I love coming up with new green smoothie recipes for breakfast and this one takes the cake! This chocolate green smoothie has a subtle nutty flavor from the raw almonds while the dark red cherries give it this tart sweetness that is balanced out by the chocolate. Not to mention, the cherries help hide the green color which means this is kid-friendly!
You guys know I am NOT a newbie when it comes to green smoothies- it’s one of my favorite go-to breakfast options!
So much so, I’ve been sharing with you all of my green smoothie recipes as I come up with them, starting with this “not so green” green smoothie.
Today, I want to share another green smoothie that lacks green color and also big on flavor and nutrition – my chocolate green smoothie with cherries and almonds! The cherries give the smoothie a dark reddish color hiding all the greens in this smoothie.
This is definitely one I can sneak by my kids. They have no idea!
Get instant FREE access to my green smoothie recipe e-cookbook here! I share 20 of my best green smoothie recipes along with tips, tricks, and a tutorial.
Why This Chocolate Green Smoothie Is The Best
I made a cherry vanilla green smoothie a couple of months ago and it quickly became one of my favorites! So, I decided to play around a little bit with it for a new green smoothie. Two flavors that came to mind when I thought about cherries were chocolate and almonds.
Not sure why but, as I was brainstorming ingredients to add, that is what popped into my mind so I went with it.
And, I’m so glad that I did!
For the chocolate part, I used unsweetened cocoa powder. Usually, when I use cherries, I don’t need to add any additional sweetener but with the cocoa, I did use 2 teaspoons of pure maple syrup to sweeten it up a bit.
I decided to use raw whole almonds along with almond milk for the almond flavor in this smoothie. I’ve seen raw nuts used plenty of times in green smoothie recipes and I thought this would be a great smoothie to try it out. I loved it!
The almond flavor was subtle but still there. I really enjoyed it.
Almonds do add a lot of extra fat and calories to this smoothie but keep in mind, it is a good healthy fat. Plus, almonds also add a lot of fiber and protein making this smoothie very filling.
All in all, the flavor of this chocolate green smoothie with cherries and almonds is absolutely delicious! It actually tasted more like a dessert which always makes everything better in my book. I love having recipes that satisfy my sweet tooth but still offer lots of goodness and nutrition too.
Best Blender To Make Smoothies
When it comes to blending smoothies, having a really great blender makes all the difference in my opinion.
To make my breakfast smoothies, I used the new Vitamix S30 to blend up this smoothie recipe and it worked great!
This blender is a perfect size for someone cooking for 1 or 2 people or maybe just has a small kitchen. It is small, sleek, and easy to hide away when done using. It comes with a 20-ounce to-go cup to drink smoothies and a 40-ounce container to blends soups and sauces.
Chocolate Green Smoothie With Cherries and Almonds
Time to get blending! Here are the ingredients you will need to make this green smoothie recipe:
- Frozen dark sweet cherries
- Raw whole almonds
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Pure maple syrup
- Baby spinach
- Almond milk
- Water (if needed for consistency)
How To Make This Chocolate Green Smoothie At Home
Place all of your ingredients into the Vitamix container and secure it into place on the blender.
Turn the dial to 1 and slowly work your way up and increase to 10.
Blend the green smoothie for 25 – 30 seconds or until you get the consistency you would like. If it is too thick, add in a splash of water and blend some more.
How To Make This Green Smoothie Recipe Ahead Of Time
As much as I would love to make my green smoothies every single morning, I just don’t always have the time! After trying a few different methods, I was finally able to figure out how to make ahead and freeze my green breakfast smoothies!
When I made them ahead, I sometimes store the smoothies in mason jars and I leave a few in the fridge to have for a few days (usually 2-3 days) and the rest in the freezer.
If you prefer to make the smoothie the day of, you can always prep all of the smoothie ingredients and make smoothie freezer kits!
More Healthy Smoothie Recipes
If you loved this recipe, you’ll love some of these easy healthy smoothie recipes!
- Blueberry Detox Smoothie
- Cherry and Blueberry Green Smoothie
- Mango Berry Green Smoothie
- Strawberry Cucumber Mint Green Smoothie
- Blueberry and Kale Smoothie
- 1 cup frozen dark sweet cherries
- 2 tablespoons raw whole almonds
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
- ½ cup baby spinach
- 1 cup almond milk
- water if needed for consistency
- Place all ingredients into the Vitamix 32 ounce container and secure into place on the blender.
- Turn dial to 1 then slowly increase to 10.
- Blend for 25 - 30 seconds or until you get the consistency you would like. If it is to thick add a little water and blend again.
Disclosure: Vitamix gave me a Vitamix S30 Blender to use for this recipe. All opinions are my own.
Get Instant Access to my Green Smoothie Recipe E-cookbook!
Sign up now to receive your FREE e-cookbook that I created exclusively for my email subscribers! That's you!
Instead of frozen cherries, would fresh cherries work?
Sure you can use fresh cherries.
I would make sure to freeze those fresh cherries. You need a frozen item to make it a smoothie. Otherwise you must put ice in the mix.
this was delish!!
thanks for the recipe
Brett
What do you mean by “½ cup baby spinach”? There would be a huge difference in the amount of greens used depending on whether you mean “drop leaves in until they reach the top of the cup” versus “pack them in tightly.”
Great point! I usually pack mine in. I will update the post.
Are these smoothies meal replacemets?
Very good. I would put a little less coco and more cherries. But this was amazing.
Just made Cherry Chocolate Almond Green Smoothie it was not hard to convince my 13 yr old it was desert he loved it. Awesome!
Cherries are one of my favorite fruits to add to smoothies! Thanks for the recipe.
This was yummy! I tasted it before adding the greens I had (not spinach) and really liked it. I might try soaking the almonds next time – if I can remember. 🙂 Thank you for this recipe!
Hi- Just made this smoothie and it is great. A comment: there is no link for it in the recipes section, I had a tough time finding it again. A couple of questions: Is there any drawback to making a large batch and keeping it in the fridge? Have you tried it with a cherry strawberry (or other berry) mix? Thank you
I love all of your smoothie recipes! For those protein users; I use chocolate protein! Substitute it for the cocoa and syrup and also use almond milk which has fewer calories per cup.
This smoothie is so good! Tastes like a milkshake, and yet it’s vegan and has spinach and almonds in it! So good will definitely be making this again!
This smoothie is so good! Tastes like and milkshake
Could i use any frozen berries instead of cherries?