Fresh or Frozen for Smoothies?

Want to hear the great news? Either! I am a huge smoothie fan. If you haven’t checked out my current smoothie favorite, you can find it here! 

I love filling my smoothies with tons of fruits, vegetables, and even grains! Personally, I use a mix of fresh and frozen when it comes to my produce. I find that is easiest for me both in buying, prepping, and storage. 

Scientifically speaking, is there a difference? 

The short answer is maybe? 

Frozen fruit and vegetables is picked at peak ripeness, which also means it has top tier nutrients. It is then frozen in a way that preserves all those beautiful vitamins and minerals. You can buy it all in bulk and not worry about it going bad before you have the chance to chow down. 

So frozen is always an awesome option if you have the freezer storage for it! 

Another option I use often is to buy to fruits and vegetables I want to eat all week fresh, then before they begin to fade and I would be in danger of throwing them away instead of eating them, I chop them up and put them in a freezer safe container (which we have here). 

This means I get to love my fruits and veggies twice, once whole then once blended!

But once fruits and veggies begin to overripe, some lose aspects of their nutrients. Not all of it, but it doesn’t pack as heavy of a punch. So I recommend not waiting too long before pulling the trigger one way or the other! 

I do like to have a mix of fresh and frozen in even smoothie because I think it gives it a better texture. All fresh foods tend to make the smoothie a bit more watery, whereas adding a couple elements that are frozen - perhaps a banana or handful of strawberries - will give it a bit more of a thick and creamy texture. And I LOVE a thick and creamy smoothie!

The second awesome part about smoothies?

The vitamins and minerals found in the foods you pick, don’t go away when you blend them up. Fresh lettuce, berries, avocado, you name it, you’re still getting amazing nutrients. Blending your foods even retains most of the fiber and its structure in your food, so unlike juicing, you get the nutrients and the fiber! 

And if you are looking to upgrade your blender, I recommend the Vitmix because it is absolutely amazing and I use mine almost every day (and its 12 years old!)