This thick, rich chocolate banana smoothie is the power breakfast for those of us who'd rather be eating Cocoa Puffs but can't. 'Cause we're supposed to be the grown ups. Added grown up points because it also has zucchini!
For the past decade I've had two go-to breakfasts on the roster in my kitchen. Scrambled eggs for the summer and Overnight Oatmeal for the winter. When I get sick of either of those I resort to staring in my fridge for 20 minutes in the morning and then eating whichever jar of pickles isn't hidden in the back.
It is currently summer in my particular hemisphere of the world and I am currently sick of scrambled eggs. So when a gardening friend posted about a way to use up extra zucchinis by putting them in a banana smoothie I tried it. And it was quite gross.
So I came up with this recipe instead.
Table of Contents
How to Make a Chocolate Banana Smoothie
The Chocolate Banana Smoothie
Frozen banana, Zucchini, cocoa, ice cubes, yogurt, a bit of sugar and milk. Blend these things together and you have a chocolate banana tasting smoothie with the added benefits of a green smoothie. Use this recipe as your guide and change it however you want. Take out the sugar, add more sugar, use soy milk or chocolate almond milk to up the chocolate flavour.
The Chocolate Banana Smoothie (with Zucchini 'cause you're a grown up) mixes up in a blender in no time and tastes very much like a chocolate banana milkshake. You cannot taste zucchini. At all. I made sure of that.
Not that I'm opposed to Zucchini. I'm not angry at it. Nothing of the sort. Zucchini has never been anything but nice to me, but I'm not one of those "Oooooo green smoothie's are so refreshing and delicious" kind of gals. I'm one of those, "Fry up that Zucchini in butter and cover it with parmesan cheese." kind of gals.
So why add the zucchini then? Because Zucchini is good for you, raw vegetables are good for you and Zucchini plants can burp out a Zucchini a day in peak season.
Oh. Did I mention a glass of this smoothie is only 161 calories?
Because it is. Oh. You don't count calories? Nice! Good for you. I don't when I'm eating bags and bags of potato chips but that means I have to when I eat anything else. It's how I maintain a balanced diet and level of sanity.
Chocolate Banana Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 banana frozen
- ½ zucchini (about a full half cup)
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- 7 ice cubes standard sized, around 1 cup
- 2 tablespoon cocoa
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ cup milk
Instructions
- Add first 6 ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Drizzle in the milk, adding less or more depending on the thickness of smoothie you prefer.
Nutrition
I normally make this and drink half in the morning and the other half around lunch. It'll keep in the fridge for a few hours but isn't quite as thick because the ice melts a little bit, but if you stick it in the fridge right away it'll still stay fairly thick.
Honestly, the chocolate shavings on top are just for the pictures. I never, EVER do this in real life. Ditto for the viola on top because seriously. If I happened to be serving this to someone I'd put the viola on top but not the chocolate shavings because they get stuck in the straw.
And there you have it. A low calorie chocolate banana smoothie AND a way to get rid of your abundance of zucchinis.
Because being a grown up doesn't mean you have to pretend to like green smoothies.
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Lynn
Yummy going to give it a try when we finally get to visit kids and grandkids this fall 😁
Marty
I peel my ripe ‘nanners, then I ziplock them 2-3/bag, freeze’m, ready to use whenever.
No zucchini, yogurt…cuz I don’t have any on hand, I’ll will just blend ‘nanners, ice, almond milk, little vanilla, almond and chocolate extract, pinch of salt, ground flax seed, maybe oats. So good! Mix’en up brekkie is good. Hmmm, have a little Italian parsley, could make it green. 😁
Marty
I peel my ripe ‘nanners, then I ziplock them 2-3/bag, freeze’m, ready to use whenever.
No zucchini, yogurt…will just blend ‘nanners, ice, almond milk, little vanilla, almond and chocolate extract, pinch of salt, ground flax seed, maybe oats. So good!
Jaylynn
I CAN TOUCH MY INDEX FINGER TO MY PINKY!!!!
Cyd
Me TOO!
Ruth Hirsch
Wait. Wait wait wait. As someone formerly fat, I look at these things and this said:
'Chocolate Banana Smoothie
This thick, chocolatey smoothie has just a hint of sweetness and starts your day with several servings of fruit, vegetables and dairy.
'Course: Breakfast
Servings: 2
Calories: 161 kcal
Author: Karen'
Happily elsewhere it does say: 'Oh. Did I mention a glass of this smoothie is only 161 calories?'
So I can take nitroglycerin and..........
Still, I wonder if you might could perhaps want to change the kcal bit.
Surprised no one's noticed. Bet this wins me a free sub to your blog!
