Welcome to Breakfast Club, a series where I share ideas on creating delicious, healthy, and satisfying breakfasts! Today we’re looking at this beautiful Purple Protein Smoothie.
Besides its stunning good looks, this protein smoothie is simple and fast to make. Even better, it gives you lots of good micronutrients along with a huuuuge dose of protein.
Smoothie Recipe
This “recipe” is very adjustable to your personal tastes and preferences. I’m going to show you exactly how I made mine, and you can edit your own recipe as you like.
- 1 c. 2% milk (your favorite non-dairy milk could easily be subbed in)
- 1 c. frozen berries (I used Cascadia Farms antioxidant blend from Costco)
- 1 small banana
- 1 scoop (25 grams) unflavored whey protein powder
- 1 scoop (31 grams) PEScience Gourmet Vanilla protein powder (my favorite vanilla protein powder ever, both for taste and texture)
- 2 scoops (20 grams) Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides (you can read my review on this here)
Protein, Protein, and More Protein
The macronutrient profile of my shake was: 47g carbs | 7g fat | 70g protein!
So that’s more protein than a lot of people get in their entire day. If you feel like that’s a little much for you, you can leave out a scoop or two of protein powder. But if you’re looking for even more, you can add in more protein powder and/or some Greek yogurt.
I personally like a really protein-heavy breakfast. It keeps me feeling full and energized until early afternoon. But people’s preferences vary, and just because this protein smoothie is a part of Breakfast Club doesn’t mean that you can’t drink it for lunch, or an afternoon snack, or whenever you like.
How Much Protein do I Really Need?
A simple guideline for figuring out how much protein you should consume in a day is to take your bodyweight in pounds and eat that many grams of protein per day. So someone weighing 170lbs would eat 170g of protein per day.
But if you’re not used to eating much protein, this can be daunting! So I usually have my clients start out by aiming for a lower number and building up. We often set our initial goal to 100g of protein every day, and build from there.
Your Protein Smoothie is Only as Good as Your Blender
I use this immersion blender for my shakes because it blends everything so well and takes up minimal space in my cupboard. I’m sure a regular blender would work great if you’ve got a good one, but my regular blender is… let’s just say… past its prime. Instead of a Ninja, I have an Old Curmudgeon that uses its cane to feebly strike at its contents. You can run it for 10 minutes and not only does it sound it’s going to explode, but you’ll find an entire, unblended banana in there and pockets of completely unmixed protein powder. However, my immersion blender works great, and I really push that thing to its limits. Plus it’s about 1/25th the cost of a Vitamix.
What’s Your Favorite Protein Smoothie?
Now you’ve seen one of my favorite protein smoothies. How about yours? Got any tips or tricks for making one that’s super delicious and packed with protein? Leave a comment if you do!