This Christmas smoothie is the perfect holiday treat for those days when you want to give yourself and your kids a break from sweets but still want to celebrate the season.
Topped with crushed peppermint candies, this strawberry mint smoothie blends together mint, strawberry, cherry, banana, and lime into a delicious and balanced treat you can make for your family and friends. With a little yogurt and milk, the texture and taste of this smoothie are refined but also packed with protein and fiber.
This strawberry mint smoothie can be a meal on its own! It packs well for mornings on the go, but it can accompany a simple breakfast or brunch. It is bright and light, and has a subtle kick of peppermint, making it even more refreshing.
Have it with a slice of buttered toast with jam, or a small pastry filled with a fruity filling. A drink that is just sweet enough, but not too sweet, you can feel good about giving it to your little ones and your grown family members in between all the Christmas cookies they’ll be having.
What You Need to Make a Strawberry Mint Christmas Smoothie
This recipe uses frozen cherries, fresh strawberries, one ripe banana, Greek yogurt, milk, mint, lime, and honey. You can use all frozen fruits in this if you prefer, but the result will be significantly thicker. This balance of fresh and frozen fruit produces a nice creamy texture and pourable consistency.
The recipe also calls for candy cane or peppermint candy to garnish the top. Make sure you crush up the candy well so it is in very fine pieces that will slowly dissolve into the top of the drink.
You can also use non-fat dairy in this recipe, but the result will not be as creamy.
Ingredients:
- Frozen cherries
- Fresh strawberries
- Fresh banana
- Lime
- 2% or whole milk
- 2% or whole Greek yogurt
- Honey
- Candy canes or peppermint candies
Tools
You do not need a lot of equipment for this recipe – a blender or food processor, a rolling pin, a cutting board, and a small knife. While many people make smoothies in a blender, if you don’t have one, a food processor works well here, too.
How To Make Strawberry Mint Christmas Smoothies
Prepare the fruit: Using a paring knife, cut off the tops of the strawberries, and then hull out the strawberries, cutting out the white center part of the fruit. Chop the strawberries into quarters. Slice the banana into ½ inch rounds. Juice half of one lime.
Prepare the candy: Using a rolling pin, beat on the candy. You don’t need to use much force to make the candy break into small pieces. I like to keep the candy wrapped while I do this so it doesn’t fly all over the kitchen. Then I just unwrap the broken candy when I’ve gotten them into small pieces.
Make the smoothie: Place the cherries, strawberries, mint, yogurt, honey, lime juice, banana, and milk into your blender and blend until smooth.
Serve the smoothie: Pour the smoothie into glasses and garnish with the candy pieces, mint sprigs, and sliced strawberry.
Yes! You can absolutely use dairy-free milks and dairy-alternative yogurts in this smoothie. Experiment with different flavors! I think almond milk would be delicious, but oat and even coconut could provide really interesting twists.
You can put the crushed peppermint candy in the smoothie if you like – however the peppermint candy has a slightly artificial flavor that can easily overwhelm the smoothie, so I prefer the fresh taste of the mint leaves.
If you don’t want to put crushed peppermint candies as a garnish in the center of the smoothie, you can also rim your glass in crushed peppermint. As if you were making a cocktail, put a little water or honey on a plate and lightly dip the rim of your glass in the liquid. On a separate plate, place the crushed candy and then dip the rim of your glass to create a candy-coated lip to your drink.
The cherries add a rich sweetness but don’t overpower the strawberries in this recipe, but if you don’t like cherries or don’t have them, you can certainly use more strawberries. Just make sure at least 1 cup of the fruits you use are frozen, so you get the right consistency for the smoothie.
Strawberry Mint Christmas Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 ripe banana
- 1 cup strawberries (around 8) hulled and quartered, plus more for garnish
- 1 cup frozen cherries
- ½ cup 2% or whole milk
- ½ cup 2% or whole Greek yogurt
- 5 to 6 whole mint leaves plus more for garnish
- 1 tbsp honey
- juice of half of 1 lime
- 1 to 2 peppermint candies or candy canes
Instructions
- Top, hull, and quarter the strawberries.
- Slice bananas into ½ inch rounds.
- Place into the blender the banana, 1 cup of frozen cherries, 1 cup of strawberries, the juice of one half lime, ½ cup of Greek yogurt, ½ cup of milk, 1 tablespoon of honey, and 5-6 whole mint leaves.
- Blend until smooth.
- Using a rolling pin, lightly beat on 1-2 peppermint candies until they are broken up into very small pieces and dust.
- Pour the smoothie into glasses and garnish with extra mint leaves, peppermint dust, and strawberries.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Here are a few other recipes you might enjoy!
- Cranberry Lemon Muffins
- Grinch Mimosa
- Cranberry Apple Casserole
- Eggnog Muffins
- Cranberry Lemon Bars
- Cranberry Jam
Arielle is a food and drink photographer based in Washington, D.C. She was previously a social science researcher before she fell in love with photography.