Strawberry Banana Kale Smoothie
This strawberry banana kale smoothie is delicious, easy to make and the perfect balanced breakfast or snack. This strawberry kale smoothie is sweet, creamy, and so refreshing. This is a green smoothie is full of kale and fruit and is sure to fill you up and energize you.
Why you will love this smoothie
- Everyone can enjoy: Strawberries and bananas are the perfect combination that everyone loves. This strawberry banana kale smoothie is great for kids and adults. Your entire family is sure to love this as a healthy breakfast, snack, or sweet treat option.
- Quick, easy and so simple: Making smoothies is so easy. Measure out the ingredients, toss them into the blender, blend, and go. It’s that easy. Also, all these ingredients are easy to pick up at your local grocery store or favorite online retailer.
- Easy to personalize: This strawberry kale banana smoothie can easily be customized to your own personal preference by substituting ingredients you don’t have or don’t enjoy or including some optional add-ins. Make this into a smoothie bowl and include a variety of toppings (see below for some of my favorites).
Ingredients
- Frozen strawberries: The frozen strawberries help to create a super smooth, creamy, and chilled smoothie. If you don’t have frozen strawberries, that’s ok. You can use fresh strawberries. Just wash them, cut off any leaves and add them along with 1/2 cup of ice. The ice along with the fresh berries will help to create the same texture as frozen strawberries.
- Banana: Banana adds a natural sweetness to this strawberry banana and kale smoothie. Remember, the riper the banana, the sweeter the smoothie will be. I like to freeze banana before adding it to smoothies as it creates a thick and creamy consistency. Freezing your own fruit is super easy.
- Frozen kale: I recommend using frozen kale, as it is easy to keep on hand and doesn’t spoil quickly. Frozen kale is slightly cooked down before being flash frozen, which means that a little frozen kale goes a long way. Kale is packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and the taste is so subtle it will be masked by the fruits and protein powder. If you don’t have frozen kale, feel free to use any leafy greens you prefer such as spinach, baby spinach, romaine or Swiss chard (fresh or frozen).
- Protein powder: I recommend using a vanilla vegan protein powder which add flavor, sweetness and protein to this smoothie making it super filling and a great balanced breakfast or post-workout snack. Vegan protein powders also help to thicken the smoothie. If you want to omit the protein powder, add 1/4 cup of oats and 1-2 tablespoons of honey, maple syrup or some 1-2 pitted medjool dates.
- Almond milk: Adds creaminess to this smoothie. I typically use homemade almond milk, but you can use any type of store bought non-dairy or dairy milk such as almond milk, oat milk, cashew milk, coconut milk, flax milk or regular milk here.
How to make a strawberry banana kale smoothie
- Measure all ingredients into a high-speed blender.
- Blend on high until smooth and enjoy immediately.
Top Tips
- I recommend using frozen fruit for the creamiest banana strawberry kale smoothie texture. If you will be using fresh fruit, be sure to add 1/2 – 1 cup of ice to get the same texture.
- To freeze banana, simply cut the banana into slices and place the slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or wax paper. Pop the baking sheet into the freezer overnight so the sliced banana can freeze.
- If you drink a lot of almond milk, it may be more cost effective to make your own at home.
Optional Smoothie Add-ins
- Fruits: Add any variety of different fruit combinations to this base of strawberry and banana. Blueberries, pineapple, mixed berries, mango, or raspberries would be delicious.
- Avocado: Add 1/2 of an avocado for a creamy consistency while adding healthy fats.
- Hemp hearts: Adds 1-2 tablespoons to increase the protein.
- Chia, or Flax Seeds: Adds 1-2 tablespoons to increase fiber and thickness. This is great for making a thicker consistency for smoothie bowls.
- Juice: A splash of apple juice or orange juice can add additional sweetness.
- Yogurt: Include a 1/4 cup of Greek yogurt to increase protein and make this smoothie thick and creamy.
- Oats: Use a 1/4 cup to add fiber and will also make a thicker, creamy texture. Oats will also make this smoothie more filling.
Topping Ideas for smoothie bowls
You can make this banana strawberry kale smoothie into a smoothie bowl with all your favorite toppings.
While you can enjoy this smoothie recipe in a bowl as written, if you want to have a thicker smoothie bowl, simply add 1/4 cup rolled oats or 1 tablespoon of chia seeds or ground flax to thicken. Once blended, pour it into a bowl and add all the toppings.
Here are some of my favorite toppings:
- Cereal or granola: this will add a yummy crunch. I recommend making your own easy 4 ingredient granola.
- Fresh fruit: blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, banana, peach, mixed berries.
- Dried fruit: Raisins, cranberries, cherries, mulberries, apricots, chopped pitted dates and figs.
- Nut butter: Add almond butter, cashew butter, walnut butter, peanut butter, or sunbutter on top.
- Nuts or seeds: include cashews, pecans, walnuts, almonds, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds for some healthy fats, protein, and a crunch.
