Smoothies are a delicious and easy way to have a nutritious breakfast QUICK. Today we’re giving you a guide on how to make 30 smoothie freezer packs, with 5 different smoothie recipes, using one shopping list, that’s budget-friendly and can be prepped in under an hour! They’re paleo, vegan and will keep you satisfied until lunch!
30 Budget-Friendly Smoothie Freezer Packs
Smoothie freezer packs are so popular right now! You can order them via subscription or purchase them by the pack at most stores. We’ve tried some, and enjoyed a few, but ultimately they are SO expensive. So today we’re bringing you the best of both worlds: a convenient and delicious breakfast smoothie that you can make-ahead to grab and go that WON’T break the bank.
Let’s break down the math:
One month’s worth of smoothie subscriptions can cost you about $240! Yes, there is definitely a convenience factor, but if you make your own, you control the ingredients and sweetness and it is SO much more affordable. Our 30 days worth of smoothie packs came in at a minuscule: $46.33!!! Or about $1.50 per smoothie! And we timed ourselves making the smoothie packs and can confidently say it should take you no more than 1 hour, or less, to put them all together.
We wanted to use one shopping list interchanging the ingredients as much as possible when putting together these recipes. We came up with 5 smoothies that are all their own flavor, while still using some of the same ingredients. We’ve made a SHOPPING LIST that you can find below, as well as in the notes of the recipe.
It was also important that we kept the ingredients as common as possible so they’re easy to find. We’ve offered a few substitutions in the recipe for ingredients that are less common, like cacao nibs. And while we tend to like a sweeter smoothie, we know some people would prefer to keep it as low sugar as possible, so sweetness is optional for most (except the cacao ones, which we definitely feel that the bitterness needs to be countered). You can use maple syrup, honey, or stevia (use the amount suggested on your brand) to sweeten your smoothie.
Tips to Make and Use Smoothie Packs
- Where should I shop? We recommend purchasing the fruit at a large box store that offers organic frozen fruits, like Costco or BJ’s, or a place like Trader’s Joes (this is where we purchased some of our ingredients). Amazon Fresh also has some great options for bulk fruit.
- How Do I Make Smoothie Freezer Packs? Simply place all the specified ingredients, except the milk, inside a plastic bag (or better yet, a reusable bag) and freeze until ready to use, up to one month.
- Can You Freeze a Smoothie for Later? We do not recommend blending the smoothie too far in advance. Smoothies are best consumed immediately.
- Have Some Leftover Smoothie? We pour any leftover smoothie into a popsicle mold and enjoy later as a frozen treat. Kids love this! Though frozen smoothie pops are best consumed within a few days of making.
- Items we love for smoothie packs:
- Reusable Silicone Bags
- High-Speed Blender
- Bag Opener (to fill your packs)
- Labels/Sharpies to label/date!
Want more make-ahead smoothie freezer packs? Check out the whole series here:
- Anti-Inflammatory Smoothie Freezer Pack
- Antioxidant Smoothie Freezer Pack
- Fiber Smoothie Freezer Pack
- Detox Smoothie Freezer Pack
Complete Shopping List (copy and paste to your phone’s notes/email to yourself):
- 72 ounces frozen mixed berries
- 42 ounces tropical mixed fruit (see note)
- 30 ounces frozen spinach
- 24 ounces frozen cauliflower
- 21 bananas
- 4 ounces Cocoa powder or Cacao nibs (we used a mix of both, but you can choose just one)
- 8 ounces honey or maple syrup (optional, but we like it with it)
- 6 oz mixed seeds of choice (pumpkin, sunflower, chia, flax)
- 4 ounces sliced almonds
- mint extract or fresh mint bunch
VIDEO:
30 Budget Friendly Smoothies
Ingredients
For Tropical Smoothie (make 6 each):
- 1 cup (5 ounces) frozen tropical fruit mix
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) frozen cauliflower
- 1/2 banana, sliced
- 1 tablespoon mixed seeds
- 1 tablespoon sweetener of choice (honey, maple syrup or other)
- For blending: 1-1/2 cups coconut milk
For Very Berry Smoothie (make 6 each):
- 1 cup (5 ounces) frozen mixed berries
- 1/2 banana, sliced
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
- 1 tablespoon sweetener of choice (honey, maple syrup or other)
- For blending: 1-1/2 cups almond milk
For Green Smoothie (make 6 each):
- 1 cup (5 ounces) frozen spinach
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) frozen tropical fruit mix
- 1/2 banana, sliced
- 1/4 cup mixed seeds
- For blending: 1 cup almond milk
For Chocolate Mint (make 6 each):
- 1 banana, sliced
- 1 cup (5 ounces) frozen mixed berries
- 1 tablespoon cacao powder
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- Drop of mint extract or small handful of fresh mint
- For blending: 1 cup almond milk
For Chocolate Coconut (make 6 each):
- 1 banana, sliced
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) frozen mixed berries
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) frozen cauliflower florets
- 2 tablespoons cacao powder
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- For blending: 1 cup coconut milk
Directions
To Make Smoothie Freezer Packs:
- For each individual smoothie flavor place all components except for almond/coconut milk in plastic bag and flatten and press any air out of the bag. You can use a straw to suck the air out, just be careful not to do this if you're using any cacao powder.
