Paleo Grubs
Paleo Grubs -
Blending up a Paleo smoothie is a great way to get nutrition without bending any of the rules. Paleo smoothies are inherently healthier than the kind you’ll find being sold at smoothie places, or in stores, or that you’ve seen recipes for online. They won’t contain any dairy, so you won’t have any digestive troubles after drinking down any of these beverages. You’ll also notice that many of these smoothies will contain some form of healthy fat, an important contribution to a typical day on Paleo. Bottom’s up to your health and well being!
Photo: Eating Vibrantly
1. Parsley Pear Green Smoothie
This smoothie has a taste to it that you’ve probably never had in a beverage. The parsley is what provides that unique flavor, and it combines well with two types of pear, two types of apple, plums, banana, and an avocado. The great thing about a Paleo smoothie is that it will leave out the milk or yogurt typically found in a smoothie, and just sticks to healthy foods. This is a smoothie that is sure to give you a boost of energy, and is loaded with antioxidants from the fruit. It’s a quick and easy way to get your fruit serving for the day met. Remember that on Paleo fruit takes more of a side role, and vegetables and meat get the lead.
2. The Bulletproof Banana Smoothie
This is sure to rev up your engines as well as your taste buds. The mix of coffee, banana, and protein powder will give you an interesting mix of caffeine, potassium, and protein, so you can use this to start your day off right, or as a pick me up for a slow afternoon. Black coffee is generally looked upon as a Paleo food, and many Paleo followers will also use protein powder as long as it doesn’t contain a lot of additives. You’ll likely be getting enough protein from the meat you’re eating, but for convenience you can’t beat protein powder.
3. Heart Healthy Red Smoothie
One question that gets asked often is whether or not the Paleo diet is good for your heart. This smoothie can help allay that concern by providing plenty of antioxidants and nutrition that your heart needs to function at its best. Raspberries and strawberries provide a bulk of the antioxidants this contains, and you’ve also got lycopene from a tomato, which is always making the news thanks to its health benefits. Add to that red cabbage and a red bell pepper and you can see how this gets its name and distinct color.
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4. Cherry and Kale Smoothie
This Paleo smoothie will definitely have you coming back for more, as it uses two items you probably wouldn’t think to combine. Fresh cherries will help your cardiovascular system, as well as aid in giving you a better night’s sleep. Kale is often lauded as being just as healthy as spinach, if not healthier. It contains fiber, protein, and important minerals the body needs. Added to this smoothie is hemp seed, which provides more protein and rounds out the nutritional profile. Raw coconut oil will make everything taste better and provide you with healthy fat.
5. Blueberry Avocado Power Smoothie
The blueberries in this smoothie will load you up with antioxidants, and they don’t really need any help in providing you with plenty of nutrition. But along with the blueberries you’re getting an avocado, which brings with it potassium, fiber, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. There’s even an apple added for good measure, providing even more nutrients and making it taste even better. If you use coconut milk instead of water you can lose the yogurt and this is 100% Paleo approved.
Photo: Cook Eat Paleo
6. Paleo Peach Coconut Smoothie
It doesn’t get much more simple than this recipe, which is one thing you might notice after following Paleo for awhile. The simpler you keep things, the more Paleo it’s likely to be. Here they’ve just added a peaches to coconut milk, with a bit of lemon zest. Peaches are sometimes passed over for apples and pears when fruit is chosen, but they have their unique flavor and provide a host of benefits including stress relief, cancer prevention, and a boost to your cardiovascular system. Coconut milk packs a creamy flavor that pairs well with the peaches, and has a good amount of healthy fat in it.
7. Avocado Banana Smoothie
If you’re looking to top up your potassium levels, this smoothie will get the job done. While bananas are often thought of as the king of potassium, avocados actually have more ounce for ounce. That means when you consume both at the same time you are really working wonders for the body. Potassium plays a part in blood pressure, muscle function, so you don’t want to run a deficit for any length of time. Along with the banana and avocado they’ve added spinach to this smoothie, making it a green smoothie and adding plenty of phytonutrients, even more fiber, and some iron.
8. Coconut-Cocoa-Macadamia Smoothie
Here’s a trio that you’ll love to mix together. The coconut comes from using coconut milk, which they’re using unsweetened coconut milk, always a good idea on Paleo. There’s plenty of macadamia nuts, which have gotten a undue reputation as being too fatty. But it’s healthy fat and on Paleo you can enjoy macadamias along with other nuts in moderation. Unsweetened cocoa powder gets the call for the chocolatey taste. To sweeten things up they’re using a sugar replacement, which isn’t exactly Paleo, so you can sub in honey or another natural sweetener like maple syrup.
