The Key Addition You Need For Better-Tasting Green Smoothies

Smoothie making is a skill that is difficult to perfect but highly useful when you finally do. Green smoothies specifically give us an easy way to consume a tasty and nutritious treat. And while you can buy pre-bottled versions of the drink from the store, making homemade green smoothies allows you to be in control of each and every flavor. Plus, they typically come in at a lower price. However, one aspect of blending a green smoothie up at home is that it is quite hard to get the balance of flavors just right. How can you make leafy greens, fruits, and creamy ingredients taste harmonious? That's why adding vanilla extract to your smoothies is an absolute must.

Vanilla extract is an ingredient that's typically associated with baking, but its wide range of uses extends all the way to the art of smoothie making. Putting vanilla in your green smoothies — which typically include spinach, kale, or some other leafy greens — easily adds a hint of sweetness to the beverage without incorporating extra sweetener. It also adds that delicious complexity that makes you want to go back for sip after sip.

While there may be several ways in which you are likely making your smoothies incorrectly, fumbling that nutritious-to-delicious ratio is one that I've found to be quite aggravating. If it is not sweet enough, it tastes too much like a salad, but add too much sugar and it feels more like a dessert than breakfast. Adding vanilla works to not only enhance the sweetness of the beverage but also helps to meld the flavors of the other ingredients in the smoothie. Similar to its typical uses in baking, vanilla extract is great at making all the ingredients that go into your smoothie come together cohesively to create an even yummier final product.

While adding vanilla will typically help your green beverage in these two major ways, certain smoothies benefit more than others from vanilla's presence. Green smoothies that include componentss like nut butter, bananas, dairy, or avocado will benefit greatly from adding some vanilla extract to the mix, as the sweet, creamy flavors of those ingredients will only be amplified with its inclusion.

Go for real vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste if you can — it has an intense flavor that is well worth the higher price for lots of people. However, you can also use vanilla-flavored protein powder, Greek yogurt, or non-dairy milk for a similar effect!