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If you love green smoothies AND want to maximize your time and money while making them, then this smoothie prep tutorial is for you! I love buying fresh, in-season produce, yet I don’t want it to go bad before I use it all in my daily smoothie. Meal prep smoothies get me through busy seasons with ease.
Meal prep smoothies are my jam! I love doing smoothie prep in batches so I make one mess at a time and get a week (or month) of ready-to-blend smoothies for my efforts. Today, I’m sharing all my tips and tricks to make smoothies for the week as well as giving you a sample menu and shopping list to get started!
Table of Contents
How to Meal Prep Smoothies for a Week
First, gather the following items: measuring cups, quart bags or canning jars (I like wide-mouth jars best!), a permanent marker, your favorite fruit and leafy greens and either my blog or the Daily Blends Smoothie App. These items will make meal prepping smoothies a breeze. Next:
- Decide which recipes you’ll make for the week and have them on hand. Feel free to use my free 10-Day Smoothie Challenge recipes.
- Slice or cut fruit into chunks. You can also cut fruit into smaller pieces and freeze ahead of time on lined baking sheets or use packaged frozen fruit. This helps keep the fruit and leafy greens from freezing together in a large clump, plus the smoothies blend more easily.
- Label bag or jar lids with recipe name and date. Be specific. You might also want to include how much of which liquid gets blended with each smoothie pack (to have when you’re ready to blend).
- Measure out the ingredients and pack into jars or bags.
- Remove as much air as possible from bags and jars when sealing closed. Pack fruit and leafy greens tightly into the jars and screw on the lids.
- Place in freezer. Don’t pack your bags/containers too tightly together. There should be some air circulation to help the contents to freeze quickly.
When you’re ready to use your meal prepped smoothies, remove smoothie pack from freezer. Add liquid base to container or bag (which helps defrost the fruit slightly). You can also thaw for a few minutes on the counter or in warm water. This helps the fruit and greens come out of the container more easily. Pour into blender and blend until smooth.
Prep smoothies for the week, month, or quarter, whichever length of time fits your time and lifestyle (and space!) best. I took the 7-day Smoothie Challenge inside Daily Blends Smoothie App for recipes and prepped for an entire month!
Tips for Make Ahead Smoothies
- Pick recipes with similar ingredients and buy in bulk. This saves money and cuts down on the number of ingredients needed.
- Buy seasonally! Choosing ingredients that are in season (or better yet, local!) also cuts down on cost. Food has the highest nutrition when harvested during its rightful season. Plus, it just tastes better.
- Help your future self by labeling! Know what that prepped jar needs for the liquid base so that when you are ready to blend, you are prepared.
- Set aside time to prep. Whether it’s on the weekend, Monday morning or Thursday evening, make time for prep. This helps you set yourself up for success.
- If you don’t like to or have time to chop up fresh ingredients then buy frozen! I love getting frozen pineapple and mango from Costco to save myself time. Frozen ingredients are picked at height freshness then flash frozen to preserve as many nutrients as possible.
Have any more tips for meal prepping smoothies? Drop a comment below and let us all know!
Smoothie Prep Menu
If you’re looking for some make-ahead smoothie recipes to get started, try out this plan:
- Beginner’s Luck Smoothie
- Clear Skin Smoothie
- Mango Spinach Smoothie
- Vegan Tropical Smoothie
- Spinach Banana Smoothie
- Island Green Smoothie
- Chia Seed Smoothie
For this round of meal prep smoothies, I stuck with tropical smoothies that have similar ingredients so that I can buy in bulk. Here’s the shopping list to prep the above seven smoothies:
| 7.5 cups Spinach | 3 Bananas |
| 1.5 cups Mango | 1 Avocado |
| 1 Lemon | 2 tbsp Chia Seeds |
| 4 Oranges | 2.75 cups Coconut Water |
| 3 cups Pineapple | 2 cups Water |
If you want to simplify your shopping list further, swap coconut water for regular water (which you don’t need to purchase), and you can meal prep smoothies for a whole week with eight ingredients.
For this list, I would pick up my supplies at Trader Joe’s and opt for frozen mango and pineapple, while choosing fresh for the remaining ingredients. Since avocado is only needed in one recipe, I’d just add it into a few other smoothies for a healthy fat boost.
Common Questions Around Smoothie Prep
Yes! While smoothies start to lose some nutrients about 15 minutes after blending, you can definitely blend one the night before. Just give it a good shake before you start to drink.
Yes! Simply add your fruit and veggies and leafy greens to a mason jar or freezer-safe container and freeze! When you’re ready to make a smoothie, thaw slightly on the counter then dump into your blender along with the liquid of your choice and any superfood boosts you want and blend. This is a great way to make sure your ingredients don’t go bad.
Yes! The key to a meal replacement smoothie is adding in protein and healthy fat. These two components will help you get full and keep you full longer.
