When I first graduated from college, adding spinach to your smoothie was all the rage. I quickly hopped on the green smoothie bandwagon and never looked back! Anytime I can incorporate veggies to my diet without much effort (or, in the case of spinach in a smoothie, without altering the taste), I’m all about it.
A few months ago, my friend Danielle (the mastermind behind my beloved Paleo Blender Muffins!) shared a picture of a smoothie she made on Instagram that incorporated frozen cauliflower. My interest was instantly piqued because in cooking with cauliflower I’ve found that the cruciferous vegetable often takes on the flavors of the foods and spices around it, so why wouldn’t the same thing happen in a smoothie!? I had to try it for myself!
After my first smoothie with frozen cauliflower, I was hooked. I couldn’t detect even the slightest hint of cauliflower and, if anything, I felt like the cauliflower actually made my smoothie creamier. Heck yes!
Frozen cauliflower quickly became a smoothie staple for me and I love knowing I’m getting a little boost of vitamin C, magnesium, fiber, potassium and vitamin B6 when I toss it in my blender.
Also, for those of you out there who are constantly trying to find ways to get your little ones to eat vegetables (me x 1,000!), frozen cauliflower is a great way to get them to drink their veggies, especially if they’re not into smoothies made with spinach because of the bright green color. Chase happily sips smoothies made with frozen cauliflower (+ frozen banana + peanut butter + strawberries) and and that’s saying something since I can’t get him to eat a piece of fresh or roasted cauliflower to save my life.
While the recipe I am sharing below is a go-to for me, it’s also an easy one to alter based on your personal preferences and cravings. I will often swap out the strawberries for blueberries and add a handful of fresh spinach to the smoothie as well.
Strawberry Banana Hidden Cauliflower Smoothie
Makes two snack-size smoothies
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen cauliflower (preferably riced cauliflower)
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 3/4 cup almond milk
- 1 tablespoon almond butter
- 1/2 avocado
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup or honey (optional)
Directions
- Combine all ingredients in a high-powered blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour into glasses and garnish with strawberry and banana slices if desired. Enjoy!
Nutritional Information
Per serving with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and 2 teaspoons honey: Calories: 244 / Fat: 12g / Sodium: 179mg / Carbs: 34g / Fiber: 9g / Sugars: 19g / Protein: 5g
Ingredient Notes
While frozen riced cauliflower is preferred, frozen cauliflower florets may be used for this Hidden Cauliflower Smoothie, but I highly recommend finely chopping them before blending to ensure they blend smoothly.
If I am making this smoothie in place of a meal, I want it to have a little more staying power and will often add a scoop of protein powder (I love SFH vanilla or Nutiva Hemp Protein Powder in this smoothie) and another heaping spoonful of almond butter.
Additional Smoothies To Try
- Watermelon Smoothie
- Key Lime Cheesecake Protein Smoothie
- Post Workout Mocha Mint Protein Smoothie
- Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie
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What a beautiful color! I love cauliflower on it’s own, and have meaning to add it to a smoothie for some time now, and you gave me the motivation to attempt it!
Have a great day 🙂
My girlfriend told me of this secret trick about a year ago and I’ll admit, I thought she was nuts. But then I tried it – yum! Avocado is another favorite ingredient. Pineapple and coconut is my favorite combo!
Yes! Love avocado in smoothies!
What a great idea!! My boyfriend is always put off by the green in smoothies incorporating spinach and avocado so this is a great alternative to those aesthetically picky eaters! 😀 Thanks for sharing!!
What a great idea! I never would have thought to do this, but you’re right, cauliflower has such a mild taste, why not? I have some riced in my freezer right now, can’t wait to give this a try!
Great idea! I just riced three heads of cauliflower and froze them for meal prep yesterday. This will make breakfast smoothies more filling!
This smoothie looks very cool and amazing. I like strawberry and banana smoothies. I like your recipe and i will definitely try this. Thanks for sharing it.
while this doesn’t SOUND appetizing to me, i’ve been really bad about eating vegetables lately, so maybe i should try this!!!
Interesting twist! Is cauliflower as nutrient dense as spinach though?
So interesting! Are those protein powders you recommended safe when breastfeeding and pregnant? I’ve been looking for a good protein powder but I worry about a lot of the additives that seem to be in a lot of them. Thanks!
Really loving this frozen cauliflower idea for smoothies!! That stuff is SO VERSATILE! Pizza, riced, SMOOTHIES!
I’m all about adding extra veggies to my smoothies and if it makes my smoothie extra creamy, I’m all about that!
I definitely plan on trying this! Thank you for also sharing a smoothie recipe that does not require Greek yogurt/dairy!
