Healthy Chocolate Smoothie

This healthy chocolate smoothie recipe tastes absolutely scrumptious and is also a healthy chocolate shake. It’s a nourishing and natural protein shake that is perfect for a quick meal, snack, or honestly, even dessert. It’s simply delightful!

This right here is pretty much the best healthy chocolate milkshake you can make. And it’s ridiculously easy to prepare and whip up for an everyday breakfast or snack. My toddler and I both drink it with complete pleasure every morning and I go to bed every night excited to drink it the next morning. It’s that addicting.

It’s a natural protein shake that you can boost with some optional collagen powder that you can’t taste, but just gives you that extra nourishment.

Because this is a healthy chocolate banana smoothie with yogurt and nuts/seeds, it becomes incredibly rich and creamy. Making the nut or seed butter in your blender is as easy as throwing the nuts/seeds and a pinch of sea salt right into the blender. But if you have your favorite nut/seed butter, by all means, make it how you like. It’ll be incredible and you’ll be hooked.

The punch of chocolate from the raw cacao is balanced out by the sweetness of the raw honey. The bit of sea salt draws all the flavors together and out, and you get so much health for your buck with the addition of hemp seeds, which are a great anti-inflammatory food to go with this already anti-inflammatory healthy chocolate smoothie.

What’s in this healthy chocolate smoothie?

BANANA: High in potassium, vitamin C, and fiber, banana gives extra richness and creaminess to this chocolate cashew smoothie recipe, helping it transform into a healthy chocolate milkshake. You can easily use frozen banana in this recipe as well.

WHOLE MILK YOGURT: Yogurt is not only a great source of protein in this chocolate smoothie recipe, but it is also a live food, which is crucial for providing beneficial bacteria as a true probiotic (as opposed to probiotic supplements that have not shown to actually provide any benefit to the gut) and provides digestive enzymes important for breaking down lactose in the gut. The more enzymes you provide your body with via food sources, the better for your long-term health. We don’t want to deplete our own body’s enzyme resources. You’ll want to ensure it’s whole milk yogurt as opposed to low-fat or non-fat yogurt because you reap the benefits of the nutrients in your food when you eat it with its naturally occurring fat. Take away the fat, take away the nutrients. Not only are vitamin A and D only in the fat, but the absorption of nutrients in your food is increased when consumed alongside fat. Plus, it makes for a richer, creamier, more shake-like chocolate smoothie. You can’t go wrong.

RAW CASHEWS – Cashews are an excellent source of protein and monounsaturated fatty acids. My preference is raw as opposed to roasted, as unsaturated fatty acids can easily become damaged via heat and not only will this decrease the nutrient content, but it also increases production of harmful free-radicals. This is why it’s also best to avoid any refined unsaturated oils, which unfortunately are added to many foods including store-bought nut and seed butters. This is why I prefer using raw nuts in this recipe, because it turns right into nut butter as you’re making your chocolate smoothie.

RAW SUNFLOWER SEEDS – Sunflower seeds are anti-inflammatory, packed with antioxidants for fighting free-radicals, vitamin B complexes for healthy nervous system function, and important minerals for the body. Feel free to change it up by adding hazelnuts, walnuts, or almonds instead of sunflower seeds or cashews. You’ll end up with slightly different flavor profiles and nutritional benefits.

RAW CACAO POWDER – A little raw cacao goes a long way in this nourishing chocolate shake recipe and not only does it impart that addicting cocoa flavor we all love, but it also is very high in antioxidant power and is a natural mood booster!

HEMP SEEDS – Adding shelled hemp seeds to this smoothie makes it even more healthy by providing a nice dose of omega-3 fatty acids that are anti-inflammatory and help to balance out the abundance of omega-6 fatty acids that are prevalent in the modern diet. They don’t have much flavor so there is no reason to avoid adding it to your smoothie (or even salads!).

COLLAGEN POWDER (OPTIONAL) – If you want to learn about how absolutely vital collagen is in our diet today especially, then you should definitely read my blog post on its importance here. The more you can squeeze it into your diet, the better. It’s naturally found in cartilage and bone, but if you’re not regularly making bone broths then collagen powder may be your answer.

RAW HONEY – Raw honey is a beautiful source of unrefined sugar that can help defend against seasonal allergies. It’s also rich in antioxidants, great for skin, and can help promote the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut, while combating pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Oh, and it’s delicious as the main source of sweetness in this chocolate banana smoothie.

UNREFINED SEA SALT – Not only does salt draw out and enhance the natural flavors in anything you add it to, but contrary to popular belief, sea salt is crucial to good health and no, salt does NOT increase blood pressure (source). Unrefined sea salt provides many trace minerals that we can’t readily obtain otherwise. You ever have an eyelid twitch or muscle cramps? Well your body and cells may just need more salt to balance out your electrolytes and function properly.

ICE – Goes without saying, ice helps any smoothie with texture and provides added hydration. If you want to forgo ice and make an even thicker smoothie, go ahead and use frozen bananas instead of fresh.

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