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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.
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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!
Thanks for this recipe, I pinned it a few weeks ago and decided to try it this week! We have had it twice already and the kiddos LOVE it.. They only thing I did different was use coconut milk instead of almond since that’s what I buy.. Delicious!!!
This is just so, so good.
So delicious! My husband toddler and I love this shake, thanks for sharing!
made the shake but it was not thick .what did I not do right .tasted good but just like a drink not a shake.
OOPS! *not really a “fan” of peanut butter! – Guess I was so excited after trying this I was completely confused! Yummy brain freeze!
This was absolutely AMAZING! I’m not really a favor of peanut butter, but it looked so yummy in the picture I had to give it a try! Can not believe how delicious! Can’t wait to pass this recipe on to my clients! Thanks for a winner!
My husband suggested going out for ice cream treats at our favorite local dairy and I said no… I wanted to make this instead! I made 1 serving using 3 ice cubes, 1.5 tablespoons of peanut butter, 1.5 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder (for a richer chocolate taste), roughly 3/8 cup of almond milk, few grains of salt, & 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Delightful! I skipped the maple syrup since a) I didn’t want the extra sugar and b) I noticed that you responded to another commenter that the maple syrup was not necessary. I know you’re not into counting calories, but for me this was probably slightly fewer calories than a similar sized ice cream shake and definitely way less sugar, too.
THANK YOU for this recipe! This has become a total staple for me! I love it for breakfast and also for a late night snack when I need something sweet and I don’t feel guilt! I love this!!
Made this tonight. Delicious! I was wondering how many calories are in a serving?
I’m using a ninja, so I blended the ice into a “snowy” texture in the mini processor first. It solved the problem of the rogue ice chunks and made it exactly the consistency of a frosty! Also, I used frozen coconut water for the ice cubes and didn’t add any sweetener. SO GOOD!!!!