A simple Banana Smoothie that is healthy, easy to make & packed with protein & fibre. It's rich, thick, creamy, tastes like banana bread & will keep you full for ages!

Simple is the name of the game today. Often it is the easy, uncomplicated recipes that end up being the best, and that is certainly the case with this Creamy Banana Smoothie.

It's ridiculously thick, creamy and smooth. Decadently so. Not slushy or icy at all. And it tastes like Vegan Banana Bread.

No matter what, I always have a stash of overripe bananas in the freezer, so even when the grocery situation is dire, we can still enjoy this easy smoothie for breakfast or snacks.

It's a pretty flexible recipe. I like to use:

• banana
• oats
• walnuts
• medjool dates
• vanilla
• oats
• nutmeg
• cinnamon
• sea salt

However, feel free to switch it up to suit your tastes. You can use whatever nuts you happen to have on hand, use maple syrup or date syrup instead of medjool dates and cardamom, ginger, turmeric or some cocoa powder instead of the nutmeg and cinnamon. You can even add some flax or chia seeds for an extra nutritional boost. There are so many different combinations that would work really well.

What's also really great about this Banana Smoothie is that you can prep it all in advance if you want to. Just add all of the ingredients to a bag and pop it in the freezer until needed. You could prep multiple bags if you are really organized.

I wish I could be that organized....

Then, when you want it, tip everything out and into a blender, add your milk of choice (I like to use nutty milks for this recipe) and blend until lusciously smooth and creamy.

A high powered blender makes such a difference when you make smoothies. I struggled along with my super cheap, old blender until pretty recently and I thought my smoothies were ok. Then it died and my husband talked me into replacing it with a Blendtec like this one:

Wow. The difference is really incredible and it makes smoothies so much more enjoyable. I hate splashing out on expensive appliances but it kind of shows that you get what you pay for.

HOW TO FREEZE BANANAS

I mentioned earlier that I always have some bananas in the freezer. They really come in handy for smoothie emergencies and for baking Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread, muffins or Chester's Peanut Butter Banana Treats. Any bananas in the fruit bowl that get a little overripe get frozen and I often buy double the bananas we actually need so that we end up with plenty of overripe ones to freeze. I also look out for the bananas marked down for quick sale at the store and stock up to save a few dollars.

To freeze bananas:

• peel them
• break them up into chunks
• lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper or a Silpat
• put the baking sheet in the freezer being careful to keep it level
• when the banana chunks are hard (they don't take long), transfer them to a freezer bag

If I am feeling lazy, sometimes I skip the laying them out on a baking sheet part and just throw the chunks straight in a freezer bag. If you do this though, be prepared to have to prise them apart when you need them as they will stick together. Laziness doesn't always pay off but I never learn ????

This is why I am loving this Creamy Banana Smoothie:

• it's quick and easy
• you don't need any fresh fruit
• the oats make it really filling
• it's really thick and creamy
• it's full of protein, fibre and healthy fats
• the ingredients are flexible and can be changed to suit what you have in the pantry
• you can prep the whole thing in advance, store in the freezer then just add milk of choice when you need it

WANT MORE OVERRIPE BANANA RECIPES?

If you have more overripe bananas that need using up, how about giving my Vegan Banana Pancakes or Best Vegan Banana Bread a try too?

And for more smoothies, check out these great options:

1. Healthy Chocolate Smoothie
2. Glowing Skin Smoothie
3. Chocolate Tahini Pumpkin Smoothie
4. Ginger Peach Smoothie

And if you love this recipe, please do checkout my cookbook, and subscribe to my email list for a fabulous FREE eCookbook featuring my top 10 recipes. Being on the list means you’ll be kept in the loop on all things new and exciting too!

Ok, so are we ready to go bananas? Let's do this!