Yay, the recipe! Thanks for sharing! I can’t wait to try this in my smoothies soon. 🙂
just happened to buy some frozen cauliflower last night for my smoothies! Added some tis morning and couldn’t taste it at all. Just as an FYI to other readers if you have a high powered blender you can add florets (vs riced) with no problem!
So awesome! I’m glad you had a good experience with adding cauliflower! I was honestly pretty surprised that you really can’t taste it at all!
This looks delicious. I’ve been seeing that riced cauliflower around lately and have been trying to think of different ways to use it. I’ve heard “fake fried rice” which is definitely something I want to test out. I’m going to try to sneak this into my boyfriend’s shake next time I make him one and see if he notices…. (;
Looks amazing! Time to jump on this frozen rice cauliflower wagon. Thanks for sharing!!
I have yet to try cauliflower OR avocado in a smoothie. I do love packing in some sneaky veggies so can’t wait to give this a try!
All into this! Whenever I find the bags of frozen cauliflower rice from Trader Joe’s (hard to come by), I buy like 10 at a time to stock up, because they are so useful. I’ve also been adding sautéed cauliflower rice to pasta dishes and regular rice to kick up the veggie component! Totally love the sound of this smoothie! 🙂
Cauliflower in the smoothie?! Wow! that definitely made me feel curious. I might give it a try next week.
Awesome idea! I can’t wait to try this for my toddler (and myself, really). I love adding cooked beets to our berry smoothies for the nutritional punch and the flavor is great too. Plus my little one loves the pinkish-purple color.
i’ll have to try that! i love beets and have used them in juices but never in sweet smoothies!
Thanks for the recipe! I feel like I make the same smoothies over and over, and was in need a new one! I just made it and it’s so yummy, and I do not taste the cauliflower!
I love adding frozen cauliflower to my smoothies! After seeing so many people on Instagram jump on that bandwagon I had to give it a try!
My favorite go to green smoothie with cauliflower combo is so delicious!
– ½ frozen banana
– ½ cup frozen cauliflower florets
– ½ avocado
– 2 handfuls fresh spinach
– 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
– Scoop Vega Vanilla Sport Performance protein
Creamy, thick, green, nutritious and delicious! 🙂 🙂
I just made this recipe with an orange dream sickle protein powder instead?
I would have NEVER thought to put cauliflower in a smoothie!! I still even have a hard time putting spinach in, ha! I really need to branch out!!
YUM! I’ve been wanting to try this and craving smoothie weather. Can’t wait to try this!
I’ve been meaning to try this! I bought a cauliflower recently but couldn’t decide if I should steam it first and then freeze? Or freeze raw? Anyone know what yields a better smoothie?
If you’re trying to sneak cauliflower into chase’s diet, have you tried cauliflower cream sauce? I usually cook florets in chicken broth until tender and then blend (immersion blender is easiest, but you can also transfer to the blender). Toss in cheese and rice/pasta and it’s a lighter alfredo or mac and cheese sauce! I do this a lot since I love cream of mushroom-based casseroles.
This sounds so good – I love the fact the the cauliflower is “hidden”. So clever!
Izzy | Pinch of delight
This sounds delicious. I used to dislike cauliflower but then cauliflower rice came about and I love it.
i specifically bought cauliflower at the grocery store today so i could try it in my smoothies tomorrow! can’t wait to see what everyone is raving about – i’ll take your advice and add some peanut butter, my fave 🙂 thanks for sharing your recipe!!!
What a great idea, I can’t wait to try! Smoothies are one of my go tos for sneaking veggies into my son.
This is the 2nd or 3rd time I’ve seen cauliflower in smoothie recipe ideas! I haven’t tried it yet but I LOVE cooking with it so I’m sure I’d love it in a smoothie too. Thanks for sharing! 😀
I just made a variation of this and can confirm that cauliflower is totally undetected! I used chocolate protein powder, half a frozen banana, ice, 1 cup frozen riced cauliflower, and brewed coffee. YUM. Basically like a frozen mocha.
oh, and a little bit of sunbutter
I have some riced cauliflower in my freezer and will have to give this a try! Thanks for the suggestion!
I tried this today! It was really, really good : ) Also didn’t taste the cauliflower. I just did
About 1 Cup chopped frozen cauliflower (I buy the big bag from Costco)
1/2 frozen banana
about 4 frozen strawberries
Unsweetened Almond milk, vanilla
a splash of OJ
a scoop of PB
It blended up so nice, like ice cream : )
Love this smoothie recipe with the Cailiflower. Just saw it mentioned on Prevention magazine. Great site by the way. -Anna