This pumpkin smoothie was one of my first experiments with pumpkin purée TEN years ago. I had a little bit of pumpkin leftover from another recipe and thought, “Hey, can I put this in my smoothie?” Yes, Beth, yes you can. And it will taste like a pumpkin pie milkshake. Forget the PSL, this is the pumpkin drink I want to be drinking. Especially if you live in the south and it’s still 80 degrees outside in October. :P
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What’s in A Pumpkin Smoothie?
The ingredients for this smoothie are incredibly simple: pumpkin purée, frozen banana, ground flaxseed, pumpkin pie spice, milk, sweetener of choice, and vanilla extract. The frozen banana gives the smoothie an ice-cream-like texture and the ground flaxseed almost makes the smoothie taste like a graham cracker crust has been blended right into the drink. It’s magical!
Use the Milk of Your Choice
I used whole milk because it is the richest and creamiest, but you can use any non-dairy milk substitute in its place. If your non-dairy milk is already sweetened or vanilla flavored, you can reduce the added sweetener and or skip the vanilla extract listed in the recipe below.
Sweeten to Taste
The best part about making your own smoothie is that you can add as much or as little sugar as you want, and use whatever kind of sugar or sugar substitute that you like. I used brown sugar because it has a rich flavor that makes the smoothie even more pie-like, but you can use honey, white sugar, agave, stevia, or whatever you like. The frozen banana does offer some sweetness on its own, but I found the little extra sweetness really made a difference.
Pumpkin Pie Spice
If you don’t have store-bought pumpkin pie spice, you can use my recipe for homemade pumpkin pie spice here, or just sub in ¼ tsp cinnamon if needed. It’s such a small amount in the smoothie that it won’t make or break the smoothie.
Pumpkin Smoothie
Servings 1 16oz.Ingredients
- 1/3 cup pumpkin purée ($0.18)
- 1 frozen banana ($0.20)
- 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice ($0.02)
- 1 cup milk* ($0.42)
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract ($0.07)
- 1 tsp brown sugar* ($0.02)
Instructions
- Add the pumpkin, frozen banana, flaxseed, pumpkin pie spice, milk, and vanilla in a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Add the brown sugar (or sweetener of choice) and blend again. Taste and adjust the sweetness to your liking. Enjoy cold.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Small Blender
- Liquid Measuring Cup
- Measuring Cups Spoons
Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make a Pumpkin Smoothie – Step By Step Photos
Add ⅓ cup pumpkin purée, 1 frozen banana, 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed, ¼ tsp pumpkin pie spice, 1 cup milk, and ¼ tsp vanilla extract to a blender.
Blend until smooth, then give the smoothie a taste and add the sweetener of your choice to your liking. I added one teaspoon brown sugar.
Briefly blend again to dissolve the sweetener into the drink, then enjoy!
This is an excellent model recipe. Made it for the first time this morning, but I didn’t have enough 1% milk on hand for one cup so I added approx 4oz of plain 1% fat kefir. I also used turbinado sugar instead of the standard granulated and sprinkles of ground nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and allspice to make up the pumpkin pie spice. Delicious!
A delicious & refreshing treat!!! My husband loves this!!! I just happened to have all of the ingredients and in less than 5 minutes we enjoyed this special smoothie! Thank you! We will have this quite often!!!
Wow! This is delicious and great to use leftover pumpkin puree! Not bitter at all. Did you guys remember to peel the bananas? Haha Just Kidding!
It tastes like raw pumpkin even with all of the additives. What did I do wrong? Thanks.
Thank you for these wonderful recipes!!!!!!
Absolutely delicious replacement for pumpkin shakes I used to love. I used oat milk. I swapped maple syrup for brown sugar. I will add more syrup next time, as there is a bit of bitterness from the pumpkin—maybe my banana wasn’t ripe enough. I added a pinch of sea salt but will do closer to an 1/8 tsp next time.
I had the same bitterness issue and I can’t figure it out. But these are great ideas. My banana was yellow starting to turn brown so don’t feel it was that.
