This Very Cherry Oat Smoothie recipe has everything you need to keep your belly full all morning, and the best part? It tastes just like cherry pie!
There’s something you should know about me. I love smoothies. Like really love them. Every morning as soon as I open my eyes, I groggily make my way to the kitchen, reach into the freezer, and retrieve the first smoothie ingredient I find.
Sometimes it’s mixed fruits, sometimes it’s kale, you never really know. I whip up a smoothie for the boyfriend-tulip-man and I, send him off with his smoothie in a to-go cup, and gulp down my smoothie. Ready to start the day!
There are a few reasons why I love smoothies so much.
- The possibilities are endless. Almost anything you have in your fridge or freezer is game. Some of my unexpected favorites are kale, spinach, carrots, beets, and grapes.
- You save money. I used to throw away unused and forgotten fruits and veggies by the bucket before I realized the wonder of smoothies. Now I chop them up and freeze them just before they go bad to use later for smoothies! This has come in handy especially with leafy greens like spinach and kale, which never seem to get eaten in time in our house.
- They’re easy. If there’s something else you should know about me, it’s that I can be a bit lazy. Smoothies alleviate this problem by getting me a good dose of nutrition without the actual, you know, work.
- They’re healthy. How great is it that we can get 2 or 3 servings each of fruits and veggies in a single smoothie, and not even feel like it’s a strain? If you asked me to eat 2 cups of spinach for breakfast, I’d laugh. But slip it into a cleverly disguised fruity spinach-y smoothie and it’ll be gulped down in minutes!
And because I love smoothies so much, I offer the subscribers to my blogs newsletter, the Eatmail, a smoothie recipe every week.
And because I want to share this smoothie love with you, today I’ve whipped up a delicious Very Cherry Oat Smoothie.
You’re probably thinking, “oats…in a smoothie?”. One word, yaaaassss. Oats not only bring a really satisfying, cozy flavor to the smoothie, but they thicken it up quite a bit!
As your smoothie sits, the pieces of oats, which will have pulverized with everything else in the blender, will absorb some of the moisture from the drink, making for a thick, creamy smoothie.
Then we’ll throw in some cherries because it’s summer and cherries are a must. On Saturdays I like to travel into the center of Rotterdam to walk around the massive farmer’s market that pops up in the square.
And because Rotterdam has the largest port in Europe, we can get loads of fresh fruits and vegetables for pretty decent prices. Long story short, I saw an enormous bag of cherries that cost next to nothing and I had to have them.
And now they sit, looking at me, wondering if I’m going to get around to pitting them and cooking something nice or if they’ll all just rot away.
Well not today, cherries! Today, these cherries are making the best darn smoothie east of the Mississippi.
We’ll add a bit of vanilla yogurt for creaminess (or you can use Greek yogurt + ¼ tsp vanilla extract), a banana for creaminess and bulk, some milk, and a pinch of salt for balance. And there you have it! A filling, healthy, delicious breakfast in a glass.
- ¼ cup rolled oats
- 1 banana, previously sliced and frozen
- 1 cup pitted fresh cherries
- ½ cup vanilla yogurt
- ¼ cup milk
- Pinch of salt
- Combine all ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth, adding more milk if necessary to reach a consistency to your liking.