How to Make a Smoothie

Why spend five bucks for a smoothie when you can make one quickly and easily at home with your blender?

The best thing about smoothies, other than being really healthy, is once you have a formula down, you can mix and match at will to create new smoothie combinations. You already know strawberry-banana in a creamy yogurt base is good, but have you thought about blueberry-kiwi in soymilk with protein powder? Or mango with pineapple juice and coconut?

Before we get ahead of ourselves, first we need to learn the formula for how to make a smoothie. It's not rocket science, but it is sort of like quantum theory in that which ingredients you use depend on what's in the fridge/freezer/cupboard at the exact moment you're standing in front of it.

Ratio for Making a Smoothie

Here’s a quick, no fail formula for making a smoothie:

(1 part fruit) + (1 part yogurt) + (as much extra stuff as you like) = 1 dang good smoothie

Choose your favorite fruit or a combination of a few fruits. Softer and frozen fruits work best, like strawberries, blueberries, bananas, mango or melon. If you'd like to use a hard fruit like an apple, you'd better have one of those super-fancy juicers or plan on having a lumpy smoothie.

As for liquid, nothing beats some plain yogurt. It instantly makes your smoothie nice and thick without having to mess with ice cubes. Other good mixers are milk, plant milks like oat or soy, plain old water or juice. Remember, juice is loaded with sugar, so keep that in mind when concocting your brew.

With extra stuff, the sky's the limit. Protein powder is a classic add-in. Ground flax seed or wheat germ is another super healthy add-in for smoothies. Honey will help sweeten things up if necessary. Or try new flavors like peanut butter or even tahini.

Smoothie Recipes

Once you’ve mastered smoothie making, there are all kinds of recipes out there with flavor combinations that you may not have thought of. Here are a few of our go-tos: