This Chocolate Avocado Smoothie is rich & creamy, and tastes like a chocolate frosty! It’s a delicious way to use up any avocado that you have on hand, without any refined sugar.
Why You’ll Love It
It’s delicious. Even if you’re not the biggest avocado fan, the chocolate flavor in this smoothie will help hide any noticeable avocado flavor. You can always add more cacao powder or maple syrup, to taste, if you have a particularly strong-flavored avocado.
It’s ultra-creamy. Instead of using a frozen banana for creaminess, as many smoothies do, the avocado in this recipe acts as an emulsifier, giving the smoothie a velvety, creamy texture. It also adds healthy fat, to help keep you feeling satisfied.
It’s easy. Just toss a few ingredients into a blender, and blend until smooth. You’ll add the ice last, to help give it a slushy texture. It tastes like a healthy dessert!
It’s great for special diets. This smoothie recipe is naturally gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan friendly. It’s a delicious treat, to help satisfy a chocolate craving.
It’s easy to customize. If you want to sneak more nutrients inside, try adding a handful of fresh baby spinach, or add more protein by adding a scoop of protein powder. You can also change the sweetener by using maple syrup or honey, instead of the dates.
Ingredients You’ll Need
When you open your avocado, make sure there aren’t any noticeable black spots throughout the flesh. This could be a sign of rancidity, and will make the avcoado not taste good. (You can also check by making sure it doesn’t smell sour.) Smooth, green flesh will give you the best-tasting results!
This recipe calls for water as the base, because it will get plenty of creaminess from both the avocado and peanut butter. (You can also leave out the peanut butter for a nut-free & lower calorie drink.)
However, you can use almond milk, coconut milk, soy milk, or any other non-dairy milk that you like.
I tend to use raw cacao powder in this recipe, but if you keep cocoa powder on hand, that will work, too!
How to Make a Chocolate Avocado Smoothie
1. Blend.
Add the water, avocado, cacao powder, pitted Medjool dates (or maple syrup), vanilla extract, and peanut butter to a high-speed blender. Blend until the dates are totally broken down, and the mixture looks like a chocolate avocado pudding.
Stop and scrape down the sides of the blender with a spatula, if needed, to help everything blend smoothly.
Note: If you don’t have a high-speed blender, skip the dates and sweeten this smoothie with maple syrup, instead. It will be much smoother that way!
2. Add the ice.
Once the smoothie looks smooth, add in a large handful of ice cubes, and blend again. This will give the smoothie a slushy texture.
Keep in mind, the more ice you add, the more diluted the flavor will be, so don’t add too much. Taste the smoothie and adjust any flavoring to your liking, then this healthy chocolate smoothie is ready to serve right away.
Storage Tip: It’s best to drink smoothies right away for the best texture and flavor. It will not taste as fresh if you store it in the fridge overnight, but you can pour it into a popsicle mold and freeze it for a sweet treat later!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can use frozen avocado in this smoothie recipe, but in that case you might need to use a little extra water to help facilitate blending. (And you might not need as much ice in that case, either!)
Here’s how to freeze avocado, if you have any leftovers you need to store, too.
Of course! Feel free to use any milk you like, such as oat milk or regular milk, for extra creaminess.
Try my other favorite chocolate smoothie, which calls for ground flax seed or chia seeds as a thickener.
Looking for more healthy smoothie recipes? Try my favorite Spinach Smoothie, Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie, or Apple Smoothie for more ideas.
Chocolate Avocado Smoothie
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup water
- 4 Medjool dates , pitted (or 2 T maple syrup)
- 1/4 avocado
- 1 heaping tablespoon cacao powder
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter (optional)
- 1 heaping cup ice cubes
Instructions
- In a high-speed blender, combine the water, dates, avocado, cacao powder, vanilla, and peanut butter, if using, and blend until very smooth. Taste the pudding-like mixture to make sure there's enough sweetness and chocolate flavor to your liking, and adjust anything to your taste. (Keep in mind that the flavor will be diluted a bit more once you add the ice.)
- Add the ice and blend again, until the smoothie has more of a milkshake-like texture. You can add as much ice as needed to achieve the texture you want, but keep in mind that extra ice will dilute the chocolate flavor. Serve right away.
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this Chocolate Avocado Smoothie recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like it.
Holy cow, this is good. Just like a chocolate milkshake! Thanks to you, I’ve been eating more dates this year and I can’t believe it– my blood sugar has gone DOWN. My A1C levels are better than they have ever been. And I’m drinking tasty chocolate milkshakes like this one! Thank you, thank you. This has become a weekly staple for me.
Just made this and it’s so good!!!
Absolutely delicious. It tasted a like a decadent chocolate mousse without the guilt! I did find 2 medjool dates to be enough, I think 4 would make it way too sweet for me and it reduces the calories total by more than 100. I soaked the dates in boiling water for 5 minutes and whipped together in my Nutrininja. A keeper!
Just made this. So so good! Thanks for the recipe!
I prepared this recipe and it was delicious!! Thank you so much.
I put only 1 date as need to reduce sugar to improve gut health. Did it a few times absolutely love ❤ it!!!!
One of my favorite smoothies! Dessert for breakfast :). I add the spinach for the nutritional benefit, but prefer this recipe without spinach.
Just made this. So easy and delicious. I swapped out the peanut butter with almond butter and used frozen avocado. I think this will become a regular staple. Thank you!
Great recipe! I tweaked mine by doing 1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup and 1 date, and also added chocolate plant based protein powder. This was really great. Just like dessert. Yum.
SO good! quick. easy. next time I will sub with full fat coconut milk. and It was quite tasty without the vanilla I didn’t have on hand.
Great smoothie!! I used almond milk, instead of water, and added protein powder…delicious!!