Smoothies can be frozen for a minimum of 1-3 months without the loss of flavour, colour or texture. It’s best to defrost them slowly and stir them or shake them again to prevent any ingredients from separating.
You can freeze your smoothies as they are or make them thicker and turn them into a healthy smoothie popsicles or concentrated fruit puree ice cubes.
I usually start the day with a breakfast smoothie. I like the flexibility of using whatever ingredients I have at hand and just making a different recipe every day.
But sometimes, I run out of time or don’t want to make a noise with my blender and I skip my healthy smoothie breakfast. Recently I thought it could make me more organised if I made a large smoothie batch, freeze it and then take one portion at the time, when I want to.
So, if you’d like to free up some time in the morning, read on, because I now regularly freeze my smoothies and it saves me a lot of time!
MY FAVOURITE SMOOTHIE RECIPES
Can you freeze smoothies?
Yes, the short answer is that you can freeze smoothies, but there are few caveats to that.
To make sure you get the best possible shelf life from your frozen smoothies (and they don’t go off), make sure that you use ingredients (milk, fruit, vegetables, butters etc.) that were not previously frozen.
This is because once the ingredients are defrosted they start to deteriorate and there is a possibility of harmful bacteria developing.
There is a very little chance of anything bad happening with your smoothie even if you use previously frozen ingredients, as you are very likely to use low risk food groups such as vegetables or fruits), but I’d stay clear of using pre-frozen milks, creams, butters or cheeses.
What to expect when you freeze smoothie
The flavour and the texture or thickness of your smoothie should stay the same after you defrost your smoothie.
Colour might change slightly, especially if you are using bananas.
The smoothie might separate when it’s defrosted. A simple way to bring it together again is to shake the smoothie or mix it again or alternatively add another spoonful of cream cheese or protein powder (something that will thicken the smoothie a little).
How to freeze smoothies
Make your smoothie as usual, but do your best to use fresh ingredients (not ingredients that were previously frozen).
Pour your smoothie into freezer suitable containers.
Make sure that you leave a bit of space on the top (e.i. don’t fill the whole container to the top) as the smoothies can expand slightly when they are frozen (and you don’t want to damage your container or get your smoothie to spill out!).
Always use a lid for your container to prevent your smoothie from spilling out, drying out or absorbing any flavour from the rest of the freezer.
What containers are best for freezing smoothies?
- Plastic beaker with a lid
- Plastic water bottle (suitable for freezer)
- Soup container – plastic with a snap on lid and suitable for freezer
- Re-usable squeeze pouches – make sure that they are suitable for freezer use
- Plastic freezer bag with zip lock
This could be a sturdy plastic bag with a lock, that you can keep upright in a large container and you can divide the smoothie into portions (say 1 cup or 250 ml).
You can also use re-usable squeeze bags, specially designed for purees and smoothies. These are usually sold under children’s feeding kitchen accessories, but you can find adult sizes too.
These are super practical because you can portion your smoothies well, freeze them and then take them with you (frozen) to the gym or work and they will defrost by the time you need them (keep them in another plastic bag or cover so that you don’t end up with a defrosted water from the outside of the bag) in your handbag or a purse.
MORE SMOOTHIE RECIPES
How long you can freeze smoothies for?
Ideally, you want to use your smoothies as soon as you can, but once frozen your smoothies should be fine for 1-3 months (similarly to freezing jello) depending on the ingredients you are using.
I’ve had some smoothies in my freezer for longer up to 6 months, but I’ve noticed that they don’t taste as great as when they are used up within a month. Especially if you add raw egg in smoothie make sure that you don’t store it in the freezer for too long.
If you are making a lot of different smoothie batches, you might like to mark each batch with a date and this way you know to start taking out the smoothies that are the oldest.
How to defrost your smoothie
The easiest thing (if you remember, that is!) is to take out the smoothie out of freezer the night before and leave it to defrost in the fridge overnight.
If you forget to do this, you can also leave the smoothie out in the room temperature to defrost, but do make sure that you drink it straightaway when it’s defrosted (as it can go off if you don’t do that – this is especially if you are using dairy products).
When I’m using my squeeze food pouches, I take one out of the freezer and take it with me for lunch. By the time I needed, it’s usually always defrosted and the rest of my lunch stays nicely cold too!
Use microwave on a ‘defrost setting’ – a special setting that lowers the output of the microwave and gently heat up the smoothie to defrost.
If you don’t have a defrost setting, you can – very carefully – use regular setting, but put it in the microwave only for 5-10 seconds at the time and try to stir or shake the container to distribute the heat before putting it back to the microwave.
Other ways to freeze your smoothie – turn it into a popsicle
You can also turn your smoothie into a healthy frozen popsicle.
To make your frozen smoothie popsicle, simply make your favourite smoothie as usual, adding a little less water or liquid than the recipe states (say use 1/2 or 1/3 less than the recipe). This will make the smoothie nice and thick and won’t turn into a complete watery mess when you take it out of the freezer.
Pour your thick smoothie into popsicle mould or use large ice cube trays, smaller cupcake trays or or other plastic or metal containers that would make a good shape for a popsicle. Use sticks already provided with your mould or use real spoons or wooden sticks or spoons. If you are using your own spoons (which are quite heavy), leave the popsicles to partly freeze first – say 30-45 minutes and then add your spoons in.
Leave the popsicles to freeze completely in the freezer (use bottom compartment, which is usually colder than the top one) and enjoy your healthy smoothie popsicle any time you like.
If you don’t have a popsicle moulds, you can also use ice cube trays to freeze your smoothies. These are great to use for other drinks or use as a concentrated fruit puree – depending on your smoothie flavour.
MORE SMOOTHIE RECIPES
- Strawberry & Yoghurt Smoothie >>
- Almond, Dates & Spices Smoothie >>
- Pumpkin Butter & Banana Smoothie >>
- Pumpkin Pie & Oats Smoothie >>
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