| Raspberry Strawberry Blackberry Smoothie 1/2 cup raspberries 1/2 cup strawberries 1/2 cup blackberries 1 cup almond milk ice cubes Raspberry Strawberry Smoothie 1/2 cup strawberries 1/2 cup raspberries 1 cup almond milk ice cubes Spinach Romaine Banana Ginger Smoothie handful romaine lettuce handful of spinach 1 frozen banana small piece of ginger stevia to sweeten 1-2 cups water Strawberry Melon Lettuce Smoothie 10 large leaves of romaine lettuce 1 cup ripe cantaloupe slices 1 cup strawberries, frozen stevia to sweeten 6 ice cubes Strawberry Raspberry Pineapple Smoothie 1 cup strawberries 1 cup raspberries 1/2 cup pineapple chunks ice cubes Strawberry Watermelon Mint Smoothie 1/2 cup strawberries 2 cup watermelon 2 mint leaves, chopped stevia to sweeten Banana Cantaloupe Smoothie 1 cup cantaloupe 1 ripe banana 1 cup almond milk | Strawberry Banana Smoothie 1 cup strawberries, frozen 1 frozen, ripe banana stevia to sweeten 1 tsp lemon juice 1 cup water 3-6 ice cubes Strawberry Raspberry Banana Smoothie 1 frozen ripe banana 3/4 cup strawberries, frozen 1/2 cup raspberries, frozen stevia to sweeten 1 tsp lemon juice 1 cup water Pineapple Banana Parsley Green Smoothie 1/2 cup fresh pineapple 1/2 frozen banana 1/2 cup parsley 1 tsp fresh ginger 1 cup water or ice Strawberry Melon Mint Smoothie 2 cups watermelon 1/2 cup strawberries 2 mint leaves, chopped stevia to sweeten Banana Cantaloupe Green Smoothie 1/2 sliced cantaloupe melon 1 frozen sliced banana 12oz almond milk handful of chopped spinach Blueberry Banana Smoothie 1 ripe banana 1/2 cup blueberries stevia to sweeten 1 tsp lemon juice 1 cup water 3-6 ice cubes |
Best Ingredients to Use
for Low Carb Smoothie Recipes
Smoothie recipes are made up of three primary types of ingredients: a liquid base, fruits and vegetables. Let's take a look at each one individually.
Most smoothie recipes call for a liquid ingredient to allow the solid components to move around inside the blender and give your smoothie the right thickness. The beverage you choose will largely determine how healthy your smoothie turns out.
Liquid starters. Water can be used as a base for your low carb smoothie; it has the lowest amount of carbs of all — zero. Then there's milk, yogurt or some type of dairy-free milk substitute such as almond milk, soy milk, rice milk and others. You can find some of these products with as little as 2 grams of carbs in an eight ounce serving; check the nutritional label on the package. To discover the pros and cons of each one, see my page on how to make a smoothie the healthy way.
You'll want to avoid using fruit juices as a starter for your low carb smoothie recipes, since they're typically very high in carb counts and have no fiber.
Green leafy vegetables are popular ingredients for low carb smoothie recipes. Spinach and kale, for example, have just seven grams of carbs per cup. Leafy greens are harder to pulverize into a smooth consistency, so you may need a high-power blender, such as a Vitamix or BlendTec, if you use these ingredients.
Fruits. The bulk of the carb content in your low carb smoothies will come from the fruits you add to your smoothie. If you want to keep your carb count low, use the least amount of fruit you can. Berries, melons, peaches and papaya contain the lowest levels of carbs among fruits.
The table above lists the calorie, carb and fiber content of the most common ingredients used to make smoothies. Use it as a guide when creating your own low carb smoothie recipes.
The South Beach Diet website has good information on the glycemic (sugar) content of foods, which may help you in deciding which fruits you want to use in your low-carb smoothies.
