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I’ve been keen on smoothies for a while now, and in that time, I’ve tried out a lot of recipes with a whole host of ingredients.
Sometimes you follow recipes you think will be delicious and will have everything you need, but there’s always something missing. Maybe it tastes chalky or it just isn’t sweet enough.
So I’m going to give you some ingredient ideas or ‘smoothie hacks’ that will enhance the taste, texture and make your healthy smoothie not be such a chore to put together and drink.
Please note, some of these ingredients will add calories to whatever smoothie recipe you’re currently using. So if you’re counting calories or trying to lose or add weight to your frame, make sure that you’re on top of how many calories you’re taking.
1. Frozen Berries.
Number one is frozen berries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, red berries, cranberries. All of these are great for making your smoothie a little more sweet without losing on nutrients.
As a smoothie hack, yes, you could add a tablespoon of sugar to your smoothie for sweetness, but to me that’s just cheating. Berries are going to add a good amount of antioxidants. Also, adding pure sugar has no vitamins or minerals.
The best way to buy them is frozen. You could buy them fresh, but fresh can be a bit more expensive for a smaller amount. What I do is I go to a wholesaler and I buy a really big bag of blackberries.
They’re my favorite, and that lasts me for at least a month.
2. Banana.
I make sure I keep some bananas in a fridge. The main reason I use them is for texture, a banana will make the smoothie a little sweeter, but a banana also is a fruit that enhances the texture of a smoothie.
Sometimes you put a smoothie together, and it doesn’t blend well, or it separates. So you’re left with a chalky base, which sometimes can taste gross because all the delicious stuff has gone to the top. Well, adding a banana will make the texture a little smoother and make it a little creamier.
So you won’t have that awful separation.
3. Avocados.
Much like bananas, avocado is really good for changing the consistency and texture. They don’t alter the taste much, but they do make the smoothie a little creamier and smooth.
Not only that, avocados are high in monounsaturated fat, basically the good fats that you should really try to get more of in your diet, but know, however, avocados are really high in calories so make sure you know how much you’re putting in.
4. Mint.
As you’ve probably guessed it, good for your breath, and the taste is really good at masking some of the less delicious ingredients you might have to have in there like kale.
Mint is also pretty cheap to get your hands on and you don’t really need to add much to taste the difference
Last, but not least…
5. Vanilla Essence.
If you’re someone who cannot use whey protein, maybe you’re lactose intolerant, vegan or whatever it may be, you may have to use soy, hemp, rice, or pea protein as your protein powder.
The problem I’ve had in the past is that these proteins can taste really bad, especially rice and pea protein. They can taste really offensive to me!
So one thing I do is I add a drop or two of vanilla essence, and that usually makes the taste a little better.
Try it out for yourself. It also works well with chocolate-flavored smoothies too.
So there it is. That’s my top five smoothie taste hacks. If you want to call it that, hopefully you found something useful!
Tell me of any hacks that you use that makes your smoothie taste a little better.
Let me know in the comments what hacks you use to make your smoothies taste a little better.