9. Chocolate Bacon Smoothie
Since bacon is on the menu for Paleo followers you’ll often see it used in creative ways. Only on Paleo can you have bacon in your smoothie and still call it healthy. It’s not as if you’re just drinking bacon here, they’ve added coconut milk, cocoa powder, honey, and a banana. The bacon adds protein, and yes, saturated fat. Other diet programs wouldn’t allow for this smoothie, or call it healthy, but doing Paleo means forming new ideas of what healthy means. Take out the bacon and this is a smoothie that anyone would dub healthy. The bacon adds a satisfying flavor to the smoothie that will keep you from cheating, while not making it entirely unhealthy.
10. Fall Harvest Green Smoothie
Here’s a great smoothie to start drinking in the fall and keep drinking all winter long to help you through the cold winter months. It employs fruits and veggies that are harvested in the fall, and that nature provides for us at just the right time. Apples, oranges, and spinach form the base of this smoothie, and spinach gives it its requisite green color while adding tons of nutrients to the equation. Ginger gives it a bit of a kick and tantalizes the taste buds, while a lime provides just enough citrus taste to help it all go down.
Photo: Tessa Domestic Diva
11. Creamy Pumpkin-Cranberry Smoothie
Pumpkin makes a great choice for a smoothie ingredient, but chances are you haven’t tried pumpkin in a smoothie before. Paleo is all about broadening your mind about what to eat and drink, and this is a classic example. Pumpkin provides a smooth, creamy texture when blended up, and they’ve combined it with a cranberries to create a taste that doesn’t generally make it into a mainstream smoothie. They recommend having this in the fall, as pumpkin is generally eaten at this time in pies, cookies, and cakes, although you could enjoy it anytime you wanted, thanks to its healthy fiber and vitamins.
12. Banana Chai Smoothie
If you love the taste of chai you’ll love this banana chai smoothie. It actually doesn’t use any chai tea, which is interesting. It has you using ingredients that once combined will provide the taste of chai. Cinnamon, cloves, and ginger get the call, each providing their own healthy benefits and adding to the overall nutritional breakdown of this smoothie. The bananas give you plenty of potassium and fiber, and the coconut milk makes a great stand-in for milk or yogurt, helping you avoid dairy.
13. Creamy Orange Julius
Don’t let that sneaky stand in the mall lure you into cheating on your Paleo progress. Make your own Orange Julius at home and avoid all of the ingredients that will make you feel lousy after drinking it. This simple concoction consists of oranges, coconut milk, vanilla, and honey, so you know there isn’t anything in it that will set you back. It’s amazing that you can make a smoothie like this that tastes so much like the original and doesn’t hurt your body in any way. For a reason not to drink another Orange Julius just look at the ingredients that go into one, especially what makes up their “Flavor Enhancer”. Yikes!
14. Paleo Strawberries & “Cream” Smoothie
You can’t beat the taste of strawberries and cream when it comes to a smoothie. This is one classic flavor combination that has been around for generations. The only problem is that traditional strawberries and cream has cream of course, and that’s something we’ll have to work around in order to pull this off. Their answer? A combination of nondairy milk and cashews. When blended, cashews provide a nice creamy texture, and when combined with the milk you’ll forget that there isn’t any dairy in this. To go a step further on the nutrition scale they’ve added flax seed, which provides essential omega-3s.
15. Chocolate!! Avocado Paleo Smoothie
You’ve got to love the enthusiasm she has for chocolate, and can probably relate as well. This smoothie comes with a good amount of chocolate so you won’t be disappointed if you’ve had a hankering for it. There’s also avocado in these, which adds to the smooth and rich texture. Raspberries and bananas make an appearance as well, with the raspberries adding antioxidants that help protect the body from damage, and the bananas adding fiber which helps your digestive system throughout the day. A bit of coconut milk makes it all smooth and creamy, just like you’d expect from a smoothie.
Photo: My Real Food Pledge
16. Berry & Mint Smoothie
Berries and mint go great together, with mint providing that coolness it’s famous for, and berries providing the antioxidants they have a reputation for. In the end you’re getting a healthy smoothie that is going to provide energy, while also tasting great. They’ve included chia seeds for added omega-3s, and coconut milk to provide a satisfying amount of healthy fat. The reason many conventional smoothies don’t leave you feeling satisfied is that they don’t contain any fat, being made according to the idea that fat-free is the only way to make it healthy. Like many Paleo smoothies, you get a nice dose of healthy fat in your smoothie, making it taste good and keeping you content.
17. Warm Apple Pie Smoothie
If you’ve never tried a warm smoothie before, start with this one and you’ll be hooked. It’s like drinking a nice warm apple pie, and is the perfect thing to drink during the winter. It will warm you up and provide your body with the nutrients it needs to get through the short days and harsh winter dryness. Just as you’d expect from a Paleo-friendly smoothie, you’re getting nothing but wholesome, pure ingredients in this. They’ve included everything to replicate the taste of apple pie, including nutmeg and allspice, and of course cinnamon.
