This cherry smoothie is creamy, delicious, and packed with nutrition. It’s easy to make with fresh or frozen dark cherries and perfect to enjoy during the summer months!
My latest – super simple yet totally delicious recipe – has dark sweet cherries. Yum!
I thought to use cherries when I came across a bag of frozen cherries as I was purchasing some frozen tropical fruit for my tropical smoothie recipe. I almost always use frozen fruit in my smoothie recipes. It makes for a cold smoothie – without using ice – and always gives it a real nice consistency. However, there are limited fruits that are sold frozen so my options are usually limited. So when I saw the cherries I grabbed them and immediately thought cherry vanilla green smoothie.
How to Make a Cherry Smoothie
I combined the cherries with banana, coconut milk, some ground flax seed, and a cup or so of kale. As always you can use any liquid or green you like.
This smoothie was delicious.
Like my blueberry kale green smoothie the cherries give it a dark color so it does not turn as green as in the other smoothies. Also, the cherries are naturally sweet. So combined with the banana and vanilla you barely (if at all) taste the kale. This is a great smoothie for kids or someone who is just starting out with green smoothies.
Cherries are low in calories, high in fiber, and have some awesome health benefits. They help ease arthritis pain, fight cancer, lower blood pressure, and are known to help you sleep. Combined with the other ingredients and this green smoothie packs quite the nutritional punch.
I will say that finding frozen cherries is not easy. The only place I have found them is Wegmans. However, cherry season is coming up so pick a bunch and freeze to keep on hand for cherry vanilla smoothies. You will be glad you did.
Supplies to Prepare a Smoothie
- High-speed blender – I’ve owned this Vitamix for close to 10 years, and it’s still going strong. If you plan to make smoothies regularly, I recommend investing in a high-quality blender. If a Vitamix is too pricey, then check out my recommendation for the best blenders for smoothies.
- Glass tumbler – I often use a 32-ounce mason jar for drinking smoothies. I also have this 18-ounce Ello glass tumbler.
- Reusable straws – These Ello reusable straws work fantastic for smoothies.
- Straw cleaner – Definitely grab a straw cleaner to keep those straws clean.
- 20-ounce Yeti tumbler – I love using my Yeti tumbler to keep smoothies cold on the go.
- Reusable silicone bags – These bags come in handy when putting together freezer smoothie kits.
Cherry Smoothie
Equipment
- High-speed Blender
Ingredients
- 2 cups frozen dark sweet cherries
- 1 medium banana
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 cup kale
- water for consistency
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a blender and blend. Add water – if needed – for consistency.
Corrina Ramsay says
Love it! I had sour cherries from our tree, so added a touch of maple syrup; thought I should, incase it was too tart, but I think it would of been fine without it. Definitely will make again. The coconut flavor really comes through, so I’m sure you could sub with almond milk, etc and still be great, if you don’t want the coconut flavor. Sorry…should of been 5 star review. Missed that part.
Corrina Ramsay says
Love it! I had sour cherries from our tree, so added a touch of maple syrup; thought I should, incase it was too tart, but I think it would of been fine without it. Definitely will make again. The coconut flavor really comes through, so I’m sure you could sub with almond milk, etc and still be great, if you don’t want the coconut flavor.
Katie says
Could I use chia seeds instead of flax seeds?
Tammy Kresge says
yes you can
Teresa says
Just made this and its really yummy! It’s my first smoothie with kale and I can’t taste it all. I was surprised it was sweet without extra sweetener. The only down side is the cost of the cherries. I paid $4 for a small bag. Regardless, now I feel brave and will try the other Kale smoothie recipes on here.
Meegan says
How do fruits with skins work in smoothies? Like blueberries, cherries, apples, etc. Do you have to peel them first? Do they make the smoothie fibrous or “chunky”?
Tammy Kresge says
In my experience they blend right in. I always leave skins on.
Katherine Croom says
I shop at Target for groceries and they seem to always have frozen cherries.
I was just about to start looking for the green smoothie recipes so awesome timing! Thanks for all of the great posts this weekend about getting back on track. It was just what I needed.
Michelle @ Crunchyinthesuburbs says
So glad I ran across this recipe today! I was just taking inventory of my freezer, trying to figure out what I needed to use to make space for summer goodies to come, and had 3 bags of frozen tart cherries. Because they were tart cherries, I sweetened this smoothie up a bit with a Tbsp. of coconut sugar. Seriously though, this is an awesome smoothie, and I don’t love cherries, but now I know how my other two bags of cherries are going to be used!