A smoothie that tastes like dessert but is good for you too?! YES! This creamy chia smoothie filled with rich peanut butter and sweet chocolate for a decadent and refreshing summertime treat.
I’ve had something against smoothies for all of my adult life. If someone were to offer me a smoothie or tell me about some amazing smoothie recipe, I’d likely respond with an unenthusiastic “Meh.” I don’t like to drink my calories. Some kombucha or a little sweetener in my coffee is about as far as I’d normally go.
Smoothies are like drinks with all kinds of food shoved into them, so they tend to have lots of calories.
What I failed to realize is that drinking a smoothie is often akin to drinking a meal. Which makes sense, with all that food being shoved in there.
We spent another weekend at this lovely place last month. (Go there.) Anyhow, when someone makes you breakfast, even if it happens to be a B&B innkeeper, you eat that breakfast.
So when breakfast opened up with a smoothie as the first course, I went ahead and drank it, thinking not only was I being polite, but, ya know, also “What the hell? I’m on vacation.” I felt like Phoebe on that episode of Friends where she gets drunk on mimosas over breakfast because she’s on vacation.
Anyway, I drank a little glass of smoothie. After that I was full. Seriously. I nearly broke my rule of having to eat breakfast when served to me, because after that smoothie I just didn’t think I’d be able to handle pancakes. I did though … I mean, I was on vacation and all.
Since then I’ve been making smoothies every weekend. Breakfast, snack, pre-workout, post-workout. Whatever the occasion happens to be, a smoothie fills me way up.
After drinking this chia smoothie, which was my first homemade smoothie I walked around the house shouting, “I’m full! I can’t believe it! I just drank a smoothie and I’m full!!” (My boyfriend pointed out that I was doing this.)
So I’ll probably have lots of smoothie recipes coming your way this summer. You can thank Leslie from Santosha for that.
Tips for Making an Awesome Chocolate Peanut Butter Chia Smoothie
- Keep frozen bananas on hand all the time so you can make smoothies any time you want! Once they start to get overripe, just peel, break into a few chunks, seal them in a bag, and freeze.
- Adjust the level of agave to your liking. Even leave it out if you prefer!
- The recipe specifically calls for natural peanut butter because that’s what works best. I really like Trader Joe’s salted creamy natural peanut butter.
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Chia Smoothie
A smoothie that tastes like dessert but is good for you too?! YES! This creamy chia smoothie filled with rich peanut butter and sweet chocolate for a decadent and refreshing summertime treat.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened unflavored almond or soy milk
- 1 tbsp. chia seeds
- 1 very ripe frozen banana
- 2 tbsp. natural peanut butter
- 1 tbsp. agave or to taste
- 2 tbsp. cocoa or cacao powder
- 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
- Optional: Stir chia and milk together and allow to sit for a bit, so the chia can soak up the milk. 30 minutes should do it.
- Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Serve right away.
Kelsey Hoyt says
June 18, 2014 at 11:08 AMThis looks divine. Any suggestions on what could be used in place of the banana? (I can’t do the sugar)
Alissa Saenz says
June 18, 2014 at 2:02 PMThank you! The banana makes the smoothie thick and creamy. You could try leaving it out and doubling or tripling the chia seeds. If you go this route I’d definitely let them soak so that they can absorb the liquid and give it some thickness. A little silken tofu might work as well. Good luck, and please let me know how it turns out if you try any subs!
Joanna says
June 13, 2015 at 6:43 PMHow about using ripe avocado instead of banana? (I can’t have any sugar too). Do you think that would do?
Alissa Saenz says
June 14, 2015 at 9:26 PMI think an avocado would work! I haven’t tried an avocado in this recipe, but I have used avocados in other smoothies and they generally work great.
Shikha Kaiwar says
June 18, 2014 at 8:07 PMI’d probably use almond butter in this, but loving the combo!
Alissa Saenz says
June 18, 2014 at 9:29 PMI tried it with almond butter (I wasn’t kidding about making smoothies every weekend) and that was good too! Thank you!!
Robin says
December 15, 2017 at 1:54 PMKelsey and Joanna,
As a registered dietitian/nutritionist, I was disappointed to hear you ask for an option in place of the banana in this recipe, because you state, you can’t do the sugar. This is a shame since you would have to avoid ALL FRUIT to avoid all fruit sugar. That is a shame since there is much to celebrate in small amounts of ALL FRUITS. Interestingly, you did not ask for a substitute for the agave. ” The American Diabetes Association lists agave as a sweetener to limit, along with regular table sugar, brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, and all other sugars.” In my profession I often meet folks who believe they must avoid ALL sugar, natural and otherwise. This is not true, unless of course you have an allergy to a certain food!! Don’t take my word for it, consider meeting with a fellow RDN.
Stephen Federer says
August 28, 2018 at 1:14 PMI made this smoothie in my home. After drinking this chia smoothie I feel amazing. Peanut butter and vanilla extract make it delicious!
Alissa Saenz says
September 3, 2018 at 4:59 PMI’m so happy to hear that!! Thanks so much Stephen!