Two questions: could I substitute chia for the Flax seed? And what can I do with the leftover pumpkin from the can? I hate recipes that use a partial can of something (side-eye at every 1/2 can of tomato paste). If I put it in the freezer it ends up being a mystery bag that gets thrown out anyway. 😒
You can portion it out and freeze it for making smoothies later (thaw before adding to the smoothie) or you could add it to soup, pasta sauce, or even a bowl of oatmeal. :) Here are our pumpkin recipe archives so you can get some inspiration.
You can make some pumpkin pie if u want
I love this. I’ve only made it once so far, but I was delicious. A little bit too banana flavored for me, but I think I’ll try adding slightly more pumpkin and maybe some more spice the next time.
Thanks!
This is the first pumpkin pie Smoothie I have tried and it was so amazing! I will be making again
So I’m now mildly obsessed with adding frozen riced cauliflower to smoothies because of your chocolate-coffee breakfast smoothie. If I wanted to add some to this recipe, would I need to alter anything else? Maybe use less banana?
Let’s wake up your inner chef! I would have a little taste after each addition until it tastes exactly right for you. XOXO -Monti
This recipe calls for 1 TBS of ground flaxseed and from your recipe description, it seems it’s added just for flavor rather than for thickening which is what ground flaxseed can often do: “and the ground flaxseed almost makes the smoothie taste like a graham cracker crust has been blended right into the drink. “ Can the ground flaxseed just be omitted? Your recently published Peanut Banana Smoothie is so extremely similar and it doesn’t call for ground flaxseed at all.
You can absolutely omit the flaxseed. XOXO -Monti
You have a new fan. I found you thru your meatloaf recipe. So glad, I like your style!
Thank you. Mary Arthars, Randolph, NJ
Very good. I didn’t have frozen banana but added a few frozen cherries. I used maple syrup for sweetener. It’s the perfect recipe for the mini ninja smoothie blender. I like this recipe also. E cause it didn’t require yogurt since I’m avoiding dairy. I used almond milk instead.
Hi there. Has anyone tried using vanill greek yogurt in this instead of milk?
Been having these almost daily! I leave the banana out, double the pumpkin, and throw in a handful of ice. Like drinking a pumpkin pie!
That’s awesome, thanks for sharing this. I am allergic to banana and it’s frustrating trying to figure out banana substitutes for these tasty smoothies (to add that same sweetness and creamy, thick texture). Good to know that in this instance I can leave it out and still have great results!!
Hi, I’m writing about a technical issue. I use Pinterest as a shopping list app, and up to now all the ingredients appeared in my app when I pinned a recipe from a website. But now in the app I get only the recipe photo and I have to open the website to get to the whole recipe. This issue appeared a few months ago, I wrote about it and you fixed it. But now it re-appeared. Could you do something about it? I use Android phone. Thanks!
So good! I used more pumpkin, less honey & flaxseed and used regular unflavored almond milk- delicious and filling!
Easy, cheap, delicious!
So happy to find this! I was just googling “pumpkin smoothie” and I couldn’t believe my luck that my favorite website Budget Bytes had just the recipe I was looking for! Smoothie turned out great! Thinking of using a similar mixture for overnight oats.
Just made this, Yum! I had leftover pumpkin pie filling after filling my pie for Thanksgiving & hadn’t had breakfast yet.
Jac
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing Jackie!
Try freezing your pumpkin as well as the banana. I use foil cupcake liners and muffin tins. I can scoop out 1/3 to 1/2 cup and put it in the liners. Freeze then pop them out and put them in smoothie packs or just freezer containers. I use the 1/3 cup for these smoothies and 1/2 cup for a soup recipe I love. Easy, convenient, and I can buy the pumpkin when it’s cheap and still have it when it’s not.
Perfect idea Suzanne!
Please share your soup reciepe
I thought it was delicious! One thing is that it turned out a little more banana tasting than pumpkin. I tried to fill out the flavor with other fall flavors, but the banana wouldn’t go! Overall super delicious!
Thanks so much for this recipe! It was the perfect festive after school treat for my middle schooler. We like our smoothies a little bit thicker, so we cut down on the milk a bit and added a 1/2 scoop of whey protein power (vanilla flavor). I think this is a new favorite!
