Carrot Cake Smoothie
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A delicious carrot cake smoothie with carrot juice, a frozen banana and protein powder. This combo tastes like liquid carrot cake!
If you do a quick search for “carrot cake” on my blog, you’ll see that I am a full blown carrot cake lover! I’ve made carrot cake baked oatmeal, carrot cake bars, carrot cake breakfast cookies and more… I’ve been on a serious smoothie kick lately so set out to create a carrot cake smoothie recipe, because who doesn’t want to eat carrot cake in all forms?!
When I stumbled across 100% carrot juice in the store, I knew it would be the perfect base for my carrot cake smoothie. If you’ve never tried carrot juice, don’t let that scare or intimidate you! The juice has a hint of earthiness, but it’s quite sweet and paired with a few other simple ingredients, it tastes delicious in smoothies.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Smoothie
- Tastes like dessert – It’s got all the warm, spiced flavors of carrot cake but in a creamy, refreshing smoothie!
- Packed with nutrients – Carrot juice, banana, and protein powder make this smoothie naturally sweet and loaded with vitamins, fiber, and protein.
- Quick & easy – Toss everything in a blender, blend, and it’s ready in under 5 minutes.
- Customizable – Adjust the sweetness, swap the milk, or add extras like chia seeds or shredded coconut.
- Dairy-free & protein-packed – The combo of almond milk and protein powder keeps it creamy without the need for dairy!
Carrot Cake Smoothie Ingredients
- 100% carrot juice – I used Bolthouse Farms but if you can’t find any, I’m sharing two options below!
- banana – adds natural sweetness and makes the smoothie thick and creamy. Frozen banana works best!
- almond milk – I prefer unsweetened vanilla almond milk but feel free to use any milk of your choice.
- vanilla protein powder – adds protein and enhances the cake-like flavor.
- cinnamon – a touch of warm spice to bring the carrot cake vibes!
- ice – helps thicken and chill the smoothie for a refreshing texture.
Substitutions
I love the way this smoothie comes together as is, but there’s always room to make it your own! Here’s some inspiration:
- No banana?: Try frozen pineapple or mango for natural sweetness and a creamy texture.
- Milk options: Any plant based milk works here! Cashew, oat, or coconut milk are perfect options. Regular milk is great too if you don’t need a dairy free smoothie.
- Protein boost: I love using vanilla protein powder to enhance the cake-like flavor, but if you don’t have any, try adding Greek yogurt, hemp seeds, or a scoop of almond butter for extra protein.
- Extra carrot cake spice: Amp up the flavor with nutmeg, ginger, or a pinch of cloves for even more cozy, spiced goodness.
- Sweetness: If you love sweeter smoothies, try adding a touch of maple syrup, or even a date or two!
How to Make Carrot Cake Smoothie
This creamy carrot cake smoothie comes together in just two simple steps!
1. Blend – Add all ingredients to a high-powered blender and blend until smooth. If it’s too thick, add a little extra milk or carrot juice to reach your desired consistency.
2. Serve – Pour into a glass, sprinkle with extra cinnamon, shredded coconut, or even my homemade granola and enjoy!
That’s it! A delicious, spiced, and refreshing smoothie in minutes.
Pro tip!
- Swapping the protein powder? If you’re using Greek yogurt or another substitute, add a dash of vanilla extract to keep that warm, cake-like flavor that the vanilla protein powder brings.
Carrot Smoothie Health Benefits
Have your (carrot) cake and eat it too! This smoothie is packed with healthy ingredients. Let’s walk through them!
Carrots – Besides being delicious, carrots are packed with amazing nutrients as well! They’re high in antioxidants, fiber, vitamin K and potassium. They have shown to help with heart and eye health as well as digestion. (Source)
Banana – Bananas are another top health food – packed with fiber, potassium, vitamin C and antioxidants. They have also shown to help with heart health. (Source)
Almond milk – Almond milk is low in calories, naturally high in vitamin E and is often fortified with calcium and vitamin D. It is not a great source of protein which is why I like to add protein powder to my smoothies to make them a complete meal or snack. (Source)
Protein powder – Every protein powder is different but here is a round of my favorites! Adding protein powder to a smoothie helps to keep you full and satisfied for hours.
Cinnamon – Cinnamon is basically the OG superfood. It’s loaded with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. It has been shown to improve blood sugar issues and to reduce heart disease risk factors. (Source)
Frequently Asked Questions
If you don’t have carrot juice on hand or can’t find it in your local store, you can still make this smoothie. If you have a juicer you can make your own fresh carrot juice, which is so delicious. I love my Hurom slow juicer for this! Another option is to use a high speed blender (like a Vitamix) to process the carrots. That said if you choose to use your blender, the carrots will turn into a puree rather than juice. Your smoothie will be quite thick and you’ll likely need more milk to thin it out.
