Make Ahead Smoothie Packs – How to Cut Down the Work

One of the reasons that we often give for not making smoothies is that they take a bit of work.  You’ve got to prep the fruit and other ingredients.  Get out the blender and make up the smoothies.  This isn’t always ideal on a morning.  But the idea of make-ahead smoothie packs can solve this easily.  By making up the packs ahead of time, you can cut the work dramatically and simply make the smoothie.  But how do you create make-ahead smoothie packs?

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How to create make ahead smoothie packs

The idea behind make-ahead smoothie packs is that you can batch your smoothies and then freeze them until you need them.  This means you will want either freezer bags strong enough to keep the ingredients in place or freezer-safe glass jars.

Choose the fruit you want and start prepping it as normal.  You can then put all the ingredients into a zip-top one bag – smoothie in a bag style.  If you do want more choice later about what you use in your drink, you can freeze fruit and vegetables that way.  But the ideal option is to add everything you need (apart from liquids) into one bag to make it quicker to create a tasty smoothie.

Why make ahead smoothies are great

Top of the list of reasons that make-ahead smoothie packs work so well is that it cuts down the time it takes to create a smoothie. Preparing fresh fruit does take a bit of time, even mixed berries need a little attention. 

Instead, you can have a prep session where you create 5, 10, or even more bags of smoothie ingredients and pop them in the freezer. Then when it comes time to make them, you can often create a smoothie from the frozen food. Or you can lift one out the night before to defrost.

All you need to do then is grab the pack, choose a liquid, and pop it all in your favourite blender.  This means it is ideal for a grab-and-go breakfast, a quick lunch, or a snack between meals when your energy levels fall.  You can even make smoothie bowls with a thicker recipe and pair them with other snacks such as vegetable sticks, muffins, eggs, or even some homemade granola bars.

Breakfast smoothies are very important for a morning routine, and you can get your day off to a great start with the right balance of nutrients in a smoothie.  Green smoothies are excellent for breakfasts.  And this simpler smoothie process means you can get that quick nutrient boost at any time without the need to visit the supermarket – because you have your prepared packs ready to go.

Smoothie pack problems

Perhaps the only thing to watch when creating smoothie packs is that you separate your wet and dry ingredients.  This is nothing to do with nutritional values or anything.  It is simply that if you put the two together in a jar or bag, the dry ingredients will stick together with the wet stuff and make it a lot harder to get the contents out.  So if you are prepping both, have a bag or jar for wet and another for dry stuff.

Can you make a frozen smoothie pack?

Another question often asked about smoothies is if you can blend and freeze them.  You can, although there’s a little preparation needed for it.

Make the smoothie up in a jar (bags aren’t the best idea for this option) and pop them in the freezer.  The night before you want to drink the smoothie, lift out the jar and place it in the fridge to defrost overnight.  Or if you want a quick defrost for lunch, lift it out in the morning and leave it on the bench.

Remember, when using frozen fruit smoothie packs, you’ll still need to add some kind of liquid.  That can be anything from water to coconut water, dairy milk to almond milk.  Even orange juice can work.  Otherwise, there’s not enough liquid to make a drink.

You might also like Why Add Avocado in Smoothies: Health Benefits and More by The Smoothie Bird

5 make ahead smoothie pack ideas

Not sure what you could put in your smoothie packs?  You can go with simple three or four ingredients smoothies.  Or you could try some of these make-ahead smoothie pack ideas.

Banana and blueberries

This only uses two fruits, but they are packed full of goodness.  Blueberries are a leading source of antioxidants, while bananas have loads of goodness and are a great source of potassium, so this makes a great post-exercise smoothie.  Slice the banana and leave the berries whole, then put them in your bag or jar. You could also use frozen bananas and frozen blueberries, just add the two into the pack for easy smoothie making.

Tropical fruit

Tropical fruits are great for refreshing smoothies and work well mixed with fruit juices such as oranges.  Prepare some pineapple chunks, papaya, mango, and kiwi, remove any skins, then add them to the bag.  You could also even add some kale or spinach for the extra goodness that will be masked by the sweet taste of the fruit.

Green smoothie

Green smoothies are ideal for make-ahead smoothie packs and offer a huge boost of goodness.  You can go all green with a mixture of spinach, kale, broccoli, carrots, and cucumber.  Most people choose a couple of vegetables with a couple of fruit ingredients to balance out the flavour so add a medium banana and some berries, for example.

Berry and grapefruit

Choose your favourite berry and add it to the bag with grapefruit for a tasty and nutrient-filled smoothie. You can slice up the grapefruit and add it to the bag with a full cup of strawberries, a full cup of blueberries, and even some raspberries. Or if you want an easier option, bag up the berries and use grapefruit juice when you make up the smoothie.

Watermelon, grape and kiwi

This is a very tasty smoothie made with less popular smoothie ingredients.  Prepare some kiwi and watermelon, then add a few whole grapes and freeze it.  Choose whatever type of grape you prefer or whatever is around the house.

Getting packing

Make-ahead smoothie packs are a great way to increase the odds that you make those smoothies.  You can prepare them in batches and lift them out one day at a time to make up your drink.  And almost any fruit will freeze if you get it in the freezer quickly after the food is prepared, so there’s no real limit to what you can make.