Super Healthy Delicious Chocolate Protein Smoothie {That Doesn’t Taste Like Grass}
This vitamin-rich, healthy chocolate protein smoothie is the perfect on-the-go breakfast…or just because you’re craving something delicious and chocolate!
I don’t know if I’ve ever made something so many times in a row in a given week as I have this delectable little smoothie. This chocolate protein smoothie is already winning some major fan awards around here. We can’t get enough!
I’ve posted a handful of smoothie recipes over the years, but if I’m being honest, I don’t venture out of my smoothie rotation much because we’ve had some pretty bad tasting healthy smoothies over a lifetime, and we’ve been scarred. There was one time I swear we all sat looking at each other chewing our smoothie and getting grassy bits stuck in our teeth and wondering how to politely spit it out somewhere discreet.
Yeah, that was a traumatic experience for all. I’m happy to report that while this chocolate protein smoothie is incredibly healthy and vitamin-rich, it doesn’t taste even remotely like grass. It is delicious!
With no added sweeteners…and all-natural ingredients…this creamy chocolate smoothie has solidified a place as a breakfast (and afternoon snack) staple with my kids slurping it up faster than I can make it. You guys, IT’S SO GOOD!
Because I usually have homemade kefir coming out of my ears, it’s what I use for the base of this smoothie (hello, probiotics!), but almond milk or any other type of milk would work delightfully well here.
As I note in the recipe, the ingredient amounts are very adaptable (and I’ve given some additional insights at the bottom of the post). While I’ve been sticking pretty close to this particular ingredient lineup, I usually don’t stress about measuring anything. A handful of this, a handful of that.
I’ve started freezing all the bananas I can find and stocking up on frozen cherries from Costco because I do not want even five minutes to get in the way of me being able to whip up this chocolate delight at a moment’s notice.
I’ll be honest, when Theresa, a sweet MKC reader sent me the recipe, I wasn’t sure if it would make my soul sing. I mean, it’s a smoothie after all! If I want a chocolate fix, I’m going straight for the cookies. But I knew no one in my family would complain if I found a way to change up our rather boring kefir smoothies that we drink literally every morning for breakfast. Especially if the new and improved smoothie was all-out chocolate.
And wow. I’ve never had a healthy smoothie (or a chocolate smoothie, for that matter) taste this amazing.
A few tips (and notes on ingredients):
-You definitely want to use unsalted cashews for this recipe. You can experiment with other nuts as well, but I’ve found cashews blend amazing well in this smoothie recipe. If you only have salted nuts, try rinsing them really well.
-I have and use a Vitamix. You can see a comparison I did between Vitamix and Blendtec here. I don’t think you necessarily need either of these blenders for this smoothie recipe, but you definitely want to use a blender that can…well…blend pretty darn well so all those magical ingredients combine into the spectacular frothy creaminess that is this chocolate protein smoothie.
-The protein powder I use regularly is Vital Collagens (I get it at Costco). It is unflavored/unsweetened. Any protein powder you like the taste/texture of will work great here. And you can leave out the protein powder, too.
-Frozen bananas and frozen cherries are key for a super cold smoothie vs just a pitcher of chocolate liquid. I haven’t subbed in other fruits (yet). Also, I’ve discovered that frozen cherries on their own make the most amazing snack (totally worth the tummy ache later).
-If you are new to throwing greens in your smoothie, please, please trust and believe me that you literally cannot even remotely taste the spinach. Not at all. That’s a pretty sweet deal considering the pumped up vitamins it adds to this smoothie.
Ok, there you go! More words than you probably needed to read about a smoothie, of all things, but it was necessary for you to fully understand the life changing power of this chocolate smoothie.
If you try any variations, be sure to report back! I’m not brave enough to venture out quite yet because this particular set of ingredients has made me just so very happy.
And I feel so healthy with all those added vitamins that I almost have the energy to run a marathon! Or maybe just continue to walk slowly on the treadmill. Don’t want to go too crazy. 🙂
One Year Ago: Super Soft Chocolate Drop Sugar Cookies {Thin + Crispy Variation Included!}
Two Years Ago: Thai Coconut Milk Grilled Chicken
Three Years Ago: Turkey and Brown Rice Taco Burritos
Four Years Ago: Easy 5-Minute Thai Peanut Sauce
Five Years Ago: Overnight Raised Waffles
Delicious Chocolate Protein Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup kefir or almond milk (see note)
- ¼ to ⅓ cup unsalted cashews
- ⅓ to ½ cup packed spinach
- 1 heaping tablespoon cocoa powder, natural unsweetened or Dutch-process
- 1 scoop, or more protein powder
- 10 to 15 frozen cherries
- ½ to 1 frozen banana
Instructions
- Add the ingredients in the order listed to a high-powered blender and process until smooth, scraping down the sides if needed.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: sent to me by a reader, Theresa (inspired by her sister Annie’s made up smoothie recipe) – thanks, ladies!