18. Paleo Tropical Smoothie
Take to the tropics with this smoothie that incorporates flavors from apples, pineapples, and bananas for a refreshing and healthy treat. They’ve also included a blend of oils known as MCT because of the medium chain triglycerides they provide. In this case it’s a blend of palm kernel oil and coconut oil. There’s also your choice of almond milk or coconut milk. Many Paleo followers will tend to keep coconut milk on hand because it comes in handy in so many recipes, from soups to baked goods and other desserts.
19. Hunger Control Smoothie
If you’re following the Paleo diet correctly, you shouldn’t have to worry about hunger control, because you’ll feel satisfied most of the time and should easily make it from meal to meal without the classic cravings that come from conventional diet programs. But for those times when you start to feel the pangs hours before your next meal, you can whip up this smoothie to see you through. It’s a simple mix of banana, coconut oil, avocado, and coconut milk, but will work wonders on your sense of satisfaction. In addition to all of its nutrition, it’s also a healthy smoothie because it keeps you from eating other foods that aren’t Paleo approved.
20. Winter Sunshine Smoothie
The sun doesn’t shine too long during the winter, with the days cut far shorter than they are in the summer, but this smoothie can give you the warm happy feeling of the sun in a glass. It’s made up of coconut, oranges, and bananas, as well as goji berries, hemp seed, and turmeric. This brings the number of superfoods in one smoothie to six, so you know you’re going to be riding high from this, no matter if the skies are grey and bleak for yet another day of winter. They say if you use frozen bananas you don’t need ice, and it will come out creamier.
Photo:Sew… Let’s Cook!
21. Sweetheart Smoothie
Here’s a fun smoothie to whip up for your loved ones near Valentine’s day, or any other time of year when you want to show them you care. It’s packed with good-for-you ingredients like beets, mango, kale, banana, chia seeds, and coconut milk. Each of these ingredients brings something to the smoothie, so there is no filler here. You’re getting betalain from the beets, an antioxidant that is pretty much only found in beets. The mango has more antioxidants, and the kale provides an assortment of vitamins and minerals. They even cut out a heart shape from one of the beets to use as a garnish for the glass.
22. Green Pina Colada Smoothie
If you like pina coladas you can use this recipe to jump on board the green smoothie bandwagon. It captures the essential flavors of a pina colada but gives it a serious nutrition upgrade by adding spinach and a banana to it. This means it will come out smoother and creamier than an ordinary pina colada, and it will have a striking green color. You’ll get the coconut flavor from coconut milk, and the pineapple flavor from pineapple. Paleo is all about sourcing its flavors from nature, so no artificial flavors here, it’s all the real deal.
23. Strawberry Clementine Smoothie
Just three different ingredients go into this smoothie, and two of them are listed in the title. Strawberries and clementines combine to form a citrusy sweet flavor, and are joined by a banana which gives the whole thing that smoothie texture. Bananas also provide you with fiber, which is an important component of the Paleo diet. While many think it’s just about eating meat, it’s really far more balanced than that. You need to eat an assortment of vegetables and fruit with fiber in it to help the meat get digested, and a smoothie like this helps the cause.
24. Lean Green Smoothie
Here’s a green smoothie that leaves out the dairy and anything else not Paleo. It focuses on bringing you super-healthy fruits and vegetables all in one glass for easy consumption. Cavemen might not have had blenders, but it’s the one thing keeping them from making a smoothie like this. They had access to leafy green vegetables like the kale that’s used, and would have found oranges growing wild on trees. Mix that with some pineapple and some mango kombucha and you’ve got a winner. Just make sure the kombucha you use doesn’t include any unauthorized ingredients.
25. Superfruit Smoothie
Superfruits get their name because they provide a lopsided amount of nutrients per ounce than other fruits, or they’ve been shown to scientifically reduce your chances of getting heart disease or cancer. Here they’re using papaya and guava, two exotic fruits that don’t often make the shopping cart. It’s time to get introduced to them if you don’t already eat them on a regular basis. They provide plenty of vitamins and minerals, and both contain respectable amounts of dietary fiber.
Photo: Carmen Eat Joy
26. Morning Pick-Me-Up Smoothie
Sometimes it can be hard to get going in the morning, and when that happens nothing can turn you around quite like some chocolate. Not only will it perk up your taste buds and remind you that life is worth living, this smoothie will fuel you with almonds, dates, eggs, and bananas, so really it’s like a full breakfast in a glass. Before you know it you’ll have breezed through your morning and will be ready for a satisfying lunch. Careful, this can be habit-forming, not like that would be a bad thing or anything.
