Like smoothies? It's a delicious drink that's easy to make and adds fruit and vegetables to your diet! Don't spend $7 on something you can make at home with whatever ingredients you have on hand in your kitchen! This is the perfect quick and healthy breakfast option to give you energy all day long. Throw everything together and take it on-the-go. Or put things out for the kids after school hours.

This browser does not support the video element.

This basic perfect smoothie recipe provides a great base for you to add protein and fiber, as well as whatever flavors you like. We've tested this recipe and explain the physics of how it works so you'll get something that blends perfectly every time.

Five simple steps make the perfect smoothie recipe:

First, add your liquids. Start with water, milk, yogurt, or fruit juice.
Second, add any frozen ingredients, whether ice, juice, or fruit.
Third, add large ingredients, including chopped or sliced fruit or vegetables.
Fourth, add smaller, optional extras such as spices, peanut butter, or protein or vitamin powder.
Finally, start blending at low speed. Gradually increase speed and blend to your desired consistency. Blend until smooth.

You can throw everything in a cheap blender and get pretty good results, but you'll get the best and most consistent results by following this template. Why? Physics!

The high velocity of fluids swirling in the blender breaks down large chunks of ingredients. It's not just the blades that chop things up! The shear forces of high velocity liquid break down and smooth out big chunks of ingredients. For more information on the physics of blending, see how blenders cut down food and how cavitation works in a blender.

Liquid Smoothie Ingredients

Most smoothie recipes use at least one liquid. We prefer a ratio of 1/4 to 1/3 cup of liquid per cup of solid ingredients.

If you try to make a smoothie without any liquid ingredients, you'll be blending for a while. Make sure at least one of your other ingredients is already pretty juicy, like a peach, pineapple, or frozen strawberries. Be patient while blending. The end result will be super thick, so get a sturdy spatula ready to dish it out and a thick straw to drink it up.

Yogurt is a staple in our smoothie recipes. We find Greek yogurt to have the best texture, (and lower sugar and higher protein than regular yogurt)—but sometimes a few cubes of ice or a couple of tablespoons of other liquid work well. We tend to prefer vanilla yogurt, but honey or unflavored are also popular. Fruit yogurt can be too sweet (with too much sugar and not enough texture), but it works in a pinch.

While a traditional smoothie might use yogurt or milk, a non-dairy smoothie can use juice, water, soy, nut milk, or almond milk (our favorite). If you use water, spice it up with coconut water or green tea to add more flavor. This even goes for ice; frozen juice cubes or flavored ice cubes work great!

Our favorite smoothies use at least one frozen ingredient. While ice adds a nice cooling touch plus a little bit of liquid in the blender as it melts, but frozen fruit (tasty grapes, smooth bananas, refreshing strawberries) or juice cubes (cranberry, orange) add the same cooling without watering down the flavor. Get creative! We especially love grapes—see our amazing spinach pear grape smoothie!

Why add the liquid first? To avoid blender logjams! Spinning blades force larger chunks to the top of the mix because they don't fit in the small spaces. Unless you have liquid around the blades, you'll form an air bubble with everything pushed up and away from the blades to the sides of the container, like a strawberry banana mush you have to dig out with a spatula. With enough liquid around the blades, you'll get currents so that larger chunks will reach the blades to mix together.

Be Patient and Diligent while Blending, Resting, and Storing

Start with a high quality blender. We proudly use Vitamix blenders, so our drinks always come out great! Even though fancy smoothie shops use the professional Vitamix and Blendtec models, any decent blender will work (Ninja, Oster). Even a good food processor may handle ice better than a really cheap blender.

Start blending at a low speed. Work up momentum to move the larger chunks of fruit to the blades so that they get chopped finely. Gradually increase speed to high. This is especially true when using frozen fruits or nuts; the slower you go, the more blending power you have at the start.

If you start too fast or speed up too quickly, you risk making an air bubble. That makes for a chunky smoothie you'll have to dig out with a spatula—not bad if you like something like a thick strawberry banana smoothie, but that's not always what you want.

Clean Up Immediately

Immediately after pouring your drink, clean your container with warm water. The remnants of your delicious drink can quickly dry in your container, making it hard to clean. Our Vitamix is super easy to clean (especially with the automatic cleaning cycle), but if you're diligent about rinsing immediately, you'll be fine.

Should You Rest Your Smoothies?

Letting a smoothie sit tends to make it less frothy, but some smoothies will separate quickly. For example, almost every green smoothie (see our spinach apple banana smoothie recipe) separates into a layer of green juice atop a chunky green mixture after a few minutes.

Others fare better from resting. Anything with a lot of light or frothy ingredients, or a lot of air whipped up into them, applies. (Our strawberry banana smoothie falls in this category.)

If you're in a rush, prepare the ingredients beforehand by chopping and measuring them. Start only when you're ready to eat! You can store ingredients or even store smoothies overnight in the fridge, if you're preparing for an early morning!

A thick smoothie can last in the fridge up to 24 hours while retaining its flavor and texture. Thinner smoothies may separate before then. We prefer to drink immediately, though grabbing a drink prepared the night before is almost as good. To store a smoothie in the fridge, pour it into a tightly sealed container such as a Mason jar. Unless you have a tight, screw-on lid for your blender bottle, don't bother—you'll get better flavor and have an easier time cleaning up if you store it in something else.

In a pinch, you can put plastic wrap over the top of a glass.

Choosing the Right Ingredients

Our standard fruit smoothie recipe starts with a banana or apple and yogurt, but anything you can imagine can work. We've made delicious treats with peanut butter, pineapple, carrots, spinach and kale, and more. We've even added celery to the spinach pear grape smoothie. If you're going for complete nutrition, adding protein powder to smoothies puts power in your day without changing the flavor.

You don't have to break the bank by paying out the nose for little bags of washed, chopped, and frozen fruit at the store. Freezing your own fresh fruit takes less time than you think, and you can make your own mixture of ingredients—ready to dump a little baggie in your blender!

The amount of ice affects how smooth or chunky your smoothie is (assuming your blender's motor is powerful enough to handle everything you put in it). The more ice, generally the chunkier the end result given the same amount of blending time. Too much ice or too much frozen fruit and you'll end up with a sorbet—delicious, but harder to drink through a straw.

What does all of this deliciousness mean for your calorie needs? Nutrient information depends on the ingredients. If you're not careful, you can make a drink that eats up most of your recommended calorie daily values! A quarter-cup of low-fat Greek yogurt per recipe will add tang and texture without ruining your diet. A single serving of an 8 ounce smoothie can run over 800 calories or 300 or lower depending on the calorie count of individual ingredients. Using unsweetened milk or fruit to add taste cuts down on the expense, while throwing in a spoon full of maple syrup to taste will up the results.

For a very healthy, low-calorie smoothie load up with flavorful fruits (not juice; whole or frozen fruit) and cut down on high calorie ingredients. Punch up your drink with spices, herbs, and other low-calorie flavors. Remember that a smoothie packed full of leafy greens will keep you full too without blowing your calorie budget.

Now that you know how to make smoothies, rely on your own taste and style. Experiment. What's the worst that can happen? You get to eat your results! You'll discover which fruits and vegetables go well together. Look for flavors and textures which complement each other. There's a wealth of fruits, vegetables, and herbs to enhance the basic yogurt ice banana smoothie combination.

Now how about browsing our easy smoothie recipes for ideas, or see our frequently asked questions about smoothies.