For those looking to easily include healthy and nutrient-rich foods into their diets, superfood smoothies are the perfect solution. If you enjoy fruit and vegetable combinations, and want to satisfy your craving without damaging your eating plan, it is important to know how to make the perfect smoothie.
The most delicious smoothie recipe can also lose its appeal if the consistency is too thick or too thin. Fortunately, with the correct ingredients and know-how, you can make perfect smoothies at home, by following a few simple tips. Here are some easy and quick pointers for making smoothies that always hit the mark:
- Use frozen fruits –
Using top quality ingredients is crucial in creating a perfect smoothie. When you buy frozen fruit smoothie, it becomes easy and convenient to whip up a smoothie at anytime and is especially refreshing in hot weather. Frozen fruit, when added to a smoothie provides an ideal texture and acts as a great thickener, especially if you are avoiding dairy products, and cannot add yoghurts etc, to your smoothie recipes.
- Add nut butter –
Another option for making a thicker smoothie is to add nut butter, such as peanut or almond butter. Along with giving your smoothie a yummy nutty taste, nut butters will also enrich the nutritional value of a smoothie- especially pre or post workout.
- Use grains –
Adding some quinoa or oatmeal to smoothies will result in a thicker consistency and will offer you sustained energy whilst increasing fibre and protein intake. This is ideal when creating breakfast smoothie recipes.
- Change the blend setting –
The blender setting also plays a key role in giving the smoothie a perfect texture. Start blending on a low setting and work up to a higher one, rather than blasting on a higher setting from the off.
- Add in some dairy –
Yogurt, especially the Greek yogurt is full of protein and is another great natural thickener, adds a creamy texture to smoothies and helps to fill you up.
- Blend in stages –
Another useful tip is to make sure that you don’t compromise the consistency of your smoothie is to blend your ingredients in stages, for example add finer fruits such as berries towards the end of the blending cycle, to avoid over-blending the fruit.
- Add liquids –
Water is the most obvious choice for thinning out the smoothie but you’ll get more nutrients and flavour if you use milk, juice, coconut water, or green tea.
Frozen fruit smoothies offer a convenient solution to enjoying seasonal fruit all year round, and are easy to keep on hand in your freezer at home. Preparation time is also much quicker than having to work with fresh fruit. It is also important to mention that often the nutrients are better preserved in frozen produce. Studies have shown higher values of certain nutrients such as B12 and fibre in frozen fruit and veg, versus fresh produce, which often has to travel long distances or sit on supermarket shelves for extended periods.