A bright & refreshing smoothie featuring simple ingredients like fresh pineapple, banana, avocado & almond butter. This yummy drink has a balanced combo of naturally sweet tropical fruit, protein & healthy fats so you'll feel satisfied & nourished after drinking a glass. It's perfect for a quick & easy breakfast, lunch, or snack! (gluten-free, grain-free & dairy-free)
This pineapple banana avocado smoothie has been my go-to lazy lunch or afternoon snack for the past several months. It's bright and sweet (but not overwhelmingly so), and the fragrant smell & vivid taste of the pineapple & banana gives me those much-need relaxing tropical vibes. We could all use some of that right about now! Ahem.
If you need an excuse to grab a fresh pineapple on your next grocery trip, this is it! It's so worth spending a few minutes slicing off the pretty top, then the coarse peel with its many eyes, then removing the core, and chopping everything else into bite-sized chunks.
The juices will run all over your cutting board in the process, but it makes your kitchen smell like a sunshine paradise, and you'll have first dibs on eating the fresh fruit bite by bite. It's hard to resist!
While you're at it, save some for making a quick batch of pineapple salsa and stick that in your fridge to use as a topping for your favorite protein or as a dip for chips. I like to use it as a garnish for pan-seared mahi-mahi or salmon, but it'd be excellent on pulled pork tacos or fish tacos with cabbage slaw.
And if you have leftover bananas that look too ripe even for a smoothie, use them to make some double chocolate banana muffins or banana oatmeal cookies. Your belly will thank you!
But there's another reason I choose pineapple as the primary ingredient in my smoothies these days. Yes, it's budget-friendly and tastes amazing, but it's also packed with vitamin-C, which is so good for supporting your immune system. This is one of the reasons I love adding it to smoothies, along with mango, kiwi fruit & strawberries.
One thing I haven't discussed yet is the avocado. You might think I'm a weirdo for adding it, but it serves a purpose. It adds healthy fats + fiber to the smoothie, which makes it more filling and helps our bodies better absorb fat-soluble vitamins (like A, E, D & K). Avocado also gives the smoothie a creamier texture, similar to what adding yogurt or milk kefir does, but sans the dairy.
Okay, let's do a run-down of the ingredients...
Ingredients For This Pineapple Banana Smoothie
- Fresh Pineapple: This adds natural sweetness & a tropical flavor + has the added bonus of vitamins, minerals & antioxidants. Frozen pineapple works great if you have it. Note: If all you have is canned that should work too (haven't tried it yet) just make sure it doesn't contain any added sugar or syrup (only the natural juices). If that's not the case, save the canned stuff for a dessert.
- Ripe Banana: Choosing a ripe banana increases the sweetness & banana flavor + adds vitamins & minerals, as well. Be sure it's not too ripe otherwise the banana flavor will overwhelm the pineapple (you may not mind that).
- Almond Butter: This adds protein & healthy fats + a light nutty flavor. Any creamy nut butter works great here. I prefer almond butter right now since it has a milder flavor than peanut butter, which (in my experience) usually overpowers the fruit flavor in smoothies. Save your peanut butter for making double chocolate peanut butter cookies instead!
- Avocado: This adds healthy fats & fiber + a creamy (yet neutral tasting) texture to the smoothie. A little goes a long way, so you only need 1/2 an avocado for one batch that will feed 2-4 people.
- Chia Seeds: This adds a good amount of fiber & omega 3 fatty acids. If you don't have any on hand you can skip it or substitute flax seeds or hemp seeds instead.
- Protein Powder: This is an easy way to increase the amount of protein so the drink is more balanced & filling. We're already getting a bit from the almond butter & chia seeds, but this helps to boost it.
- Almond Milk: This adds a creamy texture and helps to thin out the smoothie so it's drinkable & easier to blend. Any nut milk works (or even regular milk if you prefer), just make sure to choose something that's unsweetened since the pineapple & banana are already plenty sweet on their own.
- Ice Cubes: I only add these when I'm using fresh fruit so the smoothie is cold. If you're using frozen fruit, leave this out.
