Chocolate Covered Cherry Smoothie
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This Chocolate Covered Cherry Smoothie tastes like a chocolate shake (seriously!) but is chock full of antioxidants and protein thanks to spinach, dark cherries, almond butter, cocoa powder, and more. It’s dairy-free, gluten-free, and we teach you how to make it into a freezer smoothie pack for later.
This post is sponsored by Hy-Vee (Columbia).
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Flavor – This fruit smoothie tastes like a chocolate shake.
- Reader-favorite – Besides being Rachel’s favorite, many of our readers keep coming back to this one again and again. Serve with some Cinnamon Toast made in the Oven for a divine meal!
- It can be prepped as a smoothie pack – Scale it up and freeze the smoothie packs.
- More fruits and veggies – Like our other recipes that sneak in vegetables and fruits, smoothies are an easy and tasty way to eat more produce at breakfast.
We love packing in as much tasty nutrition to every bite we can, like our Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins and Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal, too.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes:
- Almond milk – I use plain, unsweetened. You can substitute your favorite milk of choice.
- Frozen dark sweet cherries – NOT tart red cherries.
- Almond butter – Peanut butter does NOT work as a great substitution for almond butter. It’s got too much salt and throws the taste off.
- Optional: Protein powder – I’d suggest adding in some unsweetened protein powder to balance out the natural sugars in this smoothie. I personally like Vital Proteins.
Where to Get Your Ingredients
We suggest grabbing the ingredients for this recipe at your local Hy-Vee, since they are well-stocked with the frozen dark sweet cherries year round.
Plus, I can get organic spinach, almond butter, almond milk, and cacao powder from their Health Market to make sure my smoothie is filled with clean ingredients.
Make It a Freezer Smoothie Pack
What are freezer smoothie packs?
A freezer smoothie pack is a pre-prepared mixture of ingredients for making smoothies that is portioned, packed, and stored in the freezer until you’re ready to blend it into a smoothie.
To Prep the Smoothie Pack:
Layer ingredients in small freezer bags (or reusable silicone bags) in this order:
- 1/2 banana
- 1 cup frozen dark sweet cherries
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
- 1 cup baby spinach (preferably organic)
- 1 tablespoon 100% cocoa powder or cacao powder
- Optional: 1-2 scoops protein powder
Seal tightly, squeezing out the air, and freeze for up to 3 months.
To Make the Smoothie:
Pour the liquid in your blender, dump in the frozen smoothie pack, and blend.
More Smoothie Recipes
We worked hard to develop 7 delicious smoothie recipes and teach you how to prep them as freezer smoothie packs. Here are the other flavors available:
FAQs
It’s important to note that you really can’t substitute dark, sweet cherries. I tested this with the tart red version, as well as strawberries, and it just wasn’t the same. Neither of those fruits was as sweet.
You may have to hunt a bit to find which store carries them. They can also be pricey so try to buy in bulk when on sale if possible!
Yes! If you don’t drink all of your smoothie, pour it into an ice cube tray (or something to help portion it out) and freeze. Then pop out the small portions of smoothie to toss in your blender the next time you make a smoothie.
Sure! Feel free to add in a sugar-free, unflavored protein powder or collagen powder. I like Vital Protein Collagen Peptides. You may need to add a little more liquid if you include this ingredient.
We have written a post with all our tips for freezing bananas. The main takeaway is to freeze the banana slices on a baking sheet for a few hours and THEN transfer to a freezer-safe container.
7 Must Have Smoothie Recipes
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More Chocolate Breakfast Recipes
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Chocolate Covered Cherry Smoothie
This Chocolate Covered Cherry Smoothie tastes like dessert but is chock full of antioxidants and protein thanks to spinach, dark cherries, almond butter, cocoa powder, and more. Easy, single serving smoothie that can be made into a smoothie pack, too.
Ingredients
- 1 – 1 1/2 cups unsweetened plain almond milk (or milk of your choice)
- 1/2 banana, sliced (preferably frozen for best smoothie texture)
- 1 cup frozen sweet dark cherries (NOT red tart cherries)
- 1 cup baby spinach (preferably organic)
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
- 1 tablespoon 100% cocoa powder or cacao powder
- Optional: 1-2 scoops unsweetened protein powder (I like Vital Proteins brand)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
Make It Now:
1. Start by adding 1 cup almond milk to a high-powered blender. Then, add all the other ingredients.
2. Blend until smooth. You may need to stop and stir/shake the blender or add up to 1/2 cup more of almond milk, as needed, to make sure it gets smooth.
