Smoothies. Five minutes. A world of options. And way too many chances for this simple dish to go completely off-the-rails. I’ve heard about your worst smoothie fails, because I’ve been there too. I’ve rounded up the top five most common fails and paired them with easy fixes to get your smoothie back on track.
Fail #1: Texture (Too Thick, Thin, or Gritty)
Like that little girl who ate the porridge and fell asleep in the bears’ house, you have to find the texture that’s juuuuust right. I recommend using one cup of water with your favorite Vega® plant based protein powder but that’s a suggestion, not a rule.
How to Fix It
Too thick: Add more liquid. Keep in mind, the more you blend, the thinner it may get, so if it doesn’t seem thin enough try blending longer. Blend for 60 to 90 seconds and if your blender has levels, use ‘em. Start off slow and low, slowly increase the speed, pulse, then drop it back down before turning it off.
Too thin: Add more ice, or more frozen fruit.
Too gritty: If your smoothie is gritty, your powder just needs more blender time. If you’re sensitive to fibrous textures, stay away from fibrous veggies like banana and use ice or frozen berries instead.
It’s all about you, my friend. Start with one cup of liquid. If it’s too thin, add more ice or frozen fruit. If it’s too thick, add more liquid. Always add liquid first, then powder, give it a quick blend to combine, and then add ice and remaining ingredients (and more liquid if you want to thin it out).
Fail #2: Powder Sticks to the Blender
You’ve added all of your ingredients—liquid, powder, extra leafy greens (you health fan, you) and frozen fruit. As your blender whirls you realize what’s happened; the powder is stuck to the sides of the blender. Ugh! So you open the lid and try to push it off with your hand but ohhhh that is way too cold so you grab a spoon. The spoon only serves as a way to transfer the powder and cold sticky smoothie mix off the side blender and onto the spoon. So you grab a spatula to scrape the spoon and get that mixture back into the blender. Finally, when it’s back in its rightful spot, you blend until combined.
How to Fix It
Save yourself some dishes and frustration by blending your liquid and powder for a hot second first (make sure you add liquid then powder). Then add your remaining ingredients to avoid the frozen fruit or veggies from forcing the powder against the walls of the blender.
Fail #3: Too Sweet
You want your smoothie to be flavorful but you’re not after too much sweetness. If your smoothie base is fruit juice and you always add frozen fruit you may be experiencing sweetness overload. Like watching a cute kitten video, while playing with a dog, and getting a smile from a baby, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
How to Fix It
Try half water/half juice or swap your juice entirely for water or unsweetened almond milk. Since your Vega shake is sweetened with stevia, which is a sweet no calorie sweeteners, it can give you the sweet taste you’re looking for without added fruit or fruit juice. If you’re particularly sensitive to the taste of stevia, I recommend trying a splash of tart lemon juice or adding creamy avocado to your smoothie. They both offer a nice balance to the sweet taste of stevia.
Fail #4: Didn’t Drink It Fast Enough and Now it’s Sludgy
You brought your smoothie to work, to enjoy as you casually catch up on emails and ease into your day. But then as soon as you got to work, you were met with a situation that needed your master problem-solving power, STAT. Fast forward to two hours later and you’re finally ready to take a sip. Only now it’s sludgy, with a gel-like texture, and it’s warm. Depending what you mix your Vega shake with and which shake you choose, it can thicken as it sits.
How to Fix It
Always add ice or frozen fruit and/or veggies to your shake. Cold is best. I recommend that you enjoy your smoothie as fresh as possible, so blend, sip and enjoy. Sure, you can let your smoothie sit for an hour or two, sure you can blend at night, refrigerate and enjoy in the morning but if you’re going to do that we recommend giving it a refresh with ice and a quick blend.
Fail #5: Mixed with Dairy Milk
Your smoothie exploded when you mixed it with dairy milk or yogurt. (Kidding, that won’t happen.)
How to Fix It
Plants for the win. We recommend non-dairy beverages such as almond, hemp, coconut, or rice milk (to name a few). However, if you like dairy, go for it. Water, chilled tea, and 100% juice are also excellent options. Check out the smoothie section of the MyVega.com Recipe Center for some amazing plant-based smoothie recipes.
Happy Blending!
Tell us about a time you had a complete smoothie fail! How did you fix it (or not)?
