Healthy Blender Recipes: Vegan Drinks, Shakes & Smoothies

Mango Coconut Bliss Smoothie

If you are in search of a taste of the tropics – look no further than this little glass of Heaven. I wanted to call it “Taste of Hawaii” but thought that was a tad corny. But I have let the cat out the bag now, so I suppose I may as well commit! Anyway, just throw everything in the blender and puree until smooth and creamy. I tried this with fresh and frozen mangoes and they both worked “s’blendedly”. I have put the agave nectar and coconut essence as optional extras. You can also substitute vanilla extract. But this smoothie tastes fantastic without the flavor enhancers. But I was in a decadent, celebratory mood and wanted to heighten the nutty flavor and sweetness. Either way – blend up this simple concoction – it is pure bliss.

Non Alcoholic Sangria Punch

For a zesty Summer drink, you just can’t go past this non alcoholic Sangria, which never fails to refresh and satisfy. There are a ton of wonderful non alcoholic Sangria recipes out there that use a variety of fruits. A lot of recipes use pears and apples. But I really like the tartness of citrus fruits – any excuse to use lemon and limes. I used an equal mix of unsweetened cranberry juice and red grape juice to keep the punch that lovely burnt blood red that resembles the color of Sangria wine. Then I added a little bit of freshly squeezed orange juice to balance out the flavors. Most Sangria recipes add in chopped fruit. But I like to blend everything up to get a lovely rustic velvety texture. Throwing in a whole orange, lemon and lime gives it a zesty edge; and the fruit and juice is so naturally sweet that there is no need for any additional sweetener. This is a great drink to offer up at your next Summer BBQ or picnic. Just give the flavors time to infuse before serving for the best results.

Vegan Apple Pie Smoothie

This is my vegan, gluten-free “apple pie in a glass”. I don’t really know how to do this smoothie justice, except to say that it is absolutely scrumdidiliumptious! This smoothie is absolutely fantastic! This blend captures everything I love about a great piece of apple pie – the creamy, buttery apples with just a hint of sweetness, and cinnamon. Who doesn’t love a hot slice of steaming apple pie on a cold Winter’s night? This smoothie satisfies the need for a slice of apple pie, without having to bake. I don’t like sugary, sickly-sweet, syrupy apple pies. I have always thought it detracted from the natural beauty and sweetness of the apple. So, in the spirit of replicating my perfect bite of apple pie, I have held back on the sweetener, in order to let these apples shine. The cashew milk adds that much needed hint of a nutty pastry flavor, and the cinnamon and vanilla perfect the blend. This apple pie smoothie bore some pretty sweet fruit. I quickly stewed some apples in a saucepan for 5 minutes with some filtered water. But you could easily throw in some unsweetened organic applesauce. YUMMO!

Raw Vegan Coconut Date Shake

This shake is absolutely scrumptious! Throw some dates in the blender with some bananas, almond milk and coconut water, and prepare for pure heaven. You can substitute cashew milk if you want a richer, more buttery shake, and you could always add a spoonful of coconut butter and lecithin to make it even more creamy. It depends on how indulgent you want your date to be! Trust me – make a date with this shake – you won’t be disappointed. It is absolutely delicious!

Ginger Lemonade With Whole Lemons

When the universe gives you lemons, make naturally sweetened ginger lemonade! I remembered a frothy Lebanese lemonade my friend Christine made with a whole lemon. The zest from the whole lemon adds a strong, aromatic citrus essence, and the freshly grated ginger adds a special zing that makes this lemonade extraordinary. Those of you on the Body Ecology Diet, Sugar Circuit Diet, other sugar-free diets, or just watching your sugar intake could add in the desired amount of Stevia drops to your mix. Or you can halve the difference and use a little of a natural sweetener like agave, honey or yacon syrup, and then accent it with some drops of Stevia. Play around and find you perfect blend. For today, mine is this decadent agave-sweetened rich velvet lemonade that is absolutely to die for.

Vegan Brown Rice Banana Smoothie

I made this brown rice milk smoothie and it was nothing short of spectacular. OK – so it will be affectionately reserved for the “I don’t care about carb overload” trough for future emotional emergencies. But hey – I might just have to pull it out in times of celebration too! It is really that good. Rich, thick, creamy, and delicious. I don’t know what more I can say, except blend this up now! You will not be disappointed. And unlike some of the nut smoothies I make – this brown rice smoothie is as cheap as chips!

