Our Chai Tea Latte Smoothie is a deliciously refreshing cold treat that brings the feeling of fall to a quick and healthy breakfast. When it comes to fall flavors, chai is often overlooked in favor of the more popular pumpkin spice. But we absolutely love the warmth and coziness that chai spice lends to any dish, from cinnamon rolls to lattes. It embodies fall.
Ingredients for Chai Tea Latte Smoothie
- Plant-based (or whey) protein powder – loads up this smoothie with 16-20 grams of fueling protein that’ll keep you going all morning. We prefer MyProtein Vanilla Whey Protein and Optimum Nutrition Vanilla Plant-Based Protein powders.
- Pumpkin seeds – jammed with essential polyunsaturated fatty acids, plant-based healthy fats, and tons of antioxidants and vitamins. We recommend Anthony’s Organic pumpkin seeds.
- Almond butter – lends a smoothness to this smoothie, but also gives a nice boost of healthy fats. We love using our snickerdoodle nut butter or cinnamon almond butter in this recipe for a cinnamony boost.
- Cacao nibs – healthier alternative to chocolate chips that give a nice crunch factor, plus they tone down the sweetness of this smoothie and pack in an antioxidant boost. We love Anthony’s Organic Cacao Nibs.
- Chai tea latte concentrate – we love Oregon Chai sugar free chai tea latte concentrate. It cuts down on prep time for this smoothie while giving you all the delicious spicy warmth.
- Rolled oats – round out your smoothie with a punch of fiber-filled, healthy carbohydrates
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Recipe Modifications
We love to change up this smoothie from time to time.
- Pumpkin – make this smoothie a pumpkin chai by adding in 2 tablespoons of pumpkin puree.
- Nuts – use walnuts, cashews, or pecans in place of almonds or almond butter.
- Grains – try cooked quinoa in place of rolled oats for an extra boost of plant-based protein.
- Seeds – toss in some flax seed or chia seed in place of or in addition to pumpkin seeds.
Tips for Smoothie Prep
Hardly a day goes by that we don’t make some type of smoothie. So we’ve learned some wonderful short cuts that speed up the smoothie prep time, while also improving the taste and texture of smoothies.
- Freeze your bananas ahead of time. We recommend either slicing bananas or cutting them in halves. Line the slices or halves along a baking sheet and freeze. Once the bananas are frozen, transfer them to a bag. Of course, you can always buy frozen bananas at the grocery store, but this method is cheaper and we prefer the flavor and freshness of our own frozen bananas to the store-bought alternative. And it’s an excellent option for those bruised or overripe bananas that are usually reserved for banana bread.
- Measure out dry ingredients in batches and keep them in a Ziploc baggie. If we know we’re going to make smoothies for breakfast all week, we measure out the rolled oats, cacao nibs, pumpkin seeds, and protein powder in individual Ziploc “grab-n-go” baggies. Then all we have to do is transfer the dry ingredients to the blender, toss in the banana, chai tea concentrate, almond milk and ice. It saves a few minutes during those hectic workday mornings when every second counts.
- Invest in a quality blender. I learned this lesson the hard way when I bought a $30 blender and was annoyed that it almost always produced smoothies full of chunks of ice and greens that were gritty and down right disgusting to drink. I eventually gave up and bought a Ninja with a single serve cup and multi-serving blender bowl that had high-quality, sharp blades. It was a game changer.
How to Make Chai Tea Latte Smoothie
These smoothies are super simple to make. Just add the banana half, almond milk, chai tea concentrate, protein powder, rolled oats, almond butter (or almonds), pumpkin seeds, cacao nibs, and ice cubes to the blender. Blend on high for 90 seconds, or until smooth. Transfer to a glass and top with cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin seeds and cacao nibs, if desired. Enjoy!
We hope you love this recipe for Chai Tea Latte Smoothie. Let us know what you think by dropping a rating and/or a comment below! We love to hear from you!
Also, check out these other smoothie and/or breakfast recipes for additional inspiration:
- Chocolate Cherry Smoothie
- Mint Chocolate Chip Smoothie
- Chai Spiced Scones
- Dark Chocolate Cranberry Scones
- Potato Pesto Crustless Quiche
Chai Tea Latte Smoothie
Ingredients
- ½ banana, frozen
- ½-⅔ c unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- â…“ c sugar free or light chai tea concentrate
- 3 Tbsp rolled oats
- 1 Tbsp almond butter (or 2 Tbsp almonds)
- 1 Tbsp cacao nibs
- 1 Tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
- pinch cinnamon
- 3 ice cubes, if desired
Instructions
- Combine smoothie ingredients in a high powered blender. Blend for 1 to 2 minutes, or until smooth. Transfer to a cup and enjoy!
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