Berry smoothie with banana recipe Drizzle and Dip

This berry smoothie with banana and almond butter, chia and flax seeds is my new favourite power drink for when I need a quick liquid meal. Divided into smaller portions, it makes up breakfast or one of the snacks on my eating plan. With protein, milk and fruit (carbs) it’s totally balanced. The almond butter is my latest obsession and adds the most incredible flavour to this smoothie giving it substance, but I love it with peanut butter too.

I often find smoothies a little unsubstantial from a meal replacement perspective but adding in the nut (almond or peanut) butter and seeds make me feel satiated. I sometimes add oat flour if I’m feeling very hungry, but this recipe is my sweet spot in terms of ratios.

I use a mix of berries but the least half are blueberries. The other half are raspberries, strawberries and blackberries or a mix of them all. I keep frozen berries as standard stock in my freezer and they give this smoothie a lovely thick and texture. My Kitchen Aid blender is my best and it churns everything into a smooth consistency in seconds.

For the yoghurt component, I use artificially sweetened fat-free fruit yoghurt because I do need some sweetness and for the sake of calorie conservation I choose artificially sweetened. If you are a purist and can handle a less sweet smoothie, full-fat Greek-style yoghurt is better.

I use one-tablespoon chia seeds, which if you didn’t know is loaded with fibre and is an all-around superfood. Check out this very interesting article by the BBC which analysis the top 100 most healthy foods and you will see chia comes in at number 5. Almonds are a number and eat them every day. I also add a tablespoon of my flaxseed blend (see the ratios below), but just ground up flaxseed would be fine too.

Flaxseed and seed blend

50% flaxseeds
50% made up of equal parts pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds

Place your seeds in the above ratio and grind them up in a small food processor to break up the husks until you get a rough powder form. Store in a sealed glass jar in your fridge and use in porridge, cereal or in smoothies. Great for omega 3 & 6 and delicious tasting too.

Try my healthy blueberry & banana protein smoothie for a high-protein drinkable breakfast.