27. Mango Almond Smoothie
The mixture of fruit and nuts is nothing new, as we’ve been enjoying this in trail mix form for some time. But in a smoothie you don’t often see fruit and nuts as the main ingredients. Here they’ve simply taken some mango and added a good amount of almonds to form a mango-almond smoothie that will satisfy thanks to the sweetness of the mango and the energy-packed nature of the almonds. There’s also cardamom used for added flavor, so this will be like no smoothie you’ve tried before.
28. Pumpkin Banana Smoothie
You can see how they got the idea to combine bananas with pumpkins for this smoothie. They both have a similar consistency, at least when the pumpkin has been pureed. They’ll both provide a nice drinkable texture when blended up properly, and they both have a ton of good things going for them in the form of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. This smoothie does a good job of providing you with both a fruit and a vegetable serving, and also contains flax seed and almond milk so you’re getting additional nutrients.
29. Coconut Avocado Smoothie
You can’t go wrong by adding avocado to any smoothie, as its texture will help smooth-ify it, and its health benefits are well-documented. And while it takes a starring role along with coconut, both coconut milk and coconut water, it’s not alone in providing you with nutrition, getting help from mango, limes, basil, and honey. This is a smoothie that’s thought of everything. Plenty of different ingredients combine to give you a broad spectrum of vitamins and minerals.
30. Chai Tea Smoothie
This recipe takes everything you love about chai tea and puts it in smoothie form, without using any dairy. This makes it a much better choice than a Venti Chai Latte from the corner coffee shop. They recommend using either a vanilla almond milk or coconut almond milk to get the right flavor. Mix that with real chai tea, a banana for texture and nutrients, and a bit of vanilla extract and you’re good to go. A fast and easy start to your morning with more potassium and fiber than any chai latte out there.
Photo: Tessa Domestic Diva
31. Paleo Orange Greensicle Smoothie
Get the awesome flavor of an orange creamsicle but stay well within the realm of a Paleo smoothie with this orange greensicle. It uses coconut milk, oranges, greens, cashews, and mangos to deliver an amazing taste that will have you feeling like you’re having quite a treat, when in actuality you’re giving your body plenty of the things it needs, and helping to boost your immune system. On Paleo you’ll notice that you can effortlessly take in nutrition, and good taste and good for you doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive.
32. Pink Monster Smoothie
They’ve taken a Green Monster recipe and turned it into a Pink Monster with the addition of red spinach. This provides plenty of nutrients, as spinach is one of the most nutrient-dense veggies you can eat. It’s easy to consume, thanks in part to the liquid form, as well as the honey that’s added to sweeten things up. Pineapples, apples, and oranges do their part to cover up the spinach taste, and when the honey is added it will seem like it’s just an ordinary delicious smoothie.
33. Strawberry-Raspberry Almond Smoothie
This recipe gives you good reason to always keep frozen organic strawberries and frozen organic raspberries on hand. This is because if you do, you’ll always be just a few minutes away from a delicious and nutritious smoothie that contains nothing but wholesome foods that help you out immensely. Raw almonds and honey round things out, and are also two staples for many Paleo recipes, and worth keeping stocked up at all times.
34. Mocha Chip Smoothie
The key to Paleo is giving yourself enough reminders so that your brain and body don’t even feel like you’re on any sort of diet. This smoothie can help, by sneaking in a bunch of nutrition behind an awesome flavor. Start with bananas, dates, and hazelnuts for potassium, fiber, and healthy fat. Add in coffee for a boost of caffeine, and whey protein to get your protein levels off to a fast start. The finishing touch is cocoa powder, which gives you the chocolate taste without the added sugar and dairy from milk chocolate.
35. Cake Batter Smoothie
Let’s start this list off right with a smoothie that tastes like cake batter. You may not have thought you could have something like this while you’re on Paleo. But sure enough they’re using all Paleo-approved ingredients so you’re good to go. But is it healthy? Sure! You’ve got potassium and fiber from a banana, additional fiber and potassium from medjool dates, protein, vitamins and minerals from almond milk, and healthy fats from macadamia nuts and coconut butter. It’s best to use this as a dessert smoothie rather than a meal replacement or a detox smoothie. It’s important to remind your taste buds that everything is fine
36. PB Cup Smoothie
We know what you’re thinking: Hey! You can’t have peanut butter on Paleo… But no worries, because their PB actually stands for Paleo Butter, in this case almond butter as a sub for peanut butter. No need to go without the taste of peanut butter cups if that’s your jam, because almond butter makes a suitable replacement and can get you most of the way there. When combined with bananas and coconut milk you’ve got a smoothie that not only tastes great, but moves you forward on your path rather than being a side stop or a regression.
36 Super Healthy Smoothies to Fuel Your Body
Paleo Grubs