I’ve been in a protein shake rut these past few months. It’s been the same Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Shake over and over again. Although I could go forever just drinking that because I can’t get sick of it, I’ve challenged myself to try 5 new chocolate protein recipes this past week. Vanilla protein is a diverse powder that makes for more recipes, but chocolate poses a challenge and it doesn’t feel like there is as much that you can do with it like vanilla.
Before getting into each recipe, I want to make a few notes here so I’m not saying the same thing over and over again throughout! I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m trying to go the dairy-free and gluten-free route, which means that I don’t use whey protein! The protein powder I use is Orgain’s Creamy Chocolate Fudge. Some of these recipes also call for almond milk, and while that is dairy-free, I found out when I did the EverlyWell Food Sensitivity Test that I have a very high sensitivity to almonds, and ever since then I’ve tried to steer clear of almond milk. The kind of milk I use is the Bolthouse Plant Milk, and that is the milk I used in all of these recipes! I figured it would be easier to just say it here, as opposed to every single recipe saying that I modified and used this dairy-free milk. And now that I’ve gotten those notes out of the way, let’s get into the shakes I tried this past week!
Chocolate Spirulina Detox Smoothie
Recipe From: The Chalkboard
When I found this recipe, I was very hesitant about combining spirulina and chocolate. It just doesn’t sound like a good idea when you first look at it, or at least it did for me, but I’d been wanting to implement spiralina into my diet because it is the superfood of all superfoods that is supposed to be really good for you. And let me tell you. This was by far my favorite protein shake of the entire week!!! Not only was it a gorgeous green color, it tasted great too. The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of spirulina powder and 1 banana, and the banana is a fruit that overpowers the spirulina. Maybe you could taste a little bit of the spirulina, but not much!
Link to the Exact Recipe – https://thechalkboardmag.com/post-cleanse-chocolate-spirulina-detox-smoothie
Modifications:
- I used a cup and a half of my plant milk instead of adding any water
- Instead of using 2 tablespoons of cacao powder, I just increased the amount of protein powder required to a scoop and a half.
- I didn’t feel the need to use a natural sweetener
Banana Chocolate Protein
Recipe From: Wicked Spatula
Although I’m used to having a banana in my chocolate protein shake, this one intrigued me because I have never put an avocado in a smoothie before. I’ve always wanted to combine chocolate and avocado together just because I’ve seen brownies made with avocados before, but I had never actually tried it until this week. And boy let me tell you, it was actually really good! You can’t taste the avocado at all, but it gives the shake the creamiest texture ever. I remember this smoothie kept me full for HOURS after I had drunk it because the protein along with the avocado are super filling foods. I never thought I’d be putting avocados in my smoothies before, but it feels like I’m going to have to start!
Link to the Exact Recipe – https://www.wickedspatula.com/brownie-batter-protein-shake/
Modifications:
- I ended up just using 1 cup of my plant milk instead of the ½ cup of milk and 3/4 of water. I did add a little bit of water after blending it through the first time though, but not too much.
- I didn’t have any collagen peptides or dark cocoa powder, so I just went with 2 scoops of my chocolate protein powder instead
- This recipe didn’t call for spinach, but spinach is an ingredient that you don’t even taste in smoothies, so I just added it to get more greens in for the day and use it up before it goes bad!
Mocha Protein Shake
Recipe From: Kim’s Cravings
Ok, this is one that I feel like I’m going to have to give another go. It wasn’t one of my favorites for the week, and I honestly think it’s my own fault! Even though I love cinnamon, I’m not a huge fan of it in coffee. Maybe like a splash of it, but not much. The recipe calls for half a teaspoon, but I was doubling the amount of protein scoops and the amount of coffee, so I just kinda eye balled the amount of cinnamon, and I could tell from the first taste that I put in way too much. And the shake was a basically room temperature because instead of chilling the coffee, I just made a coffee and poured it in with the cold ice and milk. Like I said, totally my fault that this recipe was a bust!! I’m going to have to try to make it again, and maybe omit the cinnamon and just go for a nice chocolate mocha shake!!
Link to the Exact Recipe – https://www.kimscravings.com/chocolate-mocha-protein-shake/
Modifications:
- 2 scoops of protein powder instead of one
- 1 cup of coffee instead of half
- Just like the banana chocolate I added some spinach just because you can never taste it in the smoothie!
- No stevia
Raspberry Chocolate Protein Smoothie
Recipe From: The Wheatless Kitchen
Of all the recipes I tried this week, I think this one was the easiest and I didn’t even have to make many modifications. Even though this is the easiest one, it will have to be one that I make every once in a while just because fresh raspberries are an expensive fruit where you don’t even get that many in the small carton! The recipe calls for one cup, and that’s basically the size of the little carton we got. You basically would have to buy one small container of fresh raspberries just to make this smoothie. Maybe in the future I can buy some frozen raspberries that would last longer than buying them fresh. I didn’t end up using a full cup just because I didn’t want to hog all the raspberries that we just got that day, and the banana ended up dominating the flavor of the smoothie. It was still really good though with a little hint of the raspberry, but like I said I think it’s just going to have to be a recipe I make every once in a while unless I buy them frozen.
Link to the Exact Recipe – https://www.thewheatlesskitchen.com/chocolate-raspberry-protein-smoothie/
Modifications:
- I used a fresh banana
- I didn’t use any flax meal
Mint Chocolate Chip Green Smoothie
Recipe From: Nutrition Stripped
My last and final recipe I tried this week ended up being another one that I’m going to have to try to make again at a different time because of user error 🙂 . I didn’t have any mint leaves or mint extract, so I went with a small dash of peppermint just because I didn’t think it would be that drastic of a change in flavor. So I blended all up the rest of the ingredients minus the stevia and tasted it, and I thought it needed more sweetness, so I went and added a full banana. It tasted almost exactly like the banana chocolate smoothie I had made earlier in the week! You could barely taste the peppermint! It was actually really really good though, but like I said, I’m gonna have to try again later to actually buy mint leaves and make this a mint smoothie. This was another recipe that called for an avocado and it was probably the smoothest and creamiest smoothie that I had had all week!
Link to the Exact Recipe – https://nutritionstripped.com/a-stripped-smoothie-mint-chocolate-chip/
Modifications:
- No mint, went with peppermint extract
- 2 scoops of protein powder
- Didn’t initially use a cup of water, but added about a tablespoon or so after the first time blending
- Used about a cup and 1/4 of plant milk instead of the one cup
- No stevia, but ended up adding a banana for some sweetness
And those are all the recipes that I had tried this week! I’m definitely going to have to make the spirulina chocolate recipe more often because that was my absolute favorite smoothie of the week. And like I said I’m going to have to give the mocha and the mint another try because I don’t think I did them justice. One take away from trying all these recipes though is adding avocado to my smoothies. It is amazing the smoothness it gives, yet you can’t even taste the avocado itself. It’s an added fat that will definitely leave you more full! I hope you enjoyed this post, and I hope you end up trying some of these recipes out because they ended up turning out great!!!
Side note: I also found some of these recipes through Yuri Elkaim’s blog post of “17 Amazing Chocolate Protein Powder Shake Recipes,” so here’s the link if you want to check out more chocolate protein recipes! https://yurielkaim.com/chocolate-protein-powder-shake-recipes/