I’ve been drinking this smoothie every morning for years. I’m addicted! I use about 5 cashews to cut down on calories, and it’s still so delicious.
Yum!! This is very similar to the one we make almost every day, but cashews sound amazing and I haven’t tried them yet. Because we love chocolate and peanut butter, we always add flax seed and peanut butter to ours. I can’t wait to try this!
We LOVE this smoothie and have it anywhere from breakfast to snacks to dinner with hamburgers (and pretend it’s a chocolate milkshake ha). Yesterday I threw in Orgain chocolate protein powder and WOW. Thanks for this!
Thanks for sharing; I’ll try making it soon. And, I too have a recipe to share, Kindly check it out: https://nextdayboost.com/recipes/recipe-boost-chocoloco-coffee-cooler-recipe-for-glucose-control-and-original/
Just wanted to say a HUGE thanks to you for this recipe! I’m pregnant & very nauseous 24/7 & struggling between cravings & trying to get nutrients in.
This milkshake is not only healthy, but tastes AMAZING! I didn’t have frozen cherries on hand, but will buy some!
And you’re right, you can’t even tell there’s spinach in there.
I will now be making this everyday!!! Thank you! I just added some extra ice cubes and a tad of vanilla extract and it’s heavenly!
My favorite chocolate smoothie recipe! I put frozen coffee in and left out the bananas. It tasted amazing! The texture of the almonds I subbed for cashews was the only indicator it was healthy thanks for a great smoothie recipe!
I can’t find frozen cherries anywhere, but I’ll keep looking. I live in rural CO. I used frozen raspberries and bananas. I used regular ol’ cocoa powder. Maybe the cherries are the secret ingredient? Mine didn’t taste quite as good as I’d hoped. Do I need to use sweetened almond milk? Maybe I eat too many sweets for this to taste sweet…totally possible! I LOVE Mels Kitchen…I tell everyone I know about it! Thank you for your work!
Hey Jennifer, the cherries will be much more naturally sweet than the raspberries – it will make a pretty big difference!
Excellent! Best ever! I used almond milk and Dutch processed cocoa powder. It was so quick and easy to assemble. We love it! I want more healthy smoothies from Mel! Yum yum yum!
Best chocolate smoothie I’ve had TO DATE.
Delicious chocolate cherry flavor, and you can not taste the spinach or cashews.
This was really good! I got the chocolate fudge protein powder from Costco so I used that and didn’t add in the cocoa powder. It takes like a very rich chocolate milkshake!
So good! It reminded me of a Wendy’s frosty, but better. It even worked in my little Hamilton Beach individual cup blender – I soaked the cashews for just a few minutes in boiling water. My Super Target has frozen sweet cherries (store brand). !
It’s so funny, a friend gave me this exact recipe last year! I loved on it all summer but had forgotten about it since then. I’ll have to start making it—I still have frozen cherries in my freezer. I also sometimes add a date (I keep them in my freezer and microwave it right before using so I can take the pit out and so it blends better. It makes it a little sweeter.
The best!!! How have I not tried this. Delish, kids loved it too. Yum
McMullin Orchards in Payson, Utah has the BEST sweet cherries that I freeze every year for smoothies. They also have tart cherries you can buy that are frozen-and added bonus- they ship… they would be perfect for this recipe! Thank you for always providing yummy recipes!
Best smoothie ever!! I have made it many times since you posted the recipe and it’s our family favorite by far! Question- have you tried it with frozen tart cherries? I’ve had a difficult time finding the sweet cherries I bought when you first posted the recipe- I’m sad my Costco doesn’t carry them anymore and the grocery stores are hit and miss. Costco just started carrying frozen “tart cherries” and I’m wondering if you’ve ever tried them? Or if you have a good place to get sweet frozen cherries besides Costco? Thank you Mel!!
That’s a bummer, Haley! I haven’t tried tart cherries, but it’s worth a try – the smoothie will obviously be less sweet so you may need to adjust the sweetener to balance it all out.
I love this recipe! Tastes amazing as written. It’s also surprisingly good substituting vanilla protein powder (and leaving out the cocoa powder). And guess what—I use salted cashews, because I have a Costco sized jar of them, and they work perfectly. Frozen cherries are a revelation.
This is CRAZY good!!! This will be on repeat at my house!! Sending love and prayers that you are having a smooth recovery.
I made this smoothie but with walnuts instead of cashews.. I just roasted the walnuts for 12 mins at 300 degrees. I didn’t use banana but used a organic probiotic chocolate protein powder. This is so delicious. You don’t taste the spinach at all!! I’m a very picky adult eater and this is the first smoothie I ever loved.
