Sure throwing a few ingredients in a blender to make a smoothie doesn’t take long, but on a busy weekday morning we all know…every minute counts! And after trying out this make ahead method of bagging (or bottling) up smoothie ingredients myself, I can attest that it really does make a difference. Below you’ll find step-by-step instructions for preparing and freezing these make ahead smoothies with nutritious ingredients that freeze well for future use.
Making Smoothies Ahead of Time
This make ahead smoothie recipe lets you save time on a nutritious treat without sacrificing on flavor! Making smoothies ahead of time by freezing the blended ingredients for later cuts out on all of the prep work. That way, you can enjoy something fresh without having to fill the sink with dishes on your way out the door.
Do Frozen Fruits and Vegetables Lose Nutrients?
Almost always, frozen fruits and vegetables actually retain more of their nutritional value over time as opposed to their unfrozen counterparts. As long as you don’t blanch them before freezing, you won’t see any significant loss of nutrients during freezing unless they remain frozen for a year or more.
Why Don’t you Freeze the Bananas for this Recipe?
You can freeze bananas, but if you prefer them nicely ripened we’d recommend using fresh ones instead. Bananas are a bit trickier to freeze. If you’d prefer you can freeze bananas by removing the peel, slicing them and flash freezing before combining them with the other ingredients. (To do this, place sliced banana pieces on a wax paper lined metal baking tray in the freezer).
It takes a bit more prep, but you wouldn’t have to worry about keeping ripe bananas on hand!
3 Ways to Freeze Make Ahead Smoothie Ingredients
Even in the afternoons when the girls get home from school, I might not always be into the idea of getting out all the different ingredients to make a smoothie, but if the fruits and veggies were already packaged up in the exact right proportions? Sure, we can have a smoothie snack any day!
It’s amazing how sometimes a little advance preparation can go a long way.
- Canning Jars – No need to “can” or process jars in any way. Just put them directly into the freezer.
- Ziploc Bags – Yes, not the most eco-friendly, but handy and technically washable and reusable. :)
- Reusable Bags – For this application I love the pictured bag from “neat-os” because they are most like the Ziplocs I am used to (silky smooth on the inside and out).
If you enjoy smoothies but this sounds like it may require more time than you have, SmoothieBox may be just what you need! SmoothieBox delivers pre-packaged and ready-to-blend frozen smoothie (ingredients) directly to your door, helping you to save time and feel great.
They are pre-packaged and ready to go, and come in four different flavors, each with no added sweeteners. Use this link to get $60 off of your first box, and if you want to check out some more recipes, grab this free recipe ebook!
Make Ahead Smoothies (2 Ways)
Ingredients
Version 1
- 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- 3/4 cup mango (diced, and fresh or frozen)
Version 2
- 1 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen)
- 3/4 cup peaches (diced or sliced, fresh or frozen)
Both Versions
- 2 cups spinach (or other greens like kale or swiss chard – with tough stems discarded)
- 3 tablespoons peanut butter (or sunflower seed butter or almond butter)
- 2 bananas (the riper the sweeter. These do not get frozen with other ingredients)
- 1 cup milk (any kind, this also does not get frozen with other ingredients)
Instructions
- Combine the berries and fruit from one of the version options along with the spinach and peanut butter in a freezer-proof bag, jar, or other container. Freeze for later.
- When ready to make the smoothie, break up the frozen ingredients with your hand or a utensil (or by banging the bag against the counter) and add them to your blender along with 2 fresh bananas and 1 cup of milk or water (or a combination).
- Blend, serve and enjoy.
Notes
* For a nut-free smoothie, sub sunflower seed butter for peanut butter.
What am I doing wrong? I purchased those kid tubes to freeze smoothies in for lunch. I love the way they work but no one wants to eat them after they have been frozen. The texture and the taste changes. I usually use a little oj, banana, frozen fruit, sometimes yogurt and a little honey as well. Any suggestions?
What if you let them thaw a bit before they eat them? So they aren’t completely frozen?
Hi
work 2jobs looking to change my eating habits and eat healthier .need more energy. …
This is a great idea. I was wondering how long they would last just in the fridge. I was thinking of alternating these with my overnight oatmeals. Do you think I could make them on Sunday and they would still be good for wednesday and friday? Thank you!
Hi Leslie. I wouldn’t store them in the fridge. They are best enjoyed freshly blended otherwise the texture can become unpleasant.
Hi! These look great! I was wondering if you could freeze some greek yogurt along with the fruit and veggies?
Hello. I’ve never tried freezing yogurt for a smoothie. You do need to have some wet/unfrozen ingredients to get a drinkable smoothie consistency. :)
One of the reasons I like using ziploc bags for freezing is that I can write on them what is inside, which comes in handy when items look similar. Any thoughts on ways to write on the reusable neat-os?
Hi Kathy. You can use a piece of scotch tape on the clear area. It can be removed each time you change what you are freezing.
You can also write on the canvas with washable markers :)
I’m curious, is there a nutritional reason you don’t freeze the bananas?
Hi Traci. Nope, you can freeze bananas without effecting their nutrients in any significant way. Frozen bananas really thicken a smoothie so it depends on the consistency you care after. ~Amy
Hi, can you blend the smoothies up ahead of time and freeze as is without losing nutritional value?
Hi Margie. Freezing will not harm the nutrient value significantly. ~Amy
ANY RECIPES FOR USING NUTELLA IN SMOOTHIES. KATHY
Not specifically, though I often use nut butters in my smoothies.
I’ve gotta say this article changed my life! I’ve been freezing my smoothie ingredients in bags ever since I read this and it has made my like so much easier! My husband and I drink smoothies every day so I package up 10-15 bags in the freezer, ready to go. Just add water. Thank you so much for the idea!!!!!!!!!
