This Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie tastes like a milkshake, only without refined sugar. It’s easy to make at home and quickly satisfies your sweet tooth!
Why You’ll Love It
It’s nourishing. This smoothie recipe is filling and delicious, with 11 grams of protein and 7 grams of fiber per serving. It makes an easy breakfast or mid-day snack that’s loaded with minerals.
It’s allergy friendly. When you use dairy-free milk, like unsweetened almond milk, soy milk, or coconut milk, this recipe is vegan-friendly. It’s naturally gluten-free, too!
It’s easy to customize. If you don’t have peanut butter, swap it for another nut butter, like cashew butter or almond butter. Feel free to add other ingredients you love, like Greek yogurt, flax seeds, or chia seeds. Flax seeds add omega-3 fatty acids and extra fiber to each sip.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Frozen bananas give this smoothie an ice cream-like texture and the creamy peanut butter helps add creaminess, too. No dairy is required!
You can use cocoa powder or cacao powder, depending on which you keep in your pantry. Either option will work in this recipe. If you’d like to add veggies, you can also sneak in a handful of baby spinach or some frozen cauliflower, which will go unnoticed in flavor.
Want to add extra protein? Add a tablespoon or two of hemp hearts (shelled hemp seeds), which have the nine essential amino acids your body needs, or a scoop of your favorite protein powder.
How to Make a Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie
1. Add the ingredients.
In a high-speed blender combine the milk, frozen banana, peanut butter, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract. It might not look like enough liquid for blending, but this is the perfect starting point for a slushy smoothie texture.
Note: If you are using a blender with a wide square base, you might need to double the recipe. Larger blender containers require more ingredients to pulverize the ingredients sufficiently.
2. Blend.
Secure the lid on your blender and process until the smoothie looks creamy, with no visible chunks. This should take approximately 60 seconds.
At this point, you can adjust the flavor or texture. Add a handful of ice for a thicker consistency, but don’t add too much or you risk diluting the flavor. Use an extra splash of milk or water for a more runny consistency.
3. Enjoy!
Pour the smoothie into a glass and serve it immediately for the best flavor and texture.
Looking for more smoothie recipes? Try my popular Apple Smoothie, Zucchini Smoothie, or Oatmeal Smoothie for more ideas.
Make-Ahead Smoothie Bags
Want to make this smoothie ahead of time? Add the frozen banana, sliced into coins, cacao powder, peanut butter, and spinach (if you’d like), into a freezer bag or airtight container.
Smoothie freezer bags can be frozen for up to 3 months, so make as many batches as you’d like to have on hand.
When you’re ready to make a smoothie, dump the bag’s contents into the blender and add the liquid ingredients, including the milk and vanilla. When blending a smoothie bag, you’ll sometimes need to add extra liquid since everything is frozen this time. Feel free to add an extra splash at a time until everything blends.
As a result, smoothie bags can sometimes be slightly less flavorful. Feel free to add a touch of honey or maple syrup to help boost the flavor if needed.
Need a nut-free recipe? Try using sunflower butter or tahini instead of peanut butter.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 frozen banana , sliced for easy blending
- 1/2 cup almond milk (or milk of choice)
- 1 tablespoon cacao powder
- 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Add the banana, milk, cacao powder, peanut butter, and vanilla to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
- Taste and adjust the texture as needed, adding a little more liquid if you need help blending, or a handful of ice if you'd like a thicker texture. Just keep in mind that adding extra ice or liquid will dilute the flavor slightly. Feel free to add a little more cacao powder for a stronger chocolate flavor, or a squeeze of honey or maple syrup, if you want a sweeter taste.
- Serve right away for the best taste and texture. See the tips in the post above for making smoothie bags that you can store in the freezer, for a make-ahead idea.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this healthy chocolate peanut butter smoothie recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below so I’ll know how you like it!
Yummm! I’m like you – I rarely follow recipes for smoothies, except when I’m making one for the blog, in which case I try really hard to remember to measure things! You’ve just triggered a hard core craving for nut butter! 😉
Looks so comforting & sounds delicious. Immediately slotted into next weeks food shop 🙂 Thank you!
I typically don’t follow a recipe…maybe once in awhile…maybe for this one!:) Looks so creamy..my fav kind of shakes!!
One of my go-to smoothies for sure!
That looks awesome! I’ll have to try that one!
Yummy, what a great dessert!!! Are you sure you got the servings right… Looks like one delicious serving to me 😉
Ha, yes it’s just ONE serving for Austin, too!
this looks so good! i usually just throw whatever in there for my smoothies! my current favorite: banana, pineapple, ice, orange juice, and a ton of spinach (like 2 cups!) sooo fresh and deliciously green!
