Can You Make Smoothies Without Liquid? (How To Do It)

Smoothies are a fantastic, healthy meal in a glass, whether you need a quick breakfast or an afternoon boost. But what happens when you’re out of juice, you’re allergic to milk, or living a vegan lifestyle? Can you make smoothies without liquid?

You can make smoothies without liquid by blending soft, high-liquid fresh fruits with frozen fruit or ice. Optionally add a thickener of firmer fruits, greens, or yogurt to thicken, or water to thin the consistency.

This method creates a luscious smoothie or smoothie bowl and saves wear on your blender.

If you don’t want to include dairy and don’t have any juice, what are your options? Let’s find out how to do it, I’ve included some great recipes too.

What Happens If You Blend Without Liquids?

Making a smoothie in your blender without adding any liquid sounds challenging. In most recipes, fruit and dairy are the main ingredients, with the formula of one liquid for every two fruits or vegetables.

If you remove the liquid from a smoothie recipe and blend the rest of the ingredients, you might find one of these results.

• A lumpy smoothie that contains fruit that hasn’t broken down properly, so you’ll choke on bits of banana or apple.
• A coarsely-textured, gritty smoothie develops when you add protein or matcha powder, but it doesn’t blend into the smoothie.
• A damaged blender – a hard piece of frozen fruit can cause a chipped or dull blender blade.

Or… you might find you make a thick, creamy smoothie that you can drink using a wide straw or enjoy as a smoothie bowl.

You can make a mouth-watering smoothie without adding any liquid – you have to know a couple of secrets:

• Choose high-liquid fruit and vegetables to provide the liquid you need to prevent lumps and grit.
• Add the ingredients in the correct order and avoid blending whole fruit to not damage your blender.
• Include ice to thicken your beverage and make it smooth.
• Blend for long enough to break down the fruit
• Invest in a high-speed blender.

Let’s look at how you make liquid-free smoothies in practice.

How To Make Smoothies Without Liquid

You need to throw out your 1:2 formula to make smoothies without liquid. Smoothies without liquid are far simpler to make with this basic formula:

• Two to three cups of fruit or vegetables
• Half to one cup of thickener for texture
• One cup of ice

Choose Your Fruit Or Vegetables

The fundamental ingredients of a smoothie are vitamin-rich fruit and vegetables. However, throwing in bits and pieces will not create the ideal smoothie, especially without liquid. Here are some guidelines to follow.

How Much Fruit And Veg Do You Need?

Use two to three cups of fruit and vegetables for a generous single smoothie portion or two smaller portions.

What Are The Best Fruit And Vegetables?

If you are not using liquid for a smoothie, you must include high-liquid fruit and vegetables. Remove inedible peels, piths, seeds, and leaves, and roughly chop the fruit before blending.

• Citrus: lemons, oranges, grapefruit, clementines
• Melons: watermelon, cantaloupe
• Berries: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries
• Pineapples
• Peaches and nectarines
• Apples
• Kiwifruit
• Cucumbers.

It’s also a good idea to include fruit and vegetables with thicker flesh to create the consistency you want:

• Bananas
• Apricots
• Mangoes
• Papaya
• Avocado
• Cooked, puréed, and cooled sweet potato, cauliflower, butternut, pumpkin, white beans, or chickpeas.

Vegetables add fiber but have an overwhelming flavor. Add half a cup of root veggies or a cup of leafy greens:

• Beet
• Zucchini
• Spinach
• Kale
• Carrots
• Romaine lettuce

Add A Thickener

Just blending fruit and vegetables will create a juice-like or slushy beverage. Add a thickener to transform your ingredients into a smoothie with a creamy and luxurious mouthfeel.

Add a quarter to half a cup of one or more of the following texture-makers, which will also boost your vitamin, protein, fiber, and healthy fat intake:

• A fruit or veg thickener (such as banana or avocado)
• Greek yogurt
• Kefir
• Smooth nut or seed butter, or Nutella
• Silken tofu
• Tahini
• Cooked oatmeal
• Pre-soaked wheatgerm, flaxseed, or chia.

Flavor-Up With Optional Extras

Experiment with ingredients that add flavor, texture, and nutrition. Consider adding:

• A sprig of mint, basil, or tarragon
• A teaspoon of vanilla, almond, orange, or mint extract
• A teaspoon of cinnamon, pumpkin spice, allspice, turmeric, nutmeg, or ground cardamom
• A tablespoon of honey, maple syrup, or agave syrup
• Protein powder or other supplements (e.g., spirulina, maca powder)
• A knob of grated fresh ginger
• A splash of apple cider vinegar
• A squeeze of lemon juice
• A couple of pitted Medjool dates.

