This carrot smoothie recipe is surprisingly delicious with a variety of fruits AND veggies. I’ll show you exactly what ingredient to use if you’re looking to take your health to the next level. Grab your blender and let’s go!
Table of Contents
Health Benefits of a Carrot Smoothie
This carrot smoothie recipe shines most in its vitamin C and fiber content. Fiber is an underrated part of a healthy diet, so I love when one of my smoothie recipes contains a solid amount of dietary fiber.
The other big star in this carrot smoothie is vitamin C. One serving gives you over 100% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin C. So not only will this smoothie satisfy your taste buds, it will also boost your immune system naturally!
Raw vs Cooked Carrots
Someone asked me whether raw or cooked carrots were more beneficial in this carrot smoothie. I laughed, thinking it was a joke… and then I actually researched it. The answer may surprise you!
According to the National Library of Medicine, cooked, pureed carrots actually released more beta-carotene than raw carrots did. So if you’d rather cook your carrots before blending, then go for it! Either way, carrots are a great, sweet veggie to add to all kinds of smoothies.
To Peel or Not to Peel
As with many fruits + veggies, the peel (or outside wrinkly part) of a carrot actually contains some of its nutrients. So I recommend leaving that carrot whole before blending. This way you can benefit from as much of that carrot as possible. If your carrots came with their leafy green tops, then you can even toss those in.
Carrot Smoothie Ingredient Swaps
If you’d told me when I started drinking smoothies that I’d be adding veggies like kale or spinach into my smoothies, I’d have told you you were crazy! Yet the more I drink smoothies with leafy greens, the more my body starts to crave other veggies and so I got creative with my blends.
Swap spinach with another leafy green. Carrot tops are perfectly edible, and would make a great swap in this smoothie!
Swap coconut water with regular water, or a brewed herbal tea.
Switch out those strawberries with another berry (raspberries would be my first choice!).
Mango is a great swap for the pineapple. While some of these swaps will lower the amount of vitamin C in this smoothie, a vitamin C smoothie cube can also be added.
Boosting Your Smoothie with Plant-Based Protein
While this carrot smoothie recipe has 4.1 grams of protein, you can boost it to 14.1 grams of protein and make it a complete meal! My homemade protein powder is 100% plant-based with 3 simple, organic ingredients: organic hemp protein, organic chia seeds, and organic flax seeds. These 3 superfoods are ground into a fine powder, and together provide healthy fats, essential amino acids, and the cleanest protein you’ll find on the market.
More Plant-Based Recipes
Here are some other ways to use up that bag of carrots in your fridge. Maybe these’ll inspire you to include a spot for carrots in your next garden!
- Carrot Ginger Soup
- Carrot Tops Smoothie
- Simple Carrot Salad
- Cantaloupe Smoothie
- Loaded Sweet Potato
- Minestrone Soup
Have you ever made a smoothie with carrots? Don’t forget to leave a comment + rating to let me know what you think of this smoothie!
Strawberry Carrot Smoothie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup spinach
- 1 cup coconut water
- ½ cup carrot
- ½ cup strawberries frozen
- ½ cup pineapple frozen
- 1 serving homemade protein powder optional
Instructions
- Blend spinach and coconut water together until smooth.
- Add remaining ingredients and blend again.
Notes
- Use at least one frozen fruit to make the smoothie cold or serve over ice.
- Can chop and steam carrots to make them easier to blend, or leave them raw.
Sweet!-no need to steam carrots if you have a vitamix
I was worried about the carrot, but it didn’t bother me! This smoothie isn’t as flavorful to me as some others, but I still enjoy it. It’s also a great way to use leftover carrots!
This one is really good!
Loved having the carrot in this one! Another favorite I will make again. Added a little lime juice, hemp hearts and chia seeds.
I forgot to rate it
One of my favorite smoothies of the challenge. I really dig the combination of carrot and coconut water flavor. Winner! But I am finding that pineapple makes my throat itch so I may be ditching that fruit in the future.
Prior to the green smoothie challenge I have never put coconut water in a smoothie as I do not like the taste on its own. I love it in this smoothie.
The carrot added a bit of a different element to the smoothie. It was thicker than my smoothies had been previously. The flavors were good – would definitely roast the carrot next to add a bit of sweetness naturally to the drink.
I find it’s important to get the ratios right. I remember making my own concoctions when I first bought my Vitamix, throwing in WAY too many carrots one time… that was not good. This smoothie was MUCH better; the carrots did not overshadow the other flavours. I freeze carrot tops to add small amounts to any smoothie for more nutritional greens.
This was good. It was the first time I have ever put carrots in my smoothie. I used raw carrots but sliced them up thin. Next time I will try roasting them or steaming ahead of time. Still good with raw carrots but I’m interested to see how it if the flavor changes of roasted or steamed carrots are used. This turned out to be a very liquidity smoothie but I still enjoyed it
While blending this one I kept thinking, “Wow, I wonder if this is like baby food?” (because of the color, I think). I’ve not eaten baby food, so, I’m not sure. It’s not one of my favorites from the challenge, but admittedly, I forgot to steam the carrots beforehand. I blended them with the spinach to try to help with consistency, but it was still a little gritty (I used baby carrots bc it’s what I had). I added a little coconut milk for some more liquid because my pineapple and strawberries were both frozen and it was a little thick.
Update: it got better as I drank it, but still not in my top 5 for the challenge.
Liked this smoothie, one of my favorites. I couldn’t really taste the carrots. I may start adding them to more smoothies
Very fresh and hydrating
I really like the flavor of this recipe. My Vitamix threw chunks of carrot and spinach into the top of the blender, I would recommend scraping out the lid and sides then remixing a little so as to not loose all these good bits.
I thought the carrot would be too fibrous, but it worked well. Another smoothie enjoyed.
Loved this smoothie. I forget to add carrots to my smoothies. I’ll remember now! So good!