Hands up if you’re feeling a wee bit bored of cooking meal after meal while you’re knee-deep in WFH life. Lunch can feel like a right chore to prepare and cook, especially when all you want to do is kick back and enjoy your meal while you take a breather from the deluge of work.
We hear you.
The key to making a great smoothie for lunch is to ensure it contains a balance of protein and fat, on top of the usual fruits and vegetables. This will keep you full enough to keep going at work, without causing that totally unwanted post-prandial stupor you get when you overload on a carb-heavy lunch.
Most breakfast smoothies can be tweaked for lunch – just add some extra protein in the way of yoghurt, cheese, or tofu, or bulk them up with chia, hemp or flax seeds. All you need is a decent blender and you’re good to live your best smoothie life.
Ahead, we’ve found 10 smoothies you can make for lunch, dinner, and any meal you want, actually. Packed with fruit, vegetables, and loads of protein, they’re so easy to make and even easier to eat – who doesn’t love them?
10 healthy and filling smoothies you can make for lunch when you’re just too lazy to prepare lunch
1. Easy Berry Smoothie
A berry smoothie, who hasn’t had one? Packed with antioxidants and bursting with flavour, it’s a real crowd pleaser among the ages. It’s also extremely easy to put together, because it’s one of those smoothies that you can make with one type of berry, or five, depending on what’s in your freezer stash.
This one calls for the addition of almond butter and vanilla yoghurt too, for that protein punch. If you don’t have almond butter, go ahead and use peanut butter or any other nut butter in your pantry – they are great substitutes. Top this smoothie off with crunchy granola, fresh berries and a drizzle of honey for a true winner that you can have anytime of the day
Get the recipe here.
2. Coffee Banana Chocolate Smoothie
Banana, coffee, and chocolate are a entire flavour mood on their own. There’s something about the combination that’s a secret win – equal parts sweet and bitter with nutty and caramel notes to offset each other. If you want this sweeter, you can add some Medjool dates, to add further depth of flavour while not going over the top with the sweetness.
Healthy, satisfying, and perfectly flavourful, this is the smoothie we never knew we needed. Yep, we can basically have this smoothie all day because there’s literally nothing stopping us. Omit the protein powder if you wish, because we know it’s not everyone’s cup of smoothie, doing so doesn’t alter the taste. Use nuts in place of the powder for that protein boost, the nuts taste lovely with the banana-coffee-chocolate flavour mix.
Do pre-soak the nuts and oats overnight for an easier and smoother blend the next day, it’s well worth the effort.
Get the recipe here.
3. Blueberry, Lime, and Cashew Smoothie
We got to admit that this smoothie sounds pretty radical at first glance, with ingredients you don’t expect to find put together. But (big BUT here!) it’s surprisingly delicious and all sorts of healthy.
Packed with antioxidants from the blueberries and vitamin C from the lime juice, this smoothie is the perfect balance of sweet and sour, a treat for our taste buds. Medjool dates, coconut water, and yoghurt round of the ingredients out – you’ll be slurping every bit of this refreshing smoothie up from froth to cream.
Tip: We’ve seen reviews saying that this measurement of cashews yields a slightly thicker shake. So if you want a more watery consistency that’s easier to gulp down, you can consider going easier on the nuts.
Get the recipe here.
4. Caramel Coconut Smoothie
Question: is it wrong to have caramel for lunch? We’ll go ahead and say no, and we’re unabashed – you can quote us on that! This caramel Coconut Smoothie is a nutty, creamy, gorgeous concoction that’s so good, it tastes almost unhealthy.
The cashews provide that protein quota for a well-rounded meal, so that this mouthwatering glass caramel goodness passes for a meal smoothie. If you don’t have cashews, any nuts would do too: pine nuts, peanuts, macademias, sunflower seeds. Greek yoghurt substitutes for the tofu, if you need a replacement for that.
The trick to getting the texture smooth and creamy in this smoothie is in using a high powered blender. Now that’s all out of the way, excuse us while we make this for lunch, tea, AND dinner!
Get the recipe here.
5. Strawberry Banana Smoothie
Ah, the good old strawberry banana smoothie that everyone loves. What’s NOT to love, really? The flavours of fresh strawberries, sweet banana and creamy yogurt are a classic that cannot go wrong.
