This Vegan and Banana Free Carrot Cake Smoothie has all the usual ingredients that you would have in a carrot cake. Plus, to make it more nutritious I added a cup of romaine lettuce. Sweetened with natural sweeteners, like unsweetened raisins, pineapple, and carrots, it is a refreshing summer smoothie you ought to try.
I had no idea that there were people out there, who would search for banana-free smoothies until I started this summer smoothies series. Come to find out, a lot of people look for smoothies made without bananas as they (1) do not like the taste of bananas and (2) think that they take over the whole smoothie.
As a banana lover, while I have no complaints with bananas dominating a glass of cold, creamy and sweet smoothie, I can understand the argument. Therefore, as a part of these series, I am going to make sure that there are ample amount of smoothie recipes made without bananas. This banana-free carrot smoothie recipe is the first of many to come.
How To Make This Recipe
As its name suggests, this smoothie has all the usual ingredients you would have in a carrot cake. Carrots, pineapples, nutmeg, pecans, cinnamon, raisins, and coconut are definitely in there. But I also added a cup of chopped romaine lettuce to make it a little more nutritious. As the lettuce is lighter in color, it doesn’t make the change the color of the smoothie that much.
If you are trying to secretly incorporate green leafy vegetables to your kids’ diets, romaine lettuce is the way to go. If that is not a problem for you, try adding a cup of baby spinach in there. The color of the smoothie will not be as orange, but it will still taste very good.
The process is no different than any other smoothie. Simply put all the ingredients into a blender and blend it for a few minutes or until it reaches the consistency you like.
A Word On The Sweetener For This Vegan Carrot Smoothie
As I mentioned earlier, I did not use bananas to sweeten this carrot smoothie. Instead, I used 1/4 cup of raisins and a cup of pineapples. I recommend giving it a taste as you blend and add in if you feel like it needs more sugar.
If you don’t care about adding in bananas, you can easily turn this into a Carrot Banana Smoothie by substituting raisins with a frozen or ripened banana.
Similar Recipes You Might like
- Roasted Carrots
- Almond Flour Carrot Cake
- Banana Carrot Cupcakes
- Roasted Carrot Hummus
- Frozen Cantaloupe Smoothie
- Mango Turmeric Smoothie
Carrot Cake Smoothie Recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ cup of unsweetened raisins
- ½ cup boiling hot water
- 1 small head of romaine lettuce, rinsed and chopped (should be approximately 1 cup)
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 ½ cups carrot, peeled and cut into small chunks (2-3 medium size carrots)
- 1 cup pineapple, cut into small cubes
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of nutmeg
- 1 cup ice
- 1 tablespoon pecans, chopped
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
- Place raisins in a small cup and pour boiling hot water over it. Let it sit on the kitchen counter until raisins plump up a bit, 10-15 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool while you are prepping the rest of the ingredients.
- Place the rest of the ingredients in a blender, add the raisins, and blend in high speed until smooth.
- Garnish with pecans and coconut flakes on top.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made this smoothie this morning for breakfast. I didn’t have coconut milk so I used almond milk and it was great. Thanks for a yummy recipe.
So happy to hear that Samantha. Thanks for letting me know.
I plan on trying it with almond milk next time I make it 🙂
A fabulous smoothie Aysegul.. the sweeting ingredients and one of my all time favorite greens to add to smoothies: romaine (often not seen in smoothies). I admit, I have a banana in my smoothie every day, but I have a sensitivity to them, so I really should opt out. I can’t wait to whip this up! Delicious!