Mixed Berry Smoothie

By Molly Watson

Updated 09/18/18

The Spruce
Ratings (55)
  • Total: 5 mins
  • Prep: 3 mins
  • Cook: 2 mins
  • Yield: 1 Smoothie (serves 1)
Nutritional Guidelines (per serving)
168 Calories
1g Fat
41g Carbs
2g Protein
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Smoothies are the favored way to enjoy berries, be they fresh or frozen. Whether it's berry season and fresh blackberries and blueberries, raspberries and strawberries are coming out everyone's ears or berry season is long gone, but freezers are full of efforts to make it last (to freeze your own, see How to Freeze Berries).

This recipe makes a single smoothie, but it easily doubles or triples or more—the batch limit depends only on the size of your blender. Importantly, this "recipe" is as much a template as anything. Despite the name "mixed berry smoothie," you should feel free to use just one type of berry if that's what you like or what you have on hand. 

Ingredients

Steps to Make It

  1. Put all of the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. This may take 2 minutes, which will seem like a long time to leave something in a blender, but the smooth texture at the end is totally worth it.

  2. If you're not using frozen berries and want to add a couple of ice cubes to thicken things up, get the greatest thickening effect by adding them one at a time, with the blender running, and processing each one until it's fully incorporated. It takes a bit of extra time, but the true "smoothie" texture that results is worth it.

  3. Pour into a tall glass and serve immediately.

Recipe Tips and Variations

  • Frozen berries will create a naturally thickened smoothie. For the same chilly effect with fresh berries, just toss in 2 or 3 ice cubes.
  • Use whatever kind of yogurt you prefer, but the berry flavor will shine through best if the yogurt doesn't have other flavorings in it. Nonfat and low-fat yogurt are fine, but a whole milk yogurt will lead to the creamiest, most satisfying smoothie.
  • For a creamier, less fruity smoothie, use milk, soy milk, almond milk, or rice milk instead of the orange juice.
  • To make this a vegan smoothie, use a whole, peeled banana in place of the yogurt to thicken things up. Other tropical fruits can play this role too, including mangos and papayas. Plus, papaya adds a frothy element when you whip it up in a blender like this.
  • Adding a couple of fresh mint leaves to berry smoothies takes them from delicious to "What is in this?!" territory.
  • Add a tablespoon or two of almond butter for a thicker smoothie with some extra protein in it, along with a lovely nutty flavor. You can also add 2 to 4 ounces of soft tofu. It adds body and plenty of protein to the smoothie and hardly affects the flavor at all.
  • Sounds odd, but if you want to work some more greens into your diet, know that a handful of spinach is barely detectable amid all the berry flavor going on here, although it will dull the color of the smoothie quite a bit.