I originally shared this recipe for what I cheesily dubbed a “power smoothie” back in 2012 when I was pregnant with my youngest. I still love it, but the pictures needed a makeover and the recipe needed some slight tweaking (I cut down on the sugar and upped the fat a little to balance out the macros). If it’s too tart for you, feel free to add a little drizzle of honey or agave! This smoothie is packed with nutrition and has real staying power that won’t leave you with a sugar crash and starving two hours later. It’s a great way to start the day!
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Orange juice – Use a good-quality not-from-concentrate variety for best results. I’d avoid shelf-stable bottles or frozen concentrate for this one.
- Steel cut oats – Or oatmeal. Steel cut oats are loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and help stabilize your blood sugar. They help keep you feeling full and satisfied. Plus, you don’t have to cook them, which is always a bonus in the morning. You don’t have to use them, and they will add a grainy texture to your smoothie, but I don’t mind it–the oats are sweet and they make me feel like I’m tangibly doing something good for myself. If you like, you can combine the orange juice and oats the night before and store them in the fridge to soften.
- Greek yogurt – Full fat or 2%, plain and unsweetened. Make sure it’s true Greek yogurt that’s twice the protein of traditional yogurt, not just Greek-style which just has added thickeners.
- Frozen blueberries
- Baby spinach leaves – You won’t even taste the spinach at the end but it adds important nutrients!
- Crushed ice
How to Make Kate’s Power Smoothie
- Simply combine everything in a high powered blender and blend. I use the smoothie setting on my Blendtec, which handles it well, but you may need to run it through twice.
Storing and Other Tips
- This smoothie is best enjoyed right away!
Frequently Asked Questions
Not really. You could measure out your orange juice and oats the night before and leave them in your blender pitcher in the fridge overnight, but everything else should be added and blended when you’re ready to enjoy your smoothie!
Definitely! As written this recipe makes two servings. Feel free to cut it in half for one or scale up, as long as the ingredients fit in your blender!
Kate’s Power Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup orange juice preferably the good stuff, like the not-from-concentrate orange juice
- 2 tablespoons steel cut oats or oatmeal
- ¾ cup 2% or full-fat plain Greek yogurt
- 1 ½ cups frozen blueberries
- 3 cups baby spinach leaves
- 1 ½ cups crushed ice
Instructions
- Combine ingredients in the jar of your blender and blend. You will probably need to run it through twice. Serve immediately.
- Makes 1 giant smoothie, 2 smaller smoothies, or 3 snack-sized smoothies.
Questions & Reviews
…you’d *save your blender some hard work. Oops.
I would probably grind the oat groats in a coffee grinder (or similar) before adding them to the smoothie. You’d get a much better texture (thick, not grainy), and you’d your blender from some hard work. 🙂
Good call! You can also soak the oats in the OJ overnight, which helps a LOT.
SO….would that mean that one could make up a work-week’s worth in one go (minus the frozen blueberries and ice) and then just add that in and blend each morning? I just tend to be a bit, um, lazy in the morning, but I wondered if the oats would swell or get glumpy or gooey or something if they sat in liquid (just thinking cold oatmeal here).
And, by the way, you all rock, as do your recipes!
I probably wouldn’t do it more than overnight, but you could definitely put the orange juice and oats in your blender each night before you go to bed and then whip the rest of it up in the morning. I think you might even run into some fun sprouting issues if you went a week, hahaha! 🙂
Eeeew. You are probably right – thanks! That would have been a most unpleasant surprise.
I recently saw a post about putting all the ingredients in a baggy and freezing them together, that way you can just add the oats and blend in the morning. I’m thinking about freezing oj and yogurt in ice cube trays first and adding them too.
I guess freezing the OJ would break my blender. Maybe freezing the yogurt, but adding the juice so my blender doesn’t die 🙂
Where did you get that great smoothie cup with lid and straw?
I got that particular cup from Amazon (here’s a link to the 4-pack, but you can buy them individually, too):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004O1ZNLM/ref=mp_s_a_3?qid=1327508734&sr=8-3
I also have some that are the same brand from Walmart. Those ones are clear red, blue, or green, double insulated, and a little cheaper. I love both of them for different reasons, but they’re my favorite cups in my whole house!
I too am pregnant (due in June with my first) and the breakfast/snack/lunch/snack routine is kind of killing me. Dinner is no problem, usually because I’m so starving by then that I will eat anything. This smoothie will be the perfect solution for when I can’t think of something to eat (which is every day). THANK YOU!!!
Sorry, I just saw that someone else already asked, and your answer. Thank you.
Hi Kate,
Any chance you know the nutritional info on this? Only because I am being lazy, and why figure it out if you already know?
Thanks
Not off the top of my head (I calculated it last night, but I didn’t save it). Calories are in the 400-450 range for the whole smoothie and vitamins and minerals are off the charts.
Since I have been track everything I eat and am interested in eating I already did an analysis of the recipe. Here is what I came up with from http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
1 Serving
Calories 372.6
Total Fat 2.6 g
Saturated Fat 0.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.3 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 136.2 mg
Potassium 1,380.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate 71.7 g
Dietary Fiber 8.8 g
Sugars 55.8 g
Protein 20.8 g
Vitamin A 175.3 %
Vitamin B-12 10.0 %
Vitamin B-6 25.2 %
Vitamin C 205.4 %
Vitamin D 0.0 %
Vitamin E 22.7 %
Calcium 33.6 %
Copper 15.3 %
Folate 60.3 %
Iron 18.6 %
Magnesium 32.3 %
Manganese 60.7 %
Niacin 13.2 %
Pantothenic Acid 14.9 %
Phosphorus 30.0 %
Riboflavin 38.5 %
Selenium 2.1 %
Thiamin 34.4 %
Zinc 5.0 %
I’m addicted to smoothies in the summer time. Another “super food” that I like to add in smoothies are Chia seeds. I got this off the website thechiaseed.com, “Adding just 2 tablespoons of chia seeds to your daily
diet will give you approximately 7 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein, 205 milligrams of calcium, and
a whopping 5 grams of omega-3!” Bob’s Red Mill sells them.
This sounds like the super healthy smoothie recipe I’ve been looking for! Can’t wait to try it. When I was pregnant, I was addicted to smoothies. Let me share with you the one I made all the time – Avocado smoothie. Yes, I know it sounds weird, but it was delicious and nutritious. I don’t have proportions, but you are the pro and I know you can figure it out 😉
Avocado
Vanilla Greek yogurt
Skim milk
Honey
Ice
And blend! I bet the groats would be good in here, too. Although I really enjoyed the super smooth, creamy texture of this one.
Mmmmmm. I could totally get behind this. Yum.
I love smoothies, and this one looks great! Congrats on the article in the NYT!
This sounds great! I don’t have crushed ice but I am sure I can figure something out. It was wonderful to see you two in the New York Times today. Congratulations!
Oh, thank you, Trisha! Regular ice will work fine, you’ll probably just need a little more and it can be hard on your blender. If you know of a restaurant that serves drinks with pebble ice, you can often buy it from them in bags. Hope that helps! 🙂