5 smoothies for children (with lots of fruit and vegetables)

A book could be written about the relationship of children with vegetables. There are little ones who love it and eat their five servings of fruit and vegetables without any problem, but there are others who find it difficult and it is a daily fight and nightmare for parents. Many healthy kid-friendly recipes can be made with greens and other vegetables, but shakes and smoothies can be a very good option to give fruit and especially vegetables to the little ones and help them eat healthy.

Shakes and smoothies are actually kid-friendly veggie recipes: they’re sweet and creamy and in the majority the vegetables are not even noticeable. Although the ideal is for them to learn to enjoy vegetables in their multiple presentations, putting camouflaged vegetables can be a very practical option when it is difficult for them to eat them.

If you don’t like to drink fruit smoothies with camouflaged vegetables, or we have leftovers, we always we can freeze them and make colorful healthy popsicles.

In this article you will also find five healthy smoothie recipes for kids, all of them with a lot of fruit and some camouflaged vegetables. But first, let’s see some tips to keep in mind when preparing shakes or smoothies for children.

How to make healthy shakes and smoothies for children

We can introduce smoothies with fruits or smoothies with vegetables from the beginning, even in the diet of babiesas long as we use ingredients that the baby has already tried before.

Once we have made our shakes or smoothies with vegetables for children, we can pour them into reusable bottles or bags and serve with a straw or spoon, so that they are taken by the spoonful.

Fruit and vegetable smoothies are ideal for children’s breakfasts, but also to give them as a snack, snack or snack before going to bed. If we add oat flakes or cooked quinoa, they can even be given at dinner time. We can also serve the shakes in a bowl with a little granola or other cerealsnuts and fresh fruit.

To make healthy smoothies for kids, we can follow this general rule of thumb. We combine:

1 cup of 250 ml of vegetable drink, water, juice or infusion 1-2 pieces of fruit such as apple, orange, peach, mango, pineapple, apricots or a handful of berries 1 piece of vegetable

There are no specific children’s vegetables: we can use any vegetable. We simply have to take into account what type of vegetable it is when introducing it into smoothies:

The green leafy vegetable such as spinach, kale, chard, lamb’s lettuce, lettuce or cucumber we will use it raw. harder vegetables such as broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, beets, pumpkin it is better to add cooked, since they are easier to digest. we can steam or cook in a pot or even in the oven.

Most of the shakes use frozen bananas, since it provides an extra creamy texture and sweetens without the need to use sugar. The best is always have bananas in the freezer. We simply peel the very ripe plantains, slice them and freeze them.

If the little ones don’t like it, We can substitute them with another sweet frozen fruit such as mango or pineapple, a couple of tablespoons of oat flakes, avocado or chia seeds and add 1 date.

So that the shakes remain very fresh, we can use frozen vegetables or fruit; if not, you can add a couple pieces of ice. We can freeze the fruit throughout the year when it is in season. We can also buy already frozen fruit, such as berries, which is often cheaper.

To make the most satiating shakes we can add ingredients rich in protein and fiber such as nuts, seeds or nut butters, or use yogurt or silken tofu as a base, or add rolled oats or even cooked chickpeas or white beans.

We can also add some superfood for extra nutrition such as reishi, moringa powder, pollen, chia seeds, hemp, flax, spirulina or açaí.

5 smoothie recipes for kids

There are thousands of possibilities and we can experiment and try with the little adventurers, who will surely love it. Here are five recipes for healthy shakes and smoothies that are ideal for children.