What’s the secret to a creamy smoothie?
Do you ever see those videos of THE creamiest looking smoothies and wonder how to get that texture? It actually only takes one ingredient to get that creamy consistency and it’s frozen bananas! Our household goes through a dozen bananas a week. Whether that’s eating them fresh or freezing them, they’re truly the cheapest and easiest fruit you can buy. The kids love a banana smoothie, especially when we freeze them into popsicle molds. My girls know where to find them in the freezer and grab one whenever they’re hungry.
Go banana, go, go, banana baby
The easiest way to freeze bananas for a banana smoothie is to break them into thirds. It takes about 12 hours for them to firm up in a freezer zip lock bag. I try to snag the bananas before they turn brown and toss them in the freezer the night before. Once you have your frozen banana base you can add any ingredient of your choice! The bananas provide the smooth and creamy consistency you need, anything additional is for flavor. I’ve noticed if I substitute out the bananas for other fruit (except mango), the smoothie ends up being icy instead of creamy.
Traditional Banana Smoothie Recipe
Prep Time
2 minutes
Cook Time
2 minutes
Serves
2
Ingredients
- 2 whole frozen bananas (broken into thirds)
- 1/4 cup milk of your choice (I’ve used oat milk, almond, and whole milk and it all turns out great)
- Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- Optional – kale (gives you a boost of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins C and K, and iron!)
Steps
1
Add the frozen bananas, oat milk, cinnamon and vanilla into a blender
2
Blend on smoothie mode and enjoy!
A twist on the OG banana smoothie
Our favorite twist on the traditional recipe is a banana smoothie bowl. It has frozen bananas, a splash of oat milk, cinnamon and a splash of vanilla. The less milk you add, the thicker it will be. I also LOVE to add peanut butter to make the smoothie even creamier! During the summer I also like to add kale to the recipe. Once your smoothie is made, add fruit, chia seeds and granola on top.
Smoothie Bowl Recipe
Prep Time
2 minutes
Cook Time
2 minutes
Serves
2
Ingredients
- 2 whole frozen bananas (broken into thirds)
- Start with 2 TBSP milk of your choice and add more as needed (I’ve used oat milk, almond, and whole milk and it all turns out great)
- Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- Optional – kale (gives you a boost of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins C and K, and iron!)
- Toppings
- Sliced bananas
- Berries
- Granola
- Chia seeds
- Coconut flakes
Steps
1
Add the frozen bananas, oat milk, cinnamon and vanilla into a blender
2
Blend on smoothie mode
3
Pour into a bowl, add toppings and enjoy!
Popsicles
The girls love popsicles and I try my best to make them healthy when I can. There’s no added sugar and it makes me feel better about the food they’re putting into their bodies. Simply make your smoothie, pour and freeze! My sister in-law gave us these popsicle molds and they’re amazing for freezing smoothies in! I really like the silicone mold because you can pop the popsicle right out. We also bought these popsicle molds last summer and they’ve lasted really well! They’re $4.99, talk about a steal. Try it out and let me know what you think!
Blenders
We’ve had our Ninja blender for years. We purchased the Ninja kitchen system because it was at an affordable price (some blender systems cost over $400!) and it’s so versatile! I’ve used it for cooking and baking and their customer service has been great when we’ve needed to replace a blade. Check ours out here!
Have you ever used the new Ninja creami? It makes ice cream, sorbet, milkshakes and more! I’ve been dying to get one and need someone to give me a review!
