Chocolate Zucchini Smoothie

Chocolate and veggies for breakfast...Sounds a little weird, but absolutely works in this creamy chocolate zucchini smoothie! 

This creamy chocolate peanut butter smoothie with zucchini is a healthy way to start the day with a serving of veggies!  This recipe is gluten free, vegetarian, and absolutely delicious!

I love finding ways to add different veggies to my smoothies, but recently I got into a bit of a veggie-smoothie rut.  I’ve been making all sorts of smoothies with greens, red beets, golden beets, and carrots…but then I got stuck.  I needed another vegetable to try in smoothies that would actually taste good.

 

And that’s when squash smoothies entered my life!  I was working with a client (and fellow smoothie-lover) a few weeks ago, and they mentioned reading an article about using different types of squash in smoothies and asked if I had tried it.  And no, I hadn't even thought about using squash in smoothies...but how could I have missed this?! 

 

There’s an abundance of squash in season right now and it’s the perfect veggie option for a smoothie because it’s like a blank canvas.  There’s not much in terms of bold flavor or color in zucchini, yellow squash, or other varieties like patty-pan squash, so they should blend in pretty seamlessly into most smoothies.  And they happen to be packed with nutrition and are naturally lower carbohydrate and high in fiber. 

 

This creamy chocolate peanut butter smoothie with zucchini is a healthy way to start the day with a serving of veggies!  This recipe is gluten free, vegetarian, and absolutely delicious!

So I went straight to the store on my way home that day to buy some  yellow squash and make a smoothie.  And it came out great!  I tested it out again on co-workers the next day and they absolutely loved it.  That tasty blueberry-peach yellow squash smoothie recipe will be coming to the blog next week, so stay tuned! 

 

My next venture involved adding zucchini to one of my very favorite smoothies: chocolate, peanut butter and banana.  Here’s the original recipe for this smoothie without the veggies; it basically tastes like a chocolate milkshake. :)  Adding zucchini to this recipe was an easy way to boost the nutrition of the smoothie without really changing the flavor. 

 

This creamy chocolate peanut butter smoothie with zucchini is a healthy way to start the day with a serving of veggies!  This recipe is gluten free, vegetarian, and absolutely delicious!

One thing I did notice with the zucchini addition to this smoothie is that the extra bulk of the veggie seemed to mellow out the sweet, chocolaty flavor just a bit, so I added a touch of vanilla and pure maple syrup, and that little problem was solved! 

 

 

So if you’re a fellow lover of drinking your veggies for breakfast, enjoy! And if you think it’s weird, don’t knock it till you try it!  ;) Happy blending!

This creamy chocolate peanut butter smoothie with zucchini is a healthy way to start the day with a serving of veggies!  This recipe is gluten free, vegetarian, and absolutely delicious!

Chocolate Zucchini Smoothie

Makes 1 serving

 

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 banana
  • 1/2 cup chopped raw zucchini
  • 3-4 ice cubes
  • 1 cup milk of choice (low fat milk, almond, cashew, soy, coconut milk)
  • 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter or 2 tablespoons PB2
  • 1/8 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup

Directions: 

  1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend at least one minute or until the ingredients are completely combined and the smoothie is creamy.

 Happy Eating!

~Amber


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This creamy chocolate peanut butter smoothie with zucchini is a healthy way to start the day with a serving of veggies!  This recipe is gluten free, vegetarian, and absolutely delicious!

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Comments: 4
  • #1

    Laura (Friday, 01 July 2016 15:40)

    Oh my word! I put zucchini in my smoothies too! I thought people would think I was CrAzY! LOL! good to know I'm not alone!

  • #2

    diane (Saturday, 02 July 2016 08:40)

    Loving this. I am giving it a try this week.

  • #3

    Alicia @ Nutrition Realm (Sunday, 03 July 2016 15:07)

    Hey Amber,

    Thanks for the amazing chocolate zucchini recipe. Will try it some time cause I'm totally in love with this one.

    Thanks for sharing.

  • #4

    jennifer (Saturday, 29 July 2017 22:18)

    I gave this a try tonight and LOVED it! I was hoping to find a sweet but healthy zucchini recipe since we have more than a few in our garden. This smoothie is the perfect solution.