Smoothies are one of those foods that have been around for quite some time, yet seem to have reached a new level of trendiness in the few years. While you can find made-to-order smoothies at many beverage or breakfast establishments, if you have a blender at home, there’s no reason to not make your own!

Making your own smoothies is a great way to avoid filler ingredients that may add extra calories to your drink without adding much more nutrition. If you’re using smoothies as meal replacements, it’s important to optimize your recipe to your nutrition goals.

There are countless recipes for specific smoothies, so today I’ll just be explaining the skeleton of a good smoothie.

1. Start with your base liquid: water, milk, milk alternatives like coconut or almond milk, yogurt (you may need to add some liquid as well), or fruit juices (though watch out for sweetness level)
2. Blend in the weird bits: Protein and other supplement powders, nuts, seeds, spices – you want them to start incorporating as soon as possible. This is also the time when you will incorporate green if they are in your recipe. Some greens, like spinach and kale have nutrients that are not available to humans unless they are cooked a little bit. This will also help them be pulverized by the blender more. Blend until smooth.
3. Make it bright and nice: Add some fruit and ice! I personally prefer to use frozen fruit so that any iciness is fully incorporated and there aren’t little slivers of frozen water, but that’s totally up to you.
4. Enjoy ASAP! Smoothies are best consumed immediately, especially if they have ice/frozen fruit in them 🙂