Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie with Coffee! Gluten-free, Paleo & vegan

Monday, May 22, 2017

This Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie with Coffee makes the perfect breakfast on the go! With plenty of protein, fiber, nutrients and a little boost from the coffee, this shake will start your day right and keep you going all morning. Paleo, vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free.

I'm back from vacation, and thanks to a smoothie that I saw on the menu of a coffee shop in California, I'm still on my peanut butter kick!

While in California, I visited an awesome little coffee shop called Banana Dang. They had a peanut butter, chocolate and banana smoothie on their menu that sounded delicious! I never had a chance to try it, but I left inspired. Without tasting it, I had to guess how to make it. Of course, I also took the opportunity to add spinach, because hiding vegetables in everything I can is what I do :)

What makes this shake so delicious, nutritious and satisfying? A banana, spinach, peanut butter, cocoa powder, chocolate protein powder, instant coffee and milk.

Health Benefits & Nutrition Facts

Not only did this smoothie turn out great, it's also good for you! This Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana smoothie with coffee is gluten-free, Paleo, vegan and dairy-free (if you use vegan milk). It's also made without any added sweetener and made with ingredients that offer a lot of nutritional benefits:

Peanut Butter is a source of protein and healthy fats, in addition to vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. See my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies post for more details.
Spinach is rich in antioxidants as well as vitamin K, folate, and manganese. See my Pumpkin Pie Smoothie post for more information.
Bananas provide vitamin B6 and vitamin C as well as potassium, manganese, antioxidants and fiber. Because of the nutrients and fiber, bananas are recognized for being good for heart health and digestion (source). Bananas may even help the body produce neurotransmitters! (source)

Each smoothie contains about 20 grams of protein thanks to the protein powder and peanut butter, and only about 10 grams of naturally-occurring sugar. Depending on the type of milk used, the amount of protein in this smoothie could be as much as 28 grams with about 20 grams of naturally-occurring sugar. With so much protein and the fiber from the peanut butter and spinach, this smoothie is super satisfying!

Tips & Tricks

I've included Amazon links to products below for your convenience. Some of them are affiliate links, which means that I may receive a small commission if you purchase a product through one of my links.

This vegan protein powder can be used to make the Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie with Coffee

To make this Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie with coffee, I used Orgain Organic Plant-Based Protein in Creamy Chocolate Fudge. It tastes great, has clean ingredients and is sweetened with a natural low-calorie sweetener. I bought it at Costco, but it's also available on Amazon for a comparable price. If you are the type of person that needs to see and touch your choices, I would recommend a trip to Natural Grocers. Not only are their prices exceptionally reasonable for a health food store, but they don't sell anything with artificial sweeteners and have a large selection of both vegan and animal-based protein powders that are sweetened naturally without sugar.

Vegan chocolate protein powders

I've purchased the BioChem Vegan Protein many times. It tastes great and is one of the most affordable options. The Garden of Life Raw Organic Plant Protein is another great vegan protein powder that contains probiotics and enzymes to enhance digestion. Both of these protein powders are sweetened with natural low-calorie sweeteners, like stevia and/or lo han, instead of sugar.

These vegan protein powders can be purchased at Natural Grocers, but they can also be purchased at Amazon. Both are sweetened naturally without sugar.

Whey chocolate protein powders

Natural Grocers carries a lot of whey protein powders that are sweetened with natural low-calorie sweeteners instead of sugar. A lot of them also come from grass-fed cows! The whey protein powders I've shown below are the Jarrow Grass Fed Whey Protein, Natural Factors Whey Factors, Designer Whey, Blue Bonnet Whey Protein Isolate, Garden of Life Sport Grass Fed Whey, and BioChem Whey Protein.

All of these whey protein powders can be purchased at Natural Grocers, but they can also be purchased at Amazon. All are sweetened naturally without sugar

Need a new blender so you can make silky smooth smoothies? I love my Ninja Master Prep! The blender and food processor (yes, it comes with both) power through every job I throw at them, including making velvety smoothies. And at $40, the Ninja Master Prep costs about $400 dollars less than a Vitamix!

This smoothie can easily be made kid-friendly by removing the coffee! It still tastes great and while providing lots of nutrients.