If you’ve been hesitant to try a green smoothie, this delicious Cherry Chocolate Smoothie is for you. It’s dairy-free and has the texture of a creamy chocolate milkshake!
Featuring sweet cherries, raw cacao, and creamy avocado, this smoothie is loaded with nutrition. I originally posted the recipe for it nearly 4 years ago, and it’s still one of my favorites!
Cherries are a natural and powerful anti-inflammatory, which may help to lower the overall risk factors for heart disease, including inflammation, body fat, and cholesterol. These anti-inflammatory qualities may also be beneficial for those with arthritis, and thanks to a hefty boost of antioxidants, cherries may also help regulate sleep cycles and fight free-radicals, possibly reducing the risk for cancer. The fact that they taste amazing in this shake is just bonus.
The sweet cherries and rich cocoa powder completely hide the “green” flavor and color in this smoothie, so no one will ever realize that it contains a sneaky serving of spinach and avocado in each sip. Fat soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, E, and K, are assimilated better when consumed with a small amount of fat. So, you’ll benefit from all of the nutrition found in this shake thanks to the healthy monounsaturated fat found in avocado.
I’ll often use water to blend up this recipe in a pinch, but it’s extra-creamy if you use homemade almond milk. I hope you’ll enjoy this vegan Cherry Chocolate Smoothie as much as I do!
Cherry Chocolate Shake (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 1 cup water or almond milk
- 2 large handfuls of fresh spinach
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 cup frozen sweet cherries (pitted)
- 1/4 ripe avocado (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 heaping tablespoon raw cacao powder
- 3-4 ice cubes (optional)
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a high-powered blender, and blend until completely smooth and creamy. Serve immediately!
Notes
Nutrition
Substitutions:
- If you have trouble finding frozen pitted cherries, you can use frozen strawberries instead. If you don’t care for avocado, try adding a tablespoon of almond butter as an alternative.
- If you want a sweeter shake, try adding 1 to 2 pitted Medjool dates, or 1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup.
- Since there’s no cooking involved in this recipe, you can taste and adjust as you go until it’s perfect. Feel free to add more cacao powder or fruit as you like!
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Reader Feedback: Are you a fan of green smoothies? If so, what’s your favorite combination?
Mmm I’d love to try this!
My favourite green smoothie is half a granny smith apple, the juice of half a lemon, a few romaine leaves, a tablespoon of chia seeds (soaked overnight), a handful of parsley, and about 1/4 of a banana. So refreshing and I love the goodness of parsley!! x
Don’t do a ton of smoothies but love Vani Hari’s – Hari Shake
http://foodbabe.com/2012/09/10/the-green-smoothie-that-made-the-news/#more-9005
love your blog, Megan… just tried the coconut oil-baking soda as deo and really works! thx for that… you wouldn’t have a mascara that you found and recommend?
realized i that Hari shake i posted is a variation of her regular one, i’m sure that one is good! i’ll have to try it – but this is the one of her’s I’ve had and like
http://foodbabe.com/2011/11/02/the-hari-shake-a-poem/
This sounds delicious! Can I use regular cocoa powder? Is there a big difference?
I use cocoa powder and raw cacao interchangeably– the raw version is less processed, but they taste similar to me.
I love green smoothies, I will definitely try this soon! I love to add Fresh Nettle+Spinach+Banana+Lemon juice+vanilla+almond milk. Yum!
I used to make these all the time, but I don’t think I’ve ever added avocado, must try!
Megan, I add two large handfuls of spinach to your chocolate almond butter banana shake and it’s wonderful!
Made this morning…yum yum yum!!
sounds great but what time of day is this smoothie meant to be consumed? Breakfast ? Pre workout? Post workout?
I usually have green smoothies for breakfast or lunch, but I’ve been known to have one for dinner when I’m in a hurry, too! You can enjoy this whenever you’d like.
My green smoothie today is kale, strawberries, tangerines, almond butter, chia seeds, a frozen banana, vanilla and raw honey. Just picked up some frozen cherries for this delight tomorrow!
This looks awesome. Can I use coconut milk instead of almond milk?
I made this tonight for “dessert” for myself and my 2 daughters. We all really enjoyed it. I needed to add a bit more almond milk and a bit more cacao powder. My kids thought it was a milkshake. It was really good!
Hi Megan!! I was wondering if there is anything else bsides an avocado I could use in this smoothie to mke it thick. I unfortunately had a stomach bug last week and right before I got sick I had an avdocado, so I’m bit touchy with those now.. who knows how long it will take until I’m brave enough to have one again… ha!
I can’t think of another addition that would give it a similar texture, but it will be delicious with or without the avocado! I think it’s the ice that makes the smoothie thick, and the avocado just adds extra creaminess.
