Get your chocolate fix with this thick and decadent chocolate cherry smoothie. It’s made with cocoa powder, frozen cherries, frozen banana, baby greens and almond butter.
The cherry and chocolate smoothie combo isn’t something new for me. I’ve been in love with it ever since trying Kristen’s Cherry Chocolate Bomb Shake a few years ago.
For some reason back then it seemed like frozen cherries were hard to find, but lately I’ve been seeing them every time I go to the store so I decided to buy a bag and experiment with an updated chocolate cherry smoothie.
This time I jazzed things up a bit by adding a cup of baby greens (love a green smoothie) as well as a little almond butter for some healthy fats.
Benefits of Cherries
Cherries are not only delicious, but they’re packed full of vitamins, minerals, and plant compounds with powerful health effects. Here are some impressive health benefits of cherries:
Packed with nutrients
Rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds
Can boost exercise recovery, which makes this a great post-workout recovery smoothie
Lowers cholesterol
May improve symptoms of arthritis and gout
May improve sleep quality
Cherries are packed with antioxidants and important vitamins, minerals and plant compounds. They are a great addition to your diet!
Ingredients Needed:
Here’s what you’ll need to make this smoothie!
frozen cherries – using frozen cherries gives the smoothie a thick consistency and makes it really cold, which I prefer.
frozen banana – adding in frozen banana chunks helps balance the bittersweet flavor from the cacao powder and the tartness from the cherries.
almond butter – for some healthy fats! Look for natural almond butter that doesn’t have any added ingredients. The ingredient list should just read almonds and salt! Can’t do almonds? You can use any nut or seed butter you prefer.
water – instead of milk this smoothie uses cold water for the liquid in the recipe, but feel free to use milk if you prefer a creamier liquid.
vanilla – a great flavor enhancer.
baby greens – to really amp up the nutrition in this smoothie. I prefer baby spinach in smoothies because it’s mild and basically undetectable in smoothies.
raw cocoa powder – cacao powder not only adds a rich chocolate flavor but is also packed with powerful nutrients; including antioxidants, fiber, magnesium, and iron.
tip!
To make this a complete meal or snack I recommend adding 1 scoop of vanilla or chocolate protein powder while blending. Not sure what kind of protein powder is best for you? Check out my guide to choosing the best protein powder along with my favorites + discount codes.
Get your chocolate fix with this thick and decadent chocolate cherry smoothie with cocoa powder, frozen cherries, baby greens and almond butter. Vegan and gluten-free.
Made this smoothie this morning and wow! So so good. I didn’t have greens so I did frozen zucchini instead, used oatmilk and added collagen powder, ground flax seed and avocado oil for extra nutrients! Will be in my regular rotation!! Thanks for another great recipe!
This is really tasty, but no matter what type of baby green I use, I can always seem to detect it in this mix! (that’s not necessarily a bad thing, esp if you LIKE the taste of baby greens; I don’t, and generally have to hide them to get myself to eat them lol). For some reason the cherry choc doesn’t seem to cover them here the way some other flavour combos do. So I skip them, and add a scoop or so of hemp seeds 🙂 Again, almond butter is amazing here – doesn’t make this taste like a nutbar, just subtly enhances the whole thing. Thank you for sharing these with us!!
Made this smoothie twice already and I love love love love it!! I added protein powder and even tried broccoli for my greens- it came out wonderfully. I really appreciate your healthy yummy recipes- they taste delicious and always leave me feeling good inside! Thank you!
This smoothie is so so good!! I made it with coconut water, but I’m sure it would be good with a milk alternative as well. Either way, this smoothie is delicious!!
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Such a great way to start the day! It even fits in my diet!
Woo! Love to hear that, Jan! It means so much to me that you came back to comment and leave a star rating, thank you!
Made this smoothie this morning and wow! So so good. I didn’t have greens so I did frozen zucchini instead, used oatmilk and added collagen powder, ground flax seed and avocado oil for extra nutrients! Will be in my regular rotation!! Thanks for another great recipe!
Ah yay! Happy to hear, Beth! And I love the substitutions you used. So glad it all turned out so well. Thanks for the review!
This is really tasty, but no matter what type of baby green I use, I can always seem to detect it in this mix! (that’s not necessarily a bad thing, esp if you LIKE the taste of baby greens; I don’t, and generally have to hide them to get myself to eat them lol). For some reason the cherry choc doesn’t seem to cover them here the way some other flavour combos do. So I skip them, and add a scoop or so of hemp seeds 🙂 Again, almond butter is amazing here – doesn’t make this taste like a nutbar, just subtly enhances the whole thing. Thank you for sharing these with us!!
Made this smoothie twice already and I love love love love it!! I added protein powder and even tried broccoli for my greens- it came out wonderfully. I really appreciate your healthy yummy recipes- they taste delicious and always leave me feeling good inside! Thank you!
Woo!! So glad this smoothie was a success, Danielle! Thanks for trying it and coming back to leave a review!
This smoothie is so so good!! I made it with coconut water, but I’m sure it would be good with a milk alternative as well. Either way, this smoothie is delicious!!
I’m so glad this smoothie was a hit, Kristen! Thanks so much for making it and coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it!