Making wholefood-based smoothies for breakfast is one of the easiest ways to get a generous serving of essential nutrients and macros in a quick and easy meal. You can make a breakfast smoothie for nearly any dietary need using dairy-free milk, or plantbased milk, veggies, fresh and frozen fruits, and a heap of nutritious superfood additions. So, this morning, I am sharing you my top smoothie making hacks as well as a little bonus recipe round-up of mouth-watering, breakfast smoothie recipes. Bookmark this page and let's get into the kitchen!
Smoothies are such deliciously good way to nourish first thing in the mornings. Breakfast smoothies take only a few minutes to make, and are full of essential nutrients, packed with dietary fibre, come bundled with all-natural flavour, and provide a powerful boost of macros to start your day. When combined with a source of protein, breakfast smoothies can help combat food cravings, keep your blood sugar levels properly balanced and provide a super satisfy, healthy meal.
Smoothie Hacks You'll Grow To Love
Ok, confession time--I'm an absolutely smoothie addict, so it must come as no surprise that I have a list of smoothie making hacks to share with you today. These are super simple smoothie making tricks that help me save time and effort in the mornings. Read through them and give a few a go. At the end, I've a little delicious bonus as a treat--a round up of breakfast smoothie recipes to try that are some of my favourites for you. Aprons ready? Happy blending!!
Always Add The Liquid First
New to smoothie making? The basics to smoothie making in my world, always begins with adding the liquids first, then the remaining smoothie ingredients such as fresh or frozen fruit, nuts and seeds, veggies and ice. Adding the liquid first will help to preserve the life of your smoothie blender's blades, and decrease the number of times you need to stop, scrape the sides and re-blend.
Some of my favourite liquids to in breakfast smoothies use are coconut milk or water, homemade juices (sparingly), homemade or organic nut milks, or even just water. I find that plantbased milks blend better from the standpoint of food combining when making smoothies, but you do you. Dairy milk requires different stomach enzymes to digest than plantbased foods. For some, combing the two can cause bloating, gas and digestive issues. For this reason, as a general rule, I recommend sticking to non-dairy liquids in your smoothies. It really just comes down to personal choice.
Sneak In More Veggies
Get your quota of veggies in your tummy starting at breakfast with your smoothie. Yep, its that easy when you make your own smoothies at home to meet your Required Daily Allowance (RDA) before noon. How you ask? Simply start adding in a large handful of spinach, kale, or watercress. Sneak in a few chunks of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, beets and peas. Grate carrots, use up leftover cauliflower rice, or plain sweet potato mash. Don't knock it until you try, I promise you will not notice the flavour if you combine these additions to your smoothies with banana, fruit and a scoop of protein powder.
Mason Jar Magic
Here's a total gamechanger--it turns out that the threads of a regular mason jars fits the threads of most blenders. Many detachable blender blades will easily fit a small mason jar making brekkie a snap. This means you can attach, blend and bring your smoothie on the go in minutes. To see if your blender is compatible with a mason jar, just detach the blade and twist on the jar. The blender's blades should not touch the inside of the glass jar. Test it with water to make sure if the fit creates a tight seal. Now you can blend, swap for a lid with a straw and off you go!
Mason jars also make fabulous eco-friendly storage containers for smoothies and juice. They are super air-tight and can be easily sterilised to be used over and over again. You can stored smoothies and juice for 1-3 days in the fridge with the lids.
I love using mason jars with the glass handle for easy carrying, and found them for $1.00 at K-Mart. Click here to see if they're still in stock. Aren't they super cute?! Super fun and great for sharing with a friend!
Freezer Drops Using Ice Cube Trays
This is by far the best time saver ever. Use your ice cube tray to create "freezer drops" for your smoothies. This saves you heaps of time in the morning and avoids watering down flavours with adding too much ice. You'll still get a creamy smoothie every time, and if you like to drink them cold, this hack makes it so easy.
Try filling an ice cube tray with Greek yoghurt, coconut yoghurt or milk such as almond, soymilk, or cashew. When you’re ready to make up a smoothie, drop in a cube or two, perfectly measured to give the smoothie a nice creamy texture. So simple!
Use Up Overripe Foods
I don't know about you, but the minute bananas get too many freckles, my kids won't eat them. I've always kept them aside to use in lunchbox muffins and things, but overripe bananas and other fruits are also perfect for smoothies. Just chop the fruit up into chunks and pop in a freezer bag. Other fruits this works well with is overripe avocados, apples, pears, mango and other stone fruit. Stuff a handful of greens in there plus a freezer drop bag, and you've just meal prepped half a dozen breakfast smoothies in less than 5 minutes!