Raw Vegan Chocolate Macadamia Smoothie

OK, so this shake is absolutely scrumptious. I cannot rave enough about it. This shake is decadent, rich, creamy, and delicious. If you want to make this shake colder, add in some ice cubes. If you want it richer, feel free to get a bit more heavy-handed with the cacao – that is for you self respecting chocoholics out there – motto being “the richer the better”. If you want it sweeter, feel free to tempt fate. But I will warn you, for me, this shake got sweeter the more I drank it. And because I was a stellar pig and devoured the whole trough on my own (two full glasses), I found that less, really is more! My sister TOTALLY disagreed and could have had more of her chocolate rich version! Either way – I’ll take out a stake in this shake!

Cherry Velvet Limeade Mocktail

This cherry limeade is delicious! This simple little concoction can be whipped up in minutes, and is zesty and refreshing for the whole family. Serve it in martini glasses garnished with lime wedges, mint, and a squeeze of fresh ginger juice. It satisfies the “tart at heart” in me and I hope it will in you too. This recipe is really basic. Feel free to jazz it up. YUMMO!

Raw Vegan Tropical Green Smoothie

There are not enough hours in the day to extoll the virtues of green smoothies! I drink a different raw green smoothie blend every day for my breakfast and I have never felt or looked better. I started making green smoothies with fruit to get used to the taste of all of the different greens and wild edibles, and then I slowly transitioned into pure vegetable green smoothies that were more alkalizing and did not contain as much natural sugar. But making sweet fruity tasting green smoothies is the most effective way to introduce these nutritionally dense shakes into your diet. This is my favourite sweet green smoothie. It is delicious! Trust me, if it weren't for the green colour, you would never know this smoothie had leafy vegetables in it. It tastes like a mango banana coconut fruit shake. Go green and you won't be sorry. It will literally change your life!

Vegan Sweet Potato Pie Smoothie

I LOVE vegetable and fruit pies. But on the days when I am not inclined to bake, I turn to my trusty blender for inspiration and whip up a vegan "pie-in-glass" smoothie to satisfy my craving for a decadent piece of pie without the need to coat-check my colon! Today I cast the fabulous sweet potato as the star attraction! This vegan sweet potato smoothie hits the spot for me, and I hope it will for you too. I will attach a disclaimer right here and say that this sweet potato smoothie is very rich! A little goes a long way for me. I always share it with a friend, but my mother could happily devour the entire blender full in one sitting. See how you go! This vegan sweet potato smoothie is fantastic if you feel like something decadent during your healthy eating regime. It tastes like a treat without being too naughty. I like to use orange sweet potatoes or yams to get a really nice depth of flavour in this vegan smoothie. The maple syrup adds to the mixture beautifully, and the spices round out the flavours nicely. You could always add a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice to make this vegan sweet potato smoothie more affordable if you don’t want to purchase each individual spice. Similarly, you could use soy milk for people with nut allergies, or rice milk to accomodate multiple food allergies. Either way, this vegan sweet potato pie smoothie is divine! It is vegan, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, and can be made nut free and soy free. Try drinking your piece of pie and you won't be sorry! YUMMO!

Vegan Green Tea Ice Cream Smoothie

I love a hot cup of green tea, and I LOVE a generous helping of green tea ice cream. But after rubbing my belly on way too many Japanese feasting occasions I decided to look for a healthy vegan green tea ice cream recipe that would enable me to feed my green tea ice cream addiction without the need to coat-check my liver! So I decided to create a vegan green tea smoothie where green tea and green tea ice cream lovers could get their fix in a more decadent way in minutes! Now, this smoothie will not be for everyone. If you are not a green tea lover, you might want to move on to the next smoothie. It does have a strong green tea flavour. But I can’t get enough of this smoothie. It is delicious! What I love the most about it is that is not too sweet. I have used organic tofu to thicken and flavour this dairy free smoothie. But if you want to make this smoothie soy free, you could thicken this smoothie with more avocado. I have added ½ an avocado for a subtle green colour. But you could always add more. This smoothie tastes delicious either way. Be bold and give this vegan green tea ice cream smoothie a go. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Raw Vegan Brazil Nut Berry Blast Smoothie

I make this Brazil nut mixed berry smoothie every week because it is loaded with anti-cancer goodies and tastes absolutely delicious. I don’t know about you, but I welcome any opportunity to throw berries of all colours and shapes into my smoothies. Berries are small but mighty! They are also rich in antioxidants and taste divine! Berries are available all-year round fresh or frozen. I have chosen raspberries, blueberries and strawberries for this smoothie, as these berries are the most widely available in most countries. But feel free to use cranberries, blackberries, cherries or any other berries that take your fancy. Different blends will yield smoothies of slightly different personalities. But I haven’t tasted a blend I haven’t enjoyed yet! They are all berry good! I absolutely love to use raw Brazil nuts to make delicious creamy vegan dairy free milk when blended with filtered water. This “milk” adds a delightful depth of flavour to this berry smoothie. I love the selenium boost that these Brazil nuts bring to this smoothie. But feel free to use raw cashews, raw almonds or raw macadamia nuts and this smoothie also tastes fabulous. If you are allergic to nuts or just want to make this smoothie more affordable, use soy milk or rice milk. This also tastes delicious. The cinnamon is optional in this smoothie. This shake tastes great without it. But I think the cinnamon adds a little kick that elevates this smoothie from great to phenomenal! Either way, this nutty fruit smoothie is berry berry good!