Made this this morning (it’s not autumn, but pumpkin sounded pleasant regardless) and it was great!
I added 1 tsp. of agave nectar instead of the tablespoon of honey because it’s what I had on hand and it was still plenty sweet.
Next time I’m going to try only 1/2 cup vanilla soy milk and 1/2 cup cottage cheese to see if that helps cut some of the sweetness while also making it a bit more filling.
Thanks, Beth!
Okay so it looks like the internet is conspiring against me this morning. If it doesn’t work this time, consider my rating to be 5 stars.
Delicious! I love how thick and creamy this was. I topped this with some pumpkin spice granola and it was incredible. Thank you!
Mmmmm, yeeeees! I added about a tablespoon of almond butter because my flax has become dedicated to my dog – this is delicious! I could also see myself using some oats soaked in the almond milk overnight. This will be one of my regulars, thank you!
I used some Allspice instead of pumpkin spice….end result was delicious! The vanilla soymilk is key though.
I use real, cooked pumpkin for it (instead of canned) and it is downright my favourite smoothie! What a terrific use of pumpkin!
This sounds amazing! I have a can of pumpkin puree just waiting to be used, but do you have any ideas for substitutions for bananas? I’m allergic and have a hard time getting the same “meatiness” in a smoothie without them. I may put some almond butter in to bulk it up, but I’m trying to think of other ingredients.
Unfortunately, I really haven’t found anything that even comes close to the texture of a frozen banana in smoothies.
avocados have the same consistency in smoothies. I often use them
I bet you could freeze a banana sized portion of the pumpkin and use that for a similar effect; even potato in smaller quantities could work, but it would lack sweetness, sweet potato maybe?…
I freeze my pumpkin in ice cube trays, then pop them out and store them in a baggie in the freezer. I haven’t tried this specific recipe – but I often make pumpkin smoothies without bananas and the texture is great!
I know this is super old, but it might help someone else. You could try adding some white beans. It sounds weird, but the flavor is pretty neutral. Bananas are more sweet, so you may need a little extra sweetener.
Where does one get pumpkin pie spice? iv’e looked at bulk stores and grocery stores.. can’t find it anywhere!
Maybe the stores near you only carry it during the fall season, when people are baking pumpkin pies. But, because I know it can be hard to get a hold of, I made a post a while back about how to make your own pumpkin pie spice! :)
Hey you think of everything! Thx!
Loves it!
I wanted to make this for dessert tonight but I am completely out of milk! If I substitute water will it be too thin??
Yeah, I think you really need the milk to make it nice and creamy. But hey, maybe I’m wrong! You never really know until you try…
I love this, but I’m wondering what I could replace the flax seeds with. The last time I drank a smoothie containing flax seeds..we’ll just leave it at I don’t think my GI track is a fan. :\
You could maybe try some almonds, oats, or graham crackers.
This was absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for posting this recipe!
Today I made this with an addition of about 1/2 c. of cottage cheese. Holy moly, was that a great idea! It made it unbelievably creamy and filling, and the cottage cheese adds extra protein to keep you full longer. It almost tasted like a pumpkin cheesecake!
LeAmbre – I bet it would be good with sweet potato! After all, people make sweet potato pies just like they make pumpkin pies and they’re delicious!
I am totally going to try this.. But i want to try Sweet Potatoe! Think that would be as tasty?
Becky – It’s this one from Hamilton Beach… I’ve had it for about 3-4 years and love it! Very inexpensive but effective.
So, what kind of blender is this? I am now intrigued…
drinking one of these now…amazing!
I’m obsessed with this. I’ve made it like 5 times this week, and I’ll be making more since I roasted an entire pumpkin and yielded 14 cups of puree. For $4.99. =]
I’ve been making this all week >.<
I can attest that the flax and *frozen* banana are key (for pie-like taste and consistency to be spot on)
I would suggest though, if you’re using regular milk instead of Soy, that you use a little less milk. I keep 2% in the house, and I found that somewhere between 1/2 a cup and 2/3 was just right for me.
