Easy peanut butter and jelly protein smoothie! Made without protein powder, this smoothie gets its 20 grams of protein from whole food ingredients like peanut butter, hemp seeds, and chia seeds. A flavorful smoothie that will power you through the morning.
Confession: I used to be a protein powder junkie. I think I’ve tried (almost) all the protein powders on the market and used to use them daily (sometimes twice a day when I was counting macros or training for a marathon – both things I no longer do anymore ;). Don’t get me wrong: I’m not here to demonize protein powder or say to never use it. In the presence of a whole foods diet, I believe there’s a time and a place for using protein powder and I still enjoy my favorite two types in my smoothies at least once a week (more on my favorite brands below).
But! In general, I prefer to enjoy protein in its whole food form. Here’s why.
Why Whole Foods Are Better Than Protein Powder
Your body responds to real, whole foods best.
Just like your body processes sugar better when that sugar is naturally packaged in fruit (all the fiber and nutrients in fruit slow down your body’s absorption of the sugar), your body processes protein better when that protein is naturally packaged in its whole food form.
Powdered ingredients are processed ingredients. And because protein powder is considered a supplement, the FDA leaves the labeling up to the protein powder manufacturer. Meaning: there is no way of knowing how accurate a protein powder label is (source).
Ingredients are inputs.
Processing too many ingredients at once is taxing on the body and can often cause digestive distress. Many protein powders on the market – even the “healthy” ones – contain upwards of 30 (!) different ingredients including gums, synthetic vitamins, sweeteners, probiotics, adaptogens, and more. Consuming so many ingredients at once – even if they’re all considered healthy – can be hard to digest (… digestion is the foundation of health ;)) and can make it difficult to pinpoint food sensitivities should they arise.
There are often toxic ingredients in protein powders.
An independent study of protein powders by the Clean Label Project revealed some shocking findings including:
- 75% of protein powders tested contained lead (plant-based protein powdered contained on average twice the amount of lead per serving of other products)
- 55% of protein powders tested had measurable levels of BPA, which is an endocrine disruptor
- certified organic products averaged twice as many heavy metals
How to Naturally Add Protein to Smoothies
But don’t worry! There are still ways to healthfully add protein to your smoothies (without the mystery ingredients and hidden toxins). My two favorite ways are:
Use whole foods that are naturally high in protein.
Here are some of my favorite whole-food ingredients that will add protein to your smoothies:
- nut butters (4g / tablespoon)
- chia seeds (2g / tablespoon)
- hulled hemp seeds (aka hemp hearts) (3.5g / tablespoon)
- oats (6g / half cup)
- grass-fed yogurt (5-15g / half cup)
Use simple, single-ingredient protein powders from trusted sources.
Although they don’t have the flavor and sweetness that make many mass-market protein powders appealing, simple is best in my opinion. My absolute two favorite protein powders each contain only one (!) ingredient:
- grass-fed collagen peptides (my favorite brand is Telos)
- hemp seed protein (my favorite brand is Nutiva)
To get the biggest protein bang for your buck, you could pair some of the whole foods listed above with a scoop of collagen peptides or hemp seed protein. To make up for the lack of flavor of these simple protein powders, I like to add some vanilla extract or almond extract and a pinch of salt to my smoothies. And that’s it! Enjoy your high-protein smoothies without the weird stuff.
If you tried this Peanut Butter & Jelly Protein Smoothie or any other recipe on Loveleaf Co. let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment/rating below! Be sure to follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for all the easy recipe ideas!
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Peanut Butter & Jelly Protein Smoothie (Without Protein Powder)
- Prep Time: 5 Minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1-2 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Blend
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Easy peanut butter and jelly protein smoothie! Made without protein powder, this smoothie gets its 20 grams of protein from whole food ingredients like peanut butter, hemp seeds, and chia seeds. A flavorful smoothie that will power you through the morning.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened peanut butter
- 1 frozen ripe banana
- 1 cup frozen raspberries (or strawberries!)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 2 tablespoons hulled hemp seeds (aka hemp hearts)
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Optional: to get the peanut butter swirl effect, as seen in the photo, use the back of a spoon to spread some extra peanut butter along the inside of a glass before making the smoothie.
- Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour into 1-2 glasses and top with extra frozen raspberries if desired.
Notes
Peanut butter. Any nut butter can be used! Almond butter or cashew butter would be good here.
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Tina G. says
This looks delicious! Do you have a substitute for bananas? My daughter and I are both allergic to them.
Ally says
Hi Tina! Frozen mango or avocado can give smoothies a similar creamy consistency that bananas do, though I haven’t tried this recipe with either of those. If using avocado, I would add a few Medjool dates (or another sweetener of choice) to make up for the sweetness of the banana. Let me know if you try!