Easy 5-Minute Banana Smoothie

My go-to banana smoothie! You need less than five minutes to make this easy banana smoothie. Use our simple recipe on its own or use it as a base for other smoothies.

Watch The Video

Why You Should Make This Banana Smoothie

I’ve made a version of this easy banana smoothie recipe more times than I can count. It’s perfect on its own and is the best base recipe for adding more ingredients like fruit, nut butter, and veggies.

Here are a few more reasons we love it:

• You need less than 5 minutes to make it.
• You can use fresh or frozen bananas.
• It’s easy to adapt to what you have in the kitchen.
• This smoothie is perfect for breakfast or a snack.
• Kids love it!
• You can even make the smoothie ahead of time, freeze it, and save it for later.

How to Make the Best Banana Smoothie

My basic smoothie recipe calls for four simple ingredients:

Banana — I use one banana to make one large or two smaller (kid-size) smoothies. For the best tasting smoothie, use a ripe banana. For the creamiest banana smoothie, use frozen banana slices. I’ve shared how I freeze bananas for smoothies below.

Half an orange — When I have oranges in the house, I love adding them to my morning smoothie. It adds extra vitamin C and tropical flavor. If you don’t have oranges on hand, don’t worry, you can substitute other fruits like mango, pineapple, and berries.

Plain or Greek yogurt — I don’t always add yogurt to my smoothies, but when I do have it in the fridge, adding a spoonful ensures a protein-packed and creamy smoothie. For a smoothie without yogurt, add a little extra fruit or include veggies like spinach or kale.

Water or milk — To help the ingredients blend, I like adding a splash of liquid to the blender. For a smoothie without milk, use water. It still tastes amazing. For more creaminess add milk (dairy or non-dairy both work).

To make the smoothie, I add everything into a blender and then blend until smooth. For an icy cold smoothie, throw in a handful of ice or use frozen fruits.

We have more easy smoothie recipes! Try our 5-minute strawberry smoothie or this easy blueberry smoothie.

How To Freeze Fruit For Smoothies

To make smoothies even easier, freeze fresh fruit into portions. You can even prepare smoothie packs and freeze them for a grab-and-blend smoothie option.

To freeze fruit for smoothies, rinse and chop fresh fruit into small pieces. Pat them dry then arrange, in one layer, on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Slide the baking sheet into the freezer and freeze until hard (two to three hours).

When the fruit is hard, divide it between freezer-safe bags and keep it in the freezer for your next smoothie.

Banana Smoothie Variations

This smoothie recipe is delicious as written, but it can also be used as a base for other smoothie recipes. We shared a few suggestions in the video, but I’ll add even more below:

Add more fruit (fresh or frozen). I love mango, pineapple, and berries. Here’s our simple strawberry banana smoothie!

Add greens like spinach, kale, or Swiss chard. I add one to two cups.

Add healthy fat with some avocado.

Add more protein and fiber with hemp seeds, chia seeds, or your favorite protein powder.

Add nuttiness and extra sticking power with a tablespoon of peanut butter, almond butter, or other nut butter.

Add some chocolate with a tablespoon of cocoa powder or my favorite, cacao nibs.

Add fresh ginger or turmeric or add dried spices like ground cinnamon or ground turmeric.

More Smoothie Recipes

• Make this protein-packed green smoothie recipe with fresh spinach, banana, orange, and Greek yogurt in under 5 minutes.
• Our easy blueberry smoothie recipe keeps you happy for hours. One small smoothie offers almost 5 grams of fiber as well as 5 grams of protein.
• With 6 grams of protein and 7 grams of fiber, this utterly delicious strawberry banana smoothie will keep you full and energized for your day. 
• Or try this chocolate chia pudding, a simple breakfast made with chia seeds

Recipe updated, originally posted January 2013. Since posting this in 2013, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear and added a quick recipe video. – Adam and Joanne