Open Nature® & O Organics® Plant-Based Meal Solutions
Although I'm a hardcore omnivore, I love fruits & vegetables and am trying to incorporate more plant-based foods into my lifestyle so I can get a wider spectrum of nutrients. What can I say...I like diversifying!
Meatless Mondays are a good way to do that, but they don't always happen in my home. So, to keep things realistic (and attainable), smoothies are one of my favorite (fast & easy) ways to do that.
Because I want to pack in as much goodness as possible, I took the core smoothie recipe (pineapple, banana & avocado) and made it more nutrient-dense by adding protein powder, almond butter & unsweetened vanilla almond milk from Open Nature®.
I love that Open Nature & O Organics® (another one of my favorites) offer plant-based products that are budget-friendly and high-protein without sacrificing quality or flavor. It certainly makes it easier when I can grab all of my healthy recipe ingredients in one shopping trip!
Other Features I Love:
- O Organics offers high-quality, non-GMO and 100% USDA certified organic plant-based products
- Open Nature offers high-quality, minimally-processed plant-based products free from 110 additives
Want to grab some of these products for yourself? O Organics & Open Nature plant-based products are available at a value in the Dallas, Texas area exclusively at Tom Thumb stores.
TIP: Do you live in the Dallas area and don't want to go inside to shop? Tom Thumb also offers Grocery Delivery and DriveUp & Go™ for convenient ways to shop!
Note: Live outside the Dallas area? I shopped at my local Tom Thumb store, but you can also find O Organics and Open Nature plant-based products at the Albertsons Companies family of stores, including Albertsons, Safeway, ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Vons, Randalls, Shaw’s Supermarket, and Star Market.
Tips For Making This Fruit Smoothie
- To make it more creamy, use all frozen fruit and add extra almond milk (this will help it blend easier, too).
- Start by adding the fruit first so that the dry ingredients (chia seeds and protein powder) don't get stuck at the bottom of the blender.
- If you're making this in the fall & winter when it's cold, use room temperature fruit and no ice so you can reap the nutritional benefits without making yourself cold!
- If you want to turn this into a "green" smoothie add a large handful (or two) of leafy baby greens (like spinach or kale) at the very end before blending.
- If you want this smoothie to taste even more tropical, substitute canned full-fat coconut milk instead of almond milk. It'll give you those pina colada vibes!
More Easy Drink Recipes To Try:
Yield: 2-4 servings
Pineapple Banana Avocado Smoothie
Prep time: 5 MCook time: Total time: 5 M
A bright & refreshing smoothie with a balanced combo of naturally sweet fruit, protein & healthy fats so you'll feel satisfied & nourished after drinking a glass. It's perfect for a quick & easy breakfast, lunch, or snack! (gluten-free, grain-free & dairy-free)
Ingredients:
- 2 heaping cups of chopped fresh pineapple
- 1 ripe banana, peeled
- 2 tablespoons of almond butter (I used Open Nature creamy almond butter)
- 1/2 a medium avocado, pit & peel removed
- 2 tablespoons of chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon of protein powder (I used Open Nature plant-based vanilla protein powder)
- 1 cup of almond milk (I used Open Nature unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
- 6-8 ice cubes (omit if using frozen fruit)
Instructions:
- In a blender, add the pineapple, banana, almond butter, avocado, chia seeds, protein powder, almond milk & ice cubes.
- Pulse several times until everything is blended & the smoothie has reached your desired consistency. If it's too thick, add more almond milk 1/4 cup at a time.
- Pour the smoothie into two glasses (or four if serving smaller portions), add straws, and serve immediately while cold.
Notes:
SWEETNESS: If your pineapple and banana are ripe, your smoothie should be sweet enough by itself; however, if you're using frozen fruit it can sometimes dull the sweetness, so in that case, you may want to add a tablespoon of maple syrup, raw honey, or coconut sugar. CREAMY: To make your smoothie creamier (and less frothy), use frozen pineapple & banana instead of fresh and add an extra 1/2 cup or so of almond milk.
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