Make Ahead Smoothies
Did you know that you can even freeze already blended smoothies? For real! Make sure you use freezer-safe containers and leave space when filling them, as liquid expands when frozen. Put in the fridge the night before you want to drink, carefully defrost in warm water or just toss it into a cooler if you’re taking it with you.
I love smoothie prepping blended smoothies for road trips. They act as ice packs for snacks and are perfectly chilled but defrosted when I’m ready to enjoy them.
Meal Prep Smoothies
Ingredients
- 5 cups spinach
- 2 cups kale
- 3 bananas
- 5 oranges
- 3 mango
- 1 pineapple
- 2 cups strawberries
Instructions
- Decide which recipes you'll make for the week and have the recipe on hand. Feel free to use my free 10-day smoothie challenge recipes. For this sample guide I'm using my original Simple 7 Smoothie Guide.
- Slice or cut fruit into chunks. You can also cut fruit into smaller pieces and freeze ahead of time on lined baking sheets or use packaged frozen fruit. This will help keep the fruit and leafy greens from freezing together in a large clump and the smoothies will blend more easily.
- Label bag and jar lids with recipe name and date. Be specific. You might also want to include how much of which liquid gets blended with each smoothie pack (to have when you're ready to blend).
- Measure out the ingredients and pack into jars or bags.
- Remove as much air as possible from bags and jars when sealing closed. Pack fruit and greens tightly into the jars and screw on the lids.
- Place in freezer. Don't pack too tightly together. There should be some air circulation to help the contents to freeze quickly.
When ready to use
- Remove smoothie pack from freezer. Add liquid base to container or bag (which helps defrost the fruit slightly). You can also thaw for a few minutes on the counter or in warm water. The fruit and greens will come out of the jar/bag easier too.
- Pour into blender and blend until smooth.
Equipment
- freezer
- measuring cups
- quart sized jars or bags
- permanent marker
Video
Notes
- Smoothie packs will keep for several months in the freezer but are the very best quality when used within 2-4 weeks.
- This sample prep guide uses naturally sweeter fruits. To lower the natural sugar in a smoothie, swap 1 banana with 1/2 an avocado.
- If hoar frost forms on the fruit and greens, it is still perfectly safe to consume. It can be rinsed off with lukewarm water.
- Store smoothie packs away from foods with strong odors. Glass jars offer the best protection against odors.
- Pick smoothie recipes with similar ingredients for bulk purchasing and to save money.
Do you need to add lemon to the cut up fruit to prevent it from turning brown? And for those that make the actual smoothie ahead of time, it seems there are 2 options for storage. Freezer safe mason jars and plastic bags. How exactly do you store the liquid in the plastic storage bags?
Thanks! Excited to start this prep!
Hi Jennifer.
Thanks for the comment. I don’t squeeze lemon in mine, but feel free if you would enjoy that. Don’t freeze the liquid, add the liquid fresh the day of blending. 🙂
I froze mine like this and when I blended it with almond milk it came out like ice cream. It really didn’t blend smoothly. What did I do wrong?
Are all mason/ball jars okay to use for freezing or are there special ones to buy? I have tons of jars left over from canning- can I use those?
I haven’t been able to locate any quart jars that are labeled as freezer safe. Plenty of pint size mason jars labeled as freezer safe though. What size jars are you using to prep your smoothies in the freezer?
Hey Sheryl.
Thanks for the comment. Do they say freezer safe in the glass? Only use the freezer safe mason jar, you don’t want a broken mess in your freezer. 🙂
Seems to me that the fresher the ingredients the more nutritious the smoothie. I think that freezing destroys some of the nutrients. Fresh is best.
🙂 We enjoy both, Fresh + Frozen. 🙂 Fresh is best, but frozen is a close second. 🙂
When using mason jars is just twisting the lid on good or does it have to actually be sealed ? I’m asking for after the blending I’ve been just twisting but sometimes it’s bitter tasting so I’ve been blending lemon in the smoothies sometimes it helps and other times not. I actually don’t know how to seal them. Thanks so much and appreciate these challenges and has helped my liver greatly.
Hey Amelia.
Yes, sealing the jar with a little lemon is a great idea. Keeping it fresh. 🙂
When I try to blend 2 cups of frozen spinach mix (from Costco) with 2 cups of soy milk, the spinach freezes my mixture and turns it into a slushie that doesn’t blend well (it sticks to the sides of the blender).
I have a ninja 1500w blender, and use the pitcher attachment.
What are my other options?
Also thank you so much, the first thing I saw online about green smoothies was your 60/40 ratio advice, and it truly is the key.
Hey Kit.
Try using more liquid, or fresh leafy greens. It might be too cold, too fast and having a hard time blending.
