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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.
Can I buy frozen fruit or does it have to be fresh? Does frozen fruit have more sugars and bad stuff in them?
Hi Tiana,
Of course you can add frozen fruit! Personally, we like to use at least one frozen fruit to keep our smoothies cold. If you like a chilled green smoothie too, but are using purely fresh ingredients, you could always add 6-8 ice cubes in your blender.
Hiya, Thank you for the tip! Cant wait to get started!
We’re so happy to have you blendin’ with us!
I did not know the glass mason jars could be frozen. So glad to find that out. And that the greens could be too and last that long. I’ve thrown out sooo much spoiled produce. Thanks.
Hi Lana,
We hope that prepping and freezing will help you prevent any spoiled produce + be easier on the wallet. Just make sure your mason jars are freezer safe!
Is freezing spinach okay to do? Doing that seems weird.
Hi Lauren,
Freezing leafy greens is a great way to keep them from going bad! If you’re just freezing leafy greens and not prepping a smoothie, we suggest you rinse them, pat them dry, and place them in an air tight bag in the freezer. This will keep your leafy greens fresh for months, and your wallet happy!
I’ve heard that preparing them too much in advance of consuming them lowers the nutrient content. Is this not the case if you’re freezing everything? Thanks!
Hi Elizabeth,
Freezing the smoothie ingredients will help preserve the fruit, veggies, + leafy greens until you’re ready to blend, as well as, keep them at their peak nutrition level! 🙂
This is an amazing idea. I can’t wait to get this done for next week. I started making baggies of my greens and freezing them. I just grab a bag of my mixed greens from the freezer (spinach, beet tops and kale) and this has stopped any wasted greens ever again. I only have to buy greens twice a month now.
Hi Michael,
We’re so happy to hear how freezing your greens has helped your green smoothies and prevent waste!
Hi. What are your thoughts on using a food saver (the vacuum sealer kind) to freeze smoothie ingredients?
Hi Deb,
While I haven’t used a food saver before, I think it would be a great way to help freeze your smoothie ingredients! Please let us know how it works for you! Cheers 🙂
Hi.;-) which is the best way to prep spinach to freeze? Thanks
Hey Eleonora,
Thanks for reaching out. We love to make sure our greens are washed, then we toss them in with all of our other fruits, right into our storage container for freezing. 🙂
Does freezing affect the nutritional qualities? I read once that the earlier you freeze fruit/veg the better because it starts losing goodness the second it’s picked? In which case freezing could actually be better 🙂
Hi Tinkerbexx,
Just how growers freeze fruit and vegetables to keep them at their peak of ripeness, freezing helps keep the nutritional benefits of the smoothies.
Hello there,
I’m allergic to berries, oranges and nuts. I’m finding it hard to make a variety of the recipes. The ones that call for these items just doesn’t taste the same. Any additional recipes you can add without these is appreciated.
Hey Briget,
Thanks for the comment. Our recipes are here to inspire you — you don’t have to follow them to a T. Yet we do think they are mighty tasty! Feel free to use other green smoothie recipes and even make some up yourself. The key to making green smoothies your lifestyle is making it easy and part of your daily routine. So we recommend using fruits and veggies that are easy for you to find and are affordable. https://simplegreensmoothies.com/recipes
i am exclusively breastfeeding my baby but wants to shed off excess weight. whats the best smoothie recipe for a newbie like me?
Hey! Thanks for joining us. 🙂 Every mom and baby’s nursing experience is different. We would suggest starting slow, 8oz as a snack to get you and your baby use to the fiber. Any recipe would be great to start with. 🙂
I would like to know what size mason jars do I use.
We enjoy mason jars 12-32 oz, freezer safe versions. 🙂
I am new to smoothies too and I love them. I am in my 70’s trying to drop a few pounds along with eating healthy. I purchase the large bag of spinach and wash the entire bag, dry it and place all of it in the freezer. I put 1 1/2 cups of Almond milk in the blender add two good handfuls of spinach, 1 Tbsp of peanut butter, and whatever fruit I have. Really good. I cut up all kinds of fruit and freeze in a zip lock bag. This makes 2 smoothies that are really good. I don’t always use a whole banana because of the calories, but I do add plenty of other fruit. This is really a journey.
Awesome! So glad to have you blending with us, Cathy! 🙂
I’m glad I read this. I’ve been making smoothies for my husband and myself everyday and the prep and clean up is such a mess. I’m glad I can now prep in one day instead of making the mess each time. Especially since my son and daughter now want smoothies (ages 6 and 3)
I do have a question a little off topic. Do you recommend drinking a smoothie before a workout or after? I usually wake up get the kids ready for school and drink a smoothie while I’m driving. However I want to start working out before they wake up. Sorry for the essay. Any suggestions?
Hey Niki,
Thanks for the comment. 🙂 Have you tried out pre & post work out smoothies? https://simplegreensmoothies.com/pre-workout-smoothie
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/post-workout-smoothie
Stripping kale off of the stem, washing, spinning, placing in freezer bags; same with spinach, washing, spinning and freezing. Makes it easy to take out and break off for smoothies. I add 2 cups almond milk, 2 cups water, banana, green apple (unpeeled), 2 c kale, spinach, cinnamon, avocado, 6 chunks of pineapple, 2 to 4 tbsp flax seed (opt)…. Yum….
Cheers!
Hi! This may sound like a stupid question… Do I need to strip the kale off of the stem? Haven’t done that.
I’ve done this with salads, but it never occurred to me to do this for smoothies – brilliant! Mornings will be so much faster now. Thank you!!!!!
YAY! 🙂 Cheers! Happy blending!