A sprinkle of cinnamon, shredded coconut, chia seeds, chopped nuts, or even granola makes this smoothie extra delicious!
Yes! This smoothie is packed with nutrients from carrots, banana, and protein to keep you full and energized. Carrots provide vitamin A and antioxidants, while protein powder adds a boost of protein for satiety. Plus, it’s naturally sweetened with fruit!
More Smoothie Recipes You Might Enjoy
- Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookie Smoothie
- Orange Banana Smoothie
- Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie
- Strawberry Banana Smoothie
- Green Protein Smoothie
- Butterfinger Smoothie
More Carrot Cake Inspired Recipes
- Oatmeal Carrot Cake
- Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal
- Healthy Carrot Cake Bars
- Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies
- Healthy Carrot Muffins
- Carrot Cake Overnight Oats
Be sure to check out all the smoothie recipes here on EBF.
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Carrot Cake Smoothie
Ingredients
- ½ cup carrot juice, I used Bolthouse Farms 100% carrot juice*
- 1 frozen banana, in chunks
- ¾ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, any non-dairy milk works
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
- 4-5 cubes of ice
Instructions
- Blend: Place all ingredients into a high powdered blender and blend until smooth. If the smoothie is too thick, add an additional splash of milk or carrot juice.
Notes
- Carrot juice: I used store-bought carrot juice in the recipe, but feel free to make your own fresh carrot juice as well. See my notes above.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This Recipe? Rate & Comment Below!
Just made this a few moments ago using froz. banana + pear. Cut back powder to 1/4 scoop & added 2 Tbsp.buffalo yogurt. Also added in my vitamin drops. omegas, etc. Soooo delicious and definitely a keeper. Back to my smoothie now 😊
I have a banana allergy. I’m thinking of adding avocado instead, do you have any suggestions to replace the banana?
Hey Holly! I think avocado or frozen mango would work well instead of the banana. Let me know how it turns out.
I just made this smoothie and I absolutely love, love, love it! I made my own carrot juice, left out the protein powder and added a leaf of kale. You would never know there was kale in this decadent smoothie. It really did taste like a carrot cake. My 23 month old son loved it too! Thank you for the recipe.
Hooray! Thank you so much for coming back to comment and let me know that you liked it! Love the addition of kale. 🙂
Thanks for the specific post.
What i do in the mornings is that i take carrots , spinach , beetroot (not much), one orange, one apple, a little Ginger and a lil mint and take out the juice out of them. This gives me 2 beer- mugs of juice. In one of them i add 1 scoop of Protein Powder. And i have 3 Egg Whites with it. Is it ok for someone who wants to build muscle?
Wow! This was so yummy. I’ve never really like carrot juice but thought I’d give it a try and this was very good. Didn’t have protein powder so I added a tablespoon of plain yogurt instead.
Yay! So glad you liked it, Annette. 🙂
I added pecans and it was so delicious! I will definitely be adding this to my repertoire of smoothie recipes!
So glad you enjoyed it, Valerie!
I stumbled upon this recipe last weekend and love carrot cake but had never used carrot juice in a smoothie. It is DIVINE! It is a perfect breakfast food and so very filling. I use the unsweetened almond milk/coconut blend and it really makes me thing I’m drinking a piece of my favorite cake. Thanks!
This sounds divine, look yummy yummy will be making this for sure.
Wow, I was just looking up smoothies and I read this. I work at Bolthouse Farms I can buy the stuff by the cases! I am going to try this! Thank you for sharing!
Why have the protein powder? I’m not trying to be a smartA** . I just don’t understand why a person wouldn’t get their protein from some other food?
Thank you.
KJ, For me, adding the protein to this makes it a complete meal. It just ups the nutritional value for people who want more protein in their diets.
I had this smoothie today for breakfast…. Yum yum!! I didn’t have the protein powder so I used hemp instead with a couple drops of vanilla. DELISH !!!
Hooray! So glad you liked it, Ann.
I’ve been making this smoothie for the past couple of weeks… today I accidentally switched the measurements for the carrot juice and milk…. mmmmm very very good, i definitely recommend 3/4 carrot juice and 1/2 milk, add in a little bit of allspice with the cinnamon, yum yum! 🙂 thank you for posting this recipe 🙂