I’ve got another quickie for you tonight. It’s more of an idea than a recipe. I’m sure a lot of you Budget Byters already stock your freezers with these handy smoothie packs, but I wanted to share the tip for those who may be new to the kitchen. Not only does this make smoothies faster and easier to make, but they’re a fraction, a small fraction, of what you’ll pay at your local smoothie counter.
So, the formula is easy. Three one pound bags of frozen fruit of your choice, and four bananas. Divide the frozen fruit up into 8 bags, and place half of a peeled banana in each bag as well. Seal them up tight and toss them into the freezer. When you’re ready to make your delicious smoothie, place the frozen fruit in the blender, add milk (or soy or almond milk), and whatever else you want and press go! No more hauling ten ingredients out of the freezer every time you want to make one smoothie. Just grab one bag and add a liquid. Sure, I also add spinach, cinnamon, and ground flax seed, but it’s still way easier to have the fruit divided up. And it only takes about 5 minutes to make all 8 packs.
This is my favorite smoothie – peaches, strawberries, raspberries, banana, spinach, light vanilla soy milk, ground flax seed, and cinnamon. It works, trust me! If you like things sweet, add a touch of honey and it’ll blow you away.
Smoothie Packs
Servings 8Ingredients
- 16 oz. frozen strawberries ($2.69)
- 16 oz. frozen raspberries ($4.15)
- 16 oz. frozen peaches ($2.69)
- 4 medium bananas ($0.86)
Instructions
- Divide the ingredients equally between 8 quart-sized freezer bags (1/2 banana per bag).
- Freeze the smoothie packs until ready to use or up to three months.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!- 1 frozen smoothie pack $1.30
- 1 cup light vanilla soy milk $0.41
- 1 handful baby spinach $0.53
- 1 Tbsp ground flax seed $0.03
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon $0.03
- Empty one smoothie pack into a blender and add the soy milk, spinach, flax, and cinnamon.
- Blend until smooth, adding more liquid if needed.
Step By Step Photos
This is what goes into the frozen smoothie packs. I switch up the fruit a lot (I like blueberries too), but I always try to have at least three. Adding frozen bananas to a smoothie gives it a nice ice cream-like texture. If you’ve never used a frozen banana in your smoothie, then you haven’t lived. Okay, maybe that’s a bit extreme, but you’ve got to try it.
Divide the fruit between 8 freezer bags. One of my bananas turned out to be completely rotten inside so I could only make six this time around. I always tend to over estimate how much fruit is needed per smoothie and then I can’t fit it all in the blender. So, about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of each of the frozen fruits per bag. Then just pop them in the freezer until you’re ready to make a smoothie. They’ll stay good in the freezer for a couple of months. The bananas will slowly turn brown, but they’re still good eats for a while.
When you’re ready to make a smoothie, just put the frozen fruit in a blender with some liquid (and whatever else you want) and you’re ready to blend. I add spinach for the nutrients, not the flavor… you can’t taste it with all of the fruit. It blends easier if the spinach is at the bottom.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE milk… but in my smoothies I like light vanilla soy milk. It just has more creaminess than milk and the vanilla goes great with the fruit. In the old days, before Silk was everywhere, I used milk and added vanilla extract. So, that’s an option too.
I like to add some flax for fiber and omega-3s, and cinnamon just because I like it :) If I’m craving something sweet, I’ll add a tablespoon of honey or so, but usually the fruit and silk are sweet enough for me.
Blend that sucker up ’till it’s nice and smooth! Sometimes I have to add a touch of water or more silk just to get it going. That’s what will happen if you have too much frozen fruit in your pack. It’ll be waaaaaay too thick to blend properly.
Oh yums. It’s good. And good for you. And spinach? What spinach?
I loved the suggestion to put avocados in smoothies (thanks, Brent!) and I can’t wait to experiment with that. So, for all of you smoothie lovers out there…
Yum great idea! I go in and out of smoothie moods all the time, this is perfect. I like to add some peanut butter into mine too!
Mestina – I have to agree with the other suggestions. Avocado or yogurt. I saw someone once who froze yogurt in an ice cube tray and added a few cubes to each smoothie pack!
I like fresh mango, banana, and Greek yogurt smoothies with a little bit of Splenda and if I have it, I toss in a handful of spinach for the vitamins! Keeps me full for a good six hours thanks to all the extra protein in the Greek yogurt!
Love, love love this idea. Makes me wonder why I didn’t think of this before!
It’s so funny how you see something once and then it’s everywhere you look. Earlier this week I saw a similar idea on Pinterest and have been planning to make my own freezer bags. Thanks for breaking it down for us!
Mestina: I agree about the avocado. I throw that into my kids’ smoothies as they are underweight so it really bumps up the calories.
Yum! We make protein shakes a few times a week with vanilla protein powder, pulpy OJ, a banana, and whatever other fruit we have lying around.
Mestina: Try avocados! You get that creaminess and some lovely other nutrients. Greek yogurt (or even regular yogurt) would be a great addition, too.
What would you suggest in place of bananas? My other half is allergic to them but loves smoothies. Any thoughts?
Instead of bananas you can use avocados. Both of them are there for the creaminess and the avocados are very good for you!
Love this. I hate taking all of the bags out every single time, I can’t believe I never thought of this before.. so Thank You. I don’t really like Soy or Regular Milk in Smoothies, I always use Coconut Milk.
Thanks for your blog! I make smoothies every morning but for some reason i never portion them out! Some times you just need some one to tell you to do things :)I am for sure going to portion them out now! i do frozen mango, peaches, spinich, banana, blueberries and water….best smoothie ever!
This is a great idea! My freezer always has at least one frozen banana in it (for emergencies ;) My favorite go-to smoothie is 1 frozen banana + 1 cup almond milk + 1 tbsp flax + 1 tbsp peanut butter + 2 handfuls of spinach :) My mom thinks the spinach makes it gross, but you honestly cannot taste it and it helps gets those greens in too!
I really love doing, 1 medium avocado, 1 medium banana, about 6 ounces of unflavored yogurt. It makes several smoothies but it’s very yummy.
Anon- You probably could, I just never think of it ;D That’s why I love it when everyone shares their ideas! I like to add the spinach fresh too, though.
why can’t you add the cinnamon, flaxseed, etc. to the frozen ingredients? leaving only the milk to add later ?? just curious :)
(p.s. – thanks for the tip!)
Great tip! Can’t wait to try this :)
Awesome idea!
My favorite is pineapple, coconut milk, banana and rum extract. Add a couple of ice cubes. Taste just like a piña colada. Add spinach and flaxseed and it still has the same flavor.
That sounds delicious! I’ll have to try this one.