3. Taste and add a dollop of honey, if preferred.
Make Freezer Smoothie Packs for Later:
1. Layer ingredients in small freezer bags in this order:
- 1/2 banana
- 1 cup frozen dark sweet cherries
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
- 1 cup baby spinach (preferably organic)
- 1 tablespoon 100% cocoa powder or cacao powde
- Optional: 1-2 scoops protein powder
2. Seal tightly, squeezing out the air, and freeze for up to 3 months.
3. To Blend: Pour 1 cup almond milk into a high-powered blender first. Break up the ingredients in the bag by hitting it on the counter or crunching it with your hands. Dump the ingredients from the bag in and follow blending instructions above.
Notes/Tips
- It’s important to note that you really can’t substitute dark, sweet cherries. I tested this with the tart red version, as well as strawberries, and it just wasn’t the same. Neither of those fruits was as sweet.
- Check out all 7 smoothie packs and download a recipe cheat sheet and shopping list.
- If you’d like to add in more protein, feel free to add in a sugar-free, unflavored protein powder or collagen powder. I like Vital Protein Collagen Peptides. You may need to add a little more liquid.
This is my new favorite smoothie! I love the flavor combo.
It’s seriously so good! It’s my favorite as well. Thanks for leaving a review Anna!
I have been making this smoothie weekly. It is delicious! I also add half of a small raw beet and you can’t even taste it!
Ooh… love to hear about added sneaky vegetables that can’t be tasted! Thanks for leaving a review Beth.
Really yummy. I skipped the honey and added vanilla protein powder. Nice for a sweet, chocolate-y yet healthy treat
Hi Liz. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review and let others know of your changes. This is one of the favorites around Thriving Home for sure!
Like Rachel, this is my favorite smoothie. It’s like dessert!
We made extras and turned a set into Popsicles like you suggested in the kids video such a good choice!
This smoothie is MAGICAL! Oh my goodness!
I’m glad you feel that way, too! I literally had it for breakfast for 2 years straight. (I’ve recently moved on to a version of the Blueberry Muffin Smoothie on our site.)
Love these recipes
Wonderful to hear that. Thanks for the feedback!
Hi..I love your idea of smoothie freezer packs/recipes..I am allergic to bananas and use avocado as a replacement but not sure if they will freeze well..have you tried majool dates as sweetener..know they would not work in freezer pack..TY
Hi Diana. Avocados actually freeze great for smoothies! We’ve tested it and written an article here: https://thrivinghomeblog.com/can-you-freeze-avocados/
I haven’t tested using dates but I think they would be fine in a smoothie pack.
If one has a Vitamix, could they just add almonds instead of the almond butter? And what do you think of adding dates instead of honey to up the fiber?
Yes! I do that frequently. I just buy a big bag of raw almonds and have them in the freezer. I also toss in a few walnuts each day, too. I don’t use any honey in this recipe, but if you want it sweeter you could try dates. But the cherries and banana add a lot of sugar already. It’s plenty sweet for me! I hope you enjoy it.
Do you think I could substitute avocado for banana?
I think the texture would work just fine, however it will be less sweet. Try it and you can always add in a little honey at the end if you want it sweeter.
OMG! I absolutely love this smoothie 😍 I didn’t think something so delicious is good for me. This tastes just like ice cream and I’m going to try to get my kids to drink this too! Thank you for this recipe👏👏👏👏👏
I’m so happy you like it, Nathalie. It’s hands-down my favorite, too. I drink it about 5-6 days a week for breakfast…going on about 2 years now. 🙂
This was AMAZING. It really does taste like a milkshake, I drank it in like five minutes. Do you think other fruits such as strawberries or blueberries could be used in place of the cherries? I’m just thinking of variety for future smoothies!
Yeah! Glad you liked it! I’ve tried other fruit in it’s place and it’s honestly just not as good. The cherries have a higher sugar content than the others. But, you could try it and always add a little honey to sweeten it more if needed.
What do you think about using kale in this smoothie?
It’s definitely not a one-to-one replacement for spinach. Kale has a stronger flavor for sure that can’t be masked as easily. If you use kale, I would suggest using less. Hope that helps!
😍😍😍 this is very yummy I love spinach in my smoothies. I have never tried cocoa powder but yum thanks for a good smoothie.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Cindy! Thanks for the review.
Love this! I usually am disappointed with smoothie recipes, having to add much more liquid later on and then having it end up flavorless. This turned out perfect following the recipe exactly. AND it’s delicious enough to drink every day. Thanks ladies!
Yeah! So glad you loved it. It’s been my daily smoothie recipe for a whole year…no joke. I sometimes add whole raw nuts in place of the almond butter for a little variety and I usually pack in even more spinach, too (you don’t even notice).
Does this really have 60 grams of sugar???
Definitely not! Only about 22 grams. I just checked our nutrition app and found the mistake and corrected it. Thank you for asking!