Berry Smoothie

This Berry Smoothie recipe is a quick, creamy blend of frozen mixed berries, banana, vanilla yogurt, and milk. The perfect smoothie for a healthy breakfast, snack, or post-play refresher. With just a few simple ingredients and a blender, kids can enjoy a naturally sweet, colorful smoothie that’s packed with fruit-forward flavor and good nutrients.

I love making smoothie recipes and this frozen berry smoothie is always a favorite. Smoothies are great to have with breakfast or as an afternoon snack – the sweet fruit definitely satisfies a sugar craving in a good way! These berry smoothies with yogurt are super creamy and filled with great nutrients for a little afternoon pick me up. Berries and yogurt are the perfect combination any time you are craving something a little creamy, sweet and tart. Plus you can use extra straws for a fun afternoon of Blow Painting!

Get the kids to help you carefully add the ingredients to the blender to make this a family affair. They can learn about safely handling a blender, and how to measure ingredients. Soon, they’ll be making up their own smoothie concoctions since it’s so easy to keep all of the ingredients for a delicious, nutritious smoothie on hand.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Berry smoothies are really simple with just four ingredients and you get the prettiest color.
• Prevent food waste by freezing fresh berries and bananas to repurpose them before they go bad.
• This is a really easy smoothie recipe to adapt with different frozen fruit so feel free to experiment!

Ingredients For Berry Smoothie

• ​Banana – I use fresh bananas, but you can use frozen bananas, too. If you use frozen, your smoothie will be thicker so you may want to thin it with more milk.
• Frozen mixed berries – I use a mix of frozen berries – blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. It’s sweet and just a little tart. Frozen berries make the smoothie nice and cold and give it a nice texture, so if you use fresh berries, add a few ice cubes to the blender.
• Vanilla yogurt – You can use regular yogurt or Greek yogurt, which is thicker. You can also use different yogurt flavors to change it up. Yogurt gives the smoothie a super creamy texture and makes them more filling, too. 
• Milk – We love 2% dairy milk, but you can use whole milk or nonfat milk. Or use your favorite dairy-free milk like almond milk, oat milk, coconut milk, or cashew milk.
• Garnish – You can garnish your berry smoothies with fresh mint, fresh fruit, frozen berries, or skip it altogether. It’s up to you!

Variations

There are about a million ways to make a smoothie! I like to keep them simple so they’re easy to make, but you can add or substitute ingredients to put your own spin on the recipe.

• Nut butter: A spoonful of peanut butter, almond butter, or cashew butter will add flavor, texture, and make the smoothie more filling with the added protein.
• Juice: Add a little orange juice, lemon juice, or lime juice for a kick of tartness. Cranberry or apple juice are good, too.
• Sweetness: If you want to sweeten the smoothies a little bit of honey or maple syrup works great.
• Greens: Want to sneak in some greens? Blend some spinach with the other ingredients. You can’t taste it but it will change the color of the smoothie. Kale is also a great green to add to smoothies if you have a high powered blender.
• Protein: Add a scoop of your favorite protein powder, chia seeds or hemp hearts to increase the protein content of your smoothie. This will help to keep you satisfied longer.
• Make a smoothie bowl: Add your smoothie to a bowl and top it with anything you like such as granola, nuts, seeds, fresh fruit, a drizzle of honey or maple syrup. Anything you might add to a bowl of hot oatmeal is also a perfect addition to a smoothie bowl.

How to Make a Berry Smoothie

1. Place all of the ingredients in a blender, adding the milk last.
2. Process until smooth and creamy.
3. Divide the smoothie between glasses and enjoy!

Pro Tips

• If your smoothie is too thick, add more milk or some juice to thin it. If it’s too thin, add a little more frozen fruit or yogurt to thicken it.
• Freeze fresh berries to use in smoothies after a farmer’s market haul or a trip to the u-pick. It makes these smoothies even more budget friendly.
• Make-ahead: Sometimes I make smoothie packs with the fruit divided into small freezer bags. That makes it easy to grab one or a few to blend up when we need a quick treat!
• If you end up adding heartier ingredients like spinach or kale, add them to the blender first to give them more time to really blend in.

Give this mixed berry smoothie recipe a try the next time the kiddos are craving something sweet but you also want to fill their tummies with something nutritious! It’s creamy, cold, and the best snack when you need something quick and healthy.

Storage

Smoothies are best consumed at the time you make them. However, if you have some leftover and want to store it for another time, put it into the freezer in an airtight container. Allow to thaw in the fridge before consuming.

More Easy Snack Ideas

• Colorful and sweet Fruit Kabobs are great for parties or after-school snacks! Juicy fruit and kid-approved marshmallows are all you need to make these skewers that the kids will devour.
• Festive Grinch Kabobs are easy to make and great for the holiday season or anytime of the year if you’ve got a Grinch lover in your household. Kids can have fun putting these together with the added bonus of fine motor practice.
• Chocolate Covered Frozen Bananas are super fun to make and a really fun treat at any time of the day. The creamy frozen banana and crisp chocolate make a delicious combination that, dare I say it, rivals a bowl of ice cream!
• There is just something about a fruit gummy that kids absolutely go crazy for, so why not make some Homemade Fruit Snacks! Super easy to put together and your kids will be so impressed you made them yourself. I bet they’ll even want to help.

Are Berry Smoothies Healthy?

It depends on the ingredients. Even homemade smoothies can be unhealthy if there’s a lot of added sugar, so I limit that in my recipe. You can use sugar-free yogurt or plain yogurt if you want to reduce the sugar even more. So, feel free to make adjustments.