Vanilla Chai Smoothie

Filled with lots of warm spices, this Vanilla Chai Smoothie is the perfect high protein breakfast or snack. 

I love to start the day with a smoothie! If you want another of my favorites, try this Tropical Smoothie!

I am not a tea drinker, but I’ve always been drawn to anything with chai spices.

A few weeks ago, I was going through my archives, and was reminded of these Chai Spiced Cupcakes. And it gave me a craving for those warm, comforting spices.

So I started thinking of all of the things I could make chai-spiced. And immediately tried and fell in love with this Vanilla Chai Smoothie.

It’s just sweet enough, and filled with lots of warm spices. It’s perfect for breakfast or for a mid-day snack. And I love that it’s packed with protein!

Ingredients

• Milk: I like to use unsweetened almond milk. But feel free to swap in any milk of your choice.
• Bananas: Frozen bananas make the smoothie nice and creamy. You will need about 3/4 cup of frozen bananas, but you can add a little more or a little less and it will work out just fine.
• Protein Powder: Vanilla protein powder will not only give the smoothie sweetness and flavor, but it also adds in a lot of protein. My favorite brands are Just Ingredients and Clean Simple Eats, but you can use any vanilla protein powder that you like.
• Vanilla: You want to make sure you are using pure vanilla extract.
• Spices: This is what brings in the chai flavors. You probably have all of these spices on hand. I used cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, and allspice.
• Ice: You can use as little or as much ice as you’d like. I like a thicker smoothie, so I add more ice, but if you like it thinner, you’ll add less ice.

How to Make a Vanilla Chai Smoothie

STEP 1: Place all of the ingredients into a blender.

STEP 2: Blend on high speed until smooth. Add more ice, if needed, or serve as is.

Tips and Tricks

• I like to sprinkle some more spices on top, but this is totally optional.
• I like to freeze the bananas in chunks. It makes it easier to add to smoothies.
• If you freeze bananas that are just underripe, they won’t add as much sweetness or banana flavor, but they will make your smoothie creamy. The more ripe the bananas are, the sweeter the smoothie will be, but the more banana flavor it will have, as well.
• You can cut the spices in half if you want a less spiced version.
• This smoothie makes one serving, but you can easily double or triple the recipe. Just make sure it will all fit in your blender.

More Smoothie Recipes

Tropical Carrot Smoothie
Chocolate Berry Smoothie
Pineapple Banana Smoothie

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