Kid-Friendly Strawberry Banana Smoothie Recipe

My recipe for a delicious kid-friendly strawberry banana smoothie.

I recently became a big fan of homemade strawberry banana smoothies. The great thing about smoothies is that you can prepare them ahead of time, and in as many batches as you need. This is going to make them great for quick breakfasts for my daughter when she starts kindergarten in a week.

If you want to skip straight to the recipe, then click the link below. However, if you’d like to learn some tips for making your smoothie creamier, or colder and crisp, keep reading, as I share some tips.

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Smoothies are something I had avoided for a long time. The last time I had one (fifteen years ago) was in one of those trendy smoothie shops. I wasn’t a fan of how they made it (they probably put ice in it), and just concluded that I didn’t like smoothies.

But I needed to spice up my breakfast life. My kids and I were in a yogurt or eggs rut. I decided to learn how to make smoothies, because I could make it the way I wanted it, and I hoped my kids would enjoy them.

When I started making smoothies, I used with the most basic recipe: yogurt, strawberries, bananas, and milk. I used the Greek yogurt I had on hand. The result was… just okay. The kids were not really fans of it.

Darn, I was hoping this smoothie thing would work out. I really needed a new breakfast idea, and this was supposed to be it. But I persevered and started tweaking the recipe.

Since then I’ve perfected my strawberry banana smoothie recipe to something my kids and I love. It’s full of vitamins and probiotics, and it gets both my kids and I a good serving of fruit.

I like my smoothies very creamy, so I use a lot of yogurt. The trick is using the right yogurt. I enjoy plain Greek yogurt, but using that alone in a smoothie makes it too sour. For the smoothies I use the Stoneyfield vanilla whole milk yogurt. (Any vanilla yogurt will probably do.) I will sometimes supplement it with a few scoops of my Fage Greek yogurt.

Next I add a little bit of liquid. Usually I use cream with a splash of strawberry kefir. Too much kefir makes the smoothie too sour, in my experience, but if you like it, add it to your personal taste. You can also use milk or half and half. Or, if you like your smoothie extra creamy, use additional yogurt instead.

Then I add strawberries and bananas. It doesn’t really matter if they are fresh or frozen. If I have fresh strawberries in the fridge, I’ll pull out the ones that are on their last legs and use those, and if I need more, I’ll cut up some frozen strawberries. As to the bananas, you want to use one that is very ripe. What I do is let bananas ripen, then peel them and store them in the freezer in a freezer bag. Then I can pull them out and cut them up as needed.

My secret ingredient, which is entirely optional, is a little bit of vanilla coffee creamer. You don’t need much – 1 tbsp at the most – but it adds a little bit of vanilla sweetness. My kids like the smoothie the best when I add a little bit to it before blending. I use vanilla coffee creamer because I have it in the fridge already, but if you don’t have it on hand already, don’t feel as though you need to go out and buy some.

There is no need to add ice to this smoothie. I prefer my smoothies creamy, not watery, and ice will just water it down. If you want your smoothie to be really cold and crisp, use frozen fruit – especially frozen bananas. It will give you that icy texture without watering it down. A fresh banana will make it more creamy. However it will taste delicious either way.

To blend my smoothie I use my trusty Osterizer blender. I recently linked this in my summer favorites post, because I’ve been loving it so much. The particular blender I have is over ten years old, and it still works like a charm. It’s inexpensive and blends smoothies beautifully.

I like to use my striped reusable straws to sip my smoothies. Delicious and cute!

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

You will need:

• 1 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1/4 cup cream (or milk or half and half) or additional yogurt*
• 1 tbsp vanilla coffee creamer (optional)
• 1 1/2 cup sliced or chopped strawberries
• 1 banana

*You can also add a splash of strawberry kefir.

Directions:

Put your wet ingredients in the blender first. This will help your blender create the vortex inside to blend properly.

Add your cut fruit on top, then put the lid on. On my blender I first use the “blend” setting for a couple seconds then switch to the “grate” setting. You may have to stop and stir everything up partway through the process. Sometimes if your fruit is frozen, the pieces will stick together and won’t get blended properly.

Pour into cups and enjoy! Makes two servings.

Print Recipe

Equipment Used

Reusable Straws in Rainbow Colors: Cupture Reusable and Unbreakable Color Striped Straws

My Blender: Oster 12 Speed Glass Top Blender

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