Think & Plan Ahead
Being prepared is the best way to eat healthier. Something I love recommending to clients is making smoothie bags and freezer drops as mentioned above. All you need to do is fill several small freezer bags with the ingredients for your favourite smoothie recipes. I like doing this as soon as I come home with the groceries with fresh produce. I can meal prep for a whole week or even a month in advance in just 10 minutes. All I do is grab the baggie, dump the contents of the bag in the blender, add milk, and blend. Its well worth the time upfront to save time later in the week. You can also chop fruit and veggies and store them individually in small, labelled freezer bags making choosing ingredients fast and easy as well.
Keep The Extra
If you've got leftover smoothie mixture, don't throw it away. It makes the perfect icy pole! Simply add to a silicon icy pole mould, or even just an ice cube tray with popsicle sticks for a tasty summer or healthy treat. Kids absolutely love these and it makes the perfect healthy summer treat. I find that coconut milk provides the best base, but experiment with what you like best. You can also pull out your trusty mason jars, and store any leftover fresh smoothie mix in the fridge for 1-2 days.
8 Deliciously Good Wholefood Recipes
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8 Quick Breakfast Smoothie Recipes
Ready to give these tasty, quick and easy breakfast smoothies recipes a go? I'll be honest with you, I am salivating just writing this because I know how damn good these all taste. Be sure to bookmark this page for the smoothie recipes. and give one a go all week to deeply nourish your body.
1) Berry Bliss Brekkie Smoothie Bowl
Blend 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup blueberries, 250ml almond milk, 2 tbsp rolled oats, and add in 30g vanilla flavoured vegan or whey protein.
2) Strawberries & Cream Smoothie
Blend 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries, 250ml coconut milk, 2 tbsp Greek or Coconut yoghurt, and 30g vanilla flavoured protein powder.
3) Green Spirulina Breakfast Smoothie Bowl
Blend 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 cup organic spinach, 250ml almond milk, 1 tbsp Hawaiian spirulina, and 30g vanilla flavoured vegan protein.
4) Avocado Goddess Smoothie
Blend 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 ripe Hass avocado, 1 handful organic spinach, 250ml almond or soy milk, 30g plain or vanilla protein powder.
5) Chery Bomb Breakfast Smoothie Bowl
Blend 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 cup frozen cherries, 250ml almond or soy milk, 2 tbsp psyllium husk, and 30g vanilla flavoured vegan or whey protein. Alternatively try chocolate flavoured for a Cherry Ripe recipe.
6) Spicy Mango Breakfast Smoothie
Blend 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 fresh or frozen mango, 1/2 tsp cayenne or chilli flakes, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 250ml almond milk, and 30g vanilla whey protein.
7) Blackberry Acai Breakfast Smoothie Bowl
Blend 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 cup frozen blackberries, 1/4 cup acai puree, 250ml almond milk, 2 tbsp psyllium husk, 1 tbsp chia seeds, and 30g vanilla vegan or whey protein.
8) PB Raw Chocolate Smoothie
Blend 1/2 frozen banana, 2 tbsp raw peanut butter, 2 organic dates (pitted), 250ml almond milk, 2 tsp raw cacao powder, and 30g chocolate flavoured vegan or whey protein.
Nutritionist's Note
So there you have it, I hope you have enjoyed my top smoothie making hacks and the bonus breakfast smoothie recipes. I swear these small kitchen habits will make a big difference, especially if you apply several of them at any given time. Now, don't forget to bookmark this page so you can refer back to it as needed. Happy smoothie making!
Emma Lisa, Nutritionist & Women's Practitioner
Emma Lisa is a Nutritionist & Women's Health Practitioner with over 14+ years experience in wholefood nutrition, meal planning and health coaching. She is a published cookbook author, passionate food recipe creator and lifestyle blogger, and an advocate for women's health and anti-diet culture. When she's not in clinic, Emma is mum to five kids, in her test kitchen and a wellness digital creator. She lives in Sydney, Australia.
Healthy + happiness,
Emma Lisa xx
HEALTH & NUTRITION PRACTITIONER
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These were such handy tips, thank you!!!
These are some really great suggestions. I do love a smoothie. But I do sometimes hate the faff so actually this is really helpful. Thank you for sharing your smoothie hacks.
Lauren - Bournemouthgirl
Nice tips! I have tried to start smoothies but it's seemed too much hustle. Maybe I need a new blender... with mason jar fit