Try this thick and creamy avocado smoothie recipe for breakfast or a healthy snack!
5 ingredient avocado smoothie
Adding avocado to a smoothie might sound unusual, but the results are surprisingly delicious.
This secretly healthy avocado shake is so unbelievably creamy, it honestly tastes like drinking an actual vanilla milkshake.
I do not know how that is even possible, but it really does remind me of a classic vanilla shake, both in taste and texture.
Make one for yourself, and see if you agree!
With only five ingredients and less than a minute of prep time, the recipe is absolutely worth a try at least once, because it might just become your new go to smoothie recipe.
You may also like these Avocado Brownies
Ingredients to make the avocado drink
You will need half a ripe avocado, milk of choice, pure vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, and sugar or your favorite sweetener.
For a vegan avocado smoothie, use your favorite nondairy milk for a dairy free and plant based shake. I like canned coconut milk, almond milk, or cashew milk. Soy milk and oat milk also work.
Avocados are naturally low in carbs. If you are looking for an added sugar free and keto avocado smoothie, simply use stevia or your favorite sugar alternative for the sweetener of choice. Be sure to choose a keto friendly milk without sugar as well.
Turn it into a chocolate avocado smoothie by adding a spoonful of cocoa powder. I recommend Dutch cocoa for a brownie-like flavor. Increase the sugar to taste, to counter the bitterness of the cocoa powder.
Or if you want a healthy avocado protein shake, blend in a scoop of your favorite flavored or unsweetened protein powder. Try vanilla, chai, cookies and cream, coffee, or pumpkin pie spice protein powder.
Feeling adventurous? Make Chickpea Cookie Dough Dip
Healthy avocado smoothie recipe video
Above, watch the step by step recipe video
Frequently asked questions
Can you taste the avocado?
Avocado adds unbelievable thickness and creaminess, without any noticeable flavor whatsoever for most people.
If you have super tastebuds, you might be able to tell it is in there. But even then, the flavor is only slight and will not detract from the overall tastiness of the shake.
Can you use frozen avocado?
Frozen or fresh avocado will both work here.
Just be sure to peel the avocados first. If you have a high speed blender, try freezing your milk of choice in an ice cube tray and using that for the avocado drink instead of refrigerated milk.
This is especially good with canned coconut milk, because it tastes like an actual avocado milkshake.
What about adding other fruit?
You can add fresh or frozen blueberries, cherries, strawberries, apple, cucumber, banana, or pineapple. Play around with different foods that pair well with avocado.
I love adding a ripe frozen banana, which gives even more thickness to the recipe.
Avocado smoothie health benefits
Besides the delicious creamy texture, you can also get so many added health benefits from avocados.
They are cholesterol free and contain nearly 20 vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, including potassium, folate, and B vitamins.
Just one serving of avocado provides eight percent of the daily value for fiber, and they have the least amount of sugar of any fruit.
Over 75% of the fat in avocados is the unsaturated heart-healthy kind (good fats).
Of course if you are on a doctor ordered nutrition or weight loss plan, it is always recommended to consult your doctor.
For the general population, replacing some of the saturated fat in one’s diet with avocado can possibly help to reduce cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, and inflammation.
Depending on the specific ingredients you use, this smoothie can be low calorie, low in saturated fat, high fiber, high protein, nondairy, high in calcium, vegan, and gluten free, with no sugar required.
How to make an avocado shake
Be sure to start with a ripe avocado.
You can tell if the fruit is ripe by squeezing it very gently. It is ripe if it yields slightly to the pressure and feels just a little bit soft but not mushy.
If you buy an avocado that is still hard as a rock, just wait a few days for it to soften.
If you wish, you can place it in a brown paper bag for a day or two with another fruit (such as apple, banana, or kiwi) to speed up the ripening process.
To make the smoothie, first peel the fruit and discard the pit. Blend everything together until smooth, and serve cold.
Feel free to double the recipe!
More healthy avocado recipes
Avocado Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1/2 large avocado
- 1 1/2 cups milk of choice
- 3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup or sweetener of choice to taste
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 scoop protein powder (optional)
Instructions
- To make different flavors, including a chocolate avocado smoothie, see the notes earlier in this post.Peel the avocado and discard the pit. Blend all ingredients until completely smooth. Feel free to blend in a few coconut milk ice cubes for a super thick and ice-cream-like shake if desired. (To make coconut ice cubes, just freeze canned coconut milk in an ice cube tray. Do not add regular ice cubes, because that would dilute the flavor of the smoothie.) Serve cold. Leftovers can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days. The recipe makes about 2 cups.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
Easy Blender Recipes
What does this taste like? Avocado has such a mild taste. Does the vanilla flavor take over? It’s hard to imagine sweet avocado!
The great thing about avocado that I’ve found, is that it actually has quite a neutral flavor–it’s mostly just fat & will take on flavors around it. I’ve had it in a raw chocolate pudding & served it to guests & no one even suspected the “secret” ingredient 🙂
So there’s hope for my husband! He hates cilantro (& chickpeas, cabbage, mushrooms, eggplant, chard) & I want to put it in everything.
I’ve never been really picky, although I wasn’t a huge fan of mushrooms until I went vegan. Now I want to add them to everything savory.
I used to hate avocados! Then I spent a summer in LA… and I ate so many that… well, let’s just say that green passes through. LOL!
When I have a avocado, I usually end up freezing half. It keeps it fresh and I can use it in smoothies! Love adding some orange for a creamy (green) orange smoothie!
I love avocado too! I’m only 25, but a couple of years ago I changed my eating habits, and now I love all kinds of food I used to dislike greatly!
Weird, I went through the same thing, only at 26! Do you crave pears by any chance? Apparently pears and avocados are extremely beneficial for the female hormone system. I craved both like crazy during a weird health time in my life when my hormones were a bit out of whack. Most interesting part of it is that both foods look a little like the body parts they support most!
OMG same here! I turned 25 and suddenly just started LOVING avocados– HATED them before. The funny thing is my husband and I had bonded always shared our love for avocados, and now that I love them, I get so annoyed at him for hating them because it means I can’t put them in everything.
Pretty much your entire list and then some: mushrooms, onions, salad, leafy greens, oranges, avocados, mango (WHAT), anything I couldn’t recognize. I was the world’s pickiest eater… and then I went vegan. And now I eat everything.
Number one would have to be broccoli. I also hated all beans…crazy because I eat them everyday now!!
What a shame that avocados are so expensive here 🙁
But still, this smoothie looks delicious and I will try it!
Until about two years ago I didn’t like bell pepper and tomatoes, but now I love both 🙂
Hi Katie,
I think it is normal for tastes to change as you age, sometimes for the better as has been happening to you, and sometimes for the worse as has happened to me. As I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten to where raw onions – except sweet – and garlic leave an awful taste in my mouth that hangs around forever (seemingly). But there are other things I’ve come to really enjoy, like cilantro. I think the key to that was having it first in a lightly cooked form where it perfected the flavor profile of the dish. Since I got there, I love it anywhere and anyhow. Isn’t it nice to know you are normal? 🙂
The same thing happened to me with pretty much all vegetables. When I was young I absolutely refused to eat anything green, and now I can’t get enough! I, too am obsessed with avocado (pretty sure I wouldn’t touch those when I was younger, either). This smoothies sounds so wonderful!