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I believe that any time is a great time for a smoothie, especially when you’re trying to turn it into a meal replacement smoothie. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snack, post workout fuel, late night munchies, etc— you name it!
Our bodies have some vicious cravings (and also need) vitamins and minerals all day long. Leafy greens and fresh fruit in a blended smoothie always makes for a great option.
I use the meal replacement smoothie recipe below to power my day with whole foods and plant protein, and now you can, too!
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Yet at certain times of day, our body needs different things to thrive. Let’s take actual meals, like breakfast, lunch and dinner. These meals are super important— and can be easily swapped for a green smoothie. You just have to know the right way to do it, which we talk about below.
Health Benefits of a Meal Replacement Smoothies
A smoothie can be a meal replacement if using the correct ingredients. I drink meal replacement smoothies for breakfast or lunch most days. Sometimes it’s because I’m in a hurry and just want to down something asap. Other times it’s because I’m trying to slim down (usually after vacation). Swapping a meal with a smoothie can benefit you in these ways:
- You’ll be more energized thanks to all the fresh, raw ingredients
- They’re super quick to make and drink
- You’re hydrating your body
- Less bloating than usual when eating a meal
- It’ll help with weight loss
How to Turn a Smoothie into a Meal
The key to replacing meals with smoothies is including healthy fats AND proteins. Healthy fats and proteins are the way to go if you want to power up with a green smoothie meal replacement. This combo will keep you feeling full and give you the energy you need to cruise right through ’til your next snack or meal. Below are our favorite options for smoothie meal replacement boosters:
Pick a Plant-Based Protein
Plant-based proteins keep your body full and give you tons of energy. They also help repair your muscles, which is perfect for that post-workout buzz. Oh, kale to the yeah!
- Hemp hearts
- Chia seeds
- Homemade protein powder
- Rolled oats
- Tofu
Pick a Healthy Fat
Healthy fats protect your heart, keep your energy levels up, boost metabolism, and lower bad cholesterol levels. So please don’t skip the fats. They’re actually really, really good for you! And the ingredients below make your green smoothies extra creamy.
- Avocado
- Coconut oil or MCT oil
- Almond butter or other homemade nut butter
- Chia seeds (yep, here they are again! These babies are loaded with healthy fats and protein, making them a great everyday booster)
Examples of Meal Replacement Add-Ins
Smoothies can be the perfect fast food by adding healthy fats and plant-based protein. Use one of these meal replacement booster combos in your next green smoothie. The boosts are measured to work with all 250+ of our smoothie recipes.
- 2 tbs chia seeds + 2oz silken tofu
- 2 tbs hemp hearts + ¼ avocado
- 2 tbs plant-based protein powder + 1 tbs coconut oil
- 1 tbs almond butter + 2 tbs rolled oats
- 2 tbs chia seeds + 1 tbs coconut oil
Meal Replacement Smoothie FAQs
Any time is the right time for a smoothie! Personally, we love drinking ours in the morning for a great start to the day. But besides drinking a smoothie as breakfast, lots of rawkstars drink their smoothie for lunch or dinner, as an afternoon snack, or as a healthy dessert.
In case you’re planning on having your smoothie in the evening–most of our smoothies provide a great energy boost similar to a cup of coffee. So if you’re looking for a pre-bedtime green smoothie recipe, we’ve got you covered: Sleep Well Smoothie.
The MOST important thing when blending any meal replacement smoothie recipe is to include healthy fats AND proteins. This combo will keep you feeling full and give you the energy you need to cruise right through ’til your next meal or snack.
If you swap out a meal (or two) each day with a smoothie, there’s a good chance you’ll lose weight and also have more energy. This is due to the increased nutrition and decrease in overall calories. What’s even better than a smoothie is a green smoothie. When you add in leafy greens you’re adding fiber and phytonutrients… yet very few calories. My smoothies recipes are made with nutrient dense foods that curb cravings and keep you full longer.
I have a Plant-Based Cleanse that includes two smoothies a day, plus snacks and meals to help you lose weight, yet more importantly understand how to nourish your body so the weight falls off without ever feeling hungry.
15 More Meal Replacement Smoothie Recipes
Smoothies for Breakfast
- Vegan Smoothie Bowl
- Cinnamon Date Smoothie
- Chocolate Weight Loss Smoothie
- Vanilla Protein Shake
- Creamy Banana Smoothie
Smoothies for Lunch
Smoothies for Dinner
- Berry Protein Smoothie
- Blackberry Smoothie
- PCOS Pumpkin Smoothie
- Strawberry Smoothie
- Avocado Banana Smoothie
Don’t forget to rate + review this recipe once you’ve made it. I want to know how yours turned out as well as if it filled you up!
Meal Replacement Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup kale or spinach
- 1 cup almond milk unsweetened
- 1 cup blueberries frozen
- 1 banana
- 1 tbsp almond butter or raw almonds
- 2 tbsp rolled oats
- 1 serving homemade protein powder optional
Instructions
- Blend kale and almond milk until smooth in a high speed blender.
- Add remaining ingredients, and blend until smooth.
Equipment
Video
Notes
- Use a frozen fruit to make smoothie cold
- Swap out almond milk for any non-dairy milk you prefer
- Homemade protein powder is what I use for my meal replacement smoothies
Thourly enjoyed. Tasts great and added 1 oz. of virgin olive oil plus China seeds. Will be adding to my weekly plan.
Wow! this one was a belly full
Thought this was really delicious .. added collagen ipo protein powder
This smoothie was very tasty. Next time I will add more oats to keep me full longer though.
Love this smoothie. I was surprised how good the almonds tasted in it.
A bit bland. I liked the idea of adding oats. I added organic peanut butter to give it some taste.
Loved the addition of almond milk and butter, very tasty!
This was good, but not my favorite. I added organic spirulina, and I’m not sure how much that affected the taste.
I didn’t care for the taste or the texture of the meal replacement smoothie.
Don’t let the color put you off. It is incredibly dark. I am a tubie and thought I would be fighting the texture to get it through the tubes, but I did not have to fight it at all (I was relieved). If you have reservations about odd colors, probably don’t start with this one. It is a very filling smoothie.
Another Great smoothie. I was so surprised with how the almonds and oats didn’t give this a bad texture! So filling!
This was a great smoothie with just a hint of sweetness from the banana.
The recipe in the 10 Day Challenge packet was slightly different: 1 cup of spinach (instead of kale; I prefer spinach anyway); only 1/2 a banana; 1 tablespoon of almonds (instead of almond butter, both of which I have plenty of); and no protein boost, optional or otherwise. It was so delicious that I had to make a second serving for my smoothie buddy (my husband’s caregiver, who has to get my husband up in the morning), who loves smoothies and uses them to start his day.
We both loved this smoothie and plan to add it to our smoothie menu!
I start every morning off with pure celery juice. I use the smoothie recipes as meal replacements. I’ve been using BioTrust protein powder, but today I received my order of Simple Green protein boost. I’ll look forward to trying that tomorrow. Today’s smoothie with spinach, blueberries, banana and other ingredients was very good. I also signed up for a juice challenge with Joe Cross which happened to start the same day. I have my juice drink in mid afternoon. I haven’t been hungry at all since starting the challenges. Please put Joe Cross in your prayers as he found out Monday that he has Covid. He has symptoms, but he’s hoping to be over it soon.
This was really tasty, I love not adding extra sugars!
Delicious!!! Thank you for this great recipe!
Very light and tasty blueberry smoothie!
Loved the blueberry smoothie and the recommendations for meal replacement options…waiting to drink my second smoothie of the day!