This dairy-free peanut butter smoothie is one of my staple breakfast shakes. In the morning, I crave sweet, but do my best to avoid added sugars. Easy, natural, homemade meal replacement shakes, like this one, make that easy. It’s naturally rich with a good balance of protein, fat, fiber, and other energizing carbohydrates, and also gives me a head start on my daily vitamin and mineral intake. Plus, it’s thick, creamy, and positively delicious!
This Dairy-Free Peanut Butter Smoothie will Shake Up Breakfast
I originally shared this recipe back in 2010. It was buried in our news archives, so I’m updating it and adding options. Because recipes like this one are more of a guide than a formula. They are meant to be customized to your own personal taste. And since I’ve made this dairy-free peanut butter smoothie hundreds of times, I have many suggestions!
What Milk Beverage is Best for Smoothies?
I personally like unsweetened almond milk, but oat milk has become a very popular option. If you want to add a little more richness, I would use coconut milk beverage. Those are my top choices for flavor in this dairy-free peanut butter smoothie recipe, but most types should work great.
Which Sweeteners Work Best?
I typically add just a small pinch of pure stevia. For me, this heightens the flavors and natural sweetness without adding sugars or giving it that stevia aftertaste. Once in a while, I’ll add a squeeze of honey in a thin stream as the mixture is blending (this helps it incorporate). But other sweeteners, like coconut sugar, brown sugar, white sugar, agave nectar, or even maple syrup are delicious with this combination.
Any Add-in Suggestions for this Dairy-Free Peanut Butter Smoothie?
Here are some that I’ve tried and enjoyed myself:
- 1 tablespoon dairy-free vanilla protein powder
- 1/2 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 1/2 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1/2 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
- 1/4 teaspoon natural vanilla flavoring or vanilla paste
- Handful baby spinach leave (affects the color, but very mild in flavor)
- 1/3 cup blueberries or blackberries (if you don’t mind the little seeds!)
- 1/4 cup oats
- Pinch ground ginger or allspice
Why Bananas? What about Banana-Free?
I actually started making these shakes for the banana. I’m prone to calf cramps, and found that a daily banana completely resolved them. Yes, there are other foods higher in potassium, but they don’t work the same. There is something about bananas, perhaps a specific micronutrient blend within them, that is magical, in my experience.
I know some of you don’t like bananas, or are even allergic, but I haven’t found a great substitute for this fruit in my dairy-free peanut butter smoothie. But, I do have a great round up of Dairy-Free Banana-Free Smoothie Recipes to provide inspiration.
Special Diet Notes: Peanut Butter Smoothie
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, tree nut-free, soy-free, vegan, plant-based, and vegetarian. Just be sure to choose a milk beverage that suits your dietary needs.
For peanut-free and paleo smoothie, you can substitute sunflower seed butter or almond butter for the peanut butter.
- 1 medium to large frozen ripe banana, broken into chunks
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- ¾ to 1½ cups plain or vanilla unsweetened dairy-free milk beverage
- ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, to taste
- Sweetener, to taste (optional)
- Place the frozen banana, peanut butter, and ¾ cup of milk beverage in your blender.
- If you have a powerful blender, whiz away. If yours isn't high powered, pulse to break up the ingredients, and then blend. If it is too thick, add milk alternative a little at a time until it blends well and reaches your desired consistency. I like it very thick!
- Taste, and blend in cinnamon and sweetener, if needed.