Make-Ahead Smoothie Packs

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Make-ahead smoothie packs are a fantastic way to prepare your freezer for the birth of a baby, surgery, travel, or meal prep for the week! Smoothies can be packed full of nutrients to fuel your day, and these smoothie packs save the hassle of pulling everything out of your freezer on a busy morning!

Are you preparing for a baby? Going in for surgery? Need a quick meal before work? Have overripe bananas on the counter needing put to use? These smoothie bags are perfect! Plan ahead to have the flavors you love, and use up the little bags of berries, spinach, etc. buried in the corners of the freezer.

What are Smoothie Packs?

Smoothie packs are bags of all the ingredients you need for a smoothie, minus the water or milk. They only take about 10 minutes to make, and you’ll have a shelf full of meals when you’re done! When you’re ready for a smoothie, simply pour the ingredients in a blender, add liquid, blend, and enjoy!

Ingredients

All your favorite smoothie ingredients! For fruit and veggies, I love to buy in bulk from the Costco freezer section or frozen from the grocery store. Our favorite ingredients include:

Banana (I add this to almost every smoothie. It gives it a fantastic creaminess no other ingredient compares to)
Yogurt, plain or Greek (see What to Prepare Ahead section below)
Milk and/or Chocolate Milk (see What to Prepare Ahead section below)
Berries
Fruit and Veggies such as Spinach, Pineapple, Mango, and Pear
Nut butters
Protein Powders, Collagen Powders, Fruit Powders, etc.
Juice (see What to Prepare Ahead section below)

What to Prepare Ahead for Smoothie Packs

To make your prep day go smoothly, I recommend freezing some things ahead of time. Ice cube size portions work best. Then you can add as much or as little as you want to each pack, plus it doesn’t overload your blender when you make the smoothies.

Yogurt: For my smoothie packs, I mix yogurt and milk and freeze it in an ice cube tray. You could also freeze yogurt by itself. I go with plain yogurt (or Greek), and add flavors with fruit. You could also go for flavored yogurt, and add less fruit to your packs. Up to you!
Milk: Plain or chocolate milk does great frozen in cubes for smoothies.
Juice: Freeze ahead if you want to make things easier the day you make your smoothie. You can also add fresh juice when you make your smoothie.
Bananas (optional): Cut and freeze bananas ahead of time. We almost always have bananas on hand, and if we don’t eat them all in time, I cut up and freeze the ones turning brown so they’re ready for snacking or smoothies at any time!
Other fruit (optional): if cutting up fresh fruit, I recommend freezing them ahead of time. Otherwise, everything may stick together in your smoothie pack when you’re ready to blend.

How to Prep Make-Ahead Smoothie Packs

Pull out all your ingredients. I like to organize them assembly-line style. If you need to cut any fruit/veggies, do that first.
Figure out what blender you’ll use for your smoothies and what a serving looks like for your family. I use single serving blender cups, one for me and one for my 3 younger kids. I prepped my bags by filling the blender cup and pouring it into freezer bags. If you know you need 2 cups of solid ingredients, then use a 2 cup measuring cup. Find what works for your family.
Label your freezer bags. I put the date and usually eat the pack within 3 months.
For smoothie bags, I recommend using the “Handful of Flour” method: a little bit of this and a handful of that. If you find flavor combos your family loves, write them down for next time! See “Our Favorite Smoothie Flavors” section below.
Fill your bags. Seal and freeze.
When ready to eat, pour ingredients into the blender, add liquid, blend, and serve! Easy peasy!

Our Favorite Smoothie Flavors

Ingredients are listed in order of quantity (use the most of the first ingredient, least of the last ingredient).

Banana, blueberry, yogurt, milk
Banana, chocolate milk cubes, peanut butter
Strawberries (fresh or frozen), banana, yogurt, milk, optional orange juice
Mixed Berries, banana
Pineapple, strawberries, banana, yogurt
Strawberries, chocolate milk (or cocoa powder and milk), banana (if I have brownies or chocolate cake on hand, I’ll throw a chunk of that in for an extra treat! This one is good with protein powder.)

Notes:

I use 3-4 dairy cubes per adult serving. This could be yogurt, milk, or chocolate milk, or a non dairy alternative.
When I blend my smoothies, I always add water, and sometimes extra milk or juice.
Powders (protein, fruit, collagen, etc.): I prefer to add these when I make the smoothie, rather than in the smoothie packs. Personally, I feel like too much gets stuck in the bag, and I also don’t like my kids to eat as much of it in case the smoothie is for them. If you’re truly going for time saving when you make the smoothie, go ahead and add it to the smoothie pack.

Q & A

Can these be made dairy free?

Yes! Use whichever milk alternative you like, or simply add water. I like the dairy for extra creaminess in my smoothies, but these smoothie packs are all about your personal preference.

How many smoothie packs should I make at once?

This is totally up to you. Things to consider: how often do you drink smoothies? How much freezer space do you have? What ingredients do you have on hand? I make at least 5 to make it worth the effort.

I don’t need smoothie packs made ahead, can I just make a smoothie?

Of course! If you’re making a fresh smoothie, you can skip most of the plan ahead steps. I recommend using some frozen ingredients or adding ice cubes to chill the smoothie.

I don’t have ice cube trays. Do I need to freeze yogurt, milk, or juice ahead of time?

If these ingredients are not pre-frozen, I recommend leaving them out of your smoothie packs. If added to your packs wet, it’ll make everything freeze together and possibly not fit in your blender when you’re ready for a smoothie. Add them on smoothie making day or eliminate altogether.

Can you give me specific quantities of ingredients?

Every blender is a different size, and every family has different flavor preferences, so I chose to make this a “handful of flour” type recipe where you pick the quantities. I believe in your creative smoothie abilities! See the “Our Favorite Smoothie Flavors” section for ideas.

Enjoy your smoothies! Have a blessed and sunshiny day 🙂