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…
I freeze my kale, you don’t want to wilt it I just cut the thick stems off wash and dry in salad spinner and pack into freezer bags quart size usually. I use a half of the quart bag it crumbles easily and is even easier to blend when frozen. I usually blend the kale with coconut water then add the frozen fuit and a whole prefrozen banana which I cut in quarters before freezing. Adding blueberries and a dab of food coloring will turn it purple and kids love purple monsters.
I use half of Yoplait Smootie each and every day. Expensive – and I add more fruit to each ‘half’ so it’ll make a larger serving. What a great idea to make my own. I’ve uses yogurt with fruit and milk, but got nothing I liked. Thanks.
I also have a Magic Bullet. It makes just enough for myself (sometimes too much). I have read a lot of good ideas here and I am going to try them. Never thought of the idea of making up packs, or adding some of the other ingredients. Thanks everyone.
Great article and comments…I will be doing this from now on.
However, when I make way too much to drink I use my popsicle molds and freeze them to enjoy as a cold treat later! Yummy! My kids love them either way.
my husband and I have a magic bullet, and thats great for making single servings of smoothies… but now that hes starting to drink them and im hoping to get my 9 & 10 yr olds to start drinking them we bought the ninja blender, full size and the shorter one… but not the pulse blender by ninja (too similar to the magic bullet I couldn’t validate it.. but the to-go cups with the ninja pulse are bigger than the magic bullets… I wish the ninja was out before i bought the magic bullet!!!
I just came accross you blog today, via Pinterest. I have seen this tip a few times and it really helps me to know that you have the same single serve blender that I just got two weeks ago! I have have been worried about what kinds of veggies and fruits that I can put in it because of the low wattage.
I am bookmarking your blog to my computer at home! :)
I put a couple of pieces of Kale in my smoothies the kids never know! It has cancer fighting elements when it is pureed, lots of vitamins, fiber, and antioxidents!!
Amy O
Leah – I’m going to say about 3 cups… maybe slightly less. Between 20-24 ounces.
Hey Beth, how much smoothie did you end up with? If you had an idea cup or oz wise?
Oops: back=bad.
Great idea! I sometimes buy over-ripe or bruised fruit at the store for a fraction of the price, but am always pressed for time to use it up before it goes back (generally just a couple of days). This is a perfect solution for my dilemma!
Favourite smoothie, which we drink in the morning during the summer: Espresso coffee (or leftover very dark coffee), very ripe banana, almond milk, a drop of almond extract, dash of cinnamon. To make it a “meal”, add a scoop of plain protein powder.
Great stuff!
everyday i have a yogurt smoothie,a bowl of your oatmeal raisin muesli with milk and a cup of coffee w/milk…but this a.m. i only had a ltiny bit of milk and used it up in my java…so i added my usual 1/3 cup oats to my smoothie made w/plain no fat yog, 1/2 an orange, 1/2 a banana and 1/4 cup frozen bluberries…whipped up in my blender it tasted great! next up pb and why not spinach? a quick nutryious meal in a glass!
Great idea! Thank you for sharing :-)
This is such a great idea that will save some time on rushed mornings. Thanks for sharing, Beth! I just made some with strawberries, peaches, and blueberries. :)