I usually prep in advance using zip lock bags but sometimes if I’m running late I can’t blend then up. Is ok to blend my smoothies maybe 3 days at a time n then freeze them? That would be ideal to just grab n go.
Yes, Natti! It’s totally fine. Grab and go is the best, isn’t it?? 🙂
The bags with spinach are so big I wanted to freeze it, but I read that freezing raw spinach is not ok (Thats on dutch websites) what do you say about it? In your article you say to freeze it all together, ahead, and use in within 2-4 weeks.
Hi!! I just found this website and I’m obsessed!! I do have a question though..I had the idea of possibly blending all my greens and fruits together and putting the smoothie in freezer bags for meal prepping. That way I don’t even have to worry about blending them in the morning. In my ideal world I could do this weekly?? Is this a possible idea? Thanks! 🙂
This is such a great idea, Tia. And Yes! It’s totally possible. And we do this all the time. 🙂
I too am curious on the order in the mason jars. I know that for salad mason jars it’s recommended that the dressing is placed first. I noticed in the pictures that the bananas are in the middle and the greens are on top, is there a reason?
Hey Madeline.
Yes. From trial and error. If the leafy greens are on bottom they get stuck. If you put the fruit on the bottom, it helps push the greens out. 🙂
I blend my greens with just enough water to liquify and then pour into ice cube trays and freeze, I add 2-3 cubes of greens to my smoothies.
Such a great tip, Diana! I totally use this one. 🙂
Can anyone tell me roughly how many calories a smoothie is, generally made with water and a banana? Thanks
Hey Sharon. Have you tried MyFitnessPal app? That’s the one I have used for years and enjoy it.
Just bought my husband a Tribest Mason Jar Personal Blender PB-350 for Christmas
Now I can prep and freezer in mason jars and he can pick one, blend, and go!! And it’s a one jar clean up too!
Woohoo MissChievousRN!! That’s awesome and what a great Christmas present! 🙂
Do the bananas freeze well? I’m afraid they will have a less than desirable taste. THANK YOU!
Yes! They freeze perfectly! I usually buy 2 bunches of bananas, wait for them to ripen and those that we don’t eat, just toss in a bag in the freezer and use them up in all my green smoothies. 🙂
Yesterday I prepped out all the week #1 recipes and put them in the freezer; they were so beautiful and I took photos I was so proud of my mason jars…
… and then today I read in one of your responses that you don’t recommend freezing citrus. Yikes! Do you have any recommendations for reconstituting frozen oranges and grapefruits while blending? Would it help to substitute some of the water in the week #1 recipes with juice?
Hi Ileana! Congrats on all the prepping. It helps out so much in my house. You should totally post your pics on our Facebook wall!!
As far as the citrus, don’t worry about it too much. You might just need to add in a bit more liquid or fruit to get it the right consistency/taste.
Keep up the great work, rawkstar! 🙂
Hey!
I’m a Junior in high school and have a busy schedule. Being a teenager, I often find myself at odds when it comes to finding time to eat healthy. I almost never find time to eat breakfast in the morning and then the school lunch is absolutely atrocious so I miss two main meals o the day. My schedule is pretty right and right now I’m cramming for my upcoming EOC’s, ACT, and SAT. I came upon this website by chance, and have been wanting to try things out, but haven’t had the chance to try any smoothies yet! I am a die-hard sweets fan and am obsessed with sugar. I’m also trying to break that habit. Reading this article has made me so happy that I can prepare ahead of time and just toss into the blender!
I do have one question, though.
Do I need to still blend the greens first, then add the fruits if they are both frozen? I don’t have a very high-powered blender so I was just curious!
Thanks!
Hey Madison!
Thanks so much for joining us! You can throw your leafy green in with your fruit. 🙂 Let it thaw for a few minutes and then it should pop right out. Make sure you are using freeze baggies or freeze safe wide mouth mason jars. 🙂
Thanks! I’m using the quart-sized Glad Freezer Bags!
I live with my grandmother and she cans veggies and fruits so we have more than enough Mason jars on hand!
Maybe I shouldn’t be worrying about it, but what is the average calorie count on a green smoothie?
Hi Adrienne.
We personally don’t count calories, so we don’t include them in our recipes at this time. You’ll find that when you consume more nourishing whole fruits and veggies, you will not only feel full longer, but you’ll also have lessened cravings for high-calorie, nutritionally empty foods. So in the end it balances out. But we know many people would like to have calorie info. Three great resources for tracking calories are Self Nutrition Data and the phone apps My Fitness Pal and Lose It.
I have been using my fitness pal to calculate the calories and for 1 serving of each smoothie (most if not all are 2 servings per recipe) have averages from 150-220 calories. I try not to obsess over the calories though because like Simple Green Smoothies said they’re healthy calories!
Thanks, Amy. 🙂 Cheers to you both!