How to Make a Matcha Smoothie
Matcha is excellent as a tea, latte, or iced latte, but it's also the perfect ingredient to create one of the best matcha green tea smoothie recipes around! Adding matcha powder to a blender full of smoothie ingredients like frozen fruit, almond milk, and hemp seeds is quick and easy. Plus, you'll get all that matcha flavor and nutrition to kick-start your day.
Our matcha green tea smoothie recipe is perfect for an "on-the-go" breakfast or as a healthy afternoon energy-boosting snack. It has enough protein to make you feel full, enough caffeine to wake you up, and enough flavor to make your taste buds happy!
Let's take a closer look at what matcha powder is and how we use it in this recipe.
What is Matcha Powder?
Matcha green tea powder is made from finely ground green tea leaves. Rich in green tea flavor and bright green color, matcha powder is most commonly used in Japanese tea ceremonies. However, in recent years matcha powder has made its way to coffee shops all over North America as a popular ingredient in lattes.
Green tea, black, white, and oolong tea all come from the Camellia sinensis plant. The reason for the different teas is the result of the amount of oxidization and processing the leaves go through.
Black teas are darker in color because they are oxidized, or exposed to air longer than green tea leaves. Loose-leaf tea is mainly left in whole-leaf pieces, while manufacturers pulverize tea used in bags into smaller pieces.
Matcha is processed down to a fine powder. Since all teas from the Camellia sinensis plant naturally has caffeine, matcha green tea has the highest amount due to the concentration of tea.
The Different Grades of Matcha Powder
You can purchase matcha green tea powders in three grades. Each grade offers a unique flavor and way to use it.
Ceremonial Grade Matcha
Ceremonial grade matcha is the highest quality matcha you can buy. A regular green tea powder typically mixed with hot water and used in Japanese tea ceremonies, this grade uses the youngest leaves and has a smooth and creamy texture with a sweet taste. This grade is also recognizable by its vibrant green color.
Premium Grade Matcha
Premium grade matcha or latte matcha is good quality matcha powder mainly used in lattes. Although this grade doesn't have that brilliant green color like the ceremonial does, it is still brighter than the culinary grade matcha. Even though people use it in beverage recipes, its flavor is less smooth than ceremonial-grade matcha.
Culinary Grade Matcha
Culinary matcha is a good quality powder, but it is processed differently than the better quality versions, and the flavor is slightly bitter and more robust. However, culinary matcha is called that because it is mainly used in cooking or baking recipes.
A Matcha Green Tea Smoothie Recipe You'll Love
Our green smoothie makes a hearty, energizing, and healthy breakfast or a fast and filling meal replacement snack. With five grams of protein and six grams of fiber, you'll get loads of health benefits with each sip. This recipe comes together quickly and is packed full of fresh fruit, protein, and nutrition.
Prep time: 5 minutes, Cook time: 0 minutes, yield: 2 smoothies Equipment: blender
Ingredients
2 frozen bananas. Cut the banana into half-inch slices for easier blending, or before you freeze the banana, pre-cut them before you put them into a freezer bag.
1 mango, peeled and cut into cubes.
1 handful of fresh baby spinach
2–4 tsp of matcha powder
2 tbsp of organic hemp seeds
1 cup of almond milk. You can substitute almond milk for coconut milk, oat milk, or dairy milk. You can also substitute almond milk for unsweetened almond milk if you're trying to cut down on sugar.
Sweetener of choice. The recipe already contains naturally sweet fruits like mango and banana. However, if you're not worried about sugar and want to sweeten your green smoothie, stick to all-natural sweeteners like honey or maple syrup.
Instructions
Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until creamy and smooth.
Check the blender and add a little more almond milk into your mixture if it looks too thick.
You can top off your smoothie with a light dusting of extra matcha powder, hemp seeds, or a spoonful of granola for some crunch.
Variations on the Matcha Smoothie Recipe?
With any recipe, you can add your own unique touches to it. This matcha green tea smoothie works best with tropical fruits, but you can mix it up with some berries. Here are some suggestions to take your recipes to the next level.
