Easy Beet Smoothie

Name: Easy Beet Smoothie - A Cold Busting Drink
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: handful of baby spinach leaves; 2 small beets ((or one large)); 10 blackberries; juice of 1 lemon; 1 tbsp greek yogurt; 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk ((250ml) (or other milk)); 4 - 5 ice cubes

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Last Updated on February 24, 2021 by Slow The Cook Down

This easy beet smoothie is packed full of vitamins and minerals for a healthy and tasty drink. Just 5 minutes to make and a handful of ingredients to help get the goodness in.

A beet smoothie in a tall glass on a white work surface

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I hope you've missed me?! I've had a couple of weeks off of the blog, and one of the reasons for that is because I've had a stinking cold!

The temperature has dropped a few degrees here and it seems like the whole city has succumbed to sniffles and sore throats!

It's definitely the season for comfort foods like Roasted Ground Beef Chili, Roasted Sweet Potato & Butternut Squash Soup and Pasta Bake!

I asked members of my Facebook page what their best cold and flu remedies were, and after trying all of their whisky remedies (!) I opted to make my own vitamin C loaded smoothie.

Now, I'm not saying it's a magical cure, but it's a great way to get some goodness into your system when you are feeling run down.

Ingredients

Spinach leaves: An amazing source of vitamins K, A, C as well as a good helping of folate, iron and vitamin B2.
Beets: Low in calories but high in fiber, vitamin C and a powerful inflammatory.
Blackberries: Full of important nutrients like potassium and calcium and high in vitamin A, C and E.
Lemon juice: High in antioxidants and vitamin C.
Greek yogurt: A great source of calcium and protein.
Unsweetened coconut milk: Contains antioxidants and is a great plant-based alternative to dairy milk.

How to make a beet smoothie

This smoothie is called easy for a reason! The only "work" you need to do is to peel the beet(s) and squeeze a lemon. Just bung it all in a blender and whizz until smooth. It's a great option for breakfast or as a mid afternoon pick me up.

Recipe variations

You can use a low fat Greek yogurt and coconut milk to reduce the calories and fat content if you wish.
You can also use any milk you like; oat, almond, soy and dairy will all work.
Make this smoothie vegan by using a plant based yogurt, or you can omit it.

Smoothie with coconut milk

I opted to make this smoothie with a dairy free milk, because if you are all congested, animal milk can sometimes exasperate that. I'm a big fan of unsweetened coconut milk, the kind you get in a carton, not the canned stuff though for this recipe.

If your a fan of coconut milk like me, be sure to check out my list of Coconut Milk Recipes, where you'll find more smoothies as well as a tonne of other awesome recipes.

Smoothie vs juice

Personally, I do prefer smoothies over juices, especially when making them at home. When you make smoothies, you are using all of the fruit or vegetable, which means you are getting that roughage and fibre in to your glass.

Juicing extracts the liquid, so while you will still get a tonne of goodness, you are throwing away that fibre. Such a waste!

I also HATED cleaning my old juicer - get a dishwasher safe blender and you are in clover!

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it good for you?

I did a fair bit of research when coming with my beet smoothie recipe. I wanted to combine ingredients that not only tasted good together, but had tonnes of antioxidants and vitamin C to fight the germs.

Spinach, beets, blackberries and lemon juice are packed into this easy 5 minute smoothie, and I added Greek yogurt for a dose of protein and probiotic. One smoothie is around 250 calories and packed with goodness.

Do you have to peel and cook beets before blending them?

Yes, be sure to peel the beets before adding to the blender! Just slice the root and stem off and then use a vegetable peeler or a knife to remove the rest of the skin and chop them in half before blending. You can wear gloves if you don't want your hands to turn bright red!

There's no need to cook them before adding to the blender and they contain more nutrients when they are raw.

What's the best blender for smoothies?

Before we moved, I had a NutriBullet which was awesome for smoothies and I loved that you could just make individual ones to take with you on busy mornings.

You can also use a larger stand blender, it's bigger but you can also use it for lots of other things, not just smoothies. The Ninja Smoothie Maker is a great choice.

A side shot of a beet smoothie surrounded by the raw ingredients

Recipe Notes and Tips

Use the freshest ingredients that you can lay your hands on, and organic if you can.
If you use frozen blackberries, and you won't need to add additional ice cubes.
Be sure to use fresh lemon juice, not the bottled stuff.
The smoothie is best drunk immediately to make the most of all of those vitamins and minerals.

For more healthy drinks:

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