Tips on How to Make Delicious Smoothies

Benji Leonetti
Jul 31, 2021
3 min read

Updated: Feb 10, 2022

I started making smoothies (or rather my mom did) when we lived in California. Not only are juices and smoothies super popular there, my coach Lloyd used to encourage us to enjoy them as much as we could. He would always have one in his car ready to go… I have tried many combinations and am still amazed at the amount of great nutrients that can be packed into a smoothie!

Great at breakfast (I simply cannot eat anything at breakfast) or straight after school, I have my go-to’s but every now and then try to experiment with new flavors and mixes.

If you're ready to up your smoothie game but need some tips on how to make delicious smoothies, this post is for you! Read below for ways to customize smoothies to your taste buds.

Tips for Customizing Your Smoothie

The order you load up your mixer does not matter (some say it does!) but if you load the liquids first and ice on top it makes it easier to blend.
To make a smoothie less sweet: add some lemon or lime juice.
To make your smoothie sweeter: make sure to add fruits that are sweeter. Using watermelon instead of water will also help sweeten a smoothie. (I add honey in many of my smoothies.)
To make a smoothie creamier or thicker: add some vanilla yoghurt or frozen yoghurt. You can also add some avocado or banana. If you use frozen fruits your smoothie will be creamier as you are not adding ice that dilutes the texture.
Want to make your smoothie thinner: add water, milk, or juice and mix 10-20 seconds on high.
To make your smoothie less bitter: bananas tend to counterbalance bitterness.
To make a smoothie less chalky: add fruits.
Easy greens: spinach, kale, cucumber!
Easy fruits: strawberries, blueberries, bananas, mangoes, peaches, and pineapple!
For the best texture: use a mix of fresh and frozen fruits.
The right balance: you need a good balance of solid and liquid ingredients to make a good smoothie. Find your balance!
Balance the carbs out with ingredients that contain protein - nutbutters (I love peanut butter myself) and chia seeds.
Protein powder : find the powder that suits you best : either a whey or pea powder if you are vegan works well.

Finding the Balance

Eatthis.com suggests a basic recipe metric to use:

Your basic recipe should include :

A liquid base: coconut water, milk, juice, kefir, yoghurt, tea
Fruit - fresh, frozen, steamed, baked, dried
Healthy fats - coconut oil, full fat yoghurt, nuts or seed butter, MCT oil
For nutritional boost:
Superfood powders - powdered greens or turmeric
Chia, hemp, flax
Protein powders

For those Who Want to Experiment Further!

Here are unusual ingredients that you don't always think of adding in a smoothie:

Mint leaves, cilantro, basil
White Beans
Dates
Beets
Arugula
Broccoli
Ginger
Fennel
Cayenne
Cold press oils - flaxseed, hemp, avocado, coconut

For the Super Organized!

Freeze your pre-mix ahead of time - create your favorite fruit-veggie bag portion ahead of time and freeze them
Create a “smoothie” shelf in your cupboards - protein powder, nut butters, green and fruit superfoods, honey, vanilla flavoring…
Keep it simple with only 3 fruit/veggie prepacks
Get reusable straws and protect the environment!

Unusual Mixes that I Actually Like!

Here are 3 smoothies taken directly from 2 moms: Beth (#EntertainWithBeth) and Sara Lynn (#TheDomesticGeek). Beth is a mom from the International School of Los Angeles where I went to school until 5th grade.

Watch the video here.