When you think about meal prepping for a healthier and more organized week, you probably envision pre-making a main or side dish to enjoy multiple ways, chopping up veggies to throw into soups or salads, or pre-portioning snacks to have for easy grabbing or your kid’s lunches.
You may have never considered that you can actually meal prep easy smoothie recipes! That’s right… There are a few different ways to do it, but you can absolutely make the process of creating a nutrient-packed smoothie so much quicker and more convenient!
Even though smoothies are already a super-fast food option compared to other meals, can you imagine if the process was even faster?! You and your family could enjoy these superfood drinks even more often. Because let’s be honest, when you pull out every bag of frozen fruit and veggies, chop up raw ingredients, and pull out any extras like milk, yogurt, nut butter, seeds, etc., your kitchen is a mess before you know it.
You would probably make more smoothies and enjoy them more often if you streamlined the process! Take out all of your ingredients just once to make a whole bunch of smoothies instead of having to do it every time you want one. We’ll show you how, and give you two of our favorite make ahead smoothie recipes, below!
But before we get into that, the most important part of meal prepping anything is to make sure you're prepared! The reality is, it is all too common to go through the work of meal prepping before realizing you don't even have the containers you need to store your healthy meals. So, before you start, make sure you're completely stocked and have a variety of different sizes, like the ones in our 310 Meal Prep Bundle!
Now, onto the prep...
How to Meal Prep Your Smoothies Like a Pro
Ready to start meal prepping some totally yummy, easy smoothie recipes?! Awesome! Our first recommendation is to pick the method that works best for you…
1) Create “Ready-To-Blend” Smoothie Bags
The first way to meal prep smoothie recipes is to create “ready-to-blend”, convenient storage bags full of the fruits, veggies, and other freezable, non-liquid ingredients that will go into each smoothie!
With this method, the idea is to pre-portion the amount of fruits, veggies, and other freezable ingredients each recipe calls for, add them to freezer-safe bags or containers, and store them in the freezer. You can use fresh or frozen produce here, but with fresh, you’ll have to wash and cut it first.
When you’re ready to enjoy your smoothie, you simply dump the contents from the freezer into your blender, then add the rest of the ingredients (liquids, meal replacement powders, nut butters, etc.).
This method of meal prepping smoothies is great because you don’t have to wait for anything to defrost. It simply goes right from the freezer into the blender and you’ll have a ready-to-drink smoothie in minutes!
2) Blend & Freeze
In this next method of meal prepping smoothie recipes, you actually make your entire smoothie ahead of time, and then freeze the finished product for future enjoyment. In this method, you have virtually nothing to do once you take out the fully made smoothie except savor it!
Once you make your smoothie, you can add it into freezer safe mason jars with lids, freezer-safe storage containers, or into an ice cube tray! Here is how you would go from freezer to glass for each of these methods…
Mason jars – Freeze your smoothie as one serving per jar. Take the jar from the freezer and let it sit out on the counter or in the refrigerator for a few hours until the contents are loose. Then, shake it once and enjoy!
Storage Containers – Either dump the entire contents of the container into a blender and re-blend with a little more liquid, or wait until the contents are loose like with the mason jars then pour into a shaker cup, shake and enjoy.
Ice cube trays – Pop out the amount of smoothie “ice cubes” you want and either add them right into your blender with a little more liquid and re-blend to enjoy right away, or add them into a glass or shaker cup until they melt, shake and enjoy!
How Long Can You Store Prepped Smoothies?
Wondering how long your prepped smoothies will last? A good guideline:
- Smoothie ingredients in fridge - about 4 days
- Smoothie ingredients in freezer - Up to 3 months
- Fully made smoothie in fridge - about 24 hours
- Fully made smoothie in freezer - Up to 3 months (in tightly-sealed containers)
Healthy, Easy Smoothie Recipes for Meal Prep
Are you ready to get started in making some easy smoothie recipes (including a make ahead green smoothie) that you can enjoy whenever you desire?! Check out two of our favorites, below…
Healthy Smoothie Recipes
1) Tropical Green Goddess Smoothie Recipe
Serves 1
Ingredients:
- 1 scoop 310 Vanilla
- 1 cup coconut water
- 1 small banana
- 1/4 cup mango, fresh or frozen
- 1/4 cup pineapple, fresh or frozen
- 1 cup spinach
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
Directions:
- In a container or baggie, combine the banana, mango, pineapple, spinach and chia seeds. Store in the freezer.
- When ready to make your smoothie, pour freezer contents into a blender with 310 Vanilla and coconut water.
- Blend and enjoy!
2) Morning Mocha Smoothie
Serves 1
Ingredients:
- 1 scoop 310 Mocha
- 1 cup brewed coffee
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 tbsp cacao powder
- Ice
Directions:
- Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Transfer shake/smoothie to a tightly sealed container (a mason jar or food container is recommended). Store in freezer.
- Remove smoothie from freezer a few hours before time of consumption, (smoothie can be stored up to 3 months if properly stored in a tightly sealed container).
Want more smoothie recipes that can be easily prepped? Check out some of our favorites here...
- Old-Fashioned Strawberry Banana Shake
- The Antioxidant Shake
- Fudgy Chocolate Brownie Protein Shake
- Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie Shake
- Salted Caramel Cookie Dough Shake
Which smoothie prep method are you going to try first? Let us know in the comments below!
Want even more smoothies that can be prepped in advance? Check out other delicious, nutritionist-approved 310 Nutrition recipes here!
