No fruit smoothies are a thing! This chocolate cauliflower smoothie is thick and creamy without any added sugar or fruit.Â
Meet your new favorite smoothie ingredient — frozen veggies.
Most of the smoothie recipes on EBF use frozen banana as the base because it gives smoothies that perfect thick and creamy texture. I still use bananas for smoothies occasionally, but lately I’ve been experimenting with using frozen veggies like zucchini and cauliflower instead.
Zucchini works great, but I feel like frozen cauliflower is the new banana when it comes to making smoothies super thick and creamy. Literally cauliflower makes the texture so smooth it’s almost velvety. And it does this without making your whole smoothie taste like cauliflower or adding a a ton of sugar. It’s pretty awesome!
Just FYI — one banana has around 15 grams of sugar where as one cup of frozen cauliflower has about 2 grams. Obviously, if you’re watching your sugar intake or trying to keep your blood sugar balanced, cauliflower is the better choice.
In general I’ve found that frozen riced cauliflower works better than frozen florets for smoothies because it blends up easily and quickly. Some stores, like Trader Joe’s, carry riced cauliflower in the freezer section but you can easily make your own too. Either buy a package of fresh riced cauliflower and freeze it or buy a whole head, pulse it into rice using your food processor (affiliate link), place in freezer bags and freeze.
For this particular cauliflower smoothie I wanted to make it like a malted shake so I used a vegan chocolate protein powder and maca powder. If you’re new to maca powder, it’s a Peruvian superfood made from the maca root. I’ve heard some people describe the flavor as malty or similar to butterscotch. Personally, I think it has a unique flavor that is slightly bitter sweet. It definitely took some getting used to, but I’ve come to love it, especially knowing all of its amazing health benefits.
Maca is rich in essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and iron. It’s best known for its ability to enhance libido and stimulate fertility, but it also helps increase energy, stamina and endurance, support the immune system, reduce chronic fatigue and regulate and support endocrine system. I just went back and read this post that I wrote about maca back in 2008 and it’s pretty comical. Definitely check it out if you want a good laugh.
Maca powder is readily available in most natural grocery stores now, but you can also buy it on Amazon. If you don’t have maca powder or don’t love the flavor, no worries at all. This chocolate cauliflower smoothie is worth trying because it will still taste delicious without the maca.
In addition to the maca powder we added some cacao nibs in this smoothie to give it an extra boost of antioxidants, as well as, a little crunch. So if you’re looking for a low-sugar smoothie that can help boost your energy AND your libido… this is going to be your jam. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
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PinDescription
No fruit smoothies are a thing! This chocolate cauliflower smoothie is thick and creamy without any added sugar or fruit.Â
Ingredients
- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I like Sunwarrior)
- 3/4–1 cup almond milk
- 1/4 cup frozen riced cauliflower
- 1/3 cup ice
- 1 Tablespoon maca powder
- 1 Tablespoon cacao nibs
Instructions
- Add all ingredients into a high powered blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Sprinkle a few extra cacao nibs on top and serve.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 smoothie
- Calories: 250
- Sugar: 4g
- Fat: 4g
- Carbohydrates: 22g
- Fiber: 10g
- Protein: 22g
Keywords: cauliflower smoothie, no fruit smoothie
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Have you tried frozen cauliflower in smoothies? What did you think?
Liz @ I Heart Vegetables says
April 17, 2017 at 12:02 pmOk I HAVE to try this whole frozen cauliflower thing! I’m so curious now!
jordan @ dancing for donuts says
April 17, 2017 at 2:00 pmYUM! this sounds so good!!! i’ve recently started adding cauliflower to my smoothies too, but i’m still using half a frozen banana because i could taste the cauliflower i bit too much. i bet the flavor from the cacao and maca in this help quite a bit too! i’ll have to try. thanks for sharing 🙂
Emily @ Pizza & Pull-ups says
April 17, 2017 at 8:55 pmI love this idea, great way to get some extra veggies in and keep your sugar and calories a little lower. Thanks!
Bethany @ athletic avocado says
April 18, 2017 at 5:25 pmI’ve been hearing all the hype on riced cauli in smoothies but have never been convinced to try it until now! This smoothie looks so chocolatey and thick! Noms!
Casey the College Celiac says
April 18, 2017 at 11:20 pmI’m loving that more people are jumping on the veggies-in-smoothies train! I’ve been putting frozen zucchini and squash in my smoothies for ages and I love how it makes the smoothies creamy and a little less sugary!
Lauren says
April 21, 2017 at 2:20 pmI have tried cauliflower in my smoothies and love it! Now to try maca…
Ashley Diana says
May 5, 2017 at 3:36 pmThis has totally convinced me to try a cauliflower based smoothie, looks insanely creamy and yummy! So glad its healthy too! Thanks Brittany!
Nutrimarket says
May 13, 2017 at 1:02 pmThis is perfect, so on trend with maca and the cauliflower rice! We’re actually the exclusive distributors of Sunwarrior across the pond in the UK and will definitely share this recipe across social media as a creative example of including more plant-based protein in your diet.
xx
Rocy says
May 20, 2017 at 6:35 amMaking a smoothie with the cauliflower is very new to me.
It makes me give a try on this smoothie. Do you think, the kids love the taste of this smoothie?
Brittany Mullins says
May 21, 2017 at 9:17 pmDefinitely give it a try, Rocy. You can definitely sneak the frozen cauliflower into your kids smoothie without them noticing. I’m not sure about the maca though! 🙂
Rocy says
May 22, 2017 at 12:13 amYeah, you are right. Adding the cauliflower into this smoothie without them knowing would be a good idea. 🙂
candace says
September 10, 2017 at 8:59 pmIf I make shakes in the morning but dont eat them til later in the afternoon would frozen cauliflower work? or would it water it down by the time i got around to eating it? I normally dont put in ice but it stays refrigerated
Brittany Mullins says
September 11, 2017 at 10:12 amHmmm… I’m not so sure because I haven’t tried it. I say try it once and see how it works/tastes! 🙂
Mary says
January 12, 2018 at 7:06 amI have never heard of using cauliflower or veggies in smoothies but I am very excited about this! Can’t wait to try and experiment on my own! Thank you soooo much!
Brittany Mullins says
January 12, 2018 at 10:39 amYay! Adding veggies to your smoothies is such an easy way to increase your veggie consumption and usually you can’t even taste them. I love using frozen veggies to give my smoothies a thick and creamy texture… the frozen cauliflower works perfect for this. Can’t wait to hear what you think of this smoothie.
Destiny says
July 20, 2018 at 9:42 pmShould the cauliflower be precook prior putting it in the freezer? Or it’s served raw?
Brittany Mullins says
July 22, 2018 at 1:36 pmHi Destine. I add it the cauliflower rice in frozen (so it’s technically not cooked). This works great for me but some people like to have it cooked because they find it easier to digest. If you want to cook it first, you would steam the cauliflower, let it cool and then freeze it before using. It takes extra time and a little forethought if you want to cook it first. Let me know if you try the smoothie. It’s a good one.
rosewitha_moke@yahoo.com says
April 17, 2019 at 4:02 pmHi my name is Rose i live in Hawaii im 67 yrs young trying to desperately loose weight no luck so this dmoothie sounds good plus i love cauliflower i hope this will help me
★★★★★