How To Make Low Carb Smoothies – ingredients and ideas for easy low carb and keto diet friendly smoothie recipes – great for breakfast, snacks or dessert.
How To Make Low Carb Smoothies
Making low carb smoothies is really easy – you just need to keep a couple of essential ingredients to hand to create tasty, refreshing, nourishing smoothies. These smoothies are the perfect breakfast, snack or sweet treat as part of a balanced diet.
The first smoothie making essential you’ll need is a blender. I love my Nutribullet – I can make and drink the smoothie in the same cup, making it easy to enjoy smoothies with little fuss. (And less washing up!)
Low Carb Smoothie Ingredients
Here’s a comprehensive list of ingredients that you can mix and match to create tasty low carb smoothies.
Fruit
Berries, Lemons and Limes are the lowest carb fruit options. You can include fresh or frozen strawberries, raspberries blueberries or your berry of choice and zest or juice of lemon or lime too.
Another fruity option is to include chia seed jam. It’s really easy to make and I’ve shared recipes for strawberry, raspberry and also one with mixed frozen berries.
Stevia
My go to sweetener of choice is stevia, but you can also feel free to use a low carb sugar alternative to sweeten your smoothies instead.
You smoothie may be sweet enough from the fruit and other ingredients. So, when adding sweetener, taste the smoothie first and then add a small amount at a time until the smoothie is sweet enough to your liking.
Milk Options
Full cream milk tends to be too high in carbs to fit into most people’s daily carb count. So, it’s best to opt to a non-dairy milk alternative which is naturally lower in carbs.
I tend to go for an unsweetened almond milk, which works wonderfully well in low carb smoothies. Just take a look around the non dairy milk section of your supermarket and read the nutrition label carefully as sugars often creep in when not needed.
Dairy Options
While dairy milk is high in carbs, there are low carb dairy options that you can include in smoothies. These include cream, mascarpone, ricotta and yoghurt.
You’ll find that plain, natural or Greek tends to be the lowest carb yoghurt options.
Chocolate
To create an indulgent smoothie you can include a row of low carb dark chocolate, cocoa powder, cacao powder or cocoa nibs. You’ll find that 85% or 90% is the lowest in sugars and carbs. But – always read the nutrition label to be sure.
Ice Cream
For an even more indulgent smoothie, why not add a scoop of low carb ice cream? You can use store bought or my homemade no churn low carb chocolate ice cream in your smoothie.
Nuts & Seeds
There a number of ways to include nutritious nuts and seeds in your low carb smoothies. You can blend through or top your smoothie with – chia, almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts or your nut of choice.
You could also blend through a tablespoon of peanut butter, almond butter or another nut butter for a low carb high protein smoothie.
Vegetables
If you’re wondering how to make low carb smoothies healthier, to balance the chocolate and creamy richness, you can add a handful of spinach, kale or half an avocado.
Herbs & Spices
Another nutritious inclusion is a handful of herbs such as mint leaves or some fresh grated or ground turmeric, nutmeg or cinnamon.
Healthy Fats
If you’re wanting to elevate the fat content of your smoothie to help meet your macros then you can include a portion of healthy fats. Here are some ideas- coconut oil, coconut milk, avocado oil, almond oil, extra virgin olive oil or MCT Oil.
Be cautious though, especially with including coconut oil and MCT oil – they may upset your digestive system if you’re not used to including the oils in your diet.
Start with a quarter of a teaspoon for a few days and go from there if your body agrees with the oils. (Mine doesn’t so I don’t tend to include them in my smoothies, but many low carb dieters swear by the goodness of MCT and Coconut oil – so if you want to then experiment for yourself and see what works for you,)
Protein Powder
If you’d like to make your smoothie into a breakfast or meal on the go, then a scoop of low carb protein powder (like this one) can really help you create a nutritionally balanced smoothie.
Low Carb Smoothie Recipes
Now that you have ideas for ingredients to keep in your kitchen, here are some low carb smoothie recipes to enjoy.
As I love creating low carb smoothies, I’ve also published an eBook with over 20 easy low carb smoothie recipes, complete with macros and all the info you need. (Click here for the eBook.)
To be taken to the full recipe and video tutorial for any of the smoothies, simply click on the recipe title or photo.
Lemon Superfood Smoothie
This smoothie is sublimely nourishing and refreshing – combining lemon and turmeric in a lemon superfood smoothie.
Keto Breakfast Smoothie
This meal of a smoothie includes berries, protein powder and healthy fats – the perfect way to start the day.
Green Smoothie
A unique combination of nourishing greens (cucumber and avocado) creates a refreshing low carb green smoothie.
Green Smoothie Bowl
Another way to enjoy low carb smoothies is in a smoothie bowl. Simply create a thick smoothie and top with low carb toppings for an easy smoothie bowl.
Peanut Butter & Berry Smoothie
This smoothie has the classic peanut butter and jelly/jam flavours but without the carbs/sugars.
Chocolate Coconut Smoothie
This low carb smoothie is rich, indulgent, wonderfully chocolatey and perfect for when you’re craving something sweet.
Raspberry & Vanilla Smoothie
This raspberry and vanilla smoothie tastes like a sweet berry dessert. This smoothie is low carb and high in healthy fats. The recipe is from the book “Fat Bombs” and the author kindly allowed me to share the deliciousness on my blog.
Low Carb Yogurt Smoothie
This yogurt smoothie has only 3 ingredients and is a brilliant way to incorporate nourishing probiotics in your low carb smoothie.
Chocolate Breakfast Smoothie
Why not start the day with chocolate and enjoy this easy, nutritious chocolate breakfast smoothie.
So, there you go – all you need to know about how to make low carb smoothies – ingredients to keep in your kitchen and delicious recipes to get you started. I encourage you to mix and match and find low carb smoothies that you enjoy.
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Disclaimer – this post is meant for informational post only and should not be construed as medical advice. Please consult with your health professional before making any dietary changes.
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