I was looking at the Serious Eats site and they listed their top 10 favorite smoothies in New York. Wow!  Expensive!   Prices ranged from $4.50 to $10.00 to what looked to be a 16-ounce serving. I know these prices aren’t exclusive to New York either, as I’ve seen some pretty hefty prices here in Arizona. Most of the smoothies listed looked delicious, but there’s no need to spend that kind of money on a smoothie when you can make one yourself at home for a fraction of the cost.

Typically when I make smoothies I use several core ingredients: some type of milk product, fruit and sweetener. I also don’t go out of my way to buy specific ingredients, I just use what I have on hand.  I will list some examples of the core ingredients I like to use and then share my favorite blenders, and then I will share some of my favorite smoothie recipes.

Milk or Milk Product

• Milk
• Coconut Milk
• Nut Milk
• Yogurt
• Kefir

Fruit

• Strawberries
• Bananas
• Pineapple
• Blueberries
• Papaya
• Peaches
• Avocado

Sweeteners

• Honey
• Maple Syrup
• Stevia

Extra Ingredients

• Whole Nuts [walnuts, pecans, peanuts, almonds]
• Raw Egg Yolk (generally considered safe when they come from free range hens)
• Coconut Oil
• Coconut Flakes
• Chocolate Chips
• Dried Fruit
• Crushed Ice
• Spices [cinnamon, ginger, cloves, all spice, vanilla]

You’re also going to need something with which to blend your ingredients.  I love my Magic Bullet and it works wonderfully for smoothies.  It blends well, and works great with frozen ingredients, and you can take the blender cup with you as you head out the door!

If you are in the market for a larger machine, I love my Oster Beehive Blender.

And finally, I lust for the Vitamix Blender which will grind everything including the kitchen sink! Okay, maybe not the kitchen sink:

Here are a few of my favorite smoothie recipes, these all serve one person and best of all they cost much less than $10 each! Another great benefit is you can make a smaller portion and therefore end up consuming less calories.  Most of us belong to the “clean plate” club and that goes double for sweet treats!  If we do indulge in a non-frugal treat like a $5 smoothie, we are definitely going to get our money’s worth and slurp down every single drop, am I right?  When you make your own, you control your ingredients and the size of the smoothie.

Coconut Milk Smoothie

• 1 cup Natural Value Coconut Milk (thick and very white, this brand contains no guar gum or thickeners)
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 small orange
• 1/2 ripe banana
• 1/2 cup ice cubes

My Coconut Milk Smoothie is actually quite similar to an Orange Julius.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie (This recipe conceived out of necessity when Dairy Queen came out with their Pumpkin Pie Blizzard)

• 3/4 cup milk
• 4-5 tablespoons of canned pumpkin or steamed butternut squash
• 1 egg yolk, optional
• 1 teaspoon homemade vanilla
• 1 Clementine Cutie mandarin (look like tiny oranges)
• 2 ice cubes
• sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice

Cherry Banana Coconut Smoothie

• 1 cup kefir or yogurt
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon virgin coconut oil
• 6 fresh cherries
• 1/2 banana
• 30 drops Pure Stevia Liquid Extract by Kal
• 5 ice cubes

Banana Chocolate Smoothie

• 1 frozen banana
• 1 egg yolk
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• pinch of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon chopped almonds
• 1 Tablespoon chocolate chips

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

• 1 large frozen banana
• 1 cup milk
• 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
• 3 ice cubes
• 1 Tablespoon peanuts, add after fully blended and pulse a few times to leave them chunky

Peach Yogurt Pecan Smoothie

• 1 cup frozen peaches cut into chunks
• 1 cup yogurt
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1 Tablespoon honey or maple syrup
• 2 Tablespoons pecans, add after fully blended and pulse a few times to leave them chunky

Coffee Chocolate Smoothie

• 1-1/2 cups cashew milk, previously frozen into cubes then crushed
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee
• 1 Tablespoon honey

Berry Smoothie

• 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 cup milk
• 1 Tablespoon honey or maple syrup
• 4 ice cubes

Let me know if you try any of these. I find them to be a lovely treat when I’m in the mood for something creamy, cool and sweet.