Whether you’re making your morning smoothie or just want to have a relaxing and healthy drink after a long day of work, making your own smoothie is definitely delicious but time-consuming. That is why maybe you’re asking yourself if you can blend frozen fruits to make a cold refreshing smoothie, or perhaps you want to try it, but you just don’t know if the blender you got at home may be able to do the job. Do not fret because we are here to answer all of your questions when it comes to preparing a frozen fruit smoothie.
Why Use Frozen Fruits?
For starters, freezing the fruits is one way to preserve them without making them into a jam or using additives. We know that some people are too lazy to add fruits to their smoothies because they do not have any access to fresh fruits every day. It’s either there’s no grocery store or fresh market nearby, or they just do not have the energy and time to go there every day just to get their smoothie supply. Also, most people worry that when they buy a week’s worth of fruits, it will just go bad before they can use them.
Freezing the fruits does not only give them a longer life span, but it can also make your smoothies creamier and thicker. It is because frozen fruits mean that you will not have to add any ice to your smoothies, so you can avoid watering them down. Frozen fruits also prevent you from using any additional sweetener.
Using frozen fruits can also save you a lot of time when you’re preparing your smoothie. Deciding on what smoothie you have to make can take a lot of time. If you already have chopped and frozen fruits, you will only have to put them together in your handy blender.
There’s a lot of fruits that can be frozen for smoothies, but not all of them have good texture and flavor when it’s frozen. These are some of the fruits that are best to freeze:
- Apples
- Kiwi
- Melons
- Grapes
- Pineapples
- Bananas
- Ripe mangoes
- Mixed berries such as strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries.
Can You Put Frozen Fruits Directly into a Smoothie?
The answer is yes, you can. In fact, we highly recommend it because frozen fruits tend to have a better consistency compared to when you use regular fresh fruits and blend them with ice. Using frozen fruits and directly putting them into your smoothie gives your drink a frosty and thick texture.
How to Make Frozen Fruit Smoothie in a Blender
Making a smoothie using frozen fruits can be as easy as putting all your fruits into a blender and blending them using a little liquid such as cranberry juice, white grape juice, or pineapple juice. If you want your smoothie to be creamy, you can use almond milk, regular milk, or coconut milk. They all work just fine as a blending juice.
Even if blenders in the market are specifically made for making frozen fruit smoothies, any type or brand of blenders works just fine in doing the job. Keep in mind that the best way to blend frozen fruits is to mix your frozen fruit, milk, or juice as well as Greek yogurt and turn your blender on. Keep on mixing it until there are no lumps.
To make sure that you will end up with a smoother blend and to make your blender safe, we advise that you put the liquids first before you mix your frozen fruits and ensure that you put enough liquids for your frozen fruits. Put the smaller frozen fruits first, then gradually add the larger frozen fruits.
Why Use Frozen Fruits When You Can Freeze a Smoothie?
Most people think that putting their blended smoothie into the freezer after they make it is a good idea, and It’s equal to using frozen fruits. However, that’s not the case because putting your smoothie in the freezer stops several nutrients from entering your body because they also freeze in these ice cubes, preventing them from reaching cells.
Freezing Fruits for Your Smoothies
- Make sure you thoroughly rinse the fruits before you freeze them. Keep in mind that some fruits, such as apples, have a waxy coat on them, which is why you have to wash them until it’s gone.
- Peel your fruits using a paring knife so you can remove any bad spots or bruises on the fruits.
- After peeling them, slice and chop your fruits as needed. Ensure that they are in a size that’s small enough to be easily blended even once they’re frozen.
- Arrange your cut-up fruits in a baking sheet with parchment paper, cover it with cling wrap, and place it in the freezer overnight.
- Take your fruits out of the freezer the next day and transfer the fruits in resealable freezer bags.
- Put a label and indicate the date when you prepared it.
- Make sure you get as much air out of the bag as you can. You can use a vacuum sealer to do the job or insert a straw, then suck the air out while quickly sealing the bag.
- Put the sealed and labeled bags back into the freezer and use the fruits according to your needs. Frozen fruits can last up to six months.