The Best Vanilla Protein Shake Recipe

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A vanilla protein shake is an easy way to get a nutritious meal in fast. It can provide everything you need— protein, healthy fats, vegetables, and fruits— all in one cup. And, even better, this vanilla protein powder recipe is also incredibly tasty thanks to the sweet peaches and the kick from the ginger. You can thank me later.

Vanilla Protein Shake shot overhead. Two mason jars filled with protein smoothies. A hand reaching in to grab one. — Ready to sip vanilla smoothies made with peaches and ginger.

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Ingredients
Nutritional Benefits
Instructions
Cooking Tips
Recipe Video
Recipe Variations
Equipment
Similar Recipes
The Best Vanilla Protein Shake

Ingredients

1 scoop vanilla protein powder
2 cups frozen spinach
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
½ cup water
½ cup frozen peaches
½ frozen banana
1 tablespoon ginger
½ lemon squeezed
1 handful ice

Find the printable recipe with directions below.

Nutritional Benefits

There's nothing like a good smoothie. But, before you sip, make sure you know what you're putting in your body. That starts with understanding your protein powder.

On closer inspection, you might notice that many protein powders are sweetened with chemicals and include a long list of ingredients you can’t pronounce. That's no good. Despite your good intentions, your body will not thank you for the nourishment.

To make things a little easier for you, I put together a list of things to watch for when buying your next dose.

7 Things You'll Find In A Good Protein Powder:

No artificial sweeteners
No added sugars - ensure it's sweetened naturally!
From grass fed cows, not treated with pesticides or hormones
Cold processed
Whey protein concentrate, not protein isolates, unless you're lactose intolerant
Highly digestible—look for medium chain fatty acids (MCTs), not long chain fatty acids
Added enzymes to help with digestion and absorption

Instructions

Let’s break it down step by step to take the guesswork out of this vanilla protein powder smoothie.

A hand squeezing lemon into a blender. Other ingredients for vanilla protein shake surround the scene. — Lemon being squeezed into the blender.

Add liquids to blender, including the water and lemon juice.

Ground flaxseed being poured into a blender. Ingredients around the blender like peaches and frozen spinach. Will make a vanilla shake. — Ground flaxseed being poured into the blender.

Layer on protein powder and ground flaxseed.

A handful of frozen greens, ready to be put inside a blender to make a vanilla protein smoothie. — A handful of frozen greens. Use whatever variety you prefer.

Add frozen spinach. Followed by the frozen peaches, banana, ginger and ice.

Finished vanilla shake being poured into a mason jar. The mason jar is on a wooden cutting board. — Vanilla shake being served.

Place lid on blender and blend on high for 30 - 60 seconds. Pour and enjoy.

Find the printable recipe with ingredients below.

Cooking Tips

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about this vanilla protein shake recipe.

What order do you put ingredients in a smoothie?

Interestingly, the order of your ingredients has a big impact on how your shake turns out. That's because your layering technique affects how the smoothie processes in the blender and in turn, the texture of the drink.

If you want a frothy shake, you not only need to know what ingredients to put in the blender, but also when to add them.

Here's the trick. It's all about pairing ingredients together based on their consistency, then adding one group at a time, in the right order.

Here's the order from the bottom to the top: liquids, protein powders and sweeteners, leafy greens, yogurts and nut butters, fruits and nuts/seeds, and finally frozen ingredients.

Be sure to pin the layering guide below for reference when you make your next smoothie.

What setting should you blend a smoothie at?

Blend on high. According to Vitamix, whether you're making shakes, soups, or even thick spreads, you'll almost always get the best results by starting your blender on low and quickly ramping it up to high. This not only reduces the recipe time, but also is good for the blender, keeping the motor cool

Recipe Video

Recipe Variations

The best part about this vanilla protein powder smoothie is that you can really make it your own. Here are a few suggestions you can try.

Swap water for coconut water: Considered the natural "sports drink", coconut water has some nutritional benefits. It can be a good way to hydrate and get potassium, which some of us are short on due to a lack of fruits and vegetables in the diet.
Add more sweetener: While I think this is plenty sweet with the peaches and banana, you can go even sweeter with natural and unrefined sweeteners like honey or pitted dates. Medjool dates are my favourite in smoothies.
Mix in collagen: Adding collagen peptides to protein shakes is pretty common. While they won't add any flavour, they can add froth. But, what they're really doing is delivering health benefits. Collagen is known for its positive effect on the skin, hair, nails, joints, ligaments, and is even tied to improved gut health. My favourite collagen is TruMarine by WithinUs.

Equipment

Here's what you need to make this vanilla protein smoothie recipe.

Vitamix or another blender of your choice. I have the Vitamix now, but used the Ninja for years successfully.

Two mason jars with green vanilla smoothie in them. Both have a metal straw and are placed on a cutting board. — Two green vanilla smoothies ready to serve.

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