previous next

10 + 1 Delicious Smoothie Combos You Can Make In A Pinch

posted in Breakfast and Brunch by Lisa Freeman

If you’re looking for a filling, healthy and delicious breakfast or snack, a smoothie cannot be beat. The key to a good smoothie is usually yogurt — that’s what gives the drink its thickness and substance. Some of the smoothie recipes below contain interesting alternatives to yogurt (oatmeal or ground raw cashews anyone?).

Selecting the right combination of fruit (you can use fresh or frozen) is also part of concocting a good smoothie. Start with a favorite flavor base. You can then experiment with fruit pairings or try some of the following:

  1. Berry Banana: You can use fresh or frozen blueberries when making a smoothie. Bananas and yogurt make this recipe really rich and creamy.
  2. Blueberry Acia: Wow! What a great way to start your day with this great smoothie recipe which contains both vanilla soy milk and acia juice.

  3. Raspberry and Peach: Raw cashews (soaked and ground) gives this recipe a creamy taste and texture and a jolt of protein.
  4. Pomegranate: There is no need to peel your own pomegranate as this recipe calls for pomegranate juice. Pomegranate juice is really high in anti-oxidants and an incredibly healthy drink.
  5. Tropical Papaya and Kiwi: It will seem like summer all year round with this tropical treat.
  6. Oranges and Mango: This smoothie tastes like an “Orange Julius” and will fulfill your vitamin C quota for the day.
  7. Pumpkin Pie: Weight Watchers smoothie packets taste like dessert when you add some pumpkin puree and skim milk to the mix.
  8. Raspberry, Lime and Mint: This is a refreshing smoothie made extra special with fat free frozen yogurt.
  9. Oatmeal: It may sound unusual, but oatmeal is a no-brainer in a smoothie. It’s a great thickener and leaves you feeling like you’ve had a nice, hearty breakfast. It also doesn’t hurt that it is heart healthy, too.
  10. Coffee Smoothie: Now you can get your morning coffee fix in smoothie form! To make this smoothie you will need “strongly brewed coffee, milk, a dash of sugar, a few tablespoons of instant vanilla pudding (to sweeten and slightly thicken), ice… and a big fat blender”.

    Lastly, here’s a more unusual idea that ups the ante on being healthy:

  11. Green smoothies: are by no means freaky, and if you blend them with a bit of fruit, you won’t even notice you’re getting your daily allowance of veggies.

Tips: If you’re being adventurous and concocting your own smoothie recipe, try to keep things simple and choose no more than 2 or 3 fruits at one time. And, if you think what you’ve created is too overpowering in flavor, yogurt is definitely going to cut that heaviness out—so just add a bit more of it in to thin out the flavor.

Twenty Smoothie Tips – How to blend like a pro has even more tips on how to make the perfect smoothie.

If you are new to startcooking, or are a regular visitor here, please consider subscribing for free.

24 Comments

Wanda said:

Smoothies are an absolute winner as a start to the day.

Hadn’t thought of doing this with oatmeal though. So thanks for the tip.

Wanda

http://www.only-cookware.com

Jennifer said:

Oatmeal- I love that, what a great idea and heart healthy too!!

purgirl said:

nice article-thanks for sharing!

Smoothie Guy said:

Thanks for the link to my smoothie site (www.smoothieweb.com). It is nice to get noticed and seeing a mention of my site on other sites makes it all worth it. Best of luck to this cooking site!

Kathy Maister said:

When making smoothies, what sort of blender does everyone prefer: the hand held stick blender or the jug that sits on a motor type of blender?

eoin said:

Kiwi is terrible in a smoothie, the small seeds all smash and the whole thing becomes very bitter and peppery, I don’t like it at all, but if it floats your boat.

Lisa Freeman said:

It’s a good point, eoin! I do cut a circle around the center seed portion, and leave an outer ring of just the kiwi meat sans seeds–sort of like cutting a ring around the hard part of a pineapple, which I also wouldn’t include in a smoothie.

Seeds are definitely an aquired taste in a smoothie. Many folks don’t like blackberries in smoothies, for example, because of all the little seeds. I generally don’t mind them, however.

You are correct, it’s whatever floats your boat!

Kathy Maister said:

Thanks eoin,
My niece just introduced me to Smoothies. I love adding the sliken Tofu – it makes them so rich and creamy. I have yet to add Kiwi, when I do, I’ll be sure to remove the seeds. Who knew?

Lisa, I will proceed with caution when I add the blackberries!

steve said:

Thanks for linking to my chocolate/espresso smoothie.

I like the look of the pomegranate one too….might try that soon!

–Steve

food gal said:

i like the kiwi and chocolate the best!

austin said:

I’m a master at making smoothies lol. I put 2 and a half bananas, some ice, one container of frozen strawberries and occasionally blueberries but not very often. Then i blend them all together. its delicious.

Kathy Maister said:

Sounds great Austin, but I must say that sounds like a lot of fruit! How many smoothies are you making???
My smoothie recipes now includes 1/3 cup of silken tofu, 8 ounces of coconut water, and 1 small banana,( and a packet of fake sugar!) – it’s delicious!

Mollie said:

KIWI is the wrong name for this fruit. The official name is KIWIFRUIT.
A kiwi is a flightless bird from New Zealand and the nickname for someone who comes from New Zealand.

Kathy Maister said:

Hi Mollie,
Well technically it is actually a Chinese Gooseberry!
History has a way of sometime re-naming lots of things!
Cheers,
Kathy
BTW – My brother-in-law is a Kiwi and I have had the wonderful pleasure of spending quite a bit of time in NZ touring and visiting with family!

Paulette said:

I found a good trick is to freeze the fruit before using it. Then you can just use milk instead of yogurt and still have that thickness to it.

Melissa @ Sustain Design said:

I love smoothies! Thanks for the list. My personal favorite is peanut butter and banana. I just add a tablespoon of peanut butter to my banana smoothie and i’m good.

Barbar said:

How do I sign up for emails on recipes

Thanks, Barbara

startcooking said:

Barbara,
Click on the horizontal yellow bar at the top of this page where it says “get startcooking e-mail updates” and you should be all set!
Cheers,
Kathy

Barbara said:

Thanks Kathy

ikram said:

Hey, I loooooooooove smoothies! They are so delicious!

Bobby said:

Great list of recipes. I, like you, love the taste of Mango — I grew up in a mango grove down in South Florida where we had several different types of varieties. Man, I miss those days!

Can’t wait to try the Mango smoothie recipe!

Aldo Mc Bride said:

From this article I found the truly power of eating fruits. Especially when it comes with smoothies.

Sarah said:

This is a great site with very simple step by step instruction. I am hungry/greedy just looking at those pictures.Keep up the great information.

Piper Nelson said:

I love smoothies and did some research to find more sites with this kind of info about smoothie makers and recipes.
Thanks
Piper

More content