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…
fresh pears and slivered almonds (along with banana, soy milk, etc) make a delightful combination; plus the almonds add protein. Yum!
I love to throw a handful of cashews in if I have them (otherwise pb works too) and we get local honey in bulk so that always goes in. I love the freezer bag idea!!!
@emily, i freeze all kinds of greens later for smoothies. i have more freezer than fridge space, lets me stock up if i catch a clearance (like i did last week on organic baby spinach salads) and once they’re liquified what difference does it make?
I haven’t seen anyone mention that it’s important to rotate your greens – spinach and some others are high in oxalic acid, which in large amounts can cause kidney stones. I had a (thankfully) small one, several months after i’d started having a green smoothie every morning, so now i make sure to include a variety of greens from different families. One of my favorites is actually a weed that grows here in the summer called purslane – i’ve frozen it too, tee-hee! Red cabbage is particularly good in smoothies – sweet, great color – but too much gives a funny texture. Parsley too, and it’s EASY to grow, and celery is surprisingly good.
What an awesome idea. I will definitely be trying this out soon1
As much as I love smoothies, why the heck didn’t I think of this!
I’m doing this next week when I go grocery shopping!
Smoothies are my breakfast of choice in warm months. I’d never though to do smoothie packs.
My favorite combination is strawberry, banana, chocolate soy milk and peanut butter.
I also really enjoy peach, banana and Greek yogurt.
Love it. Do you ever freeze the spinach in the bags, too? I just bought a huge thing of spinach but I can’t eat it fast enough, I’ve been thinking of freezing it to preserve it for smoothies.
I slice up the bananas and flash freeze them before I put them in baggies, because it helps it blend more smoothly. I also occasionally do the yogurt frozen in ice cube trays…it makes the smoothie nice and creamy, and I can add fruit juice instead of milk.
Our favorite is kale, strawberries, OJ or an orange/tangerine, banana and blackberry.
Anon – it’s probably different in every market so you might have to just shop around a bit. In general, national chain stores tend to be a bit lower in price than local stores, but that’s not a hard rule. Also, check weekly circulars for sales, since they will stay good in your freezer for a few months at a time. Check warehouse grocers (Sam’s, Costco, etc.) or if you have any restaurant supply stores that are open to the public (they usually sell large volume packages that cost less per unit).
Just wondering, where is the cheapest place to buy frozen fruit? Great post!
and a frozen banana too. duh!
yum! i buy a 5 lb bag of strawberries at sam’s for smoothies. it’s about $7-8 i think. they also have a mixed fruit bag, blueberries, and mangoes, but our little freezer doesn’t have room for a variety. sad day! but i like 1 cup vanilla yogurt, several handfuls of spinach, milk, and 1/2-1 cup strawberries. oh, and i add chia seeds too!
I bet this would become even more cost effective if you use seasonal fruit and buy on sale.
Amazing idea. Thanks for posting :)