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When I want a creamy smoothie, I turn to cashews or bananas. Well, I went a little crazy with this banana smoothie recipe and added BOTH. Get ready for a super creamy, super protein-charged smoothie that can jumpstart your day.
Table of Contents
How to Make a Banana Smoothie Recipe
When making a green smoothie I recommend blending the leafy greens + liquid first. Yet for a non-green smoothie, feel free to blend all your ingredients at once!
If this smoothie is too thick for your blender blades to handle, try adding a bit more liquid, stirring up the ingredients, then blending again. This should help.
If cashew milk isn’t your thing, then use the plant based milk of your choice! Oat milk will produce an equally creamy smoothie, while almond milk will make this smoothie a bit thinner.
Health Benefits of Bananas
This easily accessible fruit is incredibly versatile and delicious. Use it to naturally sweeten baked goods, make that smoothie creamier or naturally more sweet-tasting, or as a simple healthy snack dipped in almond butter.
Bananas are great sources of fiber, antioxidants, potassium, vitamin B6, and manganese. Bananas, while sweet, are actually a lower glycemic (low sugar) fruit. Unripe bananas have a GI (glycemic index) score of 30, while ripe bananas have a GI score of around 60. So if you want your banana smoothie to be naturally lower in sugar, use a less ripe banana!
Tips for storing bananas
Living in Florida means my bananas ripen in two days tops. I love having them on hand for a quick snack or easy smoothie ingredient, yet they turn brown too quickly! So I’ve learned a great trick- freeze them.
I leave bananas on my counter until they are the perfect ripeness for me (which I’m finding is different for everyone). Then I line a baking sheet with parchment, peel the bananas, and line them up on the baking sheet. Freeze for 1-3 hours, then toss those lovely frozen bananas in a freezer-safe bag.
Now I’ve got the perfect ingredient ready to go. If you don’t have gallon-sized freezer bags, then cut your bananas in half before freezing to maximize space. Prepping smoothies ahead also saves produce!
Low Sugar Swaps
While the sugar in this recipe comes from whole food, it might be a little high for some. If you need a lower sugar option, then here are some great swaps:
- Use plain cashew yogurt or swap for 1/4 cup cauliflower
- Swap yogurt for in 2 tbs cashews
- Swap banana with 1/4 cup cauliflower or 1/4 avocado
Make sure the collagen or protein powder you use doesn’t have any added sugar. Read the label on the yogurt you use as well! There are many great plant based yogurt brands on the market now, yet lots are loaded with added sugar.
FAQs
Yes, just make sure that smoothie is full of only whole food ingredients. No fillers, chemicals, added sugar, or fake ingredients!
I recommend changing up your daily shake or smoothie, so you can benefit from a variety of fruits and veggies. Bananas are a great regular addition though!
Bananas are a great source of fiber, and often help settle stomach issues naturally.
No! Well… it depends what you put in them. Strawberry banana is a popular smoothie flavor at restaurants, yet those smoothies are usually pre-made mixes full of processed sugar and chemicals. Stick to strawberry banana smoothies with real, whole food ingredients and soak in all the benefits.
8 More Healthy Banana Smoothies
I know that bananas are a polarizing fruit. People either love ’em or hate ’em. If you enjoy bananas in your smoothies, then check out some other delicious recipes below:
- Banana peach smoothie
- Strawberry banana smoothie
- Chocolate banana smoothie
- Banana oatmeal smoothie
- Avocado banana smoothie
- Pineapple banana smoothie
- Kale banana smoothie
- Berry banana smoothie
If you are a banana fan then be sure to make this smoothie! Don’t forget to rate + review once you’ve tried it.
Creamy Banana Smoothie
Ingredients
- 2 bananas frozen
- ½ cup vegan yogurt plain
- 1 cup cashew milk
- 1 serving collagen powder or 1 serving homemade protein powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Blend all ingredients until smooth
- Pour into your favorite glass and enjoy!
Equipment
Video
Notes
- To make this smoothie vegan, swap 1 scoop of collagen powder with 1 serving of homemade protein powder
- To reduce the natural fruit sugars, use 1/4 avocado and 1 banana
- You can swap in any kind of yogurt, just choose one that’s plain or with limited sugar
- The cashews can be swapped for almonds or oats
- The cashew milk can be swapped out for the dairy-free milk of your choice
Delicious – reminds me of the milkshakes I used to have when I was a kid.
Not my favorite. If you like vanilla milkshakes, this is for you! I might try by using 1 banana and adding some frozen berries.
I’m sure it’s great for people who love bananas, but it was too much banana for my taste. I prefer more layers of flavors. But, I knew what I was getting into by the name of the smoothie.
Not a huge banana fan, but by adding nut butter I couldn’t taste the banana.
Creamy goodness!
Creamy banana: I didn’t have cashew yogurt, so I subbed an avocado. I like the vanilla flavor, and in fact, do add that to other smoothies that I make. This was a sweet, dessert like concoction — just okay, not my favorite. I prefer more layers of flavor.
I love banana so this one was a no brainer for me. The combo was perfect and tasted amazing.
This has become my go-to smoothie. Sometimes instead of the cashews I put in a scoop of peanut butter and it seriously tastes like a peanut butter shake.
Added homemade protein powder to this for breakfast this morning and it was delicious! I also used Trader Joe’s cashew yogurt since I had that on hand.
For cauliflower, are you supposed to steam it first? I’m guessing yes, since raw would be too hard? I’ve seen it being used in smoothies but no one ever posts what to do with it first. Thanks!
This recipe doesn’t call for cauliflower.
I really liked this one. I didn’t make any substitutions. It made so much that I was able to give my husband a glass of it too.
Note: use ripe bananas when making this! My first attempt was a bit too sour, but after trying again with some spotted bananas, turned out MUCH better.
Yum! This smoothie is a winner!
This was delicious! I used the recipe in the comments below and soaked the cashews. That protein boost made it a meal! Yum!
I have a subscription for the homemade protein powder witch I love and today there was a surprise gift, a avocado salt and pepper shaker. So cute! Love it!
Thank you
So glad you love that fun surprise Debbie! Aren’t they sooo cute?!
A little too strong on the vanilla for me. I think next time I would use 1/2 tsp. Would make a great base for a smoothie bowl with some granola and fresh berries.
What I love most about this smoothie is the protein in it! I will be using this for a pre AND post run smoothie for sure! Good one Jen.
Happy training Trudy!
Would love to try this recipe, but in the Rochester, NY area, you can no longer get cashew milk/yogurt. Apparently there is a shortage of cashews and producers are only supplying cashews and not cashew products. Have you heard this? I’ve tried (and failed!) to make cashew milk. Won’t attempt cashew yogurt. Any suggestions?
I haven’t heard of a cashew shortage— that’s crazy! I’m so sorry! Cashew milk is really easy to make with an Almond Cow. I’ve been obsessed with it. You could also make it this way:
2 small bananas, frozen
3-4 tbs cashews (soaked in water for 1 hour)
1 cup water (or almond milk)
2 tablespoons collagen powder or 1 serving homemade protein powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Very good but a little too much banana for me but I’m getting used to eating them. Next time I will swap an avocado for 1 banana.