This Chocolate Coffee Breakfast Smoothie is a dessert-worthy treat and a sneaky way to add an extra dose of vegetables to your day. A scoop of riced cauliflower creates an extra thick and creamy texture in the smoothie without adding any weird flavor. Combine the thick texture with the coffee chocolate flavor and I dare say this smoothie reminds me of a Wendy’s Frosty!
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Cauliflower Options
If you’re not down with the whole cauliflower-in-a-smoothie idea, a basic coffee-chocolate-banana smoothie is also good. The cauliflower does make it a little thicker and more ice-cream-like, though.
If you have a powerful blender, frozen cauliflower florets will work in place of riced cauliflower. Using rice cauliflower just makes it easier to blend until smooth for less powerful blenders.
Coffee Options
I used instant coffee (freeze-dried coffee) for this smoothie because it’s incredibly easy to work with. It’s inexpensive, it blends into the smoothie easily, and, since it’s shelf-stable, you can keep it on hand without it going bad (it’s also really good to add to chocolate cake). If you prefer not to use instant coffee, you can use strongly brewed coffee or espresso that has been chilled. I would substitute ¼ to ½ of the milk listed in the recipe below with coffee.
Sweeten to Your Liking
The banana provides a subtle sweetness to this smoothie on its own, but I do prefer to add a little extra sugar to balance the cocoa powder and coffee, which are both naturally bitter. But this recipe is extremely flexible and you can use any type of sweetener you like and in whatever quantity you like. Just blend up your smoothie and then add your chosen sweetener to taste.
Can I Skip the Banana?
I don’t recommend skipping the banana in this recipe because frozen bananas also contributes quite a bit to that ice-cream-like texture, as well as adding a little natural sweetness. If you’re not a banana lover, don’t worry, you can’t really taste it in the end product.
What Else Can I Add to the Breakfast Smoothie?
Breakfast smoothies are super versatile. Here are a few things that you could add to this chocolate coffee smoothie and still keep the flavor profile on point. Try adding a handful of rolled oats (you may also need to add a bit more liquid), flaxseeds, vanilla extract, cinnamon, or maple syrup.
Chocolate Coffee Breakfast Smoothie
Servings 1 16oz.Ingredients
- 1/2 frozen banana ($0.10)
- 1/2 cup frozen riced cauliflower ($0.21)
- 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder ($0.04)
- 1 Tbsp instant coffee ($0.07)
- 1 cup milk* ($0.41)
- 1/2 tsp sugar** ($0.01)
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust the sweetness to your liking. Serve immediately.
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Equipment
- Small Blender
Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Chocolate Coffee Breakfast Smoothies – Step by Step Photos
All you need for this smoothie is some banana, rice cauliflower, unsweetened cocoa powder, instant coffee, and milk. Oh, and a little sugar or your favorite sweetener (not pictured). You’ll want the banana and riced cauliflower to both be frozen for the most ice-cream-like flavor and texture. Here is a tutorial on how to freeze bananas and how to make riced cauliflower.
Add ½ cup frozen riced cauliflower, ½ of a frozen banana, 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 Tbsp instant coffee, ½ tsp sugar, and 1 cup milk to a blender (you can wait to add the sugar until after blended if you want to sweeten to taste).
Blend the smoothie until smooth. Taste and adjust the sweetness, if needed.
Look at how rich and creamy this chocolate coffee breakfast smoothie is!! I’m telling you, major Frosty vibes with this one.
This recipe makes either one large chocolate coffee breakfast smoothie or two smaller smoothies. Dessert or breakfast, what do you think?
Very good and creamy flavor, definitely not as thick as a frosty, though. I made it to the recipe, using agave instead of sugar, but the coffee I used made the flavor too strong. So I added another tablespoon of cocoa powder and more agave and it was amazing. Thinking of adding some cinnamon and collagen if I make again. Husband said cinnamon would give it a Mexican chocolate taste.
I’m drinking this smoothie right now. It’s pretty incredible that it has NO cauliflower taste at all.
The banana is very subtle– the main flavor is creamy chocolatey goodness. Made it again this morning and added flax, chia, maca, and collagen.
I’ve done spinach in chocolate shakes and you can’t tell it’s there :)
I recommend using a whole banana for sweetness, otherwise you’ll taste the cauliflower. And be sure to blend until totally smooth!!
I was really excited to try this after reading all the other comments, but it was very disappointing. It was pretty thin and watery and tasted mostly like raw cauliflower and banana. I did use almond milk though so maybe it’s better with whole milk. My batch went down the drain and I had to eat something else to get the cauliflower aftertaste to go away.
Just add more cocoa and sweetener to your liking. Also, try using a whole banana for one serving. I couldn’t taste the cauliflower at all with a whole banana in mine🤷🏼♀️
The other day I was out of cocoa, so I added a little cinnamon instead.
I tried hard to cook it but it didn’t work out. I plan to try it again next week. Because I have just started a new job.
I love this recipe and have made is quite a few times. The other day I was out of cocoa, so I added a little cinnamon instead. Thank you for all of your easy, delicious ideas!
Do you cook the caulfilower first?
It’s frozen riced cauliflower. :)
We make this all the time and love it! I also make it for my kids but, when I make it for them, I switch out the tablespoon of coffee powder for a tablespoon of powdered peanut butter. They call it the Reeses smoothie!
YUM!! What a great idea!
Can non fat Greek yogurt be used in place of the whole milk?
Trying to cut the fat
That will definitely change the flavor, since yogurt is very tangy compared to milk. And then if you’re using non-fat you’ll be eliminating some of the creaminess. I would probably go for non-fat milk before non-fat yogurt here.
I made this 4 times this weekend. Soooooo verrrrrrrry good!!! Used one tsp maple syrup as the sweetener. Then tried one tablespoon hazelnut spread instead. All times it was delicious. Im loading up my freezer with more ripened bananas and riced cauliflower!
A delicious breakfast smoothie! I used home-made cold brew and replaced 1/3 of the milk with it. The banana is very subtle– the main flavor is creamy chocolatey goodness. Made it again this morning and added flax, chia, maca, and collagen. It’s definitely more tasty without those things but was still delicious and made it more filling :)
Do you think the instant coffee could be replaced with espresso powder?
Yep, you can do espresso powder. It will definitely have a stronger flavor than the coffee powder, but it will work. …I’m assuming you mean instant espresso powder and not coffee beans ground to a powder for use in an espresso machine, right?
Very nice smoothie recipe! I’m not a big coffee drinker but after I tried this with a leftover Via packet I went out and bought a jar just so I could make this again.
My first few tries used almond milk and that was okay but whole cow milk made it even better.
I made it with two whole, unfrozen florets at first and my blender was powerful enough that that worked fine. I’ll probably try it without the cauliflower one day but I am pleasantly surprised not to taste that part of it as is. I’ve taken to subbing a date for the sugar, blitzing about a 1/4 cup of oatmeal before adding everything else, and adding a little salt.