How to Make a Smoothie (Complete Guide)

These are the essential tips on how to make the perfect smoothie. It’s important to understand the proper ratio of ingredients to ensure a thick but sippable nutrient-packed drink.

It’s time to become a smoothie pro with your kitchen blender! Grab a bunch of whole fruits, vegetables, and frozen foods to break down into a healthy snack. It may be tempting to chop and dump, but there’s a science to the process.

This complete smoothie guide will provide the preferred starting ratio of frozen, fresh, and liquid ingredients for success. Whether you’re a fruit smoothie fan or need a green smoothie reset, there are tips for customizing your own concoction.

How to make a smoothie

Adding the correct ratio of each type of ingredient is essential to create a creamy texture that’s easy to drink. At least half of the smoothie recipe should be frozen, ⅔ is ideal. Start with choosing an item from each category below to make the base.

The base ratio

• Liquid: ¾ to 1 cup (add more as needed to process the smoothie)
• Yogurt: ¼ to ½ cup (optional)
• Fresh Fruits/Vegetables: 1 to 3 cups
• Leafy Greens: 1 to 2 cups
• Frozen Fruit: 2 to 2 ½ cups
• Ice Cubes: 1 cup
• Sweetener: 1 to 3 teaspoons (optional)

Mix and match various foods to create a colorful and nutritious drink. For every 1 cup of liquid, non-frozen fruit or vegetable, or yogurt, add at least 1 cup of frozen ingredients (fruit and/or ice).

Liquids (milk, juice, water)

Milk-based ingredients help to mellow out bitter flavors while adding a more luscious mouthfeel. Try milk, coconut milk, nut milk (cashew, almond milk, macadamia nut), sesame milk, hemp milk, banana milk, soy milk, or oat milk.

Fruit juice like apple juice, cranberry, pomegranate, orange juice, and pineapple adds natural sweetness and acidity, making fruity flavors pop. Coconut water is a great addition to deliver hydration, electrolytes, and sweetness.

Yogurt

Yogurt is a great way to add extra protein, probiotics for digestive health, and creaminess to smoothies. Try Greek yogurt, cashew, coconut, soy, dairy, oat, and almond milk yogurt. Flavored options like vanilla yogurt add some depth but watch up for a lot of extra added sugar. I typically select plain and unsweetened or naturally sweetened with fruit.

Fresh fruit

Using whole fruit benefits from insoluble and soluble fibers, phytonutrients, and micronutrients. Try apples, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, oranges, melon, watermelon, pineapple, banana, peaches, pomegranate arils, mango, papaya, pear, kiwi, lemons, and limes. Cut larger pieces of fruits into 1-inch cubes, ½-inch thick slices.

Frozen fruit

Frozen fruit is always available in the freezer section of grocery stores, so you can enjoy them even when not in season to make a tasty smoothie. Try peaches, strawberries, blackberries, pineapple, or mango. Frozen fruit can be substituted for ice cubes to create a thicker consistency that won’t dilute the flavor.

Vegetables and greens

Robust vegetables like carrots, beets, cucumbers, celery, and broccoli have fiber, energizing nutrients and add body to smoothies. Leafy greens like spinach, baby kale, or various types of lettuce like romaine, bibb, or Boston lettuce are a powerhouse of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients.

Cut tough vegetables into slices or smaller 1-inch pieces to make them easier to process. Thoroughly wash the greens before blending to remove any dirt and reduce the transfer of harmful bacteria.

Sweeteners

Add a sweetener to balance any bitter notes or acidity from the fruit and vegetables. Taste the smoothie first, then adjust. Often, the fruit has enough natural sweetness. Try dates, date syrup, honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, or coconut palm sugar. Start with 1 teaspoon of sweetener, blend, then increase to taste.

Spices and flavor enhancers

Spices and flavoring agents like cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, ginger (fresh or dried), cardamom, cocoa powder, matcha green tea powder, pure vanilla extract, or almond extract add zip to each sip! Start with a small amount, about ¼ to ½ teaspoon, taste and increase the amount to your liking.

Nutritional boosts

Protein, superfoods, antioxidant-rich ingredients, and nutritional boosts are a great way to pack in extra benefits into each serving. Try protein powder, nut butter (peanut butter, almond butter, cashew), yogurt, chia seeds, matcha green tea powder, flax seeds, cacao powder, acai (frozen puree or powder), banana, and raw oats like old fashioned or instant.

Ways to thicken a smoothie

Frozen fruit or ice is the first way to thicken smoothies. However, yogurt, bananas, coconut milk (or any opaque liquid), avocado, tofu, and nut butter can assist in creating a creamy consistency. If using tofu, start with ¼ to ½ cup cubes of silken tofu. For avocado, use ½ first, so the taste doesn’t become too rich.

Layering ingredients in the proper sequence

Adding ingredients into the blender correctly is critical for breaking down those tough, fibrous, leafy, or icy ingredients into a smooth consistency. According to Vitamix, this is the recommended way to layer in each component, depending on the size of your kitchen blender:

• Large containers (more than 20 ounces): First, add any wet ingredients (liquids, yogurt, sweeteners), followed by dry goods, leafy greens, fresh fruits/vegetables, then frozen ingredients last.
• Small containers (20 ounces or less): First, add frozen ingredients, fresh fruits/vegetables, leafy greens, dry goods, and wet ingredients last.

Adjusting the blender speed

It’s best to ramp up the speed of the blender gradually. Start with medium speed for about 30 seconds. This allows the blades to break things up without burning out the motor. Use a plastic tamper to help push down the ingredients into the fast-moving blades at the bottom of the cup.

Turn the speed to high for 15 to 30 seconds for final processing. This is when I add any extra liquid or ice needed to help with blending. If the smoothie doesn’t easily whirl and move, it needs a little more liquid, add small amounts at a time to keep a thick but sippable consistency.

Do you have to add ice?

No, ice cubes are not necessary to make a smoothie as long as you’re using frozen fruits. Replace 1:1 ice cubes with frozen fruit is recommended. The ice will create a smooth, thick, chilly texture or frothy if only a tiny amount is used. I like to add both ice cubes and frozen fruit together to create the perfect consistency.

When using only fresh fruit

If frozen fruit is not available, that’s okay! Fresh fruit still adds body to the smoothie as the ingredients become pureed. However, you won’t get that cool chill. Add in ice cubes. Start with ½ cup to 1 cup of ice (depending on the size of the drink), and add more until the desired consistency is reached.

Just be aware that the more ice is used, the more the flavor will dilute as the ice melts.

More smoothie recipes

• Orange Julius Smoothie
• Strawberry Banana Smoothie
• Cranberry Orange Smoothie
• Mixed Berry Smoothie
• Avocado Smoothie
• Kale Smoothie
• Mango Smoothie