Thank you for all the fun + info. I have to be typing quietly: my Monarchs, masquerading as caterpillars, , Stripey and Stripey Two, are sleeping.
Karen
I"m confused. What is it you think needs to be changed? ~ karen!
Gigi
It say 161 (k)cal which would be 161(thousand) calories.
Cathy
I think (k) is an abbreviation for calories
Alice
"What is the difference between calories and kilocalories? The "calorie" we refer to in food is actually kilocalorie. One (1) kilocalorie is the same as one (1) Calorie (upper case C). A kilocalorie is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water one degree Celsius." (From this page; scroll way down: https://www.nutrition.gov/expert-q-a)
Barb
the terms calories — capitalized or not — and kcal are used interchangeably and refer to the same amount of energy in relation to food or energy burned with exercise. Therefore, you don't need to convert them, as 1 kilocalorie equals 1 calorie in nutrition
Nancy Sciarretta
Thank you!
Nancy Sciarretta
Made them today and they're awesome. Do you buy organic bananas and throw them whole (minus the ends) into the blender? I made a huge mess trying to peel my frozen inorganic ones. I've heard you can blend the skins as long as their organic.
Karen
I use whatever bananas I can find on sale. :) I peel them right from the freezer. If the peel doesn't come off easily you can either run the banana under water for a few seconds to unfreeze the skin or just use a paring knife to shave it off. ~ karen!
Ellen L Caldaro
It's much easier if you peel them before you freeze them :)
Yvonne
I prefer to freeze with the skins on too…less discolouration. I’ve discovered that if I slice a little off both ends of the frozen banana, then slice down the peel with the paring knife, I can remove the peel ‘sideways’, so to speak, with very little mess. If you try to peel it the normal way, it leaves all those stringy bits, but won’t if you pull the peel to the sides. Hope that makes sense!
Love the recipe! Will also try it with kefir, instead of plain milk.
Kim Campbell
Made some yesterday, and will be freezing my bananas. I tried freezing them before and it was a failure but will use the hints here and do it again.
Patricia
The banana chocolate smoothie is my morning breakfast now. My fur kid likes it but without the chocolate of course. Thanks for sharing.
Patricia
Oh I forgot to mention but I cut up the zucchini into inch pieces and freeze it in plastic baggies. That way you can have frozen bananas and frozen zucchini ready to go.
Karen
That's smart! ~ karen
Ellen L Caldaro
Good idea! That reminds me I have shredded yellow squash in my freezer! Maybe I will make it in the morning with my squash :)
Heather
I too make chocolate banana smoothies, and love 'em. But I skip the sugar. I find the bananas are sweet enough. Make coffee icecubes and use them instead of regular ice cubes, if you feel like changing it up. And if you add four or five frozen cherries, minus the coffee, it tastes like Black Forest Cake.
P.S. I am loving my Monarch caterpillars. I've got three, and they're all thriving. Fingers crossed they'll make it all the way to butterflies. I like to watch them munching their milk weed leaves while I sip my chocolate banana smoothie in the morning. : )
Karen
Coffee ice cubes!! Great idea!! ~ karen!
Sabina
P.S. I did make a smoothie at lunchtime with my frozen bananas and added fresh zucchini and it was really good! I used plain greek yogurt, almond milk, almond butter and some cinnamon and turmeric and a few ice cubes. I did skip the sugar. I sipped along on my way back to work and thought "...hmmm, this is really good, it kinda tastes like zucchini bread...wait a minute, I forgot the cocoa powder!" Really good, really satisfying and really (*gasp*) healthy. Can't wait to try it with the cocoa, thanks again for the tip Karen!
Karen
Ha! Well it happens to the best of us. Forgetting I mean. And FYI I *don't* drink tea. Don't like it, don't want anything to do with it, lol. Coffee. Always coffee. (cept maybe once a year I'll have a rooibos tea. ~ karen!
leo muzzin
What .... my zucchini smoothie is "gross"?? I feel crushed !! LOL
Lynn
Oh yummy, I think you came up with a winner Karen. I don’t like the green smoothie either an as I have zucchini in the garden this sounds like just the right fix for some of them baby’s 🥒😃.
Sabina
Well who'd have thunk? I thought the recipe for Lemon Zucchini bread I found Monday was ingenious, this takes the cake! To make it even more healthy and add to the flavor add a teaspoon of both cinnamon and turmeric. Their flavors meld well with chocolate and banana and have added natural benefits such as being anti-inflammatory, aiding with pain relief, relieving chronic arthritis and joint pain, good for the GI tract, and helps fight bacterial and fungal infections.
