If you’re anything like us, hot weather leaves you craving a delicious fruit smoothie! 

Smoothies are the ultimate versatile meal or snack. They pack in tonnes of vitamins and fibre, making them the perfect on-the-go breakfast or a mid-afternoon pick me up.

In this blog post, we’re going to share our simple tips for making the ultimate smoothie every time!

There are so many recipes on the internet and in cookbooks for smoothies these days. It can be overwhelming to know where to start, not to mention what ingredients you need. The truth is, you don’t need to buy hundreds of different powders or supplements to add to your smoothie to ensure it’s healthy and delicious. 

Step 1 – Liquids

It’s important you add some liquid into your smoothie to ensure your blender can create a lovely smooth and creamy texture. There are many options you can choose for adding liquid in. You could stick to adding water, but you can also add extra flavour and extra nutrients by choosing to add fruit juice or dairy or non-dairy milk.

If you want to add some extra sweetness to your smoothie, a dash of orange or apple juice would be a great addition. Alternatively, if you want to achieve a creamier texture, you might choose to add dairy milk or a plant-based alternative such as oat milk. If you are using plant-based milk alternatives we recommend you choose a milk that is fortified. This will ensure you’re still including a good source of calcium in your smoothie.

If you have been exercising on a hot day and you’re feeling a little dehydrated as a result, you could also add in some coconut water to your smoothie to give you a boost of electrolytes. Coconut water will add a nice tropical taste to your smoothie. It will have a different effect on the texture to adding milk though, so you should be careful when deciding how much coconut water you wish to add as it may take away some of the thick, creamy texture.

Step 2 – Choose Your Base

The ‘base’ creates the creamy smoothie texture. Adding frozen fruit to your smoothie will achieve a thick and creamy texture. We especially like to add pieces of a frozen banana or frozen avocado to give our smoothies an almost ice cream-like texture! 

Other good options to use as your base to achieve a thick texture include mango, pear, apple or coconut meat. You can also use more watery fruits such as watermelon or Jaffa oranges to form your base, but beware these fruits will produce a more watery smoothie. If you prefer thicker smoothies, you can add some ice cubes in to achieve thicken the final product.

Step 3 – Add Fruit and Vegetables

Smoothies are a great way to get lots of fruits and vegetables into your diet. The easiest way to ensure you’re consuming a good mixture of vitamins and minerals is to eat foods of all different colours. When you’re deciding on what ingredients to add to your smoothie, it’s a great idea to add two or three different colours. 

For example, you could add bananas for creaminess, spinach, which has a very mild taste but is packed with goodness, and some oranges or raspberries for a little tart flavour. This simple combination means you already have three different colours mixed into your smoothie, which will ensure it’s providing you with lots of delicious nutrition!

Frozen berries are another great addition to a smoothie. Frozen fruit is easy to buy from supermarkets and has a number of benefits include a longer shelf-life and even higher nutritional content than their fresh equivalents. The same is true for frozen spinach, which is another great option for adding to a smoothie.

Step 4 – Add Some Extras

Finally, you can play around with adding optional extras to your smoothie to boost the flavour, texture and nutritional profile of your breakfast or snack. To add some extra flavour you could add a spoon full of cocoa powder or a teaspoon of cinnamon, vanilla essence or honey. To add some crunchy texture, try adding in flaxseeds or chopped almonds or top your smoothie with some chunks of granola. If you want to introduce a protein source into your smoothie, you can add some protein powder or a spoonful of yoghurt or nut butter. 

And finally to serve, cut some extra slices of Jaffa orange and sprinkle over a handful of berries to decorate your smoothie and add extra summery flavours.

Why don’t you try our Jaffa Orange and Coconut Smoothie or our Jaffa Orange and Banana Sunrise Smoothie

Let us know your favourite smoothie recipes on Instagram by using the #JaffaJoy hashtag!