Layered Immunity Boosting Smoothie.
This is the smoothie that is saaaaving us right now!
Oh Mylanta. This immunity boosting smoothie is what we are living on at the moment. And guess what? THERE IS NO BANANA! That’s right. All of you banana haters, rejoice! This is a banana-free smoothie.
HELLO and welcome to 2018 where here on the internet we tell you how to make a super high maintenance smoothie that takes a full 20 minutes. Apologies. But it’s so pretty?
What I love about these is that it’s basically three smoothies in one! I mean, it’s definitely three smoothies in one. You can make them separately or you can layer them if you want to feel fancy.
I want to feel fancy. Always.
While I live in leggings, FYI.
The year that I had Max, I got sick shortly after and would make a killer clementine smoothie that was so packed with vitamin C, it kicked the sickness’ butt. That, combined with an apple cider vinegar shot (which I’ve probably been doing for ten years now?!) got rid of it quickly.
So! I took a version of that orange smoothie. The bright and citrusy orange layer is filled with…
…lots of citrus! Navel oranges here, but clementines, cara caras or blood oranges work too!
Some coconut meat chunks, freshly squeezed OJ, orange zest, milk and bee pollen (if you’re into it) round out this bright blend.
I haven’t been using bee pollen in my own smoothies since I was pregnant (though I did have a few smoothie bowls from a local place that I know sprinkles a bit on top) but it’s an ingredient I really love to use when I’m not pregnant/nursing so I wanted to include it here. I buy mine locally, which is the best thing to do!
The shocking pink layer is filled with frozen pink dragonfruit (pitaya!), tart sweet cherries, frozen raspberries, coconut water (sooo hydrating) and chia seeds. It’s so stunning that I love drinking it. Hot pink for the win.
And the greeeeen layer is filled spinach, more coconut chunks, milk, oats, almond butter and hemp hearts! DELICIOUS. The coconut chunks are from Trader Joe’s and the best thing ever. They are in the freezer section and work wonders to replace banana. Go get ’em!
Things that aren’t included here that you can obviously add: collagen peptides and protein powders and what not. I knew Max was going to drink some of this as I was prepping it, so I left those things out. I like to add collagen to my coffee though. I’m still pretty much over protein powders and have been since 2008. Over.it.
Now of course! You can just blend these all together and make one large smoothie. You can make three separate smoothies! I mean, I don’t live on another planet and assume that before you wake up and go to work, you’re going to make three separate layers of smoothie, pour them in a pretty glass and sit down to enjoy it before walking out the door.
A perfect world, right?
This is more like a fun brunch smoothie. Something fun for your kids! Something bright and delicious for you to make on a morning where 17 things have already gone wrong and you kind of need it to feel special and you want to turn that day around without eating chocolate chip pancakes. You know.
Sounds about right.
Layered Immunity Boosting Smoothie
Ingredients
pitaya layer
- 1 3.5 ounce frozen pitaya pack
- 1/2 cup frozen raspberries
- 1/2 cup frozen cherries
- 1 cup coconut water
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
orange layer
- 2 navel oranges
- 1 cup frozen coconut meat
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 cup almond coconut or cow's milk (your milk of choice!)
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon bee pollen optional! do you research on this before trying. we love it.
green layerÂ
- 3 cups fresh baby spinach
- 1 cup frozen coconut meat
- 1 cup almond coconut or cow's milk (your milk of choice!
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
- 2 tablespoons hemp hearts
Instructions
- Blend the ingredients together separetely for each layer and pour into glasses. You can obviously blend everything together too, or make a single layer as one smoothie!
- Just a note: be sure to research or ask your doctor about using bee pollen before consuming it!
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I appreciate you so much!
This makes me want a smoothie every day!
47 Comments on “Layered Immunity Boosting Smoothie.”
Banana-free AND there’s dragonfruit in it? You made this for me :) Hope everyone gets 100% well soon!
thanks liz!! xo
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Love how pretty this is, but even more how many great ingredients it has in it!!
thanks alice!
LOVE this!!! Such a delicious and pretty way to get all those vitamins in!
thanks ashlyn!
Looks like I’ll be making the 25 minute drive to our only Trader Joe’s this weekend for those frozen coconut chunks! YUM!
