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

Banana Smoothie Recipe 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.

Banana Smoothies

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.

Fruit ready to be added to smoothies

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.

Banana smoothies with mango and strawberries

More Smoothie Recipes

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

Banana Smoothies

Easy 5-Minute Banana Smoothie

  • PREP
  • TOTAL

Our banana smoothie is extra creamy and fruity. Depending on how ripe or sweet your banana and orange are, you may need to add a little extra honey, so add based on your taste. There are many additions you can make. For a green smoothie, add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of fresh greens like spinach or kale. You can also add more fruit. Add 1/2 cup of strawberries, mango, frozen berries, pineapple, or other favorite fruit.

Makes 2 kid-size smoothies or 1 large

Watch Us Make the Recipe

You Will Need

1 banana

1/2 orange, peeled and quartered

1/3 cup Greek yogurt

1/4 cup water or milk (dairy or non-dairy)

1 to 2 teaspoons honey, optional

Directions

    1Roughly chop the banana and orange quarters, and then add to a blender. Top with yogurt and water (or milk). Turn blender on and blend until creamy and smooth. Taste, and then adjust with honey if needed.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

  • How to Freeze or Make Ahead: This recipe makes one smoothie or two kid-size smoothies. Enjoy now, or save for later. To save the smoothie for later, pour each serving into a food-safe resealable plastic bag or container and freeze. Then, about an hour before needing the smoothie, take it out from the freezer.
  • Non-Dairy alternatives: If you are looking for a banana smoothie without yogurt, then simply leave the yogurt out of the recipe above and replace it with more banana, a tablespoon or so of nut butter, mango, or a tablespoon of hemp seeds (great protein source). You may need to add additional water or non-dairy milk to thin the smoothie out a little.
  • Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste

Nutrition Per Serving Serving Size 1 kid-size smoothie / Calories 122 / Protein 5 g / Carbohydrate 23 g / Dietary Fiber 3 g / Total Sugars 16 g / Total Fat 2 g / Saturated Fat 1 g / Cholesterol 5 mg
AUTHOR:  Adam and Joanne Gallagher
Inspired Taste Newsletter Signup
81 comments… Leave a Review
  • connor October 25, 2023, 2:38 pm

    Great recipe! Creamy and delicious

    Reply
  • Lila Anspach July 7, 2023, 10:12 pm

    It was delish.My grandparents also loved it.It is so creamy and sweet.I couldn’t get enough.

    Reply
  • Lila Anspach July 7, 2023, 7:10 pm

    It was delish.my grandma and grandpa also loved it.

    Reply
  • Zunaira March 22, 2023, 11:57 am

    I love the simplicity of this recipe, Can’t wait to go home and prepare it for super

    Reply
  • suman kundu March 3, 2023, 9:08 am

    I love this recipe. It was super easy to make with my portable blender cup I got from www dot theblendaway dot com. They even give a free 50 easy healthy smoothie receipe book with every purchase.

    Reply
  • Kate L February 1, 2023, 8:41 am

    Thank you for sharing this easy and delicious recipe!!! The husband and son love this and I’ll be trying out the other smoothies from your site!

    Reply
  • DeeDee January 31, 2023, 11:49 am

    This was very refreshing and good. I added vanilla extract and it tasted like an Orange Julius. Next time I will use a frozen banana instead.

    Reply
    • Joanne January 31, 2023, 1:21 pm

      Yes, frozen banana does make it a bit more silky. Happy you enjoyed it, DeeDee!

      Reply
  • kuzi November 18, 2022, 1:44 am

    i loved the simplicity of of the recipe and the amazing taste.thank you guys

    Reply
  • julie November 17, 2022, 2:08 am

    Loved the smoothie, so good for you and tastes so yummy

    Reply
  • Camille October 4, 2022, 12:56 pm

    This was so good exactly what I needed! I am so excited to try more recipes from this website!!!

    Reply
    • Carrington DeBusk-Lane November 14, 2022, 8:58 pm

      I tried the Banana smoothie, and it was so good!!!! I love everything about it, oranges made it so fresh and it gave me so much energy, and the bananas had so much sweetness to it it just powered me up. I wake up in the morning at 6:45 and I am just dead asleep, and that motivated me so much. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

      Reply
  • Diana Summers October 4, 2022, 1:15 am

    Can’t wait to make this banana smoothie for my family tomorrow night! Looks so yummy! Thank you for sharing

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Kaitlyn Friesen Cancel reply

Leave a Review

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe!

 

All comments are moderated before appearing on the site. Thank you so much for waiting. First time commenting? Please review our comment guidelines. You must be at least 16 years old to post a comment. All comments are governed by our Privacy Policy & Terms.

Previous Post: Next Post: