A guide with eight practical tips to blend the perfect smoothie, with the best nutritional value, delicious flavors, and ideal texture.
One of the easiest and quickest ways to get your nutrients in is by regularly preparing a delicious smoothie with fruits, vegetables, and extra ingredients.
Some may think that creating smoothies is just a matter of tossing all sorts of ingredients together, letting the blender do its magic, and hoping for the best.
That may work, but to get the best flavors, the most nutritional value, and the ideal texture, it’s essential to put a bit more thought into creating that perfect smoothie.
In this article, I am going to share my eight secrets to blending a real smoothie masterpiece!
1. Start With the Liquids
Putting ice or frozen fruits in first may be one of the most common mistakes a smoothie lover can make. Trust me, I’ve been there.
The blender is, of course, an essential part of the process, and we want to keep the blades in the blender sharp and functional. Putting in the base liquids first helps avoid the blades being damaged by ice, frozen fruits, or other solid ingredients.
With a good liquid base, your blender can give a wonderful swirl to your ingredients, giving your smoothie a nice consistency while taking in all those mixed flavors.
Your base liquids can be anything, from water to milk or almond milk. I usually prefer almond milk since it’s low in calories and sugar, and high in vitamin E and other essential nutrients.
Adding 1 to 3 teaspoons of natural sweetener like honey makes the smoothie more tasty, especially when blending greens.
The amount of liquid needed to achieve that decadent smoothie is typically one full cup of your liquid of choice when you’re planning to blend it with 2 to 3 cups of frozen fruit.
2. Be Generous With Greens
Greens like kale, celery, and spinach are nutritious but tend to turn smoothies into bitter-tasting drinks with unfavorable textures. Luckily, though, it doesn’t have to be that way.
The secret in incorporating nutritious greens with your smoothie recipes is to freeze those veggies because they become milder in taste when frozen.
Add them in after the base liquid and before the fruits and other ingredients. Make sure to remove the hard bits, such as the stems, to not affect your smoothie’s consistency.
Since green leafy vegetables take longer to break down, blend your base liquid with your greens before you push through with the other ingredients.
I recommend adding one large cup of greens for the most nutritional benefits without sacrificing the sweetness of the fruits or added sweeteners.
Tips for blending kale the right way.
3. Level It up With (Greek) Yogurt
Yogurt, especially Greek yogurt, is packed with probiotics for digestion. Greek yogurt is an effective workout recovery food with protein, calcium, and potassium.
More than its nutritional benefits, adding 1/4 to 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt to my smoothies makes them creamier and thicker.
Its sour taste balances out the sweetness from the fruits and the often somewhat bitter taste of vegetables.
4. Add Cottage Cheese for Extra Creaminess
Cottage cheese sounds like such a bizarre addition to a smoothie, but it can actually make it creamier and decadent.
With cottage cheese’s neutral flavor, you also don’t have to worry too much about it ruining the flavors of your smoothie.
What’s great about this surprising ingredient is that it’s a great source of protein and also fits perfectly in any weight loss diet.
This healthy ingredient reinforces the smoothie principle: don’t judge the recipe until you’ve tried it!
5. Add Frozen Fruits
One of the best things about smoothies is the creamy texture that makes drinking them such a pleasant experience while your taste buds are busy enjoying the burst of flavors.
To achieve that perfect smoothie texture with all the right flavors, I typically go for frozen fruits instead of fresh ones combined with ice.
Using 2 to 2 1/2 cups of frozen fruits prevents my smoothie from being watered down and losing the rich flavors in the process.
However, ice can still be helpful if your smoothie becomes too thick or too sweet. Adding in 1 small cup of ice can easily solve those issues.
Also note that bananas and avocados can make your smoothie thicker and creamier, if you’re specifically aiming for that creamy texture.
6. Boost That Smoothie With Add-Ins
When I make my smoothies, I want to ensure that I get as many different nutrients as possible. One easy way to achieve that is by adding in some extra smoothie ingredients.
Chia seeds, for example, are rich in protein and antioxidants, and adding these to my smoothies makes me feel even more satisfied.
Flax seeds are also a perfect addition to a smoothie, with a healthy dose of fiber and vitamins from the fruits and vegetables.
Not only do these smoothie add-ins add more nutritional value to your smoothie, but they can also enhance the drinking experience with their texture and crunch.
Sometimes, I also toss in some almonds because they’re a great source of dietary fiber and add a bit of crunchiness and creaminess.
Oh, and ginger. I almost always add some ginger. I don’t use ginger a lot in meal preparation, so adding ginger to my smoothies is an excellent alternative way of consuming ginger.
7. Start Blending at Low Speed
It can be tempting to ramp up the blender on the high-speed setting and get it all done as quickly as possible.
Not only can blending at a high speed cause damage to your blender, but you also run the risk of ending up with a smoothie that has chunks of fruits and veggies.
A perfectly blended smoothie is created when you start blending at low speed and then speeding it up a little every 30 seconds until you reach that desired consistency.
That way, you can be sure that all ingredients are properly blended, giving you that perfectly smooth texture and all the right flavors.
8. Layering Makes All the Difference
As much as we are tempted to just put everything in a blender, to create that smoothie masterpiece, it’s recommended to follow a certain order.
This is the layered process I typically follow:
- Liquids:
- Natural sweeteners:
- Greens:
- Soft ingredients:
- Frozen fruits:
- Extra ingredients:
- Add some ice:
As stated, start with the liquids. Whether it’s almond milk, coconut juice, plain water, or any other type of liquid you prefer, drop it in the blender before the other ingredients.
Add in some natural sweetener or protein powder after the liquids.
Next, toss in your greens and veggies. Blend them for 30 seconds before topping it up with the remaining ingredients. This is optional, depending on how strong your blender is. If you have a powerful blender, you can add all the ingredients at the same time.
Add in some of your favorite soft ingredients, like yogurt or cottage cheese, for that extra creamy goodness.
Now it’s time for the frozen fruits. Make sure you pick a few different ones to get a mix of flavors.
If you have add-on ingredients, such as ginger, chia seeds, or almonds, now is a good time to add them to the blender.
Add some ice on top and blend it all together for a nice and thick smoothie consistency. Start with a lower speed and finish the blending job in 30 seconds at high speed.
Tips for the best smoothie ratio.
I hope this guide has given you some practical smoothie-making tips you didn’t know about. Taking your time and choosing ingredients wisely can really help with creating smoothies that taste great.
I’d love to hear your blending tips too, so don’t hesitate to comment below or get in touch. If you’re keen to try out more recipes for delicious smoothies, take a look at the following lists:
