This Chocolate Hazelnut Smoothie tastes like you’re drinking a Nutella smoothie! Inspired by my homemade Nutella recipe, it’s naturally sweetened with fruit, and takes just minutes to prepare. 
Ingredients You’ll Need
To make this hazelnut smoothie, you’ll need just 4 simple ingredients:
- Hazelnuts (or hazelnut butter)
- Medjool dates
- Cacao powder
- Vanilla extract
Add water and ice, and the smoothie will be ready in no time!
How to Make It
To make this Nutella-inspired smoothie, blend together the hazelnuts, dates, cacao powder, vanilla, and water. There’s no need to remove the papery skins from the hazelnuts, unless you want to.
The blender should take care of them!
Blend until you can longer see any large pieces of dates or hazelnuts. Stop and scrape down the blender, as needed.
Once it’s smooth, you can add in some ice and blend again, until it has a slushy texture.
It reminds me of a milkshake, only without the milk. Start with less ice, and add more to taste. The more ice you add, the more diluted the flavor will be.
Adding more ice also adds bulk to this smoothie, so it will determine how full your glass will be.
Feel free to double or triple this recipe to make more, as needed. This is filling enough to act as a meal replacement (add a handful of spinach if you want some extra nutrients!) or you can split it into two smaller glasses for a sweet treat.
It reminds me of a healthy milkshake!
Substitutions
Need to make a swap? Here are some ideas.
- Dates. You can replace the dates with a frozen banana plus 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, for a similar sweetness level. In this case, it will taste more like a banana-hazelnut smoothie, rather than a rich chocolate one.
- Hazelnuts. This is key for the hazelnut smoothie, but you can use 2 tablespoons of hazelnut butter to replace the 1/4 cup of hazelnuts. Or try using 2 to 3 tablespoons of homemade Nutella, if you have some on hand already.
- Water. You are welcome to use milk instead of water here, but it’s not necessary. Almond milk is simply made from almonds + water, so you’re basically making hazelnut milk in this smoothie recipe already.
More Healthy Smoothie Recipes
- Strawberry Smoothie
- Coffee Smoothie
- Oatmeal Smoothie
- Apple Smoothie
- Zucchini Smoothie
- Pumpkin Smoothie
- Beet Smoothie
- Pineapple Smoothie
Chocolate Hazelnut Smoothie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup water (6 ounces)
- 1/4 cup whole hazelnuts (35 grams; with or without skin)
- 1 heaping tablespoon raw cacao powder (7 grams)
- 4 Medjool dates , pitted (73 grams)
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla exract (1 gram)
- 6 large ice cubes
Instructions
- Combine the water, hazelnuts, cacao powder, dates, and vanilla in a high-speed blender, and blend until smooth. If you taste it now, keep in mind that the flavor will be diluted when you add the ice.
- Add in the ice cubes and blend again, until a slushy texture is achieved. If you use less ice, the flavor will be more concentrated, adn if you add more, the flavor will be diluted, so keep that in mind.
- Serve right away for the best taste and texture.
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this Chocolate Hazelnut Smoothie, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it! And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too.
Megan,
Yes, and YES! Hazelnuts and Chocolate what’s not to like? I was at Starbuck’s the other day and wanted the chochlate brownie frappuccino, do you know how many calories are in that? Yes way too many. You even threw in the omega 3 fatty acids which my doctor say’s I need more of. This is great, thank you, thank you, thank you. I just hope my wife can follow the recipe so it comes out just like yours. 🙂
Looks amazing! My boyfriend would love them!
Thanks for the recipe! Saw it and immediately started gathering all the ingredients. I used cashews, since I’m out of hazelnuts, and carob instead of chocolate, and it was quite yummy! Can’t wait to try it with hazelnuts!
YUUMMMMM. Can’t wait to try it. I need to buy hazelnuts!!
Awesome! it looks like a wonderful looking nutella drink.
I like the idea of combining dates and chia to achieve the sweetness and thickening aspects of a banana. Sometimes you want something sweet and thick but not bananay.
As someone that lives in Oregon, I love hazelnuts! Instead of dates, I may try prunes since I can buy prunes (and hazelnuts) at the Farmers Market. And prunes are a perfect compliment to chocolate!
Hazelnut butter is delicious and I want to make some homemade Nutella w/o all the questionable ingredients.
these literally look like milkshakes! I am gonna make this for dessert tonite and see if my family will notice!
Yum! This sounds delicious, Megan. I rarely buy hazelnuts but I might need to pick some up so I can make this.
Do you think this would hold up well if made the night before work?
Hey! I live in the Metro STL area and want to know where you purchased your hazelnuts? We have a Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods in our area, not sure if that helps. In the meantime, I will call my local grocery stores to see if they carry them. Thanks!!
I live in STL area too. Trader Joes has hazelnuts.
Oh- goodness!!! I made this tonight with cashews and my 2 year old and I loved it!!! So, so good! I am anxious to use the hazelnuts as soon as I can buy some!
If I don’t have a high speed blender, do you think it would work in a food processor? Chocolate and hazelnuts are one my all-time favorite combinations, so I would LOVE to try this!!!
This was so yummy! My kids loved it too! Perfect for when you really need some chocolate or dessert- hits the spot and iits full of healthy ingredients. Love your blog!
I am sure I food processor would work! We use our food processor for nearly everything, including smoothies and they always turn out wonderful!
Thanks Emily – I am pretty confident that the food processor will work – I’m off to buy some hazelnuts!
Yumm! Your shakes always look so delicious!
