Plant-Based Chocolate Cherry Smoothie

This chocolate cherry smoothie is packed with sweet cherry flavor, decadent chocolate, and no added sweeteners. Energize your morning or afternoon with this quick and healthy plant-based smoothie recipe!

Why you’ll  love this smoothie

• 100% Plant based and vegan.
• 18 grams of protein with NO protein powder needed.
• Smooth and creamy texture without banana! 
• Naturally sweetened with fruit

Ingredients

Silken Tofu. Tofu is the all-star ingredient in this smoothie recipe. Adding 10 grams of protein and a creamy texture, tofu also contributes iron and calcium to this recipe.

Spinach If you don’t eat a lot of spinach, do what I do to keep it “fresh” and store the bag or box of washed spinach in the freezer. While I wouldn’t make a salad with frozen spinach, it works perfectly for smoothies. 

Don’t have it? Just skip it and your chocolate cherry smoothie will still taste amazing. Note that 1 cup of spinach has 5% of your DV for iron. 

Oats.  Oatmeal helps to thicken this smoothie up and adds important nutrients like iron, soluble fiber, and protein. I generally use rolled or “old-fashioned” oats, but you can also use instant or quick oats. 

Cherries. Frozen cherries help make this smoothie a bit more “chill”, but you can absolutely use fresh cherries here if you have them. Just remove the pits and toss them in. 

The vitamin C in 1 cup of cherries is 25 % of your daily value! With this good vitamin C source, you’ll absorb more of the iron from spinach, oats, and tofu. 

Cauliflower. I love adding frozen riced cauliflower to smoothies for the amazingly smooth texture it brings and for the increased nutrition.

Understand that eating uncooked frozen vegetables can come with a risk of listeria, as this bacteria can withstand cold temperatures. This same risk applies to eating fresh vegetables that have not been washed properly. 

If you're concerned or part of a vulnerable population (over age 70, under age 5, sick with another health condition, etc) then it may be best to avoid the frozen cauliflower. You can always add a few frozen bananas for extra creaminess! 

Other ingredients: almonds, almond milk, cocoa powder. 

Equipment you’ll need

A blender. Any blender will work, especially if you let the mixture sit for 10 minutes or longer as I’ve described below. If you want an extra creamy finish, use a high-powered blender. 

Step by Step

1. Add the oats, cocoa powder, almonds, tofu, and almond milk to the blender. Stir or shake and let sit for 10 minutes so the almonds and oats can soften. 
2. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy! 

Substitutions

Greens: Spinach goes well in this chocolate cherry smoothie since its taste is so mild. You can use other greens like kale, swiss chard, beet greens, or even carrot tops. 

Nuts: I use slivered almonds in this smoothie, but you can feel free to use any type of nut or seed you’d like. It helps to add healthy fat and extra protein without having to use protein powder. You can also leave these out without having too much of an effect on the flavor. 

Milk: I used unsweetened almond milk, but you can use any type of plant-based milk you’d like. For extra protein use soy, pea, or any kind of protein-added plant milk. 

For a Creamy Texture: For extra creaminess without too many extra calories, fat, or carbs I used frozen cauliflower. Just pointing out again that there is a small risk for a foodborne pathogen anytime you eat frozen vegetables without cooking them, so if you feel more comfortable leaving these out, please do! You can add avocado or frozen banana to increase the creamy factor!

Top Tip

Make sure you soak the oats and almonds, especially if you don’t have a high-powered blender. This helps the smoothie to be smooth and creamy without little gritty chunks of nuts and oats floating around. 

If you love this chocolate cherry smoothie, you’ll love these other plant-based recipes! 

Better than Cake Carrot Banana Smoothie

Vegan Oatmeal Banana Pancakes

Strawberry Bakes Oatmeal

Did you make this recipe? Be sure to rate it below and tell me what you think! Snap a photo and tag me on Instagram @Graciouslynourished and use the hashtag #graciouslynourished

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