Add chia seeds or hemp seeds if you want to bulk up on the fibre and have some lying around in your pantry, otherwise keeping it simple is an all-round excellent idea. After all, if it, we really shouldn’t fix it when it ain’t broken.
Tip: For a smooth and creamy blend, don’t use frozen fruit throughout – keep it to either frozen strawberries with fresh bananas OR frozen banana paired with fresh strawberries. Or if possible, use them fresh! This will ensure you get that perfect creamy smoothie that’s refreshing as it is filling.
Get the recipe here.
6. Green Kale Smoothie
Don’t be turned off by how, well, green this smoothie is. It may look healthy but don’t worry friends, it’s also very, very yummy. (Rest assured that we only ever introduce yummy things here at AVENUE ONE!) For the uninitiated, this is a kale smoothie that does not even taste the least bit woody.
The secret is in the pineapple that’s added, it somehow neutralises the greenness of the kale and smooths it right out. Banana, honey, peanut butter, Greek yoghurt, and plant milk complete this super-powered smoothie. The result is a delicious blend that tastes sweet and refreshing, and is so healthy to boot.
We recommend removing the fibrous stems of the kale before blending, they can be a tad tough to blitz even with the most high powered of processors!
Get the recipe here.
7. Mango Pineapple Smoothie
There’s something so happy and cheerful about this smoothie combination of mango and pineapple, it puts a smile on our faces just thinking about it! Maybe it’s the bright colour or the resemblance to a creamy glass of piña colada– whatever it is, we think it’s the perfect perk-me-up to get us through the midweek blues.
Three ingredients are all you need to create this healthy version of a summertime cocktail sans alcohol (or slip some in if you’re having this for a TGIF evening drink, nothing stopping you there!). Blend frozen mango, frozen pineapple, and coconut milk in a high-powered processor and you’re good to party!
If you want to load up on the fibre, go ahead and add some cauliflower or chia seeds to this as you blitz it all up. You will probably want to keep an eye on the texture if you do so, because you’ll need to add water with these added ingredients to keep the smoothie smooth.
Get the recipe here.
8. Avocado Gula Melaka Smoothie
Warning ahead: highly addictive recipe ahead. This avo and gula melaka (palm sugar) smoothie is quintessentially Singaporean, blending the flavours from East and West so beautifully together in one tall creamy glass of goodness. The combination of buttery avocado with the deep caramel flavour of the gula melaka is truly unbeatable, a real treat for the senses on a hot afternoon.
The toughest part of this recipe is probably getting your hands on quality gula melaka, which you used to be able to get from Malacca way before Covid closed our borders and made such trips to Malaysia impossible. Not to worry though, grocery stores and baking stores here in Singapore do still stock gula melaka, so you can breathe a sigh of relief.
Keep some melted gula melaka in the pan for drizzling all over the top of your smoothie after blending it all together. We promise you, it’s never enough!
Get the recipe here.
9. Healthy Blueberry Tofu Smoothie
Wait, what? Tofu in a smoothie? That’s right! Silken tofu blended in smoothies are the smoothie protein hack you never knew you liked. Silken tofu blends so beautifully when you blitz it, turning creamy rather than mushy. And it tastes pretty neutral, adding a mild flavour akin to soy milk to your shake.
Adding a banana and a cup of blueberries to this smoothie ensures you get all the vitamins and minerals you need on top of the healthy dose of protein from the tofu. We’re sold.
PS: Squeeze out as much water as you can from the tofu, so that your smoothie doesn’t become too watery upon blending. If you can’t find silken tofu (it has to be silken and not firm!), you can substitute with Greek yoghurt.
Get the recipe here.
10. Watermelon Smoothie
Low in calories and fat content but high in water and nutrients, watermelon is not a common ingredient for smoothies. But when done right, it yields a smoothie that’s so delightfully refreshing, you may almost forget how hot it is outside. Say hello to the most hydrating smoothie you’ve ever met, the perfect watermelon smoothie.
The hardest part about using watermelons in smoothies is the danger of having a wet, slushy mess on your hands. We’ve got a fail-proof trick to prevent this: freeze cubed watermelon before blending. This, with the addition of yoghurt (we like vanilla for the extra flavour kick) and maple syrup, ensures a creamy delight that will hit all the right spots while filling your happy tummy.
As always, adding chia seeds or flaxseeds to the smoothie does help to thicken it up and add weight to it, making it feel more substantial.
Get the recipe here.
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