This creamy, chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie takes only a few minutes to prepare and makes a quick breakfast, mid-day snack or post-exercise recovery meal.

School is back in session in many districts, and that has me seeing more of my clients struggle to get a healthy breakfast. I can understand that. Mornings are busy as it is, so when you add in getting kids ready and out the door, it just adds to the chaos.

Busy or not, though, starting a day with a healthy breakfast is important. The key is finding something that you can make and eat quickly, so you can be on your way. That’s where smoothies come in.

Smoothies For Breakfast

If morning time is tight, consider making a smoothie. A smoothie – made right – provides the carbohydrates you need for energy, the protein needed to build and repair body tissues and some fat to add flavor and to help keep you full until your next meal.

To make a balanced smoothie, you need to include a combination of ingredients. That supply a combination of nutrients. The portion size of each ingredient included matters, too.  I’ve written a ton of information about this topic. If you need help understand what those ingredients are, check out my blog post on how to build a balanced smoothie. It will help you understand why a variety of nutrients are important. That post also gives a long list of different carbohydrates, proteins and fats that work well and taste good blended into a smoothie.

For this post, I’m sharing one of my favorite quick and delicious smoothie recipes. This chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie has only five ingredients, includes all three of the macronutrients, as well as a variety of vitamins and minerals.

How To Make A Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

To make this smoothie, you’ll need milk, vanilla flavored Greek yogurt, cocoa powder, peanut butter and ½ of a banana. Using the appropriate amount of each ingredient is what makes it balanced. It’s also what makes it taste good.

Put all the ingredients in a blender with some ice and process until it is smooth and creamy. The amount of ice that you add will determine the thickness of the smoothie. I suggest starting with ~1 cup of ice. Once blended, you can check the consistency and decide if you want to add more.

Calories, Protein and Nutrition Facts

This chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie has 250 calories, 36 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 17 grams of protein and 6 grams of fat. It also provides 20% of the daily value for calcium, 6% of the daily value for vitamin D and 10%  of the daily value for potassium. I share more nutrition information – like cholesterol, sodium and sugars – in the nutrition card below.

This smoothie takes just a few minutes to make and you can drink it as you’re running around getting yourself and everyone ready in the morning. Or, put it in a cup and take it with you. It also makes a great post-exercise recovery meal or a sweet snack in the evening.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

This creamy, chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie takes only a few minutes to prepare and makes a great quick breakfast, mid-day snack or post-exercise recovery meal.

Author: Heather Mangieri, RDN, CSSD

Ingredients

• 4 ounces skim milk
• 4 ounces vanilla Greek yogurt, nonfat
• 2 tsp cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 2 tsp peanut butter
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2- 1 cup ice

Instructions

• Add all ingredients to a blender and process until smooth. Enjoy

Notes

• Recipe Makes: 1 smoothie
• Serving Size: 1 smoothie
• Servings Per Recipe: 1

 

• Nutrition Facts: 250 calories, 36 g carbohydrates, 4 g fiber, 24 g sugars, 17 g protein,6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 140 mg sodium, 20% DV calcium, 6% DV vitamin D, 10% DV potassium

 

• Meal Planning Servings: 2.5 CHO; 2 PRO; 1 FAT

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?  Tag @heathermangieri  on Instagram and hashtag it #HeatherMangieriNutrition to all recipes. Or, Pin it on Pinterest for later!

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