Buy a bag of frozen cherries at Costco so worth it
Mel,
This sounds wonderful! Would by chance have the calorie count on it? I can’t wit to try it! Thank you! Elizabeth
I just plugged it in MFP: it’s 689 calories. I used 1.5 scoops of vanilla protein powder.
I just put it into mfp and got 259 calories, 31 g carbohydrate. Made it with 1c unflavored almond milk and plain protein powder. Followed directions exactly. It’s good.
I really wanted to try this but was out of frozen bananas and only had salted cashews, so I had to improvise. I used a non-frozen banana and just added some ice to help it be cold enough, and I just used a scoop of peanut butter in place of the cashews (I make a similar smoothie that uses peanut butter, so I knew it would taste good). The result is a success! I love that this gives me my chocolate shake fix, because I’m allergic to dairy and can’t have shakes (but I love them to death). I love that this also has cherries in it, because the other smoothie I make only uses banana, so I like that there are more fruits in this one. I also don’t have any protein powder so I left that out (I put a few drops of vanilla in it though). I’m excited to try this with all the right ingredients!
Mel, this is SO yummy!!
And your right it doesn’t taste like grass I am actually a little confused at how these ingredients all come together and taste so amazing. I have feed it to all my kids and they have no idea that it’s heathy. Definitely taste like a treat. My daughter is doing six months no sugar and this will help get her through!!
Thanks again for sharing!
So I’ve been making this a lot and I love it but it doesn’t really look like yours… Like an actual chocolate shake. Mine is definitely like a smoothie. You can still see the tiniest bits of banana or whatnot. I’m guessing it’s the blender? I have a ninja, which I consider to be pretty good but I know people rave about Vitamix. I also always have to add more almond milk than in the recipe to make it drinkable. I still really like it but I’m just curious why mine looks so different and needs more liquid.
Hi Alyssa, I’m guessing it does probably boil down to blender and how smooth each brand of blender can get the mixture. Have you tried blending it for longer?
Hi Mel
What do you suggest as a substitute for cashews for someone with a tree nut allergy
I haven’t tried it but you could try a combination of flax and sunflower seeds or something like that?
I decided to try this when you posted it as one of your top recipes for the year because I am feeling all jazzed about eating healthier and this has been a life saver for me! I get to eat a chocolate shake every day and I don’t even feel bad about it! Thank you!
I wanted to say I’ve made this recipe virtually every single day since you posted it! I love it SO much!
Lately I’ve been skipping the protein powder, but do add a bit of Amla powder (an antioxidant; ordered from Amazon). I also use cacao instead of cocoa, and sometimes add riced cauliflower, but only if I’ve only bought it a day or two ago. As it gets older it seems the cauliflower scent is too strong.
Thank you so much for such a winner! It’s a staple for me!
So happy you are still loving this one, Kelly!
An important note for smoothie novices like myself : Peel the banana before freezing it! I froze mine with the peel on, and it was impossible to peel it frozen, and had to cut the skin off with a knife… Otherwise, delicious!! I also did not have frozen cherries, so I used grapes.
Hi Mel, I’m excited to try this smoothie. It sounds so delicious but I do have one question. The only unsalted cashews i could find at my store were raw cashews. Is that what you use?
Yes, those are great!
Thanks so much Mel. I’m drinking the smoothie right now and it is fantastic, as all your recipes are. Thank you for all you do and especially for being so generous with your time and your recipes. You are greatly appreciated.
Which protein powder do you recommend?
I use vital proteins collagen protein powder (unflavored).
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe! My 4yr old will not let a single veggie pass his lips, but he loves this smoothie! I have tried so many hidden vegetable smoothies but this is the only one. He even watches me add the spinach and still asks for more. We usually double the recipe for our family of 4. (Side note: we use dairy milk, no protein powder (yet), and a little drizzle of pure maple syrup)
I just made this using 1/2 banana milk instead of frozen banana because it’s what I had in hand and cacao powder instead of cocoa just to up nutrients and my 3 year old is currently drinking it and asking if I’m giving him marshmallows and chocolate for breakfast that’s a win in my book!!
This is sooooo good!! I was nervous about spending the money on unsalted cashews because I was skeptical I would like this smoothie. But the allure of getting my chocolate and cherry fix in a healthy smoothie instead of Cherry Garcia hooked me, so I tried it. It really is delish! The cashews blended completely smooth, which I was worried about. I have had it for breakfast all week and I’m still not sick of it. Thanks again, Mel! You have not let me down once. Your recipes are amazing!!!
Yay! So happy to hear it, Lisa!
Hi Mel! The last time I ate fresh cherries I had the worst stomach ache of my life. I saw your stomach ache comment about eating frozen cherries and was wondering if this is a common thing. Does it always happen to you? I love cherries but I’m afraid to eat them now 🙁
I think it really depends on the person – my husband and kids never get tummy aches from cherries but every once in a while, I do. I think my stomach is just more prone to feeling a bit upset after eating them. Having said that, I’ve never felt tummy sick after this smoothie so for me, it’s more when I eat cherries plain.
