I would use more BUT I usually eat it as a snack and never have enough left lol)
2 tablespoons shredded unsweet coconut
Unsweet Almond Milk
RAW spinach leaves – as much as you want.
🙂 You cannot taste the spinach anyhow so I pack in anything from 4 cups to an entire bag of Publix spinach. It still fits in a 16 oz glass 🙂 Total yum