Thick Triple-Berry Protein Smoothie

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A smoothie-bar-style berry shake that's genuinely thick — spoon-standing thick — without a single ice cube watering it down. Frozen banana and Greek yogurt do the heavy lifting on texture, a scoop of vanilla protein and hemp hearts push it past 30 grams of protein per glass, and crushed freeze-dried raspberries deepen the berry flavor so it tastes like fruit instead of like a supplement.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries)
• 1 medium banana, peeled, broken into chunks and frozen
• 3/4 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
• 3/4 cup whole milk, or unsweetened almond milk
• 2 scoop vanilla whey or plant protein powder (about 60 g)
• 2 tbsp hemp hearts
• 1/3 cup freeze-dried raspberries or strawberries
• 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey, to taste
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 pinch fine sea salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 tbsp granola
• 6 fresh blackberries or raspberries
• 1 tsp chia seeds

• quart-size zip-top freezer bags

Instructions

1. Freeze the banana at least 4 hours ahead: peel it, break it into 1-inch chunks, spread the chunks on a small plate or in a zip-top bag, and freeze until solid. This is the single biggest factor in a thick, creamy smoothie — never use a room-temperature banana with ice to compensate.
2. Crush the freeze-dried berries: put them in a zip-top bag, press out the air, and roll over them with a rolling pin or the bottom of a glass until you have a coarse pink powder. Set aside 1 tablespoon for garnish if you like.
3. Load the blender in the correct order — liquids first. Pour in the milk, then add the Greek yogurt, lemon juice, vanilla, maple syrup, and salt. Sprinkle the protein powder, hemp hearts, and crushed freeze-dried berries over the wet ingredients so the powder hydrates instead of clumping against the lid.
4. Add the frozen fruit last: pile in the frozen banana chunks and frozen mixed berries so their weight pushes everything down toward the blades.
5. Blend on low for 15 seconds to break up the fruit, then ramp to high and blend 45 to 60 seconds, using the tamper or stopping to scrape down the sides once. The mixture should climb into a smooth vortex; if the blender labors or the vortex stalls, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time — no more than 3 tablespoons total — and keep blending.
6. Stop blending as soon as it is smooth. Overblending warms the mix and thins it out. The finished smoothie should be thick enough that a wide straw stands up in it for a few seconds.
7. Taste and adjust: add another teaspoon of maple syrup if your berries were tart, or another squeeze of lemon if it tastes flat. Pulse 3 seconds to combine.
8. Pour into two tall chilled glasses, top with granola, fresh berries, chia seeds, and the reserved crushed freeze-dried berries, and serve immediately with a wide straw or spoon.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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