Wow! A Nutella flavoured ‘milk shake’!
The kids (and a few big kids) are sure to love this treat.
Hello there. I’m about to start a healthier lifestyle and found your website. I really like it and will continue to be inspired by you and all your recipes. I’ll try your Creamy Chocolate Hazelnut Shake tonight. Regards from Sweden
I made this shake this morning- and I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW AWESOME it was! SO delicious! Makes me so happy that I have something else so healthy and yummy to look forward to. Thank you!
I just made this and subbed Brazil nuts, since that’s what I had on hand, and added half a banana. It was tasty! I will definitely try it with hazelnuts next time 😉
As always Megan, another 5 star recipe!
Oh yum! This shake is super delicious and super simple. I like how it’s smooth and creamy because of the nuts but it’s also magically light weight. How is this?? I’ve made it almost every morning since you posted it. I’ve been tossing in a few espresso ice-cubes and sometimes I also add maca powder
Thank you Megan. I’m looking forward to your cookbook.
I made this as directed the first time. Deelish! Next time I used walnuts in place of hazelnuts and 1/2 C almond milk and 1/2 C water for a texture that was creamier and not as thick. YUM!!
YUMMMY, this looks delicious!! I’ve never tried adding hazelnuts in my chocolate milkshakes, but with this recipe I have to try this some other time. I’m kinda excited though, I’ll use my new Blendtec Blender for a great quality!
Just made this and used a banana instead of chia seeds! DININE!!! SOOOOO GOOD!!! Thank you! My dairy, wheat, egg free heart thanks you! xxx
Finally I mastered it! See, I don’t have Vitamix and use Cuisinart processor. I also make hazelnut milk and use pulp as a facial scab. Thank you very much for your web-site, Megan!
Made these this weekend. I’ve tried them with flax or chia, or both (testing my body’s reaction). Such a great recipe, and can’t wait to share with my 11yr old!
I just made this.It is delicious! Thanks.
Love every recipe on your site! I’m a stay at home who doesn’t like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen but your recipes have changed that! My husband and I’ve been cooking and baking everything on your site. My oldest daughter is a picky eater but now she eats pumpkin thanks to your pumpkin pie bar recipe. Thanks so much!!
Is soaking hazelnuts necessary? Or would it work without doing that?
If your blender is powerful enough, it should work without soaking!
Didn’t want to take a chance and soaked them last night. Made it this morning – soo good! Thank you for all your recipes! Can’t wait to buy your book!
I’m going to make this tomorrow morning because it looks AMAZING. I’ll probably do it with a small handful of greens though (or green powder). I’m sure that it’ll taste just fine !
Thank you for the recipe!
I added an extra tablespoon and a half of cocoa, a total of 8 dates (smaller, not Medjool). I added a little bit of coconut/almond milk, a splash of maple syrup, 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, and some VEGA protein powder.
YUMMY! Not going to lie, I made it a little sweet.
Made this with cashews today. It was ridiculously delicious!!!! My husband, who hates all health food, adored this shake, and this will finally get him to drink a healthy smoothie. YUM!
All the fiber in this upset my stomach. I would like to try it by first making Hazelnut Milk and straining it with the nut milk bag. Also, I didn’t have dates and used figs instead; which gave it more of a cherry flavor. I’m also going to sub hemp seeds for the chia, and add some frozen banana.
I love cranberry juice and see this too mixed with stevia. Good recipe.
I followed the recipe as written, used raw cacao powder, and this was absolutely delicious! Definitely a keeper.
Hi,
Do you have to soak the chia seeds overnight too or just the hazelnuts?
This tasted exactly like a chocolate milkshake! It was so yummy and refreshing. I used cashews, but I was wondering if I used hazelnuts would it have a deeper, more Nutella taste?
Wow! I really loved this! I’ve been enjoying many of the smoothies and desserts 🙂 Thanks!!
What are the calories for this?
This is one of our FAVORITE recipes! Delicious.
Hi. Should the hazelnuts be raw or roasted?
Thank you.
You could use either one. I know some people prefer the flavor of roasted hazelnuts, but I like them raw.
Thanks for your response.
i just tried this using Elmhurst hazelnut milk instead and it is DELICIOUS. i’m not the biggest fan of chia seeds in my shakes normally but went for it for the thickening and wow! tastes like nutella 🙂
Do you prefer toasted or raw hazelnuts?
Yum, yum, and yum!!!! I made this with raw cashews in place of the hazelnuts and did not put in the vanilla—-this recipe is a keeper especially when I am craving ice cream or chocolate in general–thank you!
Oh man! This is SO good. Perfect when I want a decadent treat.
Version #2—I used 2 tablespoons peanut butter in place of the hazelnuts and, again, no vanilla. It was delish!
Your recipes and my appreciation. Thanks a lot for such delicious and stunning recipes
Made this tonight! Such a yummy treat! Was a hit with both my hubby and teenage son! Love your recipes Megan!!
Forgot to give this a five star rating above so here it is!
substituted dates with sugar and hazelnuts with hazelnut flour and it still came out deliciously! may try whole fat coconut milk next time.
A bit to sweet in the first try, I may reduce the dates next time. I added a bit more ice and almond milk to help with the texture. I liked it, but only for a true dessert! Love your recipes!
This is a go to smoothie for me! I know people sometimes complain about calories in smoothies, but I tell you it’s better than eating a candy bar! This will kill and satisfy a chocolate craving, it’s a sustainable solution for me. Thank you for all your awesome recipes!