Add Ice

When making a smoothie without liquid, it is vital to add ice for texture and hydration.

There is no need to add ice when you have frozen fruit, as the fruit will give your smoothie a lovely, frosty texture. Even freezing fruit for half an hour before blending will make a difference.

Take your fruit out of the freezer as you assemble the other items. Allowing it to thaw for a short time will prevent problems with the blender overheating or chipping its blade.

Add crushed ice to the smoothie if you don’t have frozen fruit. Crushed ice will prevent your blender’s blade from getting chipped and dulled against large ice cubes.

Some high-speed blenders can blend frozen fruit and ice, so check your blender’s instructions.

Use a cup of crushed ice (about eight ice cubes) for drinking the smoothie with a straw. Add less ice to create a thicker smoothie, like a smoothie bowl, and more ice for a thinner smoothie.

Blend

Blending may seem to be the most straightforward step in the process. However, when making a smoothie without liquid, you need to add the ingredients in a specific order to get the best flavor and texture.

Follow this formula for smoothies without liquid:

• Step 1: Put your thickener into the blender.
• Step 2: Pop your greens on top.
• Step 3: Blend on low speed until smooth.
• Step 4: Add chopped fresh fruit and veggies.
• Step 5: Blend until smooth.
• Step 6: Add frozen fruit or ice.
• Step 7: Blend until smooth.

If you have a heavy-duty or high-speed blender, you can skip steps 3 and 5, as the blender will handle all textures simultaneously.

This method produces a smoothie with the texture of ice cream or sorbet. Add a quarter to half a cup of water if your smoothie is still too thick. Remember that liquid will dilute the smoothie and change the flavor.

Some Smoothie Ideas Without Liquid

The list of smoothie ingredients can overwhelm beginner smoothie makers, so where do you begin to make smoothies without liquid?

Remember your formula: two to three cups of fruit and veg, half a cup of thickener, and a cup of ice. An example of the formula in action is:

• Fruit and veg: two cups of hulled, chopped strawberries plus one cup of sliced banana
• Thickener: half a cup of peanut butter
• Optional flavoring: half a teaspoon of cinnamon
• One cup of ice.

Here’s another delicious example:

• Fruit and veg: one cup of chopped pineapple plus one cup of orange segments plus one cup of chopped kale
• Thickener: one sliced banana
• Optional flavoring: a sprig of mint
• One cup of ice.

These are more fantastic smoothie combinations:

• Strawberries, cauliflower, banana, Greek yogurt, and honey
• Strawberries, almond butter, dates, cinnamon, and vanilla
• Pineapple, mango, spinach, and coconut cream
• Orange segments, banana, tahini, and vanilla
• Berries, baby spinach, dates, Greek yogurt, and chia seeds
• Butternut, oats, nut butter, and cinnamon
• Apple, sweet potato, avocado, and Nutella
• Apple, orange segments, kale, and banana.

See our list of 11 smoothie recipes with yogurt and frozen fruit for more.

FAQs

Can You Make Smoothies With Water Instead Of Milk Or Juice?

You can make smoothies with water if you don’t have milk or juice. Add a quarter to half a cup of water when you blend the thickeners and leaves. Add water afterward if the smoothie is too thick.

What Else Can I Use In Smoothies Instead Of Milk?

If you have a milk allergy, intolerance, or follow a plant-based diet, you can replace the milk in any smoothie recipe with one of the following:

• Plant-based milk: oat, soy, or nut milk
• Coconut milk or cream
• Fruit juice
• Water kefir
• Coconut water
• Water

If you can eat dairy, then you can also add yogurt to smoothies instead of milk.

Using Frozen Fruit Or Ice In Your Smoothie

Frozen fruit adds smoothness and bulk to smoothies without liquid. It’s also great because frozen fruit is easier to blend, convenient, and nutritious.

Thaw your fruit for a few minutes so it’s not rock hard when you blend to save wear and tear on your blender.

Use a cup of crushed ice if you don’t have frozen fruit.

Conclusion

Making smoothies without liquid is possible if you use high-liquid fruit and veg, adding them to the blender in the correct order. Always include frozen fruit or ice for bulk, and blend until completely smooth.