How to Make Smoothies Thinner

Smoothies are a delicious and nutritious way to add fruit and vegetables into your diet, but it can be difficult creating the perfect smoothie to fit your preference. In fact, one of the most commonly issues people face is how to make smoothies thinner. 

Well, there is no single right answer.

how to make smoothies thinner

Making a smoothie isn’t just throwing a mixture of fruits and other ingredients into a blender and calling it a day. You don’t want to make your smoothie so thick that you can’t drink it, but at the same time, you don’t want it to be too thin that it loses its best qualities.

If you want to make your smoothie just thin enough but you don’t want to resort to using a juicer, here are some tips to get you started.

Add more liquid

To make your smoothie thinner, we recommend adding a helpful balance of liquids to the mixture.

You can use water, milk, juice, or anything else to suit your preference. However, make sure you don’t add too much that you basically water down your smoothie too much. 

Use fresh ingredients rather than frozen

Many smoothies are made using frozen fruit and other ingredients to give it that chilled, refreshing taste. While this does help the quality of the smoothie, it’s actually better to go with fresh chilled (not frozen) ingredients.

This will make it easier to blend so that you don’t have a smoothie that’s so thick you can’t even drink it through a straw.

Preparing a smoothie can be fun, but at the same time it requires attention to detail. You don’t want to make one of these common mistakes that will result in a thicker, less enjoyable smoothie. 

Mistake #1: Using too much ice

Using too much ice in your smoothie might seem like a good idea at first, but it can lead to a much thicker consistency and watered down taste.

In addition to this, the ice can prevent the good fats from your smoothie from being incorporated into the drink itself.

What you can do is freeze certain ingredients, such as coconut water or almond milk, into ice cubes, and then use them in your drink instead of regular ice.

Mistake #2: Using too much sugar

If you want your smoothie to retain its nutritional qualities, you’ll want to use as little sugar and non-natural additives as possible. Not only can this cause your smoothie to be less healthy, but it can also be too sweet for your liking (yes, that’s possible!).

Instead, add naturally sweet ingredients like dates, bananas, and berries to  sweeten the drink. If it’s still too sweet, you can also incorporate limes and lemons.

Mistake #3: Too much nutritional powder

Some people will add protein or other nutritional powders to their smoothies to give them an extra kick.

While a healthy balance is okay, you should carefully evaluate the ingredients in these powders since they may contain artificial sweeteners and other additives that can negatively impact your smoothie.  

Mistake #4: Not using a thickening agent

No matter how thin you like your smoothie, you still want some body to it. You can use fruits like peaches, bananas, mangoes, or other ingredients like flax and chia seeds to give your smoothie thickness, no matter how minimal.

Mistake #5: Adding all of your liquids at once

Your smoothie needs a healthy blend of liquids and solids, but these need to be added in the right order.

First you want to add some of your liquid, then you can add greens, fruits, and other ingredients. You can then test to see if you enjoy the consistency, and if it’s too thick for your liking, you can keep adding liquids in incremental amounts to thin it out.

Mistake #6: Sticking too closely to the recipe

Recipes are okay to use is a guideline, but that doesn’t mean you need to strictly follow them word for word.

The beauty of smoothies is that you can be creative and change up ingredients/consistency as you see fit. Feel free to play around with different mixtures and see what works for you.

Mistake #7: Using a juicer

A juicer will definitely give you a thinner smoothie, but it can actually cause your smoothie to be too thin. That is why we advise you to avoid turning to the juicer (this can also save you a lot of money in the long run).

Final thoughts

Making a smoothie shouldn’t be a chore. You should have fun with creating your own mixtures, but you still want to ensure you’re adhering to a proper strategy to get the best smoothie possible.

By adhering to the guidelines mentioned above, we think you’ll create the perfect concoction to suit your preferences. Happy smoothie-making!

Olivia Watts

Set designer assistant Olivia was a meat-and-potatoes girl until one of her hipster co-workers on the latest superhero film handed her a lunch that came in a cup with a fat straw. With one life-changing sip of that fruit smoothie, Olivia tossed away her hammer, started up her own business, and now manages six smoothie franchises.