Also, I got lazy with measuring out the spices and honey this weekend ;p and I added in a tablespoon of Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter instead. Oh.mah.gawd. Yums!
I wonder what would happen if I added some coffee ice cubes… I love pumpkin spice frappacinos. If I could make a cheaper and healthier substitute at home I would be just thrilled.. Thanks for the great idea!
I’ve made this before with a little vanilla yogurt added as well and its awesome! It just makes it that much more creamy and healthy :)
That’s a tough one, Lacey! Banana’s have a totally unique texture when frozen… you can experiment with freezing the pumpkin puree (maybe in an ice cube tray?) but I’m not sure if it will be too hard to blend after that. Other than that, I don’t know! I highly suggest trying the banana’s though, you can’t really taste them in this one!
I love this but I HATE bananas. Are there any substitutes?
This was money! I threw in some whey protein (instead of the flax seed) and used it as my post-workout drink today. Another great recipe, Beth. Keep ’em coming!
This is good, and really filling. I used vanilla almond milk and I can’t do flax (too strong on my system), but the flavor is still fine without it. Now I want to try Brent’s idea for a cheesecake-flavored smoothie too!
I am SO making this soon! We have smoothies nearly every morning and this will be a lovely change – healthy too. So glad you shared! I saw this at Grandma Loy’s Kitchen “Friday Finds”. I’ll be back. I understand the obsession with pumpkin for sure! I’m sure I’ve been dreaming about it. =)
Oh my! There are so many reasons to have a pumpkin smoothie. Thanks!
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I am so glad I found this blog!! Love your posts and this recipe looks SOOOOO good:)
I love the idea of this! Pumpkin anything makes me smile.
Pumpkin pie spice is just a pre-blended mix of spices that you most definitely could add individually :) It basically has cinnamon, allspice, clove, ginger, nutmeg… things like that. Here is a link to one recipe, although I’m sure there are many: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/pumpkin-pie-spice-i/detail.aspx
You could just add a pinch of any of the above and disregard amounts/ratios and I’m sure it would still taste good!
I saw this picture and was instantly hooked! I love just about anything with pumpkin and this smoothie looks awesome!
You mention graham crackers which I’ll probably use instead of the flax seed. I’ve added graham cracker crumbs before to my strawberry smoothies. With some light cream cheese and a little lemon juice they end up tasting like a strawberry cheesecake.
For non-North Americans, what’s in pumpkin pie spice? Is there an easy substitute? We don’t get canned pumpkin either so it’d all have to be manual.
Meagan – it’s not *super* sweet… The soy milk ads a touch of sweetness in addition to the honey. If you want a super sweet smoothie, try adding some brown sugar. That will make it taste more pie like!
Is this recipe sweet? Is 1 Tbsp of honey really enough to boost the sweetness factor? I would want my smoothie like pumpkin pie tasting… :)
Ohhh, MayMay, almond butter is an excellent idea! It kind of has that same sort of flavor graham-like flavor!
Carys, almond milk will absolutley taste great, it’s what I always put in my smoothies–I hate the taste of cow’s milk in smoothies.
This looks so yummy I’m going to try it in a couple days. I’ve been wondering if pumpkin would make a good smoothie but was too afraid to try it! I don’t keep flax seed around, do you think a little almond butter would taste good instead?
Hurray!!. Definitely making this with vanilla almond milk tonight after class! Thanks so much!
This looks delicious! Sara and Matt I would think that Almond Milk would taste good in this instead of soy. I don’t drink soy so I’m planning to try it with regular milk and also with Almond Milk when I get around to making some.
Anon – yes, it’s dairy free!
Sara and Matt – you can use regular milk but you’ll want to add a little vanilla extract, maybe 1/4 tsp.
What would you suggest I replace the soy milk with?
YAY! It’s non-dairy! :) [unless there is something in the pumpkin I missed]
THANKS!
WOW. I’m so trying this SOON!
And, spot on about frozen bananas. Chucklehead smoothie makers (even restaurants) who use ice cubes have it all wrong. Ice cubes RUIN smoothies. Freeze the fruit! :)
~Dan
OH GIRL.
I AM SO DOWN WITH THIS.