For Smoothie Beginners: Basics of Smoothies for Kids

Smoothies are a great way to get an amazingly dense amount of nutrition into yourself and your family. I have been giving them to my kids since they were wee little ones and still do 3–4 times a week.

As a mom, it feels good to know they are getting all that good stuff in them and the benefits are endless! I have friends who are smoothie beginners who aren’t too sure of where to begin. I am always getting asked “what do you put in smoothies for your kids?”

So here goes…

Start Here, Start Slow!

I feel like many people get intimidated by the whole thing and just give up.

I get it… the combinations are infinite! Very quickly you can start to feel like someone is asking you to mix some concoction for you potions final at Hogwarts.

Here’s what I say… start slow.

So what I am going to do, instead of posting a long list of ingredients, is share a basic “start here” recipe below.

Let’s slow roll this smoothie thing because once you actually understand what all that stuff is you’ll realize you don’t need a recipe and you can just improvise… Hogwarts style!!

The “Start Here” Smoothie Recipe for Smoothie Beginners

The "start here" smoothie recipe for smoothie beginners is a lovely basic, kid-friendly smoothie that you can prep the night before to streamline your morning!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Breakfast, Nutritional Supplement, Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• 1 packet plain, unsweetened instant oatmeal (soaked in hot water for 10min or overnight in the fridge)*
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds (ideally pre-soaked as well… throw ’em in with the oatmeal)
• 1 Tbsp hemp hearts
• 1 to 2 whole dates, pitted
• 1 small handful greens  (spinach is a good one to start with)
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 to 1.5 cups milk of choice**

Instructions

 

• Put all ingredients into a high-speed blender. Blend until fully combined, then serve!

Notes

*I set my oatmeal and chia seeds to soak right in the bottom of my blender container. Why have extra dishes!!?? And actually, you could add everything except the frozen fruit and milk and let the whole thing soak overnight in the fridge if you wanted to streamline your morning.

NOTE: If you don’t soak the oatmeal and chia seeds prior to blending then your smoothie can continue to thicken after you blend as those ingredients draw in the moisture from the smoothie. This makes it harder to drink and can end up like pudding (great for smoothie bowls tho!!!). If this happens, just add a little more liquid and re-blend, no biggie.

** If your kids need it to be a little sweeter to start, I would sub part of the milk for a good quality no-sugar-added fruit juice just to sweeten it a little… orange is a good one!!

I like serving mine to the kiddos in my all-time favorite Honey Bear bottle!!!

Keyword green smoothie, kid-friendly snacks, smoothie recipe

Shop This Post