How do you make a delicious and creamy smoothie without using bananas?
How indeed? This is the question that a woman asked me at the recent two-day event at our local Williams Sonoma where I made a lot of smoothies and signed books.
Whether you are allergic to bananas, or just can’t stomach the taste or the texture, please don’t despair. You can still enjoy the delicious world of smoothies, because you have options baby! Lots and lots of options for banana-free creamy yummy healthy smoothies.
So I’m giving you 8 fabulous and easy recipes here that do not contain ANY bananas at all and yet they will still have the texture and creaminess and consistency of what you expect to find in a smoothie.
A few of these recipes come straight from the 100+ collection of recipes in The Healthy Smoothie Bible, which you can pick up at Amazon or any local bookstore that carries it. The rest are my experimentation after the book went into print, so they did not even make it in the book. Or you can listen to my fun interview with Natalie Sisson about smoothies & book publishing over here.
8 Delicious Smoothie Recipes without Bananas
These recipes yield 2-2.5 glasses in servings. If you are super thirsty or hungry, you can have 2 servings but I’d recommend start with just one, and save the rest by popping it in a glass container with a tight lid and drink it in a few hours. It stays good in the fridge for up to 8 hours.
Recipe #1: Minty Pineapple Love
½ frozen large avocado
1 handful of fresh mint
2 cups fresh Swiss chard, no stem
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 cup filtered water
Optional additions:
¼ cup soaked walnuts or almonds
Recipe #2: Romaine Ginger Potency
1 frozen peeled avocado
A small chunk of fresh peeled ginger
1 fresh peeled kiwi
5–6 leaves of romaine lettuce
1 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Recipe #3: Love Me Some Spinach
2 cups fresh spinach
3 frozen strawberries
¼ cup frozen blueberries
1 frozen peeled avocado
1 cup filtered water
Recipe #4: Papaya Pineapple Love Affair
2 dried pitted dates
1 cup unsweet almond milk
1/4 papaya
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 cup spinach
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
Recipe #5: Purple Oat Berry Blast
½ cup gluten-free rolled oats
1½ cup almond coconut milk
1 cup fresh spinach
3–4 frozen strawberries
½ cup frozen blueberries
1 tbsp peanut butter or almond butter
Recipe #6: Green Avocado Dreams
1 cup filtered water
1/2 frozen avocado
2 cups fresh spinach
1 small handful parsley
1 cup frozen pineapple
1/2 lime squeezed into blender
Recipe #7: Figs to the Rescue
3-4 frozen figs
1/2 cup soaked gluten-free oats
1 cup unsweet almond milk
1/4 cup frozen blueberry
1 TBSP hemp seeds
1 TBSP goji berries
Recipe #8: Mango Tango
1/2 cup frozen or fresh mango, peeled
1/2 lemon squeezed into blender
1 cup filtered water
2-3 leaves of Romaine lettuce
1 small apple, de-cored
What to Replace for the Banana in a Smoothie?
Bananas play a key role in a smoothie. They add texture and creaminess. First of all, not every smoothie needs to have creaminess and texture, you can make plenty of smoothies that are more liquid or have different consistency. But if you wish to get the consistency, these smoothie recipes without bananas will get you that consistency.
Why? Because we substituted the following to get creaminess and yumminess in our smoothies sans the bananas. Each can be frozen or fresh.
1. Avocado.
2. Papaya.
3. Mango.
4. Figs
5. Pineapple.
6. Almond butter.
Want More? Order my New Book: The Healthy Smoothie Bible
If you are serious about creating the healthy smoothie lifestyle, my new baby, The Healthy Smoothie Bible, came out in April 2014. It’s packed with 108 original recipes plus a dozen contributor recipes from smoothie experts all over the web.
So, start exploring this new amazing revolution with healthy ways to feed and nourish your body. You’ll never look back, and you’ll be kicking yourself why you didn’t start sooner. Today won’t come back around. Start healing your body with healthy smoothies.
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