ENJOY! worth the trip. :)
Where in the world do you find frozen dragon fruit / pitaya fruit? I have never seen this is my local store(s) :(
i find mine at whole foods in the frozen fruit section. but! sometimes they don’t have it and i order it from pitaya plus’s website!
omgggg you answered my prayers!!! I absolutely LOATHE bananas…everything about them makes me want to gag!!! I have always loved smoothies and there are seriously NO recipes without bananas. ICK!!!! Going to the store today to stock up on these ingredients because YAAAASSSS!!
bahahaha this made me laugh so hard.
Omgosh I feel like this couldn’t come at a better time. My baby girl is 5 months and this is my 4th day with the flu. Yuck! She hasn’t been sick yet and this morning she coughed for 2 hours straight in her crib. Where can you find frozen pitaya and coconut meat? Besides Trader Joe’s. My city isn’t cool enough to have one, lol. I’m stuck with regular old Kroger, Miejer, and Walmart and I haven’t been able to locate these things. I’ve also been on the hunt for spirulina, too, and haven’t found that yet.
ahhh you poor thing!! i hope you feel better. i find the frozen pitaya at whole foods butif you don’t have a whole foods, order it online at pitayaplus.com – i’ve also done that! i’ve also found the coconut chunks at whole foods. if you don’t mind banana, i’d just use the frozen banana instead of coconut chunks!
omg also! i was sick shortly after having max and spirulina saved me too. i LOVE it. i don’t use it while pregnant so i have been out of it since – but i have to grab more! i get mine on amazon!
Ya, my city is also not cool enough for Whole Foods, lol. We lived in Charleston, SC for a year and it was so hard moving back after having access to all the ‘cool kids’ stores down south haha! Amazon, why did I not think of that? Do you know if you bought the Pure Hawaiian spirulina brand? I did find a Fresh Thyme store here, so I might check them out for coconut meat. It’s on the complete opposite side of town, but I’ll eventually get there! Thanks for the tips! Thank god for tamiflu. I am finally feeling better after 5 days. You know you’re sick when you’re like ‘hey, this Nyquil has no taste,’ lol…
I’m fine with bananas. but this looks delish. TBH though I’m going to make it as three separate smoothies.. something fun and different to look forward to each day. (especially the citrus. that is calling my name!)
yay! thanks phaedra!
This looks amazing! I just recently started drinking smoothies in the morning but keep mine simple with spinach, banana, milk, strawberries and blueberries. I also add maca powder, which I love. You mentioned using frozen fruits. Are you buying fresh fruit and freezing it or buying prepackaged frozen fruit? I ask because I bought frozen strawberries and frozen mango but found that they altered the taste of my smoothie. They have that metal freezer taste to them, which wasnt good.. Any suggestions?
i always buy it frozen already – except for bananas! (unless it’s in season and going bad in my fridge, i’ll freeze it.) i buy the organic large bags from target. i have never noticed a metal freezer taste though… but i’ve been using frozen fruit for a really long time!
Thanks, Jessica!! Ill give Target a try.
Beautiful! Always looking for more banana free smoothie ideas. I can see us trying all 3 seperatly :)
thanks maya!
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I love anything and everything that incorporates frozen pink dragonfruit. Thank you so much for sharing! -Joe
thank you!
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Do you have any sub recommendations for the pink dragonfruit? Looks great, but I can’t find it locally and probably won’t order it online! Would just frozen strawberries or another red berry work?!
yes! frozen strawberries, raspberries – anything like that! i also like the frozen acai packs if you can find those?
The orange layer is 100% what I need in my life right now.
it’s so good! xo
I am allergic to coconut. Can I substitute the banana for the coconut meat?
for sure! that’s definitely a similar texture and what i would do too.
This looks amazing, Jessica! Definitely needing this right now – been fighting a cold for weeks! I’m thinking this will definitely help!!
This looks so beautiful! I’m also happy to find something this complex without banana, as I have a mild allergy. I find that subbing avocado for banana is great in most instances, as they are both creamy and smooth, but it’s nice to mix it up!
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What blender do you use? I am in the market for a good one. This looks delicious!
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The coconut chunks at Trader Joe’s have been discontinued. Any good substitutes? Obviously other frozen fruit, but I don’t know if any other type of coconut would work as well.
do you have a whole foods near you? mine sells the frozen coconut chunks!
as for other frozen fruit, probably just mango or banana to mimic that same creaminess!
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