What a fantastic idea! Definitely perfect for a time poor sleep deprived mother such as myself!
I do a slight opposite at the moment that you may also like to try. Make extra smoothie and freeze leftovers as iceblocks. The kids love it (almost as much as I do…)
We buy frozen fruit, store brand, when it’s on sale and have an absurd selection for mix n match smoothies. We do 1 c yogurt (plain or vanilla), and about 0.5 c milk, then 1c frozen fruit and blend.
Any time it’s tart berries and plain yogurt, a half banana sweetens it right up.
Favorites: peach, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, mango, banana.
Unfavorites: pineapple — reacts poorly with yogurt if stored
There are nights we only get the kids (3 & 1) to eat smoothie and fruit. Well… Not so bad…
I have a kid that just doesn’t eat many greens…so he gets those in his smoothie or even “ice-cream” which is frozen fruit, milk and a handful of spinach. He thinks he is getting some wonderful ice cream and only we know there are greens in there.
Cleaning reuse able straws: there’s something
Like a skinny bottle brush that does the trick for
Me. I use the Tervis cup that has a bigger, corrugated
Straw, and this skinny brush does the trick.
Try that!! :)
I buy larger straws and they wash up perfectly in the dishwasher!
I’ve been making my own smoothie packs with just various fruit combos and hen I blend with martinelli’s apple juice (my favorite!) but once I was in a hurry and bought one of those jamba juice fruit smoothie packs. It seemed to contain just fruit but was SO much better than mine. Anyone use these before? What’s the difference and what could I add to make mine like these? The front of the bag said fruit & yogurt smoothie? I read on pinterest you can freeze ice cubes of yogurt and add them to your smoothies. Anyone try this?
yes, I freeze my yogurt both plain and with the fruit blended in and then when its time to make the smoothie just blend those up I like to add some greens too and your choice of liquid.fruit (milk, kefir, homemade juice,banana)
I realize I’m late to comment on this, but here’s the ingredients in one of the Jamba Juice packs (taken from their website) – Mangos, strawberries, peaches, water, nonfat yogurt (cultured pasteurized fat free milk, fat free milk solids), passion fruit juice, sugar, contains less than 2% of: ascorbic acid, modified corn starch, natural flavor, skim milk, steviol glycosides, xanthan gum
Full of fruit, sure, but also sugar, juice (basically sugar), corn starch, natural flavor (google “castoreum” – ick!) steviol glycosides (what???). Definitely not real food ingredients.
Just make your own and add natural sweetener (honey, maple syrup, etc) if you need it. I also like to freeze the yogurt, the fruit, everything! I like my smoothies REALLY thick.
To commenter Rene above–that is totally not true! I’ve been drinking smoothies very similar to this one for breakfast for a while now. I used to think the same thing added protein powder to every single smoothie I drank. Once I tried drinking them without the powder, I haven’t looked back. I drink them on the way to work in the morning (6:30-7am), and am not hungry until lunchtime at 11. Don’t knock it until you try it!
I am wondering if you have ideas on how to acutally get the re-usable straws clean without any left overs stuck in the straw. I have tried several things. Any suggestions?
I buy a pack of pipe cleaners from the craft store, and fold them in half (for the fat straws), that way it’s sortof expanded and cleans both sides of the straw
You really need to add protein whey to smoothies. Otherwise, you will be starving in no time.
Peanut butter (etc) has protein in it. Fyi
Have you found any particular ‘to go’ cups that you like to use when you have these for a breakfast on the go?
Thank so much?
Hi Erin. Not sure what Lisa uses in that case but my family has found the insulated “starbucks-like” tall clear plastic cups with the lid and straw to be very useful. :) ~Amy
Why don’t you freeze the bananas along with the other ingredients?
Hi Katie. You can. I freeze my bananas all the time. Sometimes frozen bananas along with several other froze ingredients can make for a really thick smoothie and you would need to add more liquid in order to drink it. ~Amy
What a great idea. I knew there was a reason I was keeping all my glass jars.
Great smoothies ideas ! Thank you so much for sharing !
Such a great post on the smoothies! I love them. Being into nutrition they are such a good way to get kids to eat fruit and veggies. I even put in the veggies that my kids would otherwise not have touched. They have no idea they are there and get all the good nutrients. Everyone wins!
Thanks for sharing your smoothie ideas!
How many servings will these ingredients make?
Hi Shelby. It should make 2-3. ~Amy
I make Strawberry Kale smoothies on Sunday night (blended and all) and pour them into reusable Yummy Pouches/Little Green Pouch. The morning of school, I pack their lunch with a frozen Pouch so my 2 and 3 year old can take to preschool. My husband sometimes takes one for the road :)
I freeze bananas when they ripen and always peel them first and freeze (peeled) in baggies. I’m curious why several people posted that they feel it’s important to leave the skins on – even though it’s a pain to get the skins off. I have always removed them first and they seem fine. Am I missing something?
Hi Karen. I freeze my bananas for smoothies out of the peel. I’ve also frozen them in the peel and they were far harder to handle…not great for a quick smoothie. I’ve also researched a bit and have found no reason to do it differently. They may sweeten a little more with the skin on. :) ~Amy
Probably a stupid question but can other veggies be frozen? I don’t do many fruits in my smoothies, I do more veggies. like cucumbers and zucchini. Can those be frozen? I’ve thought about making a big batch and then freezing it. I usually make much more than i can eat in a day. I leave it in the fridge for 2 days sealed tightly in a canning jar. I guess i’ll try it and see how it freezes!
You might want to blanch the zucchini for a few seconds, and drop into an ice bath before freezing. The cucumber should be fine to freeze though!
Hi Tracy. Let us know how it goes! ~Amy