Banana Smoothie (3-Ingredients!)
Best Banana Smoothie Recipe – Check out these easy step-by-step instructions for how to make a sweet and frosty banana smoothie with only 3 ingredients! Customize with your favorite smoothie add-ins for a delicious blend-and-go breakfast or snack.
Why We Love This Banana Smoothie Recipe
These 3 Ingredient Banana Smoothies are the perfect frozen treat to add some pep to your step!
Smoothies shouldn’t be complicated… They’re meant to be an on the go breakfast or anytime snack. This extremely simple banana smoothie recipe lets you take your bananas, freeze them, and make easy smoothies in less than five minutes.
This recipe is SO quick, easy, and versatile – it’s a great jumping off point for nearly any fruit-based smoothie. In fact, you can use this recipe as a base for all kinds of nutritious, satisfying, and/or decadent smoothie creations!
3 Ingredients You Need
- Frozen bananas – For the perfect amount of sweetness and fruity flavor. Keep reading our easy steps for how to freeze bananas for smoothies.
- Milk – Your preference of dairy, or plant-based dairy-free alternative.
- Yogurt – Greek or plain whole milk yogurt, or your favorite dairy-free alternative.
*Keep reading to check out some of our favorite suggestions for possible add-ins below!
How to Freeze Bananas for Smoothies
I love to keep a bag of banana chunks in the freezer for whenever a smoothie craving hits!
It’s super easy to do… Just peel ripe bananas and chop them into chunks, about 1-inch thick. Place them in a freezer bag, squeezing out as much air as possible before sealing shut. Freeze the bananas for up to 3 months.
It can take a few hours for banana slices to freeze in the bags. But you can flash freeze the banana chunks to get things going a bit faster! Place the cut pieces onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Freeze for 1 hour, until the chunks are nearly frozen solid. Then use right away or transfer them to bags.
Pro Tip: Store each chopped banana in its own bag. Then you have perfect portions to grab from the freezer!
How to Make the Best Banana Smoothie
Now that the bananas are frozen, you’re ready to get smoothie-ing!
Simply place the banana chunks, milk, and Greek yogurt in the blender jar.
Cover the jar and purée on high speed until completely smooth. This can take a minute or two, so be patient!
After blending together you can add extra ingredients, if you like! Blend on low or high speed, depending on whether you want the add-ins to stay a bit chunky or smooth.
Get the Complete (Printable) 3-Ingredient Banana Smoothie Recipe + Video Below. Enjoy!
Possible Add-Ins
Customize this classic banana smoothie recipe with nearly any goodies you want! Here are a few of our favorite ingredients to add extra fun and flavors to your drink:
- Peanut butter – your choice of smooth or crunchy
- Nut butter – try almond butter, cashew butter, or decadent Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread
- Frozen fruit – a handful of frozen strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, mango, and pineapple are all delicious with banana
- Chia seeds or flax seeds – for a boost of nutrients
- Coconut – either sweetened large pieces or desiccated (finely shredded)
- Protein powder – your choice of flavor, like vanilla or chocolate
- Powdered greens – Make a green smoothie with powdered veggies
- Fresh greens – add a handful of spinach or kale for extra nutrients
- Cocoa powder – to make a sweet chocolate banana smoothie
- Cocoa nibs – for a nice bit of crunchy texture
- Vanilla – Vanilla bean seeds or vanilla extract both add depth and intrigue
- Instant coffee powder – to give your smoothie a kick of caffeine
- Additional sweetener – although we don’t think you’ll need it, feel free to add honey, maple syrup, or agave to taste
Mix-and-match any of these add-ins to make chocolate peanut butter banana smoothies, peanut butter and jelly (fruit) smoothies, tropical smoothies with pineapple and/or mango with coconut, chocolate espresso smoothies… Whatever you like!
Tips for the Best Fruit Smoothies
- If you’re looking for a plant-based vegan smoothie recipe, simply swap the dairy products with plant-based milk and yogurt. Cashew yogurt is a great options, as well as almond milk, oat milk, soy milk, coconut milk, or cashew milk.
- Use bananas that are very ripe, but not brown. In baked goods you want dark brown and soft bananas that are extra sweet. But in smoothies you want just ripe bananas that are firm and not overly sweet.
- If planning to use other frozen fruits along with the bananas, make sure to use only 3 cups of frozen fruit total – including the banana. I would go with 1 ½ cups of frozen banana chunks and 1 ½ cups of other frozen fruits, so you still have a strong creamy base.
- Make a thicker smoothie by blending in ice. Too thick? Thin it out with a little more milk.
- As-is this banana smoothie recipe yields 3 large drinks. Feel free to cut back or increase the ingredients to make however many smoothies you want. If making more 4+ drinks you’ll likely need to work in batches.
- Don’t over blend the ingredients! You want to purée long enough to get a smooth, rich consistency… But if you keep blending much longer, the frozen bananas will defrost and make the smoothie watery.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! Together these two simple ingredients become super rich and creamy, with a lovely sweet flavor.
No, I don’t recommend making this recipe in advance. Smoothies always taste best freshly blended while they are frosty.
These smoothies are chockfull of potassium, plus protein from the milk and Greek yogurt. But keep in mind that bananas do have a good bit of sugar and are not considered a low-carb or low-calorie food.
Looking for More Easy Smoothie Recipes? Be Sure to Try:
- Pumpkin Pie Smoothie (Protein Shake)
- Green Protein Smoothie
- Easiest Watermelon Smoothie
- Yogurt Berry Smoothie
- Strawberry Smoothie
Banana Smoothie Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 3 cups frozen bananas
- 1 ½ cups milk dairy or any plant-based variety
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt or plant-based
Instructions
- Prep Work: Peel ripe bananas. Chop them into chunks and place them in a freezer bag. Freeze the bananas so they're ready when you need them.
- To Blend: Place 3 cups of frozen banana chunks in the blender jar. Add milk, and Greek yogurt.
- Cover the jar and purée on high speed until completely smooth. Add extra ingredients if you like!
Made this for a quick breakfast on the go today. I added a little bit of peanut butter and my goodness! It was so delicious!
We make these banana smoothies often! We are not starting to add in peanut butter and other mix ins for protein and fun! It is the perfect smoothie that is light and tasty!
I added frozen strawberries to mine and it turned out so delicious. Rich and flavorful! Thank you for the tips!