The 18 Best Vegan Smoothies

Love smoothies? Here are 18 of the best vegan smoothies! They’re nutritious, super tasty, and loaded with good-for-you ingredients!

This might sound a little crazy, but there are two blenders in my kitchen. Yup, my husband and I love drinking smoothies so much that we don’t want to risk there not being a clean blender at the ready! 

Smoothies are the ultimate meal. They’re easy, since you can blend them up in mere minutes.

And vegan smoothies can provide all the nutrition you need for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack time (you can drink them any time of the day!). That is, if you include plenty of good-for-you ingredients.

So I’m here to give you a quick rundown of not only the best ingredients to blend up but also the best vegan smoothies to try this week.

How to make a healthy vegan smoothie

When it comes to blending up nutritious and delicious vegan smoothies, there’s a little bit of a science to the whole thing. But don’t worry, the “recipe” is super simple. Here’s my go-to formula for whipping up a healthy smoothie recipe:

Fruit or veggies (or both!)

One of the reasons I love vegan smoothies because they’re an easy way to get in a few fruit and veggie servings.

Getting that produce is important, since a study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals that eating your greens and other colors can significantly lower your cancer risk.

Fruits and veggies may decrease your risk of colorectal cancer, and fruit may lessen your chance of gastrointestinal and lung cancers (for the latter, the benefit was only for current smokers).

Plus, fruits and vegetables provide hydrating water, satiating fiber, vitamins and minerals. I always make sure to include at least a cup of produce in my smoothie recipes. 

The nutrients in produce may also help me live longer, shows a review study in BMJ. The researchers, from the U.S. and China, analyzed 16 studies, finding that the more fruits and veggies subjects ate, the lower their risk of dying.

There was a big benefit when people increased their produce intake to five daily servings (about 2 ½ cups)—but the benefit didn’t significantly continue past that amount.

This is a great reason to add fruits or veggies to your vegan smoothies.

Going from five to, say, seven or more servings a day may not be as big a change for your body as increasing from a little or no produce to five daily servings. More research is needed to fully explain this finding.

While a handful of other studies suggest aiming for seven daily servings of produce, the important thing to remember is that science hasn’t found any negative effects of eating a little extra produce.

So try for five, seven—or even more—servings, and you’ll be helping your health. A banana smoothie with lemon juice is really delicious!

Protein

For vegan smoothies to stick with you for awhile, it needs protein. There are many ingredient options for whipping up a vegan protein smoothie, and my faves include plain silken tofu and frozen shelled edamame.

Healthy fat

This is another key ingredient for blending up a vegan smoothie that’ll fill you up. My favorite healthy fats to include are nut butter (i.e. almond butter) and avocado.

You can also blend hemp seeds, chia seeds, or flax seeds into your vegan smoothies.

Whole grains

I usually say to include a whole grain (hello, extra fiber!) with every meal, including vegan smoothies.

With a smoothie, that isn’t the easiest thing to accomplish. So this ingredient is optional, but I’ve found that rolled oats make a surprisingly awesome smoothie ingredient.

Preliminary research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that eating whole grains may help give metabolism a minor boost.

In the small study, scientists asked 49 men and 32 post-menopausal women to eat a weight-maintenance diet that was either rich or low in whole grains for six weeks.

Turns out the people in the whole grains group burned about 92 extra calories daily from a higher resting metabolic rate and extra energy lost in stool!

Now, let’s take a look at the list of those delicious vegan smoothies!

18 healthy vegan smoothies

Whip these delicious vegan smoothies up for a healthy, balanced meal!

Final thoughts

With a little know-how, it’s very easy to make nutritious and delicious vegan smoothies. Typically, look to combine a source of protein, healthy fats, and whole grains in each smoothie––as well as a fruit or a veggie.

Sources

• Fruit, Vegetable, and Fiber Intake in Relation to Cancer Risk: Findings From the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
• Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Mortality from All Causes, Cardiovascular Disease, and Cancer: Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies, BMJ
• Dairy Food Intake Is Inversely Associated With Risk of Hypertension: The Singapore Chinese Health Study, The Journal of Nutrition
• Vitamin D Deficiency and Risk for Cardiovascular Disease, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences
• Substituting Whole Grains for Refined Grains in a 6-wk Randomized Trial Favorably Affects Energy-Balance Metrics in Healthy Men and Postmenopausal Women, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
• Jenna Braddock, RD, co-author of 200 Surefire Ways to Eat Well and Feel Better
• Margaux Gabrielle, RD, nutrition blogger at Off the Vine Nutrition
• Shahzadi Uzma Devje, RD, owner of Desi-Licious RD
• Mary Ellen Phipps, RD, nutrition blogger at Milk & Honey Nutrition
• Jeanette Kimszal, RD, owner of Jeanette Kimszal Nutrition
• Lizzie Streit, MS, RD, author of The Complete Guide to Anti-Inflammatory Foods

I’d love your thoughts! Which of these vegan smoothies do you want to try first?