Raw Vegan Avocado Smoothie

I LOVE avocados. They are my absolute favourite raw food and I simply cannot get enough of them. But every time I offer a vegan avocado smoothie to somebody their snout more than often scrunches up in negative anticipation, only to have it recount with joy later. Most people associate avocados with savoury flavours. But us in the raw food community know that they can be utilized so beautifully in all kinds of raw recipes. It makes the avocado experience even sweeter. I remember a phenomenal raw avocado pudding at a macrobiotic restaurant in Portugal that my friends and I discovered when we were touring with a theatre show years ago. I would walk over half an hour there and back to stick my snout in that avocado pudding trough. You can imagine my dismay on the last night when I rocked up only to find that there was none left. I was not a happy pig, and had a pout on my snout all the way back to the theatre. Over on the other side of the world, I had my first experience with a vegan avocado smoothie in Indonesia. They use loads of avocados in their cuisine. Their avocado smoothies are absolutely delicious, but they are full of coconut milk, palm sugar, and heavy sugar syrups and other nasties. I simply had to replicate the vegan avocado divinity with a healthier halo. This quick, easy raw avocado smoothie hits the spot for me. If I really want to be decadent I use coconut milk and dates. But if I am toning it down a notch, then raw almond milk strikes a perfect balance, and hits my avo snout G Spot without expanding my hips! You could use soy milk, rice milk, raw cashew milk or raw macadamia milk, and sweeten it with whatever natural sweetener you like. I like agave because it does not overpower the natural flavour of the avocado, which for me, is the magic of this raw avocado smoothie. I LOVE the taste of the avocado. I will say that if you are not a fellow avocado lover, this avocado smoothie is not for you. Having said that, avocados are a wonderful way to thicken smoothies if you don’t want the blood sugar spike of bananas. I use them to thicken my raw vegan smoothie treats, as they are a better food combining option with nuts, seeds and fruit. Give this avocado treat a go, It is gluten free, dairy free, egg free, soy free and absolutely yummy.

Raw Vegan Virgin Pina Colada Shake

I am a huge fan of virgin pina colada recipes, and the best thing about this non alcoholic pina colada is that is raw and fresh. My aversion to pre-made drink mixes would be right up there with my distaste for commercially produced salad dressings. My motto again, “Fresh is Best”. Don’t forget that you can prepare your home made coconut milk in advance, and freeze it, so you have it ready to use quickly for that pina colada mocktail craving. If you are looking for quick easy mocktail recipes or allergy free recipes for drinks, this non alcoholic pina colada recipe is a winner! It is raw, vegan, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nut free, soy free and refined sugar free. But definitely not festive free! Enjoy!

Raw Vegan Fruity Green Smoothie

I try to include as many raw fruits and vegetables in my daily diet as I possibly can. I like to get all of the benefits of the phytochemicals which can boost health. Green smoothies literally changed my life, and I now start my morning with a different blend of greens every day. If you are new to green smoothies and a little “green phobic”, this fruity green smoothie is a wonderful introduction to green smoothies. Trust me, this raw vegan green smoothie tastes just like a fruit smoothie. You would never know it contained handfuls of gorgeous green spinach. I choose raw baby spinach to make fruit smoothies for green smoothie newbies as it has such a mild flavour that is masked and hidden by fruits. This smoothie is a wonderful way for the whole family to sneak more greens into their bodies. To this, I have added in some whole fruits. I like to throw in whole fruits instead of juices in order to boost the fibre content, which helps clean out the body and improve intestinal health. You can use any fruits you have in your kitchen to make delicious fruit green smoothies; but I have chosen some fruits that are known to have powerful anti-cancer properties. I have also added ½ an avocado. I actually use a whole avocado, but this might not be for everyone. Avocados are my favourite way to thicken smoothies. They contain more potassium than bananas, without the high sugar content, and are also a good source of beta-carotene. But this smoothie tastes delicious without the avocado for those of you wanting to make this smoothie a bit more affordable. Either way, this fruity green smoothie is delicious.

