Strawberry Banana Smoothie | Summer Smoothie

A thick and creamy higher protein strawberry banana smoothie without protein powder uses cottage cheese and chia seeds and has no added sugar. Pin it here.

You guys, I used to make smoothies on the reg. In college I whipped up a smoothie similar to this – except… much more orange juice and no real protein additions, which made it super delish but it didn’t really pack a lot of nutritional bang for its buck.

Then I got into really high protein smoothies (20+ g) packed with protein powder. Which is fine, but I kind of feel like I’ve moved past the protein powder phase of my life. Anybody else? I’m sorry, GNC, it’s not you… it’s me.

Anyway, so couple my breakup with protein powder with the fact I often don’t get super FULL from a smoothie (DYK chewing triggers more satiety signals than just drinking?), I put smoothies in the backseat.

But then last Saturday happened and all I needed in my life was a refreshing smoothie!

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

If you’re going to do a smoothie, it’s hard to not go for the combination of strawberry and banana, amiright? It’s classic.

So I did a few things to modify my old back-in-the-day college strawberry banana smoothie:

1. Added low-fat cottage cheese and a high-protein milk (I use Fairlife) to naturally boost the protein content.
2. Reduced the orange juice. Look, I get it. It’s so delicious. And I don’t judge if you want to add a little extra to make it a titch sweeter, but I do try to be mindful of how concentrated juice is in naturally-occurring sugars.
3. Added chia seeds for an extra fiber and omega-3 boost.

I prefer to use frozen fruit (instead of fresh fruit plus ice) because I think it has a better texture, but you can totally add ice if your heart so desires!

When to Serve this Strawberry Banana Smoothie

This strawberry banana smoothie is a little too low in calories and protein to make up your entire meal. I usually like to see 15-25 g protein and 350-550 calories at meals, which this clocks in shy at 12 grams and about 150 calories.

That might mean this works well as:

• a post-workout recovery drink,
• as a snack, or
• paired with an egg or two with some yummy spinach and whole wheat toast at breakfast (YUM!).

Summer Strawberry Banana Smoothie

As always, I hope you love this summer strawberry banana smoothie recipe!

What’s your favorite smoothie combo?

Do you drink more smoothies during the summertime?

Pin it here.