5 Common Smoothie Problems and How to Fix Them

1. Too Watery

If your smoothie has become too watery, simply add more fruit - preferably frozen.

But if you feel you already have too much fruit, you can use something a bit creamier, like a nut butter or thick yoghurt.

Simply add a small amount and then add a small pinch of salt and a generous pinch of spice to help with resuscitation.

In the future, try to avoid using ice cubes and use frozen fruit instead. For example, frozen bananas work great to blend into an ice cream-like texture, and frozen pineapples and mangoes work well as they avoid graininess or unpleasant hard bits that can often come from berries.

However, if you don’t have frozen fruit, then only add pre-crushed ice to your smoothie at the final blend, which will stop it from turning it too watery.

2. Tastes Too Healthy

The first thing to probably note, is be less ambitious with the leafy greens and broccoli that has made your smoothie into a liquid salad - yuck!

If this happens, you can add more milk with half a banana and a little sweetener such as maple syrup or honey.

If you don’t fancy that, you could split your liquid salad, I mean smoothie, into an ice tray and freeze it, so that next time you want to make a smoothie but want to add something green, you can add in a cube or two.

3. Flavourless

If your smoothie looks like magic but tastes like nothing, try adding a splash of apple or orange juice - if you want it more acidic, try lemon juice.

On the other hand, if you’re after a sharper flavour, you could add grated ginger or apple cider vinegar to give it that tang.

With so many flavourful food choices, don’t forget your spices like cinnamon, cardamom and allspice or extracts like vanilla and mint.

A good trick is to add a little bit and taste test each time so you can get the flavour just right.

4. Not Blended Enough

If your straw keeps getting clogged with bits and chunks, you’re probably not adding the right ingredients to the blender, or in the right order.

It’s been found that the best method is to add the liquid first, which will help to get the blade whirring smoothly.

Then once the liquids have been added, add your leafy greens before adding heavier items like frozen fruits.

Once you’ve added your desired ingredients, start the blender off at a low speed, gradually increasing this until a vortex forms.

5. Too Foamy

When you’ve made a smoothie, you may have noticed foam developing at the top which makes them pretty unpleasant to drink.

And this foam comes from the insoluble fibres found in the skin of fruits and vegetables, but can easily be avoided.

Let’s say you’ve already blitzed your smoothie and you see foam beginning to form, try blending the smoothie at a very low speed for an extra 20 seconds.

However, if the foam still persists, you may have to strain your smoothie through a fine-mesh sieve.

In order to prevent foam in the first place, only use fruits and vegetables with soluble fibres, such as bananas, peaches, pears and mangoes. Plus, if they’re frozen, their icy consistency helps them from causing foam buildup.

Lastly, you could try adding in a healthy fat which can help to bond the insoluble fibres together, like coconut oil or avocado butter.

The Takeaway

Granted, you won’t get it right all of the time.

With trial and error, adapt your own recipes as you see fit, swapping like for like ingredients to suit your taste buds and consistency preferences.

Smoothies are a great way to intake your 5 a day, so if they always end up less-than-delicious, don’t just throw away your blender, try these tips above and watch your smoothie game transform!

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