---
title: How to Make Delicious Smoothies Without Fruit
description: It’s possible to make tempting and satisfying fruit-free smoothies. All you need is a high-performance blender and these ingredients.
---

[Beverage](https://blog.hamiltonbeachcommercial.com/beverage)

# [How to Make Delicious Smoothies Without Fruit](https://blog.hamiltonbeachcommercial.com/beverage/how-to-make-delicious-smoothies-without-fruit)

 Written by [Hamilton Beach Commercial](https://blog.hamiltonbeachcommercial.com/beverage/author/hamilton-beach-commercial) | August 24, 2017 at 2:26 PM

Dr. Thomas Campbell remembers how, in his medical-school days, he would make up for his poor eating habits by drinking a kale smoothie: “I put about 6 cups of raw, cleaned kale tightly packed in a mixer along with a little water and nothing else and made the ultimate green smoothie,” [he recalls](http://nutritionstudies.org/are-smoothies-good-or-bad/). It was, unsurprisingly, awful: “It was like a grassy tasting slime, or perhaps cow cud.”

Adding fruit would have solved the flavor problem, but that can turn a veggie smoothie into a high-sugar beverage, notes Campbell, the medical director of the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. A typical smoothie with spinach, strawberries, blueberries, a banana and orange juice might include 32 grams of sugar, he calculates.

Many sugar-conscious consumers want smoothies with no fruit at all. What’s the secret to offering healthy, fruit-free smoothies that *don’t* taste like a cow’s breakfast? We’ll tell you.

**Magical ingredients for delicious no-fruit smoothies**

Smoothie creators have perfected the art of surreptitiously slipping vegetables into the mix. Add a little cauliflower in with your strawberries, and no one will know. A handful of raspberries will hide the earthiness of spinach or kale. And a single ripe banana adds the sweetness and creamy texture that make a smoothie satisfying.

This alchemy gets a lot tougher when no fruit is involved. But it’s not impossible! Here are some key ingredients for making satisfying, delicious and fruit-free smoothies. All you need is a [high-performance blender](http://www.hamiltonbeachcommercial.com/en/high-performance-blenders.html).

 

**How to add creaminess to fruit-free smoothies**

- **Cauliflower** is an innocuous vegetable that adds substance and fiber, but almost no taste, to a veggie smoothie. Some chefs recommend steaming it first; others prefer to keep it raw and freeze it. 

- **Almond butter** or **sunflower butter** are healthful additions that thicken a smoothie’s consistency. 

- Technically, **avocado** is a fruit — [a berry, to be exact.](https://www.avocadocentral.com/nutrition/avocado-nutrition-health-facts-label/avocados-and-sugar) But with virtually no sugar and lots of unsaturated fat, we think it’s fair to make an exception for avocados and add them to any fruit-free smoothie. Avocados can replace the creamy mouthfeel contributed by dairy. 

- **Non-dairy milks**, like almond or cashew milk, are a good choice for the liquid base.

 

**How to add sweetness to fruit-free smoothies**

- **Cooked sweet potato** is a luscious smoothie ingredient that adds abundant vitamin A, fiber and potassium. Whole Foods Market has [a fruit-free smoothie recipe](http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/sweet-potato-coconut-smoothie) with sweet potato, coconut milk, honey and nutmeg.

- Another sweet and satisfying veggie is **roasted butternut squash**, which pairs beautifully with flavors like cinnamon and vanilla. 

- **Coconut** is a powerful ingredient in no-fruit smoothies, because it adds both creaminess and a hint of sweetness. It’s on-trend, too; check out the [one-ingredient smoothie](http://www.bonappetit.com/story/atla-coconut-licuado) at Atla in New York City, which blends fresh coconut meat and water.

 

**How to add flavor to fruit-free smoothies**

Serious Eats has [some good advice](http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2013/08/protips-smoothies-without-recipes-better-texture-ingredients-equipment-advice.html) for creating successful all-veggie smoothies: “embrace the greenness and balance the flavors as you would with a juice.” Come up with a list of ingredients that would make a good salad or soup, then blend them together with a little salt and flavor boosters like these:

- The zing of **lemon juice** counteracts the earthiness of raw greens. Lime juice, too, can be delicious.

- **Ginger**’s refreshing, piquant taste hits a high note in any fruit-free smoothie. 

- **Tahini**, the ground sesame paste that’s most often associated with hummus, is a surprisingly satisfying addition to smoothies. It has a strong taste on its own, “but when placed alongside other smoothie ingredients, tahini acts like the perfect party guest: it mixes well without drawing any undue attention to itself,” [Epicurious says](http://www.epicurious.com/recipes-menus/trick-to-creamier-healthier-smoothies-tahini-article).

- **Fresh mint** overpowers all kinds of flavors (in a perfectly polite way). We’re fascinated by MindBodyGreen’s [Mint Chocolate Chip Smoothie](https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-28519/you-dont-need-fruit-in-your-smoothie-weve-got-3-recipes-to-prove-it.html), which combines cacao powder, almond milk and mint leaves with greens. It’s not quite a milkshake, but it sounds pretty good.

*What’s your secret to creating crowd-pleasing, fruit-free smoothies? [Share your smoothie recipe](http://www.hamiltonbeachcommercial.com/en/recipe-submission.html) and we may feature it in a future post.*

 

[View full post](https://blog.hamiltonbeachcommercial.com/beverage/how-to-make-delicious-smoothies-without-fruit)

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