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Let’s be real, sometimes healthy shakes taste…well, healthy. You know, that grassy, vaguely green flavor that screams “I’m doing something good for myself!”? But what if you could have a creamy, indulgent chocolate shake that tasted like a treat, while still packing a serious nutritional punch? Enter my secret weapon: the Banana Chocolate Protein Shake.
Why this Chocolate Protein Shake Rawks
This isn’t your average protein shake. We’re talking velvety smooth, rich chocolate flavor, with a subtle sweetness from banana and boosted with a variety of plant-based protein sources to give you customization freedom to the max!
Here’s a few more reasons I love this recipe:
- I’ve hidden an ingredient that’ll revolutionize your shake game: Frozen cauliflower florets! When blended, they add an incredible creaminess to shakes without altering the flavor. They’re also a sneaky way to add extra fiber and nutrients without anyone getting all cray-cray on you.
- It tastes like a dessert, not a diet drink.
- It’s packed with protein, fiber, and healthy fats, keeping me full for hours.
- It’s a fantastic post-workout recovery drink.
- It is easily customizable. Use your favorite protein powder (or make my homemade protein powder recipe) for an even bigger protein boost.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Chilled Almond Milk: The base of our creamy concoction.
- Frozen Cauliflower Florets: The secret ingredient for ultimate creaminess and extra fiber.
- Almond Butter: Healthy fats and protein for sustained energy.
- Hemp Hearts: A boost of plant-based protein, omega-3s, and fiber.
- Cacao Powder: Rich chocolate flavor and antioxidants.
- Medjool Date: Natural sweetness and a touch of caramel flavor.
- Banana: Creaminess, sweetness, and potassium.
- Cacao Nibs: A crunchy, antioxidant-rich topping.
- Protein powder: Use what you love. My recommendation is an unflavored and unsweetened plant-based blend or make my homemade protein powder.
More Protein Shake Add-Ins
To significantly boost the protein content of a shake, add additional protein powder (whey, plant-based, collagen). You can also add greek yogurt, nut butters, seeds like chia, flax, and hemp, silken tofu, and cottage cheese.
How to Make a Banana Chocolate Protein Shake
Simply toss all the ingredients (except the cacao nibs) into a high-powered blender and blend until smooth and creamy. If you like your shakes extra cold, add a handful of ice. Pour into a glass, sprinkle with cacao nibs, add some sliced banana and toss on some more hemp hearts for a satisfying crunch.
Give it a try, and you might just find your new favorite shake!
Ingredient Swaps
This recipe offer so many easy swap options, so don’t shy away it if you can’t do one of the ingredients! Instead, try one of these substitutes:
Use half a banana or swap it with 1/4 avocado to still be super creamy, yet lower in sugar.
Swap almond milk for oat milk or coconut milk.
Swap almond butter for sunflower seed butter or peanut butter.
Swap dates for a tablespoon of maple syrup (vegan) or honey (vegetarian) to keep the natural sweeteners flowing.
More Protein-Packed Recipes
If you make this banana chocolate protein shake, I wanna know how it turns out for you. Comment below and let me know!
Banana Chocolate Protein Shake
Ingredients
- 1 cups almond milk chilled
- ½ cup frozen cauliflower florets
- 1 scoop protein powder
- 1 tbsp almond butter
- 1 tbsp hemp hearts
- 2 tbsp cacao powder
- 1 medjool date pitted
- 1 banana
- ice optional
Instructions
- Blend all ingredients until smooth.
- Add ice to glass (if using) and pour smoothie on top.
- Feel free to top with a drizzle of almond butter and sprinkle with hemp hearts and cacao nibs.
Notes
- Use a serving of Homemade Protein Powder to make this a 25-gram protein shake.
- Add a serving of collagen to get it to be a 45+ gram protein shake.
- To cut down on the natural sugar, swap the banana with avocado.
This smoothie was absolutely delicious!
Love this one! It’s my go-to pre workout smoothie
This one was just like a chocolate milkshake. Just great!
yummy!
Since I made several substitutions … it was a taste and add experiment
Although I am not supposed to have chocolate I splurged today! Used Dutch processed European choc since that’s what I had. Substituted 1 cup of mangos for 1 banana and 1/4 small avocado for .5 banana and used 3 dates for banana sweetness. Added a 1/2 tsp raw honey too. Mangoes gave it an unusual taste … bananas would probably be more typical. Coconut milk instead of Almond milk. Oh and no protein scoop. Was creamy and chocolatey. Not sure about the unusual magno taste…
son: 2 due to mango aftertaste … my fault not y’alls
daughter: 4 would prefer it with banana
me: 3 due to mango aftertaste … again my fault since I don’t do bananas…
We enjoyed today’s challenge. It was very tasty. We used protein powder and topped it with almond butter. It is similar to the chocolate smoothie which we make.
I will enclose the Chocolate smoothie recipe which we make, if anyone would like to try it:
We use a chocolate protein powder the recommended scoops on the package. We use 2 scoops.
1 Cup of Frozen or chilled Almond Milk
I Frozen Banana
2 Tablespoons of Walnuts
1/4 cup of Black Beans
2 Teaspoons of dairy free dark chocolate morsels. I found that the Lilly’s brand have dairy free dark chocolate morsels.
1/2 Avocado
Sometimes I add Spinach also!
We enjoy this smoothie very much!!!
Another yummy smoothie… Thank you for sharing these delicious recipes. This one I like the most.
Delish!! Creamy like a dessert. The dates gave it such richness. I absolutely loved this smoothie.
Wow! This one is decadent! I used a mushroom and cacao powder I had for it. The banana and date really make it a treat! Love this one.
Nice color. Nice chocolate taste. I think I will like the taste better if I use coconut milk instead of almond milk next time.
Since I love chocolate- this was my favorite! I used coconut milk instead of almond milk and followed instructions from there. I did use the Simple Green Smoothie protein powder. I did add some kale microgreens I had in fridge but no toppings. Super delicious!
Thanks for opening my eyes, and stomach, to trying new smoothies!
Mmmmm. Desert
Chocolate protein shake! One of my faves to make! This one is dear to my heart as I make this chocolate shake often and then add cold brew coffee and about a quarter cup to half cup of almond milk. If you’re a coffee nut like me, it’s a great way to start your day or give you a little pump before you work out. The only thing I didn’t have to add on this chocolate smoothie was cocoa nibs… Ran out! But I did add hemp hearts and almond butter… Also added some to the shake since it was only requesting a teaspoon for toppings. And of course having a vitamix blender helps make things much smoother quicker and easier. The chocolate smoothie was a great one to finish with! Who doesn’t love chocolate!
Omg! This was out of this world! Chocolatey goodness! You definitely saved the best for last! I added rolled oats and the protein boost and let it sit in the frezsee a bit to chill. I remembered after the fact that I had meant to blend almond butter instead of the protein boost, but it worked out anyway. It was so sweet, thick and yummy! I can’t have cacao too often, so this will have to be an occasional treat.
OK, I added Kale because Kale. I used Banana milk, Flax Milk & Oat Milk instead of Almond Milk due to the oxalates in almonds. I cut back to 1/3 of the cocoa also because of oxalates and added Carob Powder instead of the rest. I added a tbsp of Help Seeds. I used half the amount of maple syrup instead of the date, also because of the oxalates in dates. I used a few ice cubes. It was pretty good, a little bitter maybe because of the kale? I liked it, though.
This one was so good! I used frozen bananas and skipped the ice. My kids stole it from me so I had to make myself a new one! A family fav we will repeat over and over. Thank you!
I really liked this smoothie because I love anything chocolate. I added yogurt for my protein and collagen.