For smoothies, I don’t usually follow a recipe. Just use whatever I’m craving, but this looks absolutely delicious. I am so happy I splurged on the vitamix! I love it
Have you tried using unsweetened chocolate almond milk in a smoothie? To. Die. For.
mmmm… this looks so delicious!
I made a banana smoothie with greek yogurt about an hour ago!
Definitely making this tomorrow though!
Looks sooo yummy~ but how do you offset all of the carbs? We are trying to watch our intake of sugars~ ohhh it is sooo hard! 🙂
I’d consider this shake a “treat” rather than an every day indulgence. No need to worry about offsetting the carbs if you work it into your week as a dessert. 🙂
Try vanilla stevia and omit the maple syrup. NuNaturals is the brand I use. By far the best flavor. Made this smoothie throughout my pregnancy but never thought of the peanut butter. Missed out!!
LOVE this so much, in fact if you want it to be EVEN healthier I make it with just frozen bananas, PB & almond milk-don’t need maple syrup or the cocoa
My mouth is watering, this looks delicious!
This is SO delicious. I made it last night and I couldn’t believe how YUMMY it was. Thank you for posting this!
I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Ummmm…. You did it again!!! Unreal!!! I didn’t have ice cubes so used frozen strawberries.
Amazing!! Thank you!!!!
-Michelle
I didn’t have enough banana so I put some yellow squash in mine. So yummy! Thanks for the recipe!
Great idea! That sounds delicious! 😉
I stumbled upon your site tonight and decided to try this recipe. Everyone loved it! Thanks so much for the great recipes.
I’m so glad you all enjoyed it! 🙂
What brand of natural peanut butter do you buy and do you keep in it in the fridge. Yours looks so creamy. Mine is so thick from keeping in the fridge I struggle to measure or spread it easily. I love the flavor but can only really use it on warm Ezekiel bread the best. Always looking for other brands to try.
The one pictured above is the organic brand from Whole Foods– it was freshly opened and stirred, which is why is looks so creamy. I do keep my peanut butter in the fridge, so it does get thick, but I think that actually helps the texture of the milkshake!
When I’m making it on a regular basis, I’ll just use a normal spoon to measure (rather than a measuring cup), since it doesn’t have to be “exact” to turn out delicious! Hope you enjoy it!
I just made this and it was delicious! I ran out of cocoa powder so I borrowed some of my husband’s chocolate protein powder and it was amazing! Thanks so much for sharing – I’m out to buy some ingredients to try some of your other recipes 🙂
I made it with almond butter. It was amazingly good! Thanks!
I finally made this and is very good!! My blender struggled with the ice a bit but I just kept turning it off and shaking it or stirred it.
I finally made this and all I can say: YUM!!! LOVE IT!! Thank you! 🙂
i use a vitmix to blend ice milk shakess but have a hard time with it pushing everything above blades and having to stop and shake. how and what speeds do you recommend blending milk sahkes with ice?
I always start my shakes on the “low” setting– and use my tamper to keep everything moving. You can always add a bit of extra liquid, if needed, too!
Hi,
I have an allergy to bananas. Can you think of any replacements that would still give it the right texture and good flavor? I see one reader used squash. Maybe avocado would work, like your chococado recipe. 🙂 thanks!
I haven’t tried anything else with this particular recipe, so you’ll have to report back to us if you have any success! 🙂
I’ve been craving a shake for weeks, finally Googled it and your site popped up. This is my first time on your site. I just made and had some of the Chocolate PB shake and it filled my craving. I’d probably ditch the PB next time and increase the syrup or add some dates soaked in coconut water for a bit more sweetness.
Had a slight brain freeze :o) but it was worth it. Now on to make your Mac and cheese with broccoli and mushrooms.
YUUUUUMMMMM.
I make this using organic soy and i leave out the salt and serve it to my husband and I after working out. With the potasaium and protein it’s a great muscle rejuvenation and snack!!
I also cannot believe I spelled potassium like that.
This milkshake is seriously amazing. I am trying to go sugar free (fruit OK)and I have been craving a chocolate milkshake. I made this without the maple syrup and with unsweetened coco powder. It was a single serving, so I used 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter and 1 tablespoon powdered peanut butter (bell plantation). To die for! I cannot believe I can have something that tastes this delicious on a sugar free diet! Thank you for posting!
I make the same thing, but use a few dates for sweetness; I like it sith a little nutmeg in it, too. It’s a fave post-workout treat here!
