After years of researching, testing, and adding ingredients, I’ve finally come up with what I believe is the best and most powerful vegan superfood smoothie. It’s packed with many powerful ingredients. The vegan part means that the recipe has no animal-based products that you might find in some smoothies like animal milk, yogurt, and some protein powders (e.g. Whey).
I’ll begin with a few details on how I got to this point.
I was an avid juicing aficionado for many years. I’m keenly aware of the health benefits of juicing, but I never got comfortable with it because of these issues.
- Large amount of fruit and vegetable material is wasted.
- Limited in the variety of ingredients that can be used (e.g. no bananas).
- A great deal of time is required to prepare ingredients.
- Cleanup is complicated and takes a long time.
All of the above issues are eliminated with smoothies. Here are the advantages.
- None of the fruit or vegetable material is wasted.
- Can add a wide variety of ingredients as long as they are in the appropriate form (e.g. frozen diced carrots instead of whole ones).
- Minimal time is required to prepare ingredients.
- Cleanup is simple and takes seconds.
If you’re into efficiency, simplicity, and frugality as I am, then smoothies are the best choice for you. Don’t waste your money on bottled or shop prepared smoothies. They are expensive, high in sugar, and lack many of the superfoods that are included in a homemade recipe like mine.
I use frozen fruits and vegetables because they are fresher, have more nutrients, and take much longer to go bad. 12 months in most cases. Many so-called “fresh” fruits and veggies are picked before peak ripeness to avoid damage and spoilage during transport and storage. It may take 1-2 weeks or longer from picking to arriving at your store. A great deal of nutritional value is lost during this time.
Frozen fruits and vegetables are picked at the peak of ripeness when they’re most nutrient-rich, blanched in hot water to kill bacteria, and then flash-frozen to preserve nutrients.
This vegan superfood smoothie is a…
- Powerful supplement for achieving optimal health.
- Highly nutritious snack after exercise and between meals.
- Healthy meal replacement for weight loss.
The ingredients, most of which are superfoods, are loaded with vitamins, omegas, antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, proteins, fibers, and more. The health benefits are too numerous to include in this article.
Here are some recipe highlights and recommendations.
- Organic – Use as many organic ingredients as possible. I use 100% organic. Not as expensive as I thought. It took some effort to find best places to buy, but it was worth it.
- Protein – Many of the fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds in this recipe contain varying amounts of protein. The edamame is particularly high with 12g. This recipe does not include plant-based protein powders because they usually contain artificial sugars and/or other sugars and much of the ingredients are refined and highly processed.
- Freeze – Use as many frozen ingredients as possible. I’m at 100% by freezing my own bananas, apples, oranges, tomatoes, and more. I also put my nuts, seeds, and other ingredients in the freezer.
- Taste – Although it tastes good, this recipe is not designed to taste like a milkshake as many store bought smoothies do with unhealthy ingredients. This smoothie is designed for powerful super nutrition. If you need more sweetness, double the amount of banana and mango. Or add some date syrup
= best brand and deal
- Liquid – This recipe calls for using 100% purified water only. I do not recommend using plant-based milks. The incredibly long list of often unrecognizable ingredients turned me off to it.
- Quantity – To make 4-5 medium size glasses of this recipe, increase the ingredient amounts shown below about 4 times. Play with the quantities for consistency and taste.
- Updates – I update this recipe as I make new discoveries. Updates are indicated by a change in the date at the bottom of the “recipe download” pages like this “V 20-16-02” (= year, day, month). By checking back periodically, you’ll know you have the healthiest one. 🙂
= Vegan Superfood Smoothie – Recipe
Ingredients (1-2 servings)
- 1 tablespoon frozen kale.
- 1 tablespoon frozen spinach.
- 1 tablespoon frozen shelled edamame (Young soybean. To boost protein.)
- 1 frozen broccoli crown.
- 1 frozen cauliflower crown.
- 1 tablespoon frozen carrots.
- 1/2 frozen banana. (I cut and freeze them.)
- 1 chunk of frozen mango.
- 1/3 cup frozen berries. (I use blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and dark cherries.)
- 1/4 frozen apple. (I cut and freeze them.)
- 1/8 frozen navel orange with peel. (I cut and freeze them. Peel has many health benefits and it adds a hint of the fruit’s favor.)
- 1 frozen cherry or grape tomato. (I freeze them.)
- 1 teaspoon unsalted walnuts. (I store in freezer.)
- 1 teaspoon unsalted almonds. (I store in freezer.)
- 1/2 teaspoon whole grain rolled oats (raw, uncooked).
- 1/4 teaspoon psyllium husk (fiber). (I used powdered and store in freezer.)
- 1/4 teaspoon hemp heart seeds. (I store in freezer.)
- 1/4 teaspoon chia seeds. (I store in freezer.)
- 1/4 teaspoon flax seed meal. (I store in freezer.)
- 1 dash cinnamon powder.
- 1 dash turmeric powder.
- 1 dash cayenne pepper powder.
- Fill with cold purified water until ingredients are covered.
Optional more expensive superfood ingredients.
- 1/4 teaspoon spirulina powder.
- 1/4 teaspoon chlorella powder.
- 1/4 teaspoon cacao (taste like very, very dark chocolate).
- 1/3 cup acai, goji, and maqui berries.
Review this article, “Vitamin Supplements: Requires Little, Gives a Lot,” for more information on supplement ingredients.
Warning: Never include fruit pits, as many contain harmful chemicals.
Equipment
- Blender. (Recommend using a powerful blender that pulverizes all the ingredients. I have a beautiful, state-of-the-art O Pro Blender. I love it.)
- Cutting board. (Article: Best Cutting Boards.)
- Multi-purpose kitchen knife.
Preparation (5-7 minutes)
- Add all the ingredients to your blender in the order listed except the water. Give the frozen ingredients 20-40 minutes to defrost before adding the water.
- Add the cold purified water last. To prevent spitting, leave about 2″ empty at the top of the jar. I put a washcloth over the cover to make sure.
- If equipped, select the “smoothie” program. I run it 3 times. If not equipped, pulse for about 25-45 seconds and do it about 3 times. Let the ingredients settle between pulses so that everything gets chopped up and blended. Refer to your blender’s manual for best method.
- Exact measurement of each ingredient is not required. If there are ingredients that you like or don’t like, increase, reduce, or eliminate them.
Recipe Download
Here’s a downloadable copy of this recipe. It is in a PDF format. You’ll need Adobe Reader to view and make a copy of it. To get a “free” copy of this software, go to Adobe.com.
Download a copy of this recipe here: Vegan Superfood Smoothie Recipe
To your health and fitness.