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Summer is often a time for lighter food fare, and this bright pear smoothie recipe is no exception. It’s only four ingredients, lighter on the calories and not as thick as some of my more filling healthy breakfast smoothies. Yet it’s also sweet, refreshing and perfect for a warm day.
You can easily boost this smoothie to make it a meal replacement or drink it as-is for a lovely snack. I usually buy a large box of pears as they can be eaten fresh, cooked or tossed in a pear salad. This smoothie is the perfect way to use any stragglers.
Or choose your favorite green apple smoothie recipe and switch it up with pears! It is easy to swap into a variety of recipes.
One sip of this refreshing Pear Smoothie can make all your worries go away, at least for a moment.
Table of Contents
Recipe Ingredients
One reason I love blending this dairy-free recipe is that it’s just four ingredients! Super simple and easy to toss into the blender. You can boost it in a variety of ways to make it work best for your day, or enjoy it as-is and sip into snack heaven. Here’s what I’m blending:
- Water: This is the easiest liquid to add to smoothies. You don’t need any fancy nut milk (though you can use those!). Water really does work great as a liquid base.
- Spinach: Packing in those leafy greens can help you get in some great nutrients and protein. Spinach contains 34% of the RDI in one serving, plus its mild flavor blends in nicely.
- Pear: This fiber-rich fruit is fairly mild in flavor and not too sweet in my opinion. Pears are full of antioxidants that help fight inflammation, so I love eating them throughout the Summer.
- Peach: Since pears are mild and not super creamy, peaches help thicken this smoothie as well as provide some natural sweetness.
That’s it! Easy to source ingredients make blending a daily smoothie that much easier to achieve.
Easy Smoothie Boosters
Sometimes I make smoothies that are naturally boosted with ingredients to make them protein-dense, full of healthy fat or particularly fiber-full. Yet this one is plain and simple, so you can enjoy it right away or boost how you see fit. Here are some easy ideas to boost this pear smoothie and turn it into a filling snack or meal:
- Nut butter: Adding a scoop of almond butter or peanut butter can give your body healthy fat to turn the natural fruit sugar into usable energy. This gives your snack smoothie the ability to fill you up.
- Homemade protein powder: I use this simple mixture in almost all my smoothies to quickly add ten grams of protein as well as a fiber boost and turn that smoothie into a meal. It’s super easy, virtually tasteless and gives me smooth energy without the sugar crash.
- Superfoods: If you aren’t ready to dive into the world of protein powders then try adding in 1-2 tablespoons of your favorite superfood. I love hemp hearts, chia seeds or flaxseed because they are easy to find at the store and easy to toss into a smoothie.
- Flavor boosters: To change up the flavor, add in a bit of vanilla extract or cinnamon to bring some warmth, or spice it up a bit with some fresh ginger root.
How to Ripen a Pear
The secret to a good pear smoothie recipe is making sure your pear is ripe so it releases the sweet and juicy goodness your smoothie deserves.
Pears are one of the most underrated fruits out there, though I have a feeling it has to do with how difficult it can be to find a ripe one and then enjoy it before it goes bad. Here are a few tips for picking the best pears and ripening them at home:
- Grocery stores often sell super hard pears that need to ripen at home before you enjoy them. Find ones that don’t have any cuts or bruises as those spoil quickly.
- To speed up the ripening process, I put pears in a brown paper bag and close it tightly. As the pears ripen, a hormone known as ethylene is produced and emitted as a gas that is now trapped in the bag. This allows the fruit to ripen faster and evenly.
- If the paper bag isn’t doing the trick then try adding a banana in there! Bananas produce ethylene gas and can ripen all the fruit around them.
It’s true, the window of perfection is short, but if you time it right it’s spectacular! Trust me, it’s worth giving it a shot for this pear smoothie recipe.
How to Blend a Pear Smoothie
When blending green smoothies I like to use a two-blend method to ensure the smoothest consistency, even if you’re using a high-powered blender.
- First, add the water and spinach to the blender and blend on high until there are no leafy chunks left. Stop and scrape down the sides as needed.
- Then, add in the peaches, pears and any boosters you want and blend again until smooth. If you add in hemp seeds or chia seeds, it might take a bit longer to blend smoothly, yet it’s worth the wait!
In about five minutes, you’ve got a no-fail smoothie!
Fast Ingredient Swaps
As with any smoothie, use what you have on hand or what is easily available. If you want a creamier result, swap water with dairy-free milk, like almond milk or oat milk. Make it a super creamy concoction by using canned coconut milk or plain Greek yogurt.
To make your smoothie taste sweeter, toss in 1/2 a frozen banana or a touch of honey or maple syrup.
Swap spinach with kale or Swiss chard or any leafy greens you have on hand. Carrot tops also work great in this recipe and pair surprisingly well with pear + peach.
FAQs
Pear and banana pair great together! You’re combining the mildly sweet pear with a super creamy and sweet banana. Blend this into a smoothie for a sweet treat.