Raw Vegan Alkaline Green Smoothie

This is my favourite alkaline green smoothie. I first tasted a version of this alkaline green smoothie when it was made for me by Doctor Robert O Young and Shelley Redford Young at their PH Miracle Centre in California some time ago. I had followed Dr Young and his work for many many years, and the chance to finally meet him in person was a literally a dream come true for me. So here is a version of Dr Robert O Young and Shelley Young's famous green alkaline sweet smoothie. It is delicious!

Raw Vegan Chocolate Cherry Ripe Smoothie

This chocolate "cherry ripe" smoothie is incredible! For those of you not familiar with this, a Cherry Ripe is an iconic chocolate bar produced by Cadbury Australia. It has been enjoyed by chocolate-loving Aussies for over 84 years and remains a household name. With its decadent combination of juicy cherries, moist coconut and rich dark chocolate, this Aussie chocolate bar is a winner. When my family came over to stay in California last month, I asked them to bring over a stash of Cherry Ripes. Needless to say, this precious stash was devoured in less than a week (we were quite proud that it took that long) and we were left wanting. So what does any self-respecting piggy do when their favourite chocolate bar is beckoning and there is no way to get any more? Grab for your blender and make a "chocolate bar in a glass". Trust me, this is one of the most delicious smoothies out there! This vegan chocolate smoothie is pure chocolate berry decadence. Admittedly, not quite the same thing on the lips, but a lot more forgiving on the hips, without all of the refined sugar and processed ingredients that, I fear, make the original so enticing. You could thicken this raw chocolate smoothie up with an extra avocado and add more cacao powder and serve it as a s'blended raw vegan dessert. This also tastes delicious with raspberries or strawberries. Either way, forget the spoon. I just adopt the "Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman" approach and guzzle this good stuff down straight out of the carriage!

Raw Vegan Blueberry Smoothie

I used to enjoy a version of this raw vegan blueberry smoothie every single week of my life! I use blueberries most days as they are truly one the most magical, antioxidant rich foods on the planet – full of vitamins, minerals and fibre; and are relatively low GI. It is not hard to get most people to chow down on some fresh blueberries with pleasure. But I know a lot of people who don’t like to eat nuts -- particularly raw nuts. As a result, they are missing out on all of the raw nutty magic. If you are one of those people, this raw blueberry smoothie is a fantastic solution. It is also a winner for everyone who wants to incorporate antioxidant, nutritionally dense raw foods into their diet, and wants a healthy smoothie that tastes fantastic. The other fantastic thing about this vegan blueberry smoothie is that it is dairy free, gluten free and refined sugar free. If you are after nut free – just take the nuts out and it tastes great too! But if you eat it as is, in one blast of your blender you have taken care of the recommended berry, raw nut and milk intake for the day. Change the berries and vegan milk options around every day for some variety and added benefit. Either way -- this is berry good. You can halve this smoothie recipe if you want a smaller dose. I confess -- I am berry greedy!

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

I was dreaming about the heavenly pumpkin pie I enjoyed last Thanksgiving. Not inclined to bake, I turned to my trusty blender for inspiration and decided to create a "pumpkin pie in a glass" smoothie. This vegan pumpkin pie smoothie does every creamy bite of a self-respecting pumpkin pie justice; and hits the spot for those of needing a wonderful piece of pumpkin pie. This pumpkin pie smoothie really does taste like a creamy pumpkin pie in a glass. I have chosen to exploit the creamy buttery properties of raw cashew milk and used agave just to heighten the natural sweetness of the pumpkin. You might want to add more sweetener. But I thought it was perfect, and I remained thankful all day long and forgot about what I didn’t have! This pumpkin pie smoothie is vegan, gluten free, dairy free, egg free and soy free. If you need to make this smoothie nut free use soy milk or rice milk and it tastes delicious as well. Either way, if you are looking for delicious vegan smoothies this recipe is a winner. Happy Thanksgiving!

Vegan Maple Pecan Pie Smoothie

This scrumptious vegan, gluten free, dairy free, soy free, egg free smoothie really does taste like a delectable “maple pecan pie in a glass”. Those of you with nut allergies, my profound apologies. There is just no nutty equivalent! In the spirit of replicating the perfect bite of snout-worthy pecan pie I only used 2 tablespoons of maple syrup to keep the sugar content down. I found this was just enough to bring out the natural sweetness in the bananas and take the edge off the pecans. But feel free to sweeten the deal. The pecan milk adds that hint of a nutty pastry flavour, and the cinnamon and vanilla perfect the blend. This vegan dairy free smoothie does every creamy bite of my mum’s pecan pie justice, and hits the “B spot” on those days when you are not inclined to bake. This pecan smoothie is absolutely scrumptious. It is like a refreshing Summer chilled dessert in a glass. This is rich! But, I don’t think I will be needing to eat humble pie. I am going to proclaim that this is one of the blender recipes out there! YUMMO!