Fruit Free Smoothie Tasting Party
Ok guys, I wasn’t going to blog this, but then I thought why not? Maybe there is someone out there in the world who is curious about fruit free smoothie tasting parties. If that’s you, yay! I hope you enjoy this glimpse into our party. If not and you’re just here for the fruit free smoothie recipes, that’s cool too. We still love you. We’ve been on a big smoothie for breakfast kick lately as have many members of my family. {You can check out our favorite with fruit smoothie recipes here} The majority of us like our smoothies with some fruit {ok, a lot of fruit} and that can lead to a bit of a blood sugar spike in the morning. This is especially concerning for my aunt who was recently diagnosed with diabetes. I decided to host a fruit free smoothie tasting party so we could figure out our favorite fruit free smoothies to start the morning with steady blood sugar. Each fruit free smoothie contains a combo of: protein + fat + fiber with no sugar. {You can read more about eating to stabilize your blood sugar here} I’ll show you how I set up the party, the recipes we tried, the average response to the recipe, and what ended up being everyone’s favorite. Let’s have some fruit free smoothie fun!
How To Set Up a Fruit Free Smoothie Tasting Party
1. Set up fruit free smoothie tasting stations
I set up a spot for each person with a sheet of paper titled “Smoothie Tasting Notes”, a pencil, a glass of water, and a small glass for their fruit free smoothie taste. Once you start pouring the tastes, instruct each person to take notes on what they liked and didn’t like about it, as well as give it a score from 1 – 10. People can reuse their tasting glass or you can provide fresh glasses for each fruit free smoothie taste.
2. Provide fun fruit free smoothie toppings
I’m sure by now you know my love for DIY bars {See avocado toast bar here}. I think adding a DIY bar aspect to any party adds a lot more fun! I set out some fruit free smoothie topping options so everyone could customize their tasting. You can put out whatever you want. I put out shredded coconut {make sure it’s not sweetened!}, raw cacaco nibs, hemp seeds, and walnuts.
3. Lay out everything you need to create fruit free smoothie magic
Lay out everything you need so when you’re making the fruit free smoothies you’re not running back and forth trying to find ingredients. Here are the items I laid out to experiment with:
- Almond milk
- Cacao powder & nibs
- Collagen powder
- Frozen greens
- Frozen avocado
- Mint
- Various kind of protein powders {I was also testing out different ones to see which would be everyone’s favorite}
- Coconut butter
- Coconut oil & MCT oil
- Flax seeds
- Cinnamon & nutmeg
- Almond butter
- Goji powder
- Chia seeds
- Lemon
- Vanilla extract
- Ice
The Fruit Free Smoothie Recipes We Tried + The Average Response
PS. I’m sorry I don’t have photos of the fruit free smoothies, because I was super busy pumping out fruit free smoothies for everyone during the party!
All fruit free smoothie recipes serve 1 full smoothie or 12 tastes
1. Avocado & Lemon
1 cup almond milk, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, 1tbsp coconut oil or MCT oil, 1 scoop protein powder, half a frozen avocado, half a lemon squeezed, 1tbsp flax seed, 1 cup frozen greens
Thoughts? This was the unanimous winner! The only thing most people didn’t like was the chalky artificial taste of the protein powder that was used. Once we used a different one it was a hit!
2. Mint Chip
1 cup almond milk, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 tbsp coconut oil or MCT oil, 2 sprigs of fresh mint {leaves only}, 1 tbsp cacao nibs, 1 tbsp chia seeds, 1/2 cup frozen greens
Thoughts? Another winner! The cacao nibs were a bit bitter for those who weren’t used to them, but those who like cacao nibs liked the smoothie. Everyone agreed that they would love this smoothie way more with some sweetness. If you don’t mind having some fruit in your smoothie, it would be amazing with 1/4 – 1/2 frozen banana.
3. Cacao + Spices
1 cup of almond milk, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 tbsp cacao, couple shakes of cinnamon, couple shakes of nutmeg, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1 tbsp flax seed, 1 cup ice
Thoughts? Divided! Some people loved it and thought it tasted like a frappuccino. Others thought the spices were too overpowering. It may have been more popular with a bit less of the spices.
4. Avocado Cacao
1 cup of almond milk, 1 scoop protein powder, 2 tbsp cacao, 1/2 frozen avocado, 1 tbsp flax seed, 1 cup frozen greens
Thoughts: Divided! People either LOVED it or hated. The ones with cacao really depend on people’s experience with cacao. If they’ve had it before and liked it, they liked it in these smoothies. If they hadn’t tried it before, they found it bitter. This one was the creamiest one thanks to the avocado!
5. Goji Berry
1 cup of almond milk, 1 tbsp goji powder, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1 tbsp coconut butter, 1bsp shredded coconut, 1 shake nutmeg, 1 shake cinnamon, 1 scoop collagen, 1 cup ice
Thoughts: Everyone loved this one! It was the one that mimicked a “berry” taste most thanks to the goji powder. It’s also the fattiest of the smoothies {but good fat!} and no greens or fiber {my younger cousin took over and made this one}.
Overall Impressions:
The big question is, did we find a smoothie for my aunt? Sadly, the answer is no. But I’ll keep trying!
If you’re not used to fruit free smoothies, these may be a bit tough. Those that liked them, tended to have had prior experiences with fruit free smoothies. Those who didn’t like them were used to fruit heavy smoothies and kept asking for more sweetness. If you’re used to fruity smoothies, try cutting down the fruit in your smoothie slowly and let your taste buds adjust. I cut have been cutting down the fruit in our smoothies by about 1/8 cup at a time. It’s a very small change that you won’t really notice and overtime your taste buds will adjust.
How to Make fruit free smoothies thick
This was a huge struggle for me as I usually have a tiny bit of banana in my smoothies to make them thick and creamy. Here are a few tips:
- Make sure to include frozen ingredients! I froze my greens and avocado the night before in preparation. This is also a great way not to waste produce that spoils quickly
- Avocado adds a deliciously creamy texture and is a source of good fats
- Add ice! Just make sure to blend really well. When I didn’t, the consistency was a bit icy
Do you have other tips? This is an area I could use some help with!
The favorite protein powder
As I mentioned, we also tried a bunch of protein powders. Everyone had a different tolerance to the ones that tasted a bit chalky or artificial, but here are the ones that everyone agreed on unanimously:
2 scoops of Further Food collagen!
Runner ups:
- 1 scoop of Further Food collagen + 1 tbsp of Philosophie green dream or berry bliss {whichever one matches your smoothie}
- Hemp protein
You can get 10% off Futher Food collagen with this link
PS. Full disclosure. I’ve worked with Further Foods in the past, but this was NOT sponsored by them. I’ve been obsessed with them since I tried them
This experiment showed me that fruit free smoothies can be delicious too. They aren’t as good at fruit ones {gotta be honest here, I love sweets!}, but they can still be tasty. I hope this inspired you to try a fruit free smoothie as well. Let us know your favorite fruit free smoothie recipes!
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