Award Winning Ginger Berry Smoothie (dairy-free)
I’m a huge smoothie drinker. I have one almost everyday. It’s a great way for me to get a ton of fruits and veggies in myself on the quick. On a recent trip to St. Simons Island and the King and Prince Resort, we were given a challenge. Broken into groups of three, it was our job to create a tasty smoothie which judges would taste to determine the best one. Our group came up with a delicious ginger berry smoothie … and it won the best tasting smoothie award!
Because it was quite the hit, I knew I needed to share the recipe so it could be made at your home (or mine!)
Ginger Berry Smoothie
The ginger berry smoothie has a lot of ingredients, but the fun and great thing about smoothies is you can take or leave things that you prefer and your smoothie will more than likely be amazing. Your key ingredients are something frozen (either ice or frozen fruit), fruits and/or veggies, and a liquid. For me, one thing I can’t stand in a smoothie is bananas, so you won’t find any in this!
For our smoothie competition we were given a powerful Vitamix blender to use, a tableful of fruits, veggies, garnishes, ice and a couple different liquid options. Everything was so beautiful it was hard to decide what exactly we would include.
For out ginger berry smoothie we ultimately decided on spinach, blueberry, black berry, strawberry, fresh grated ginger, carrots, orange juice, freeze-dried strawberries, dried bing cherries
and ice.
We garnished it with edible flowers, mint leaves, blueberries and blackberries. You’ll notice I said no bananas, but we still wanted the smooth texture. I find that carrots help to make smoothies smooth without those yellow fruits.
If you do like bananas, go ahead and throw one in!
Making smoothies at home
Someting I would have added had they had it (and I add at home) is Naked Powdered Peanut Butter. One scoop adds 6g of protein and it makes my smoothie taste like a peanut butter and jelly! Naked PB is a vegan peanut butter protein powder made exclusively from peanuts grown on US farms.
This powdered peanut butter is made from slow-roasted, non-GMO peanuts that are mechanically pressed to remove fat and oil. The result is a peanut butter powder that is over 40% protein with no sugar, sweeteners or salt added.
When I make smoothies at home, I end up either using frozen fruit, or having to keep going back to the freezer for ice. So if we are doing a lot of smoothies, I get out our NewAir portable countertop ice maker to help us keep up.
It has a 50 pound daily capacity if you keep the water reservoir full and use up the ice. The ice maker is also is super easy to use (really, you push ONE button). It takes a few minutes to get started, but you’ll have a full bucket of ice in no time perfect for making smoothies.
Scoop up all of the ingredients and get to making your very own ginger berry smoothie at home. They really do taste amazing.
Ginger Berry Smoothie (dairy free)
Ingredients
Smoothie
- 1 cup fresh spinach
- 1/2 cup blueberry
- 1/2 cup black berry
- 1/2 cup strawberry
- 1/2 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
- 1/2 cup carrots
- 1/2 cup freeze-dried strawberries
- 1/2 cup dried bing cherries
- ice, as needed
- orange juice , as needed
Garnish
- edible flowers
- mint leaves
- blueberries
- blackberries
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into blender.
- Fill the rest of the blender with ice.
- Pour in 1 cup of orange juice and blend
- Add more orange juice if the smoothie is too thick.
Notes
optional: you can use 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt as well (this makes it contain dairy)
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
Oh my goodness, this smoothie sounds AMAZING! I can see why it won an award. The countertop ice machine is a great idea for entertaining. I’d love to have one of those instead of running out for bags of ice.
Wow!! I would have placed it #1, too. And those flowers are beautiful as a topper. I’ve heard of that naked PB but I haven’t tried it for myself.