Fruits to use
Our matcha smoothie uses frozen bananas and fresh mango, but this green tea smoothie tastes great with passionfruit, pineapple, and even papaya. If you stick to these lighter-colored fruits, you'll end up with a rich green smoothie.
To make a darker matcha green tea smoothie, use berries like blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries. These fruits won't just make your matcha smoothie darker in color but they will add extra antioxidants for a healthier power-packed drink.
Additional Matcha Smoothie Ingredients
Spinach - Adding some leafy greens like spinach and kale will enhance the green color of your smoothie, but it will also give you a nice healthy portion of veggies. Spinach and kale are high in vitamins and minerals, but low in calories. So you'll get the added nutrition of spinach and kale without worrying about counting calories.
Hemp seeds - When you make this recipe, throw in one teaspoon of hemp seeds instead of using a pre-packaged protein powder mixture. It gives this already good smoothie an extra nutritional boost, loads of protein, lots of fiber, and a rich nutty flavor that compliments the drink.
Milk options - Many people are lactose-intolerant and can't drink regular dairy milk. More and more smoothie recipes feature plant-based milk as the star creamy ingredient.
You can make this recipe super healthy and utterly delicious by substituting dairy for almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, and even rice milk. When choosing your plant-based milk, look for sugar-free ones to get all of the added nutritional benefits without the extra sugar.
Sweetener options - Speaking of sugar, let's talk about some healthier alternatives to sweeten your smoothie. We like organic all-natural sweeteners like honey, or agave syrup. However, the sweetness of the fruit may be enough to satisfy any sweet tooth and give you several health benefits in the process.
Always avoid artificial sweeteners and heavy syrups so you can enjoy the natural taste of your smoothies.
Additional flavors - Smoothies like this can accommodate other flavors without compromising nutrition. If you want a more chocolatey taste, add some raw cacao powder. Perhaps you prefer the flavor of vanilla. Adding a few drops of pure vanilla extract will give your smoothies a lovely flavor.
Want an additional wake-up in your smoothie? Add some coffee! Yes, you can blend in some coffee for a more robust flavor. Watch out; it will also give you a more intense caffeine kick!
Take your matcha smoothie to a new nutty level with a few tablespoons of peanut butter. We already know that peanut butter and banana make a delicious smoothie, but with matcha tea powder, you get a delightful full-bodied smoothie with all the added goodness.
The benefits of matcha tea powder in smoothies
If you're looking for a healthy breakfast idea or a nutritious snack, these matcha smoothies are the way to go. Let's break down the nutritional factors behind this delicious, power-packed recipe.
High in antioxidants
Antioxidants are substances in the human body that help protect your cells and fight off free radicals. Free radicals cause cell damage and can contribute to several health conditions like heart disease and even cancer.
Since the average American diet doesn't include enough antioxidant-rich foods, matcha smoothies are a great way to get them in.
Better brain functioning
We all know that caffeine keeps us alert and awake, but too much of it can lead to those dreaded caffeine crashes. Matcha smoothies have just enough caffeine to help you focus but not enough to bring you down when the caffeine wears off.
Lose weight
There is no miracle cure for weight loss except a healthy diet and exercise. Matcha powders may be high in antioxidants, nutrition, and nutritional goodness, but you must incorporate them into a healthy lifestyle to be effective.
The best part is that these smoothies are so delicious with sweet bananas and mangos, and nut milk that they will satisfy any sugary cravings. So avoid the power drinks, sweet baked goods, and energy bars, and get out your high-speed blender to blend one of the best matcha smoothies around.
Conclusion
Skip the dreaded drive-thru at your local coffee shop and start making your very own healthy matcha smoothies from the comfort of your kitchen. For the best taste, use the best matcha.
Throw in a banana, some tropical fruit, and a splash of honey in your blender and blend away. You'll have a healthy, nutritious, and delicious beverage that will get you going, make you feel good, and fill you with satisfying flavor. For some amazing matcha, give this a try!