- Drizzle some maple syrup, honey or date paste on top.
Common questions
Do kale and strawberries go together in a smoothie?
Yes, frozen kale and strawberries are the perfect combination and one of the most popular green smoothie pairings. Since frozen kale has a very subtle and mild taste, you won’t notice it combined with the sweetness of the strawberries. You can gain all the benefits of the leafy greens without any of the taste.
Can you put raw kale in a smoothie?
While you can use raw kale, your smoothie will have a much more earthy taste to it. To gain the high nutritional benefits with a more mild and subtle taste that can be hidden behind the sweet taste of fruit use frozen kale. Make sure to wash your fresh kale and spinach before use.
You can also use fresh or frozen spinach or baby spinach. If you want to make this smoothie using spinach try this Banana Strawberry Spinach Smoothie.
Is a strawberry smoothie better with milk or water?
This is up to you, your taste buds, and your goals but you can use either. Adding a non-dairy milk such as almond milk or regular milk helps create a creamier smoothie texture and can add calcium and protein but will add some calories. If you are looking to save some calories, you could opt for water.
Frozen fruit vs fresh fruit smoothies
While you can use frozen or fresh fruit or a combination of both in smoothies there are several advantages in using frozen fruit.
- Frozen fruit is flash frozen at optimal ripeness. This means the fruit will have the best taste.
- Fruit begins to lose its nutritional value as soon as it’s picked. Freezing the fruit locks in these nutrients.
- Frozen fruit can be kept for months in the freezer. This lessens waste and saves you money.
- Since the fruit is frozen, when blended it helps the smoothie obtain a thick, creamy and smooth texture and consistency.
Can you make this smoothie in advance?
I recommend making and enjoying this banana strawberry kale smoothie right away for the best taste and texture. However, you can make this smoothie up to 24 hours in advance and store it in the fridge in an airtight container. Before enjoying, give it a quick stir or blend with a few ice cubes.
You can prepare a smoothie pack and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. This will make preparing your smoothie a breeze with limited measuring.
To make a smoothie pack simply measure out all the ingredients except the wet ingredients (such as milk) and powders (such as protein powder, collagen, etc.) into the freezer safe bag and place in the freezer. When you are ready to prepare the smoothie just add the milk, protein powder and the contents of the smoothie pack into a blender and blend until smooth.
I make smoothie packs early in the week, so I am prepped for the week ahead. I recommend using Stasher Bags.
Storing leftovers
If you have leftover smoothie, you won’t be enjoying it in the next 24 hours you can pour the leftovers into ice cube trays, 1/2 – 1 cup soupercubes or popsicle molds to use for later.
Add the smoothie leftover ice cubes or soupercubes and some milk to a blender and blend until creamy or enjoy the smoothie popsicles as a fun treat.
Substitutes
- Frozen strawberries: This strawberry banana and kale smoothie calls for frozen strawberries. However, you can use frozen or fresh strawberries. You can also use any berries you’d like. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or a mixed berry blend would work with this recipe.
- Banana: You can use fresh or frozen banana in this strawberry banana kale smoothie. If you don’t have banana, you can also use frozen mango, 1/4 cup of oats, or Greek yogurt with 1-2 tablespoons of honey or maple syrup.
- Frozen kale: If you don’t have frozen kale, feel free to use any fresh or frozen leafy greens you prefer such as spinach, baby spinach, romaine, or Swiss chard. If you don’t have leafy greens but want to add a veggie to your smoothie you could add 1/2 cup of cauliflower rice. Additionally, you can simply omit the frozen kale all together.
- Protein powder: You can use any type of protein powder you prefer. I recommend a vanilla vegan protein powder as it will help thicken and sweeten the smoothie while increasing the protein. If you want to exclude the protein powder, you can. To do this, add 1/4 cup of oats and 1-2 tablespoons of honey, maple syrup or 1-2 pitted medjool dates. You can also reduce the milk or water to keep the smoothie thicker.
- Almond milk: You can use water or any kind of milk here you want including dairy free or dairy milks. Oat milk, flax milk, coconut milk, cashew milk, cow, or goat milk or you can use water or coconut milk instead.
Check out these other delicious green smoothies
Strawberry Banana Kale Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- 1 banana - medium
- 1 cup frozen kale
- 1 serving vanilla vegan protein powder
- 1 cup dairy free milk
Instructions
- Measure all ingredients into a high-speed blender.
- Blend on high until smooth and enjoy immediately.
Equipment
Notes
- I recommend using frozen fruit for the creamiest banana strawberry kale smoothie texture. If you will be using fresh fruit, be sure to add 1/2 – 1 cup of ice to get the same texture.
- To freeze banana, simply cut the banana into slices and place the slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or wax paper. Pop the baking sheet into the freezer overnight so the sliced banana can freeze. Everyday Smoothies wrote a tutorial on how to freeze bananas and other fruit so grab more details there.
- If you drink a lot of almond milk, it may be more cost effective to make your own at home.
