Smoothie Newbie needs help with proportions.

July 20, 2015 12:53 PM

Here is my blender. Here is my favorite 16 oz. tumbler. Below is a list of ingredients I have in the house. I need help with proportions!

Please keep in mind I'm only wanting a smoothie for one person; enough to fill up a pint glass.

I have a 13.5 oz. can of coconut milk, unsweetened.
White chia seeds
lots of raspberries that need using up
blueberries
bananas

Can the smoothie mavens here please provide guidance as to how much of what ingredient? My hungry self thanks you in advance.

posted by BostonTerrier to Food & Drink (5 answers total)

I used to make smoothies quite regularly, but I always just eyeballed everything. If presented with your ingredients, I'd probably do something like:

x. one large banana / two small bananas
x. two tablespoons of chia seeds
x. a couple of handfuls of raspberries. Maybe more since you have to use them up and raspberries are delicious
x. a handful or so of blueberries
x. around 300 ml of liquid. I would normally use almond milk. If coconut milk is the only option, I might consider using 150 ml of coconut milk and 150 ml of water.

I would also add:
x. a quarter of a cup of yogurt
posted by kinddieserzeit at 1:05 PM on July 20, 2015

I make a smoothie every day for breakfast and, like kinddieserzeit, I never measure. My blender has volume indicators on it so I know when I have enough to fill my tumbler. It looks like yours doesn't so fill your tumbler with water, dump it in the blender (with the blades in if they are removable), and mark it with tape or something.

Freeze some or all of the fruit so it will be a frozen smoothie without needing ice. Anything you don't use today will be available for your next smoothie (tomorrow).

I agree with kinddieserzeit's proportions but would use lots more blueberries than raspberries because I don't love raspberries. You don't have to put everything in at once - add 1/2 the liquid you think you need, plus some of each fruit, blend it up, taste it, and add some more fruit. Repeat until it's perfect, or you reach your fill mark. It usually takes me 3 to 4 blends to get it just right.
posted by jshort at 2:07 PM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

I make smoothies all the time, too, but I totally (well, mostly) measure! My favorite smoothie recipe fits into a 16 oz. mason jar:

1 cup Greek yogurt
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup frozen strawberries

These proportions and ingredients are just a guideline. I think you could use all of your ingredients, just replace the yogurt with the coconut milk and the strawberries with the raspberries. I'd only add a tablespoon of the chia seeds. Or you could go ALL RASPBERRY and just see what happens :)
posted by stripesandplaid at 3:21 PM on July 20, 2015 [2 favorites]

Here are an assortment of berry and coconut milk smoothie recipes to get an idea of what quantities people recommend.
posted by Lexica at 3:37 PM on July 20, 2015

Response by poster: Thank you, everyone. I made a nice smoothie this evening just by eyeballing my ingredients...a couple of glugs of coconut milk, two grabs into the rasp. bowl, one grab into the blueb. bowl; like that. Very tasty!

I'm thinking that smoothies are a lesson in un-anality.
posted by BostonTerrier at 6:19 PM on July 20, 2015 [1 favorite]