These strawberry lemonade smoothies seriously do taste like lemonade, but have no sugar added, making them a worthy summer treat!
I’m a former smoothie skeptic, but one day earlier this year I suddenly realized that I had almost completely fallen out of the habit of eating fruit. I’m excellent at eating veggies, but have a limited sweet tooth and fruit just wasn’t on my radar. I felt that it would be best for my wellness to incorporate fruit into my life again so I started making fruit smoothies for myself daily. And I feel GREAT!
That started in the winter, but now that it’s definitely official smoothie season, I decided to play around with an old recipe from this site. I published these strawberry lemonade smoothies many years ago and recently, I’ve been making lots of tweaks to my old recipes to improve them.
But honestly, we made these smoothies and written and thought they were already great! The photos definitely needed updates though. Shudder.
For reasons that I don’t fully understand, adding a nice spoonful of lemon zest to these smoothies really creates a lemonade effect. I tried them once without it and it tasted more like a regular strawberry smoothie to me. Still delicious. But not so lemonade-y. So, don’t skip that zest! It also adds lemon flavor without requiring extra lemon juice, which would then make the drink too tangy. Important!
Why the pinch of salt? It just enhances all of the flavors a little bit – the same reason why things like vegan cake include salt too!
When I looked up other strawberry lemonade smoothie recipes online, almost all of them contained actual lemonade. I figure if I’m going to use lemonade in a smoothie, I might as well just have a glass of lemonade to begin with! I like to make these smoothies nutrient-rich. Thankfully, I found that between the lemon zest and adding a ripe banana for sweetness and creaminess, no sugary beverage is really needed here. Enjoy!
Strawberry Lemonade Smoothies
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
For the strawberry lemonade smoothies:
- 1 lb fresh strawberries trimmed
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 lemon peel and seeds removed
- 1 ripe banana
- 1 small pinch of salt
Instructions
- Trim the leafy part off of the strawberries. Grate 1 tsp of zest from the lemon and set aside. Slice off the lemon peel and remove the seeds and pith (the white papery stuff). Peel, and then slice or mash the ripe banana. Set the lemon flesh, strawberries, and banana in the freezer for at least 2 hours to firm up.
- Add the frozen fruits and the lemon zest, plus a pinch of salt, to your blender, along with ice cubes to preference. (Note: do NOT omit the lemon zest, it's essential for that "strawberry lemonade" flavor). Blend until smooth and enjoy immediately.
Nutrition
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I'm Shannon, the writer and photographer of Yup, it's Vegan! I'm a morning person based in Baltimore, USA. My mission is to create healthy plant-based recipes that anyone would enjoy, using seasonal produce with inspiration from global flavors.
Gracie says
Can you omit the banana? I’m allergic but this sounds so yummy!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Gracie, I’m not sure if that would work. Mainly because, the bananas is the biggest source of sweetness and creaminess in this smoothie. If omitted I think it might be way too tangy and acidic. But I haven’t tried so i’m not sure.
Mary says
would an avocado work if you added a little bit of sweetness from maple syrup or another sweetener?
Laura @ the gluten-free treadmill says
Okay, this seriously the most amazing smoothie. I am counting down the minutes until my workout is done so I can make it!!!
Thanks for linking up at Sunday Smoothie too!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hey thanks for hosting! I have to admit I drank this entire smoothie myself even though I think it’s probably 2 servings. It was just too good to stop =]
Jo from yummyvege says
This looks great – so refreshing for the hot weather we’re having!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Thank you! Yeah, right now having a cold smoothie sounds a lot better than turning on the oven 🙂
Meredith @ Unexpectedly Magnificent says
I love strawberry lemonade! This looks super yummy and easy to make. I can’t wait to try it! 🙂
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Thanks, Meredith!
Cadry says
What a great idea! This is definitely lemonade weather. I just had a glass of blueberry lemonade yesterday. It’s so interesting that you include a pinch of salt in your smoothies. That wouldn’t have occurred to me, but I bet it makes the other flavors pop. I’ll have to try it!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
The salt helps bring out the sweetness a little more, which I think helps especially in recipes like this that teeter on the edge of being sweet enough. Blueberry lemonade sounds fantastic too!
Caeli @ Little Vegan Bear says
How pretty – I just love the colours! And I love strawberry-basil combinations, I often enjoy it in smoothies. The addition of mint and lemon is next level though – will definitely have to give it a shot!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Thank you!! I agree, strawberry-basil is an amazing combo… I just didn’t think I could blend it all together and post a greenish-brown smoothie on here, haha 🙂