This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
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
Creamy Banana Smoothie – 2 bananas are too much for me. I substituted 1 with 1/2 of a small avocado. Creamy, but not on my favorites list.
Creamy Banana, I mean the title says it all except good was left out! This smoothie is like drinking a milkshake ❤️ Nothing more to say than….. delicious!
Super creamy with a wonderful flavor
Forgot to rate it
Very creamy and rich. Enjoyed it.
My kids really loved this smoothie! I think there were no overpowering tastes and it was mild and so creamy for them to just gulp right up!!! I am putting this recipe on the fridge, as I plan to make it SO often!!
It reminded me of snow cream. Loved it!
I love bananas so I really enjoyed this one. I used the plain yogurt and almond milk because that was what I had on hand and it was still good.
A good silky smooth smoothie, but would prefer an additional flavor.
I love the suggestion of swapping some avocado for the 2nd banana. It still had fabulous flavor and was probably the creamiest smoothie yet. This was a great afternoon pick me up! Thanks again for another stellar recipe!
This smoothie was so delicious! One of my favourites so far.
Bananas are a staple in my kitchen, so I really loved this one. It was so creamy. I make plain yogurt, so I used that and threw in some cashews. I am going to see about making cashew yogurt in my yogurt maker. Loving these smoothies.
It’s super creamy and super good! Thanks for another great smoothie!
Very smooth and creamy! I like this smoothie, but I took away one star because I needed another flavor to balance out the banana. However, if you love bananas, this is definitely the smoothie for you! I will play around with this one, trying to make it more like the peanut butter one and the strawberry one (my two favorites). And I’m sure I can sneak some cauliflower in here to get in some veggies without a noticeable change in flavor!
Also, cashew milk yogurt, you’ve got a fan in me! OMG! I could only find flavored cashew milk yogurt, so I went with vanilla bean for this one since it already had vanilla in it. I gave it a try before I put it in the smoothie because I’ve never even heard of cashew milk yogurt and it was delicious! It’s sweet (I’d be interested in one that has lower sugar or is unsweetened) and extra creamy!
I liked this but it was a bit sweet for me. I think it’s because I’m used to green smoothies and the only cashew yogurt I found was vanilla bean. I’ll try again with plain yogurt and add some greens.
My smoothie tasted great but it was milky/watered down not the smoothie/thick consistency I desired. Maybe my ratio of ingredients was off, not sure, but it is a reason to try again.
Substituted oat milk (open in fridge) for cashew and protein boost for collagen.
Enjoyed my smoothie today.
8/10
Substituted oat milk (open in fridge) for cashew and protein boost for collagen. Enjoyed my smoothie today.