Hey Maddy try adding some chia seeds for thickness and some raw cashews for creaminess xx
I modified this juuust a little, since I’m trying to avoid eating too much fruit. 🙂
I used half an avocado and half a cup of cherries. Even without the banana it was cream-licious. XD For a little more sweetness I mixed in a spoonful of stevia after blending. And it was AWESOME. Thank you so much for this recipe! I adore your blog. <3
Made this for breakfast, really tasty, I didnt have cherries so added blueberries instead. It was the perfect sweetness.
This is delish! Love it! You are amazing!
What do you do with the rest of the avocado when recipes only call for a 1/4?
I usually save it in my fridge, stored in a sealed glass container, and use it for my smoothies all week long. If you keep the pit in the unused avocado, it doesn’t turn too brown.
My 4 year old son and I are currently splitting this shake for breakfast. It’s perfect for letting him help cook breakfast! It’s so good! I see this being a breakfast staple at our house this summer 🙂
Hello, when recipes mention avacodos do you mean the small or large ones? Also I can’t eat bananas, do you have a sub maybe? Thank you!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. My pre-teen boys LOVE this one! They thought it was a milk-shake. I told them the ingredients & they want me to make it again. Haaa, they too can work the vita-mix.
I loved this!!! Thank you for creating this deliciousness !!
Made this recipe again for myself this morning. Since I had some left over & no one to share it with, I poured it into ice-pop molds. The kids will enjoy them tonight after dinner!!
What about a scoop of Greek yogurt to add creaminess (if avocado is not on hand)?
Just made the Cherry Chocolate Shake, best shake yet! I’ve been 100% Vegan for 3 months now, lost 20 lbs so far and have been experimenting a lot, this is a keeper! Thanks
delicious!
Wow! Thanks for the amazing recipe! It really reminds me of drinking a chocolate shake which of course I can not have because of the dairy and refined sugar. I have made this twice now, first following your recipe exactly and then today modifying it just a little as I wanted more fiber and thickness without adding ice cubes since the whole frozen banana and cherries make it plenty cold. I just added a tablespoon of chia seeds and a table spoon of hemp seeds. Also since I did not have a homemade batch of almond milk pre-made, I added a tablespoon of almond butter to the water! That’s it…both times were delicious! Thanks again.
Thank you for sharing your recipes! This one is delicious!
I only have fresh cherries. Think it’ll still work?
Sure! You might want to add a few ice cubes in that case, to help with the icy texture.
Have you used anything besides cherries?
The cherry flavor is my favorite, but I have a feel any other berry would work, too!
Just made this without the avocado. So yummy! Thanks for another amazing recipe 🙂
I love my green smoothies!!! I have been doing (2) a day for a couple of weeks… One for breakfast and one for lunch! I’ve lost a little extra weight… Since July… 8 lbs total! I like both the French Vanilla as well as the Dutch Choc. Complete! Anything goes, however, not too much fruit… 🙂 This mornings recipe:
1 scoop of Dutch Chocolate Complete
handful of Organic Spinach
handful of Organic Kale
1/2 frozen banana
1 C. frozen blueberrys
1 small apple
1 heaping T. spoon of ground flaxseed
2 cups of almond milk and blend! 🙂
I share this with my hubbie! Yum!
Lunch – just almond milk, chocolate complete and some frozen strawberries! 🙂
Note to self. Freeze bananas after peeled and already cut up. Cut and pit cherries prior to freezing as well. Otherwise, this was very yummy!!!
Try using organic tofu in exchange for the avocado.Any fruit will work. We have been having these for breakfast for over 44 years, quite addicting. I always add chia seeds, flax seeds and hemp hearts. On the Oregon coast here we can grow kale, spinach, romaine, chard and other greens year round. Give them a try, so tasty even the kids love them (the kids are in their 40’s now)
I just tried this today. I was out of spinach, so I threw some cauliflower in with juice from a zucchini. Left out the avocado. It was good.
Do you have the amount of sugar and carb in these shakes? If you have a smoothie for breakfast, what do you recommend to eat with it for protein?
Good morning! My question : is there a substitution for bananas? I’ve noticed a lot of Paleo, low-carb type recipes call for bananas. However, bananas give me migraines. But I really like the recipes.
I made this today and really like it.
This smoothie is a go-to of mine and has been for years. All three of your cookbooks are fantastic as well. Thank you for all you do, Megan. You are, without a doubt, one of the best recipe blogs on the Internet!
This is so yummy!
I love starting my day with smoothies, and this is one of our favorites. I’ve made it many times. Instead of avocado, I just add chia seeds. This morning I didn’t have almond or cashew milk, so I added water and a couple of handfuls of almonds. It worked just fine on the Vitamix. Thank you for your wonderful recipes.
I liked the consistency, but the flavor was bland.
This is DELICIOUS! Thank you 💚
I’ve been making this for weeks now and love it so much. Definitely my favorite smoothie recipe! Thank-you Megan! 🙂