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This Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie tastes like a milkshake, only without refined sugar. It’s easy to make at home and quickly satisfies your sweet tooth!
Why You’ll Love It
It’s nourishing. This smoothie recipe is filling and delicious, with 11 grams of protein and 7 grams of fiber per serving. It makes an easy breakfast or mid-day snack that’s loaded with minerals.
It’s allergy friendly. When you use dairy-free milk, like unsweetened almond milk, soy milk, or coconut milk, this recipe is vegan-friendly. It’s naturally gluten-free, too!
It’s easy to customize. If you don’t have peanut butter, swap it for another nut butter, like cashew butter or almond butter. Feel free to add other ingredients you love, like Greek yogurt, flax seeds, or chia seeds. Flax seeds add omega-3 fatty acids and extra fiber to each sip.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Frozen bananas give this smoothie an ice cream-like texture and the creamy peanut butter helps add creaminess, too. No dairy is required!
You can use cocoa powder or cacao powder, depending on which you keep in your pantry. Either option will work in this recipe. If you’d like to add veggies, you can also sneak in a handful of baby spinach or some frozen cauliflower, which will go unnoticed in flavor.
Want to add extra protein? Add a tablespoon or two of hemp hearts (shelled hemp seeds), which have the nine essential amino acids your body needs, or a scoop of your favorite protein powder.
How to Make a Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie
1. Add the ingredients.
In a high-speed blender combine the milk, frozen banana, peanut butter, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract. It might not look like enough liquid for blending, but this is the perfect starting point for a slushy smoothie texture.
Note: If you are using a blender with a wide square base, you might need to double the recipe. Larger blender containers require more ingredients to pulverize the ingredients sufficiently.
2. Blend.
Secure the lid on your blender and process until the smoothie looks creamy, with no visible chunks. This should take approximately 60 seconds.
At this point, you can adjust the flavor or texture. Add a handful of ice for a thicker consistency, but don’t add too much or you risk diluting the flavor. Use an extra splash of milk or water for a more runny consistency.
3. Enjoy!
Pour the smoothie into a glass and serve it immediately for the best flavor and texture.
Looking for more smoothie recipes? Try my popular Apple Smoothie, Zucchini Smoothie, or Oatmeal Smoothie for more ideas.
Make-Ahead Smoothie Bags
Want to make this smoothie ahead of time? Add the frozen banana, sliced into coins, cacao powder, peanut butter, and spinach (if you’d like), into a freezer bag or airtight container.
Smoothie freezer bags can be frozen for up to 3 months, so make as many batches as you’d like to have on hand.
When you’re ready to make a smoothie, dump the bag’s contents into the blender and add the liquid ingredients, including the milk and vanilla. When blending a smoothie bag, you’ll sometimes need to add extra liquid since everything is frozen this time. Feel free to add an extra splash at a time until everything blends.
As a result, smoothie bags can sometimes be slightly less flavorful. Feel free to add a touch of honey or maple syrup to help boost the flavor if needed.
Need a nut-free recipe? Try using sunflower butter or tahini instead of peanut butter.
Ingredients
- 1 frozen banana , sliced for easy blending
- 1/2 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)
- 1 tablespoon cacao powder
- 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Add the banana, milk, cacao powder, peanut butter, and vanilla to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
- Taste and adjust the texture as needed, adding a little more liquid if you need help blending, or a handful of ice if you'd like a thicker texture. Just keep in mind that adding extra ice or liquid will dilute the flavor slightly. Feel free to add a little more cacao powder for a stronger chocolate flavor, or a squeeze of honey or maple syrup, if you want a sweeter taste.
- Serve right away for the best taste and texture. See the tips in the post above for making smoothie bags that you can store in the freezer, for a make-ahead idea.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this healthy chocolate peanut butter smoothie recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below so I’ll know how you like it!
DE-licious!!! Really helping me with my intense craving for peanut butter cups!!
Dec. 2012 – just made this, and it came out nice and smooth, with the right balance of chocolate and peanut butter. It was pretty darn close to the heavenly version I remember getting at the few places in NY City that offer a vegan chocolate peanut butter shake.
I used some chocolate soy milk I already had open, rather than almond milk, and backed off the cocoa powder just a bit, since my milk was already chocolate flavored. I used an ordinary blender, and the ice rattled around a bit, but was eventually all broken up smoothly into the shake. I only had crunchy organic peanut butter around, but had no nut bits at all – nice and smooth. I let my bananas thaw a bit first, and blended the ice in last.
I selected this over other recipes on the net, some of which called for dates, and am very pleased with it. Thanks for sharing this. I am curious as to what difference the one tsp of vanilla makes, and may try this without it sometime.
Glad you enjoyed it, Michael! I added the vanilla extract hoping it would mimic the flavor of vanilla ice cream, which I love in my milkshakes. I’m sure it will taste delicious without it, too!
I make the same thing, but use a few dates for sweetness; I like it sith a little nutmeg in it, too. It’s a fave post-workout treat here!
This milkshake is seriously amazing. I am trying to go sugar free (fruit OK)and I have been craving a chocolate milkshake. I made this without the maple syrup and with unsweetened coco powder. It was a single serving, so I used 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter and 1 tablespoon powdered peanut butter (bell plantation). To die for! I cannot believe I can have something that tastes this delicious on a sugar free diet! Thank you for posting!
YUUUUUMMMMM.
I make this using organic soy and i leave out the salt and serve it to my husband and I after working out. With the potasaium and protein it’s a great muscle rejuvenation and snack!!
I also cannot believe I spelled potassium like that.
I’ve been craving a shake for weeks, finally Googled it and your site popped up. This is my first time on your site. I just made and had some of the Chocolate PB shake and it filled my craving. I’d probably ditch the PB next time and increase the syrup or add some dates soaked in coconut water for a bit more sweetness.
Had a slight brain freeze :o) but it was worth it. Now on to make your Mac and cheese with broccoli and mushrooms.
Hi,
I have an allergy to bananas. Can you think of any replacements that would still give it the right texture and good flavor? I see one reader used squash. Maybe avocado would work, like your chococado recipe. 🙂 thanks!
I haven’t tried anything else with this particular recipe, so you’ll have to report back to us if you have any success! 🙂
i use a vitmix to blend ice milk shakess but have a hard time with it pushing everything above blades and having to stop and shake. how and what speeds do you recommend blending milk sahkes with ice?
I always start my shakes on the “low” setting– and use my tamper to keep everything moving. You can always add a bit of extra liquid, if needed, too!
I finally made this and all I can say: YUM!!! LOVE IT!! Thank you! 🙂
I finally made this and is very good!! My blender struggled with the ice a bit but I just kept turning it off and shaking it or stirred it.