How to Make Healthy Superfood Smoothies that Taste Great
Have you joined the smoothie hype yet? If not, we think it’s time. There’s nothing like superfood smoothies that simultaneously entice the taste buds and supercharge energy levels.
Or perhaps you make smoothies but haven’t cracked the code to create something healthy and worthy of your cravings.
Regardless, follow these quick smoothie-making tips, and you’ll be chowing down on ice cream-like superfood goodness in no time.
Superfood Smoothies Taste (And Feel) Best with Both Fruits and Vegetables
We’ve seen two categories of smoothie makers: the ones who pile in only fruits (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing sometimes) for the sweetest taste, and the ones who are going for the gold with plenty of vegs but are then left with a not-so-tasty looking swamp water that looks somewhat like salsa.
We believe in the healing power of fruit and veg. Thus, we advocate using both in smoothies.
So what might this look like? The best way is to show you a recipe.
Check it out:
Fruit and Vegetable Smoothie Recipe
- One banana, fresh or frozen
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
- ½ avocado
- One medium leaf of chard
- Three slices of raw zucchini
The first thing you may notice about this healthy smoothie recipe is that it tastes nice despite the presence of chard and zucchini. The banana, blueberries, and avocado do an excellent job of masking the taste of the vegetables.
Also, despite its technical classification as a fruit, the avocado serves a similar nutritional profile as a vegetable in that it doesn’t have too much sugar and offers an impressive nutrient profile.
Sneak in the Superfoods
Adding superfoods to your smoothies won’t make them unpalatable. The rest of the smoothie ingredients will easily mask the reason being strange flavors. There are even a few examples of superfoods that make smoothies taste better.
Here are the powders and things we suggest adding to optimize your smoothies!
- Cocoa powder is an example of a superfood that will make your healthy smoothies taste amazing. It’s also chalked full of magnesium, iron, and other nutrients beneficial to the brain. Our Wild Cocoa Powder is a single-origin powder from small farmers in Peru. Try it out!
- Medicinal mushroom powders such as chaga mushroom powder have tastes easily masked by other smoothie ingredients. Chaga mushroom, often referred to as the “king” of medicinal mushrooms, contains many impressive benefits for immunity and reducing inflammation.
- Bee pollen, like cacao, is a tasty addition to smoothies. We recommend topping your smoothie with pollen, some cacao nibs, and coconut flakes for excellent taste and texture! According to research, bee pollen is jam-packed with nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other beneficial compounds. Bee pollen is anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and even contains wound-healing properties.
- A good superfood powder such as our Wild Reds Powder blends nicely into smoothies, especially with plenty of berries and cacao. This particular Reds powder is excellent to consume before physical activity. It increases nitric oxide production in the body, thus aiding in blood flow, energy levels, and recovery. The powder also contains kale, spinach, acai, spirulina, and pomegranate for an extra boost.
Focus on Texture
Did you know that chewing is a highly essential part of the digestion process? The salivation you experience at the sight or smell of a good meal is nature’s way of releasing digestive enzymes.
That’s right; your saliva contains enzymes that begin breaking down your food before being swallowed. So correctly chewing your food can solidify your stomach and the rest of your digestive system.
This is why we suggest you blend healthy smoothies in thick and spoon them out of a bowl. The truth is, smoothies are not DRINKS; they are FOOD. So don’t use a straw; use a spoon.
Lucky for you, a thick texture means ice cream-like goodness that doesn’t seem like it should be healthy (trust us, it is).
A recipe like the one we offered above should taste good when blended thick (use the smallest amount of liquid possible). Enjoy!