Dec. 2012 – just made this, and it came out nice and smooth, with the right balance of chocolate and peanut butter. It was pretty darn close to the heavenly version I remember getting at the few places in NY City that offer a vegan chocolate peanut butter shake.
I used some chocolate soy milk I already had open, rather than almond milk, and backed off the cocoa powder just a bit, since my milk was already chocolate flavored. I used an ordinary blender, and the ice rattled around a bit, but was eventually all broken up smoothly into the shake. I only had crunchy organic peanut butter around, but had no nut bits at all – nice and smooth. I let my bananas thaw a bit first, and blended the ice in last.
I selected this over other recipes on the net, some of which called for dates, and am very pleased with it. Thanks for sharing this. I am curious as to what difference the one tsp of vanilla makes, and may try this without it sometime.
Glad you enjoyed it, Michael! I added the vanilla extract hoping it would mimic the flavor of vanilla ice cream, which I love in my milkshakes. I’m sure it will taste delicious without it, too!
DE-licious!!! Really helping me with my intense craving for peanut butter cups!!
I just made this and it was delicious! This will be my go to guilt-free milkshake for those days I can’t help but give in to my cravings. Thank you.
Hi there
This looks delicious, as do all your recipes, but I am a little confused in relation to food combining – my understanding is that fruit should never be combined? Are bananas an exception? Or is it dependent on you? I am new to food combinig as its my last resort to deal with stomach bloating.
Thanks
Justine
I’ve been making a version of this smoothie for a while now, definitely one of my favorites. I also add ground flaxseed for the omega-3 fatty acids and lignans, the extra fiber doesn’t hurt either. 🙂
Wow! This looks fantastic! I’ve made something similar adding vanilla egg white protein or whey protein. I hadn’t used almond milk though. I plan to try it. Readers could replace the maple syrup with several drops of clear stevia liquid, added to taste. I love adding cinnamon or pie spice to banana smoothies!
You do a fantastic job of showcasing so many fabulous fruity and healthy recipes. I love your site!
Chef Rachel
Oh, this also works with macadamia, almond, or cashew butter for a variation or for someone who avoids peanuts.
ummm is it true that milk nullifies the antioxidant properties of cocoa powder?
I have heard that milk does cancel-out the benefits in coffee, so I imagine that it may have some effect on the benefits of cocoa as well. However, there are no conclusive studies that prove this theory either way at the moment.
Luckily, all of my recipes are milk-free, so that’s not an issue for us!
Fabulous!!! Thank you for sharing!
Just made this to test out my brand-new Vitamix. It tastes great… a dessert without the guilt! Thanks for posting!
wow… i’ve just tried this, SOOOOOO DELICIOUS!!!! thank you for sharing your fantastic recipies
Oh my word! Just tried this recipe this morning and it is delicious! New favourite combination. I usually don’t follow recipes but had to try this one. Glad I did! Thanks for sharing 🙂
For those of you who don’t own a Vita Mixer, I have a Waring Pro blender that is much stronger than many conventional blenders. I’ve had mine for 12 years or more and had good success (though it’s nothing like a Vita Mix). I think I paid about $60 for it.
I don’t have a Vita Mixer either, I just used my Hamilton Beach food processor and it worked fine!! Creamy and smooth.
This was so freakin good and I did NOT use the maple syrup! I served in a frosted glass. Thank you Detoxinista!
I laid on the couch with my head tilted back for what felt like 5 minutes…just waiting for the last drop of this shake! It was thick, delicious, and rich. While I wouldn’t begin replacing meals with it, this chocolate peanut butter banana milkshake makes for a tasty treat you don’t have to feel guilty about. I’m about to go throw a couple more bananas in the freezer for round two, maybe a small pinch of cinnamon on the next one? Thanks for the recipe!
All I can say is DELICIOUS!!!! I have no guilt when I drink this shake and I actually feel a little more energized afterwards. I can’t get enough thanks so much for posting it!
OMG I just made these and they are delicious!!! My 10-year-old loves them, too!
Are you kidding me? W-O-W
I just made this and I cannot believe how amazingly delicious it is. I almost feel guilty eating it while my kids are sleeping upstairs. I substituted for light soy milk and skipped the syrup. This is definitely a new favorite.
I am SO happy to have found your webpage here! You have some awesome tips for people that are beginning like my family, to eat a more healthy way!
I will for sure be visiting this site!
Just made this and YUM! Thanks!
yum! this is delicious! I added some stevia too:) so so good:)
Thank You Thank You Thank You….so good!!