Whatever fruit you have on hand can go great in a smoothie. The best combinations are what tastes best to you! Feel free to mix and match until you find the flavors you like best. I use the 1.5 + 1 + 1 method: 1.5 cups fruit + 1 cup leafy greens + 1 cup liquid. It is an easy formula to follow and allows me to mix and match fruit with ease.
I drink a daily smoothie and sometimes two per day! Listen to your body and determine what works best for you, or talk with your physician about a good eating plan for you. My body loves a green smoothie in the morning that’s boosted with protein powder to keep me full longer. Then at lunch, I often drink a smaller green smoothie alongside some hummus and veggies or crackers.
More Recipes with Pear
Do you ever find that fruit bought at the same time often ripens at the same time? If you’ve got four pears on hand about to ripen together then you need some ways to use them all up before they spoil. Here are a few ideas:
- Pear Salad with Pomegranate: Even the dressing has a pear in it and it’s delightfully delicious.
- Chai Smoothie: A lovely spiced drink for a cooler morning.
- Glowing Green Smoothie: Another refreshing Summer blend that will make your skin glow.
- Acid Reflux Smoothie: This soothing smoothie can help calm that pesky reflux.
- Fall Salad with Candied Pecans: I love a loaded salad and this one is overflowing with tasty bites.
- Brain Food Smoothie: The perfect pick-me-up that’s caffeine free and helps clear the brain fog.
Will you please rate + review this smoothie once you blend it? I wanna hear how yours turns out!
Pear Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup spinach
- 1 cup water
- 1 pear ripe
- ½ cup peach frozen
- 1 serving homemade protein powder optional
Instructions
- Blend spinach and water until smooth.
- Add remaining fruit and blend again.
Notes
- The more ripe your pear, the creamer the smoothie will be.
- Use frozen peaches for a refreshingly cool smoothie.
- Swap in the leafy greens of your choice for the spinach.
- This is a light smoothie, calorie-wise. If you want a meal replacement, add in some plant-based protein powder to add protein, healthy fat and fiber to turn this into a meal replacement.
Definitely did have a ripe enough pear! Still refreshing
I enjoyed using the pear, first time but will not be the last.
Woo hoo!!! 🙂
Tasty and refreshing!
I enjoyed this and I don’t even like pears because of the texture. I added about 1/4 cup of loosely packed cilantro for an herb boost., as well as some collagen.
Smoothies are a great way for us to eat things that are good for us that we normally wouldn’t care to munch on. So glad you have a way to rawk the health benefits of pears and really cool add-ins. Thanks for sharing!
This was good with just a few items. I tried to herb it up with my rosemary made it ok. I’d like to try some of the other tasty sounding reviews.
Love all the awesome ingredient ideas being shared. Def keep us posted on what you like, Dawn!
working with pears is always something that I say I want to do more of once I complete this challenge, then another year has gone by and I have not had one pear since the challenge! So I thank this challenge for getting us to eat pears! This smoothie was yummy! I like that it was easy to make and it got me to eat a pear!
So glad we prompted you to rawk some more pear in your life! They are great to toss in salads too, with nuts like our Pear Salad with Pomegranates 🙂
Mine tasted good at first fresh, but then flavour changed, maybe because. Added chia, hemp and flax seed? Thick but good
Thanks for the feedback Cristina! A cool way to work with these recipes is to blend it as-is first, give a taste and then add as you feel led from there. It helps to keep from having any smoothie fails. 🙂
I thought this was too bland, so I added fresh lemon juice and Superfood.
Very good -delicious! I will make this one again! It is always nice to have pear in a smoothie!
Pear is such a great lower-glycemic fruit that’s full of fiber. So glad you’re loving them in smoothies!
Simply delicious. I bought my pear over a week ago so it was perfectly ripened. Tasted like Spring! I added hemp protein powder, black chia seeds and ground flax.
Yum Grace! Way to rawk that perfect pear game!
This smoothie was not one of my favorites. It tasted watery and bland, maybe due to the pear that I used? The color was bright green, but the taste didn’t compare to the previous smoothies. The next time I make this, I would add 1/2 a banana to give it some creaminess.
Love the plan for adding creaminess. Avocado would do that too, if you want to leave out the sweetness from banana. Def give it a blend with a ripe pear, as that may improve the taste for you.
YUM! This one was so good my daughter took a sip and asked for the rest I hadn’t poured in my glass! 🙂 Definitely a keeper….I have a LOT of ripening pears so gonna stock the freezer with prepped bags of this one!
Prepping ahead is a great way to stay on track with a healthy smoothie habit Pat! When things are already ready for you, it’s so much easier to grab what’s good instead of the junky things. Nice!
I think smoothies with pears in it are my favorite. I substituted the spinach for the kale and added Chia seeds. Amazing
Definitely a hit a ripe pear is very prominent in this smoothie. Added ginger for a zing kick.
Not My favorite, I found the pear off putting when mixed in smoothies but it was a nice consistency.
I blended it with 1/2 peeled ripe pear and had to add the other half. I’ll be making this one again and may add some ginger to it. Since this is my first time doing your challenge, I have not been adding other ingredients to any of the recipes. Thanks!