A simple Cherry Smoothie recipe that makes a delicious vegan drink with fresh cherries and almond milk – and can be made with or without banana. It’s quick to blend up for a healthy breakfast, and sweet enough to enjoy as an afternoon snack or light dessert. Here you’ll find step-by-step instructions and photos to prepare a refreshing and nutritious Banana Cherry smoothie from scratch.
About Cherry Smoothie
This healthy fruit smoothie recipe is a delicious way to use fresh cherries when they are in season. Not only are these vibrant fruits wonderfully tasty, they also happen to be very healthy!
Cherries are packed full of antioxidants, fibre, potassium, and vitamin C – and they are also very low in calories. When blended, versus juiced, cherries retain more of these nutrients. And because fresh cherries are naturally sweet, there’s no need to add more sugar!
For a the sweetest and most terrifically thick smoothie, I suggest that you add a banana to the cherry smoothie recipe. This is personally my favorite way to make the smoothie. But feel free to leave out the banana – whatever you prefer!
I’ve also made this easy recipe with almond milk for a dairy-free vegan drink. It is therefore a protein-rich smoothie that will fill you up without being too heavy, and is great to enjoy for breakfast, a snack, or healthy dessert.
Blend up a refreshing fruit smoothie with cherries anytime you need a sweet and healthy snack!
How to make Cherry Smoothie
1. First rinse ¾ cup of fresh sweet cherries (100 grams) in water for a minute or so.
Then soak the cherries in a bowl of water with ½ tablespoon of regular vinegar or apple cider vinegar for 15 to 20 minutes. This is done to get rid of pesticides.
However, if you’ve used organic cherries you can simply thoroughly rinse the cherries.
2. If you’ve soaked the cherries, after 20 minutes rinse cherries again a couple of times under fresh water. Gently dry the cherries on a kitchen towel.
Then remove the stems, pit the cherries and discard the seeds. Roughly chop the cherries, if you like.
3. Now add the cherries to a blender.
4. Then add 1 large peeled and chopped banana. Pour in ½ cup of almond milk.
5. Add ¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract.
6. Blend until smooth.
7. Pour the cherry smoothie into a tall glass and serve right away.
FAQs
Yes you can. Frozen cherries will make the smoothie thicker, so you might need to add a splash more almond milk if you prefer a thinner consistency.
Feel free to leave out the banana if you want, and instead add more cherries.
Make a thicker smoothie by using frozen cherries, as mentioned above. You can also slice and freeze the banana for an hour before blending to make the thickest smoothie recipe.
After blending, add a splash more almond milk and blend again. Repeat until the smoothie consistency is as thin as you like.
Substitute almond milk with thin coconut milk for a tropical taste. You also can use whole or low fat dairy milk, if you like.
As-is this cherry smoothie recipe makes one large serving. It can easily be doubled or tripled for a larger portion or more servings.
More Smoothies To Try!
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Cherry Smoothie | Banana Cherry Smoothie
Ingredients
- ¾ cup cherries – 100 grams, fresh and sweet tasting
- 1 banana – large
- ½ cup Almond Milk or lite coconut milk or water
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract – optional
Instructions
- Rinse cherries in water first for a couple of times. Then soak cherries in a bowl of water for 15 to 20 minutes in which ½ tablespoon white vinegar or apple cider vinegar is added. This is done to get rid of pesticides.
- Later rinse cherries again a couple of times with fresh water. Drain all the water. Then remove the stems.
- Pit the cherries and discard the seeds. You can chop the cherries roughly if you want. Add the cherries in a blender.
- Add 1 large chopped banana. Pour almond milk. You can also use lite coconut milk or thin coconut milk.
- Add the vanilla extract.
- Blend till fine and smooth.
- Pour in a glass and serve Cherry Smoothie straight away.
Notes
- Choose to make the smoothie with sweeter cherries. They should not taste sour or tart.
- Opt to make the smoothie with any plant based milk of your choice.
- You could add your preferred sweetener if you prefer.
- Frozen cherries also work well in the recipe. Please do not use canned, tinned or dried cherries to make this smoothie.
- Scale the recipe up to make for more servings.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Cherry Smoothie recipe from the archives, originally published in March 2018 has been updated and republished on January 2023.
