Have you ever wondered what order you should add your smoothie ingredients in? Or whether you might be doing it wrong?
You may be surprised to know that there is in fact an optimal smoothie ingredients order. It’s a simple system that’ll ensure you’re not left with lumpy bits at the end or protein powder stuck to the sides.
In this article – learn how to layer smoothie ingredients for perfectly blended beverages every single time.
The order in which you add ingredients into a blender can make a huge difference to the result. It might seem like it doesn’t matter – surely everything just gets mixed together after all? But in reality, the way you layer ingredients does matter.
If you’ve ever made a workout smoothie and then found most of your protein powder stuck to the side, you’ll know what I mean. Adding it at the wrong time means it doesn’t get blended properly and ends up being wasted. It affects the taste, texture, and nutritional value.
You might also like… 7 Healthy Smoothie Add-ins for Boosting Nutrition.
The same goes for hard ingredients. If you’ve got a super-powerful blender like a Blendtec or Vitamix, then everything gets pulverised equally. But average blenders like a Nutribullet or Ninja sometimes struggle with frozen fruit, carrots, ice, and other dense ingredients.
But the order you add them in can help…
The Best Order for Smoothie Ingredients
Here’s the optimal order for adding smoothie ingredients into your blender…
- Liquids – add these first to prevent subsequent ingredients from sticking to the sides of your blender.
- Powders – these come next so that they get coated in the liquid.
- Hard fruits and veggies, leafy ingredients, or nuts and seeds – if your blender blades are at the bottom* then add these next so that they get pulverised first.
- Soft fruits or veggies – these are the final layer to be added since they blend easily.
* Most Blendtec, Vitamix and Ninja blenders have their blades at the bottom of the jug, so this will be the optimal order.
However, if you’re using a Nutribullet or compact Ninja model, then you’ll be attaching the blades to the top before flipping it over to blend. In these cases, still add the liquids and powders first, but then add the soft ingredients followed by hard last. This will ensure that the hard ingredients are nearest the blades and get fully blended.
Following this approach will ensure that all the ingredients playing together nicely. So you can enjoy your silky smooth and nutrient packed smoothie or shake!
You might also like… How To Make Smoothies Sweeter The Healthy Way.
FAQs
You should add your liquids first, then supplement powders, followed by hard fruits and veggies, leafy greens, and lastly soft fruits.
In a Ninja blender with the blades at the bottom, start with liquids, then supplement powders, hard fruits and veggies, leafy greens, and lastly soft fruits. However, with a compact Ninja model where the blades are on the top, you should reverse this order.
With a Nutribullet blender, you should add the liquids, then supplements, soft fruits and veggies, then hard ones last (to ensure they get fully blended).
In a Vitamix blender with the blades at the bottom, start with liquids, followed by supplement powders, then hard fruits and veggies, leafy greens, and lastly soft fruits.
