A powerful yet heavenly combination of sweet, wholesome banana and tart, sweet-sour cherry, our cherry banana smoothie recipe is a brilliant way to fuel yourself for the busy day ahead.
Cherry Banana Smoothie Recipe
There’s a reason cherries are such a sought-after fruit and feature in so many desserts. Their strong, sweet, and slightly sour flavor profile never fails to wake up the tastebuds.
Blended with the soft, fibrous, and filling texture of mildly sweet banana and coconut milk, helping to balance the tartness of the cherries, this truly is a smoothie that packs a nutrient-loaded punch.
Ingredients
This is such a simple recipe to prepare, and great for busy mornings when you don’t have a lot of time. All you need are the following:
- Coconut Milk*, 200ml (just under 1 cup)
- Frozen Cherries, 300 grams (about 10.5 oz or about 2 1/4 cup)
- Banana, 1 medium-large
*Use coconut milk from a carton or a bottle (not the canned coconut milk). You can also use coconut water instead.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Using frozen cherries means this smoothie will naturally have an icy cool freshness to it.
Be sure to cut up your banana to help your blender or food processor along. Add your banana first and your cherries on top. Your coconut milk, as it is a liquid, will naturally pool at the bottom and help the banana blend.
It’s not hard to tell where this super smoothie gets its vivid red color from. Cherries are renowned for their strong, deep red hues, helping this smoothie develop a beautiful and deep red color that cries out to be sipped and slurped!
With your three ingredients in your blender or food processor, proceed to give them a good blend. We blend the mixture for up to a minute, but will also sometimes use the preset smoothie setting on the Vitamix.
Be sure to double-check your machine’s preferences for the best results. As the cherries used in this recipe are frozen and banana has a thick texture, you may need to help them along, depending on how powerful your blades are. The Vitamix, for example, comes with a tamper that you can use to get things moving.
Once blended, feast your eyes on the rich, thick smoothie mixture, enticing you to try it with its deep red color.
Once you’re good to go, get your glasses, cups, or on-the-go flask, and let that deep red goodness snake it’s way all the way up to the rim!
Prepare yourself for a powerful, nutrient-filled hit from the moment this smoothie touches your lips. Cherry and banana, quite simply, are one of the power couples of the smoothie world.
If this is a pour-and-go smoothie, enjoy it in the car, during your commute, or wherever you are heading to.
If, however, time is on your side, we like to dip in some reusable metal straws and sit back to truly take in the awe, power, and sweet, sour, and tart flavor of this wonderful smoothie.
Cherry Banana Smoothie Recipe Variations
Utilizing only three ingredients, this is very much a smoothie that lives by the mantra of ‘minimum effort, maximum flavor.’ Due to this, there is also plenty of room to experiment and expand on the recipe.
If you want to mix things up and see where else this recipe can go, give some of these variations a try:
- Substitutes – Use almond milk instead of coconut. Cherries and almonds are a great flavor match! You can also use frozen bananas and fresh cherries. As long as there’s a frozen fruit in the smoothie, it will bring that coolness without having to add ice to the smoothie. Just make sure to add the fresh fruit closer to the blender blades and then the frozen fruit so that it’s easier on your blender!
- Powders – If you want this smoothie for lunch or dinner rather than as a snack, you can add protein powders for the extra calories and nutrition.
- Enhance creaminess – You can add greek yogurt if you want to make this smoothie creamier or coconut yogurt if you want to make it creamier and enhance the coconut flavors at the same time.
- Toppings – Chocolate and cherry are a well-known heavenly pairing so if you want to enhance the flavor of this smoothie even more and treat yourself, add some chocolate shavings or chocolate syrup on top.
The most important thing to remember, however, is to have fun with these recipes. Smoothies are so versatile, and you can constantly add to, take from, and reinvent recipes to cater to your personal tastes.
What blender did we use for this banana cherry smoothie?
We used the Vitamix A2500i, a powerful blender that is ideal for handling the frozen fruit used in this recipe.
More Banana Smoothie Recipes
There is no denying that banana and cherry might quite the pairing. However, there are so many other options out there when it comes to using bananas in a wide range of smoothies.
If you enjoyed this smoothie and are eager to try a few more, give some of these banana-themed smoothie recipes a try sometime:
Cherry Banana Smoothie Recipe Card
Cherry Banana Smoothie
Ingredients
- Coconut Milk*, 200ml (just under 1 cup)
- Frozen Cherries, 300 grams (about 10.5 oz or about 2 1/4 cup)
- Banana, 1 medium-large
Instructions
- Add the fresh banana, frozen cherries, and coconut milk to the blender. Always add the fresh fruit closer to the blender blade, and then your frozen fruit furthest away from the blade.
- Once your ingredients are in, give them a good blend. We generally blend for about a minute on our Vitamix, but you can also use the preset smoothie setting on your blender (if you have one).
Notes
*Use coconut milk from a carton or a bottle (not the canned coconut milk). The canned coconut milk is too rich for this smoothie, and the coconut will overpower all other flavors. You can also use coconut water instead.