I've used cinnamon in many things that don't normally call for it and now I've been adding the turmeric and I feel a difference in my hands, the joints don't hurt as much. I made a batch of zucchini bread last week and even added it to that. It was a hit with the BF's co-workers. I also love it in my coffee - not the first cup in the morning but the to-go cup I make to take to work with me.
I actually froze a few bananas the other day...after making a batch of banana bread...guess what I'm having for lunch?
Mia
Sabina: what do you put in your to-go coffee? Cinnamon or tumeric or both? and how much? Sounds like this may be really helpful. Thanks
Sabina
Mia I put both cinnamon and turmeric in my coffee, a few shakes of each, I don’t measure. I use milk and a half teaspoon of sugar and it’s really yummy. A friend told me she’s been making smoothies with turmeric powder drinking turmeric tea to reduce inflammation and joint pain but try as I might I just don’t like tea (don’t roll your eyes Karen, lol). So I just bought a jar in the spice section and use it I lots of stuff now. It adds a nice warmth but not a spicy heat.
Mia
Thank you!
ANDREa
If you want to change it up, add some frozen cherries. THATs my go to smoothie chocolate cherry (with banana also). If you add the cherries frozen you can leave out the ice cubes.
jen
I read viola as "voila" at first, haha. Now I'm going to call all those added touches "voilas!"
Eileen
Paper straws! YES!! I'm sure the oceans are thanking you too. <3
Your smoothies look beeeyoooteeful. However, I think the genre in general is completely overrated and actually pretty gross.
Karen
I'm not a huge smoothie fan because I mean, green smoothies are disgusting to me and other smoothies (made with orange juice etc) are wayyyyy too sweet. This really is like drinking a chocolate milkshake. ~ karen!
Ev Wilcox
I too need to know how much zucc! My daughter finally remembered to "gift" me some zucc, but they are a lot bigger than I wanted! Thick baseball bat size would describe them! Help us Karen!
Karen
It doesn't really matter. I'd say it's about 1/2 cup that you use. ~ karen!
Katie Schneider
What size zucchini? Are we talking 6 inches from a store or oh-shit-i-forgot-to-pick-yesterday/baseball-bat sized?
Karen
It actually doesn't really matter, lol. but I usually have something in between on hand. So bigger than a 6", smaller than a baseball bat. ~ karen!
isabelle desbiens
Who says that "size doesn't matter" ?? lol
Thanks for the recipe! Will try it for sure.
judy
what is the process for freezing bananas? I have to puree all of my husbands food and I throw out too many bananas. Your garden is beautiful! I must advise you though I grow weeds much more prolifically than you. I know you feel humbled but you are a super woman in all other skills so that should be of some small comfort. chuckle......
Robert
Just peel them and stuck them in the freezer but not for too long or you'll be looking at them a few weks later and wonder what in heavens name is that greige wilted thing in your freezer that you definitely didn't put there
Karen
You don't need to peel them Robert. Just put the whole banana in to the freezer. That'll eliminate the dreaded greige t hing in the freezer. :) ~ karen!
Karen
Well. I can't be great at everything. ;) I literally just put a banana in the freezer! Skin and all. That is the process for freezing bananas. :) ~ karen!
CathyR
I find nannas hard to peel frozen so I peel, cut and freeze in a baggie. I don’t care much about the color . But I’m digging the addition of coffee ice cubes!
Heidi M.
Yum! Help me, please. I don't have zucchini but an overabundance of butternut squash; about 3/4 size. Is there any reason they couldn't be used instead? A squash by any other name?
Heidi
Beth
Hi - I think that winter squash doesn't do too well raw, but I suppose you could cook it and then add it to your blender drinks. I love butternut, but it definitely would add more flavor than the zucchini does. Butternuts will keep for a LONG time (months), especially if kept dry and semi-cool (think garage or basement). Good luck!
Karen
Depending on what type of blender you have. Butternut squash is really hard! So if you don't have a powerhouse of a blender it wouldn't actually pulverize it enough to "smoothie" the squash. It would easily work if the squash was cooked first though. ~ karen!
Heidi
Thanks guys! These are still tender baby squash on the vine, I eat the tiny ones while I'm weeding.
Due to either humidity or stupidity nothing lasts very long if I try to store it.
Karen, you once told us that we could pour a self leveling cement floor - and you were right! Thank you for that.
Cussot
I don't have a microwave - maybe someone could offer some squash zapping advice? It sounds like it would be yummy.
Lynn
Here is one way to do squash in the oven.
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Place squash, cut sides down, in a 9x13 baking dish.( cookie sheet with sides will do) Pour water into dish around squash halves.
Bake in the preheated oven until tender and easily pierced with a fork, about 1 1/2 hours. Carefully remove the skin with a fork; it should be very easy to remove.
Hope this helps