- Repeat this recipe for a total of 6 smoothies per flavor. Place in the freezer until ready to use.
To Blend Smoothies:
- Combine all ingredients, including specified milk, in a high speed blender.
- Blend until creamy, adding additional almond milk if necessary.
Recipe Notes
- If the tropical mixed fruit at your store has banana included skip it and instead get 16 ounces mango, 16 ounces pineapple and 16 ounces strawberry.
- Freezer packs will last around one month. After significant period of time of longer than a month the bananas start to get brown. That's when you'll know it's time to use them up!
Shopping List:
- 72 ounces frozen mixed berries
- 42 ounces tropical mixed fruit (see note)
- 30 ounces frozen spinach
- 24 ounces frozen cauliflower
- 21 bananas
- 4 ounces cocoa / cacao powder or cacao nibs (we used a mix of cacao powder and nibs, but feel free to pick one)
- 8 ounces honey or maple syrup (optional, but we like it with it)
- 6 oz mixed seeds of choice (pumpkin, sunflower, chia, flax, etc.)
- 4 ounces sliced almonds
- mint extract or fresh mint bunch
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25 comments on “30 Smoothie Freezer Packs (Budget-Friendly)”
Does avocado freeze ok ? (Chocolate mint smoothie). Love this idea!!
We actually removed it because I didn’t love avocado in smoothies — fixed now, but for reference, yes it freezes great.
Love these!! I also love the graphic , might have to start Pinterest! Thank you for organizing this, it really is helpful.
You will love Pinterest!
Lexi! I don’t know how this popped up on my feed but so glad it did. Great job so thorough. Costco shopping trip this friday!!! Thank you very much.
I love making homemade smoothie packs and haven’t done so in awhile…need to do this again!! SO convenient to have on hand 🙂
Thank you great recipe ideas. You are wise.. Blessings karen
Question, can you use Fresh spinach or kale instead of frozen ?
🤔
Yes!
How long are they good in the freezer?
1 month!
Hi Lexi – quick question! I’m allergic to bananas. Can I substitute cauliflower?
Hi Lexi – great ideas and I am so excited to try these. Is there a trick to freezing bananas and not having them go brown? Mine get all brown and gross .
Thanks
They shouldn’t brown after 1 month, but if it is, don’t cut up the banana and peel it and place it whole in the bag.
Thank you so much for this!! I have two girls (10 & 6) who always want smoothies. This helps me be better prepared rather than just have huge bags of berries and almond milk.
Do you use ground chia seeds or whole?
Are the measurements given in weight or in volume? I ask because it says to use 1/4 cup of mixed seeds in 1 recipe and then to use 1 tablespoon mized seeds in another recipe, and repeating those 2 recipes each 6 times does not seem to equal the 6 oz total we need to buy at outlined in the shopping list. Same with the 1 cup of mixed fruit equalling 5 ounces not matching up. So then I wondered if it would fit if you were referring to weight, so now I’m wondering if this whole recipe is broken down by weight and I need to know. If so, is all of it listed in weight, or is the 1 tablespoons and such simply volume (which is confusing BTW). I plan to go shopping soon and would really need to know the answer as soon as possible so I know to buy a food scale. Thank you, in advance.
Hi Natalie. We did our best to make this post as clear as possible by including both weight and volume measurement. This way you could buy the correct amount of frozen fruit and other things you needed at the store yourself by looking at the amount of product in each package and deciding how many you need, since each brand will vary. You do not need a scale to measure out each smoothie pack, but we gave the option in case anybody wanted to use one while measuring out each smoothie pack. As for the mixed seeds, depending on which type you use you may have a little left over.
Thank you! One last quick question (sorry!): so is the grocery list in volume or weight?
It is in volume because that is what packages use! But again, you don’t need to use the volume measurements at home, that is why we gave both for the recipes.
Can you freeze honey or maple syrup for these? My honey and maple syrup get gooey and stick to the bag making it kind of messing with the protein powder. Any ideas on how to keep it from sticking?
Hi Cristina. Try placing the honey / maple syrup in last in the bag. In our experience it stuck to the food, not the bag. If you don’t want to do this, you could always leave it out and add it in when making.
I know it has been a while since this was posted, but I wanted to say that these are all really tasty! I was worried because I made the first one with leftover sweetened almond milk that I had used for a cake and it was gross. But they were all amazing with unsweetened. I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk for the recipes called for almond, as I think it gives it a little extra flavor. I also add 1/4 to 1/2 cup more liquid to each recipe because it gives me a texture I prefer. I agree that the honey tended to stick to the bag for me but when I made a conscientious effort to pour it atop food it worked a lot better. Overall, this is now my go-to meal prep and I’m much more consistent about eating breakfast now that these are in my freezer. Thank you so much!
So glad!!! Thank you for the feedback!
great ideas..suggestions..instead of adding the banana or the honey in the bag put a note on the outside of the bag to add these ingredients at the time of blending when the liquids are added..