So good! I used raw almonds and left out the protein powder. I also used way more spinach.
The whole family loved this. Vital Collagens is the only protein I will use as I hate all sweeteners. It was a great to change it up as they get burnt out on a smoothie recipes. These are some of our favorites.
https://www.thenaturalnurturer.com/blog/green-grinch-smoothies
http://www.nutritiouseats.com/wild-blueberry-coconut-smoothie/
(I add spinach to this one so it is not as pretty as the picture but still tastes great.)
Hey Mel! This smoothie has been so yummy! Thank you. Question – are your recipes syncing with the Prepear app? I keep going to find the latest there and I can’t find them. Is there a way to follow all your new recipes there? Thank you!!!
Hey Michelle! They should be! Let me do some digging and see what’s going on…
My husband is allergic to cashews. What would you recommend for a replacement?
I think almonds would make a good substitute (maybe soaked overnight to help them blend well?)
Finally got around to making this and I’m glad I did. Used chocolate protein powder. I felt like I was drinking from the river of Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. So much rich and chocolaty goodness. Wow! And you’re right, it totally doesn’t taste like grass–not a thing! Thanks for the recipe. I definitely think I can keep the chocolate craving in check with this one!
I love this smoothie! But I have to up the cherries because the cherry+chocolate combo is amazing. Thanks for sharing this goodness!
This is a game changer!! I would easily take this over a bowl of chocolate ice cream (I really enjoy chocolate ice cream). I made it with whole milk since that is what I had on hand.
I’ve been enjoying this for the past couple of weeks since you posted it but today I used ideal fit chocolate coconut protein powder. Oh my goodness! Try it now!
My sister just told me the same thing tonight. Yum!
I used whole milk (because it’s what I had) and omitted the protein powder (because it’s what I didn’t have). Turned out great, especially when paired with your oatmeal applesauce muffins! Thanks for giving me a healthy breakfast option!
Thanks, Amy!
SO SO yummy! Looks like I’m keeping these ingredients on hand!
Yesss!
This is DELICIOUS!! We love smoothies at our house, and this one is going in the rotation. My toddler tried it, and said, “Yum! I like chocolate milk!”
Haha, can’t argue with that reaction!! So cute!
This is absolutely delicious! I made it without the protein powder since that isn’t something I keep on hand, and I used a whole banana to make it extra thick and creamy. I’ve also substituted frozen blueberries for the cherries when my grocery store ran out of frozen cherries (gasp!), and it’s still delicious. The blueberries don’t change the flavor or texture, but they do change the color a bit. The cherries keep the smoothie a chocolatey brown color, while the blueberries darken it into a purplish/dark grey color. Not quite as appetizing to look at, but still very tasty!
Thanks, Margo! Glad to know blueberries make a great sub for the cherries!
I love this!! Absolutely delicious chocolatey goodness. I left out the protein powder since it’s not something I keep on hand. I used the full 15 cherries and a whole banana and it was still nice and thick and creamy. This is my new go to smoothie! Also, in a pinch, when my grocery store was out of frozen cherries, I substituted a couple of handfuls of frozen blueberries. Using blueberries doesn’t change the flavor or texture, but it does change the color of the smoothie. Rather than turning out a nice chocolatey brown, it turns a kind of purplish/dark grey. Not nearly as pretty to look at, but still very, very yummy!
So I feel really dumb asking this, especially since I’ve been cooking homemade meals for my family for over 11 years, but what is kefir?
Hey Chantel, that’s not a dumb question! It sounds odd but kefir is a fermented milk drink (ends up being like thin yogurt) that has tons of healthy probiotics and bacteria that’s really good for gut health. I have a post about it here: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/lets-talk-all-about-milk-kefir/
Reporting back I love this so much I ordered a 6-at-a-time cherry pitter from Amazon so that when it’s cherry season I can pit and freeze my own cherries. I’ve never had those frozen before. Yum!! They are amazing in this smoothie.
Haha. Love this! I freeze cherries in the summer, too, and they are divine. One tip: I freeze the pitted cherries in a single layer on a baking tray before popping them in freezer bags (or food saver bags).
I’ve made this a few times now, and I LOVE it. It actually keeps me full! Do you think it would work to add in some iced coffee? I love the smoothie, but I’m a little too full to drink my coffee along with it. My tummy feels all sloshy.
I’m sure you could try!
Wow! My kids and I just had this for a snack. I used chocolate almond milk, and the rest of the ingredients were the same. It was delicious!! You can’t even taste the spinach, cherries, or cashews- pretty much just chocolate and banana! Thank you for the recipe!