The reason I got so good at making super creamy vegan smoothies is practice.

Mastery. Making them again and again and again.

Thousands of times. Literally.

So that you don’t have to 😂

I’ll be honest, for years the only thing I ever ate for breakfast was a smoothie. A super creamy vegan smoothie actually. So I got really good at them. In this post I thought I’d share my top tips on how to make a good smoothie to inspire your creativity.

The wonderful thing about vegan smoothie making is being creative with whatever you have available.

How to make your vegan smoothies thicker and creamier?

1. Add fruits high in soluble fibre

Choose fruits with higher levels of soluble fibre to help cream up your smoothie. Soluble fibre dissolves in water which in turn creates a highly viscous (syrupy) blend.

Fruits high in soluble fibre ideal for thickening smoothies include…

• Mango
• Pineapple
• Dates
• Avocado
• Peach
• Pear
• Apple
• Strawberry
• Figs
• Banana

2. Add healthy plant-based fats to make your vegan smoothie creamier

Healthy plant-based fat adds instant creaminess to your vegan smoothie and can take it to a whole new level of deliciousness. I’ve found that adding a healthy plant-based fat to my smoothies also slows down the release of the natural sugars from the fruits. Healthy plant-based fats means that your smoothie will keep you fuller longer.

Nut or seed butters and softer plant fat ideas for your smoothie…

• Tahini (sesame seed paste)
• Almond butter
• Peanut butter
• Cashew nut butter
• Ripe avocado

Alternatively use whole nuts or seeds

Whole nuts or seeds are an excellent choice for a healthy vegan smoothie. Harder nuts and seeds, such as almonds, brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds or hazelnuts benefit from a more powerful blender. Other seeds and nuts such as shelled hemp seeds, walnuts and cashews are softer and easier to blend no matter what blender you have.

Whole nut and seeds smoothie ideas include…

• Chia seed
• Flax seed
• Hemp seed (shelled only)
• Walnuts
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Cashews
• Almonds
• Hazelnuts
• Brazils nuts

3. Include frozen fruits to make your vegan smoothie thicker

Frozen stuff helps cream up and thicken your smoothie if you are going to drink it soon after making it.

I generally find that 50% frozen fruit coupled with 50% fresh fruit works a treat.

Please note that you can play with this ratio. I dance between using ALL frozen fruit, NO frozen fruit and anything inbetween. It depends what I have available at the time.

4. Other healthy additions that can make your smoothie thicker

You might like to add the following things to make your vegan smoothie thicken up.

• Oats
• Buckwheat flakes
• Protein powders (like pea protein, hemp protein, rice protein)
• Superfood powders (I use maca, matcha, cacao)
• Chia and flaxseed become gelatinous when they get wet and make an excellent smoothie thickener

How to make a vegan smoothie nutritious?

A vegan smoothie is naturally going to be packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants from the fruits and other ingredients. You can also use your smoothie as an opportunity to add any other extra powders, supplements, superfoods, or adapotegenic plant powders.

Other things I might add to my smoothie for extra nutritional benefits include…

• Fresh ginger (a great antioxdant, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral)
• Matcha (very high in antioxidants)
• Maca powder (an adaptogenic plant known for it’s hormone balancing properties)
• Chaga mushroom powder (an adaptogen good for the immune system and stamina)
• Lions mane mushroom powder (an adaptogen good for cognitive health and brain function)
• Vitamins or minerals (either in liquid drops or by emptying a capsule)
• Superfood powders of any sort
• Plant-based protein powders (helpful if you are very active physically)
• Kale or vegetables (depending on what specific nutrients you are looking to add)

Choosing the right blender for making a smoothie?

Hand blender (called an immersion blender in the USA) for smoothies

This is the most simple blender to use. It cuts down on washing up as you can blend it directly in the glass that you are going to drink out of. I used a hand blender for many years early on in my plant-based journey. If using a hand blender to make a smoothie then certain ingredients work better. It’s also helpful to chop your pieces into smaller chunks. Using nut butters or tahini rather than whole nuts or seeds works best with a hand blender smoothie as you might struggle to blend down the nuts or seeds.

A bullet blender is my favourite option for making smoothies

This is my go to blender for smoothies these days. You can put pretty much any ingredient in a bullet blender, and it’s blitz to a super smooth smoothie in less than a minute. They are small, compact and take up very little room on your kitchen counter.

A jug blender for smoothies

This is a good alternative to a bullet blender. If you have a super powerful jug blender, it will blitz up virtually anything that you put in it. If you have a less powerful jug blender then you might need to chop your pieces small and blend for a bit longer than you would a high powered blender.

My favourite vegan smoothies recipes

Please check out my video here for a quick guide…

Green vegan smoothie recipe

This contains a delicious blend of pineapple, kale, shelled hemp seeds, avocado and other simple things…

Green superfood pineapple kale smoothie

Maca hormone balancing smoothie recipe

A delicious blend made especially for hormone balance, using the adaptogenic plant-based food maca. It contains mango and other delicious healthy things to make sure it tastes good!

Maca smoothie for natural hormone balance

Super immune boosting vegan smoothie recipe

This vegan smoothie packs a powerful punch with its fresh ginger and turmeric. My go to smoothie when there are a lot of bugs and nasties going around.

Super immune boost smoothie recipe

Wild blackberry smoothies – two ways

Some good ideas on making smoothies here as I’ve shared two different ways you can use blackberries to make the creamiest, thickest smoothies.

Vegan blackberry smoothie recipes

Pin this helpful guide on making
vegan smoothies for later here…

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