Start Your Day with an Easy and Healthy Chocolate Banana Breakfast Smoothie

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When I was a kid, I remember when smoothies just started becoming the new hot thing. Smoothie stores were opening up like crazy in my hometown, and as a kid with a major sweet tooth, I wasn’t super into it.

That is, until I tasted my first chocolate banana smoothie.

My taste buds lit up like a Christmas tree, loving the decadent combination of fruit and my favorite kind of sweet.

It was rich and silky. I couldn’t stop drinking the blended beverage, and I proceeded to beg my mom to buy me one every time we passed by a smoothie shop.

I got so obsessed, my mom actually taught me how to make the chocolate and banana concoction at home so I could have it as an afternoon snack (without draining all of her money).

When I was 18, I had jaw surgery and was stuck on a liquid diet for 5 weeks. Even after drinking these daily throughout that period, I still loved the flavor.

Correction: I still love the flavor.

My friends would come over and make this recipe for me so often over the course of my recovery, they actually broke our blender.

Yet another reason to teach kids how to properly use a blender, you know? Never let someone who is not experienced with the physics of smoothie-making near your fancy blender! It’s bad news.

And it also pays to buy a GOOD one. Such as a Vitamix or a Blendtec.

If I was sentenced to making this smoothie for breakfast every day for the rest of my life, I would be a happy woman.

It has all those luscious flavors of the chocolate banana drink I would buy in the smoothie shops, but it’s actually a lot healthier.

It’s also a lot more filling, and helps me to last until lunchtime without any hunger pangs (and this is coming from someone who loves to eat, all the time).

This recipe is nice and creamy, with a slight tang from the Greek yogurt. The vanilla extract bolsters the flavor of the cocoa powder, and the chia seeds give you a nice healthy boost.

You can also add a few splashes of coffee for an extra boost of flavor and energy.

Finally, you finish with some ice cubes and a frozen banana. The result is a breakfast drink that you will never feel guilty about consuming, even though the taste will make you feel like perhaps you should.

I personally am a fan of the chia seeds in this smoothie, but you can easily substitute ground flax if you prefer.

Pro tip: always keep some frozen bananas in your freezer. I like to take a couple whenever I buy a bunch, peel them and put them in airtight zip-top bags when they’re ripe, and throw them in the freezer to use throughout the week.

Adding frozen fruit means you don’t have to use as much ice, which will water down the flavor of your drink.

Just make sure you follow the instructions below based on the type of blender you have – top-loading or bottom-loading. The order of the ingredients really matters, to make sure your drink comes together easily.

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Cooking By the Numbers…

Step 1 – Chop Banana and Measure Remaining Ingredients

Before you freeze your bananas, cut them up into chunks so they’re easy to toss into blended beverages with no further prep required.

If you only have whole frozen bananas, you can still peel and chop them while they’re frozen. But please be careful when cutting frozen ingredients. Remove the peel from the frozen banana and chop into chunks, about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long.

Measure out all of the remaining ingredients as listed in the ingredients list. Make sure to set out the ingredients in the order listed, to make assembling the recipe easy.

Step 2 – Load Blender

Add the ingredients to your blender in the order they are listed, starting with the milk and ending with the ice cubes.

Personal blenders are great for this, such as the Nutribullet Pro, since you can take the cup you blended in and go, sometimes with an included top that is easy to drink out of when you’re on the go.

The most important part of making a smoothie is to make sure the frozen ingredients are farthest from the blades, so they can push down the other ingredients.

If you have a bottom-loading blender, instead of following the order as listed, you will start with the ice cubes and end with the milk. That way, when you flip the container over to blend, the frozen ingredients will be furthest from the blades.

Step 3 – Blend

Secure the top (or bottom) and blend until smooth, about 20-30 seconds. I find it’s not usually necessary with this recipe, but stop and push down any ingredients as needed with a tamper or spatula, to ensure that everything is fully blended.

Serve immediately.

If you want to drink this on the go and you don’t have one already, there’s really no need to buy a special cup that’s just for smoothies.

How to Make the Perfect Smoothie

When it comes to making the ideal breakfast beverage, you need to check out our tips to making better smoothies and shakes, without those pesky lumps.

You won’t believe how a few simple tips can give you creamier and smoother drinks that you will fall in love with all over again, each time you take your first sip.

If you want to add a homemade touch, consider making our banana chocolate smoothie made with DIY kefir!

And if you’re a fan of nutritious add-ins, you’ll love our round up of blended beverage favorites.

Can’t get enough smoothies? Check out some of our favorite deceptively indulgent recipes below:

• Pumpkin Pie
• Blueberry Orange Banana
• Strawberry Mango
• Dairy-Free Tahini Banana
• Orange Ginger Sunshine Smoothie
• Berry Date

What’s your favorite smoothie ingredient that you can’t live without? Tell us in the comments below. After you try the recipe, come back to rate it here.

Photos by Meghan Yager, © Ask the Experts, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. See our TOS for more details. Originally published on June 12th, 2012. Last updated: February 25, 2023 at 12:46 pm.

Nutritional information derived from a database of known generic and branded foods and ingredients and was not compiled by a registered dietitian or submitted for lab testing. It should be viewed as an approximation.