Strawberry Shortcake Smoothie is the gluten and dairy free version of strawberry shortcake! Perfect for a healthy breakfast or snack.
One type of food I can always rely on to supply my kids with a blast of nutrients is smoothies.
I like to stuff the blender full of spinach and chia seeds then sweeten it up with fresh fruit like in my Best Ever Green Smoothie, or pack it with fresh berries and nuts that are high in healthy fats, protein, and iron like in my Strawberry Shortcake Smoothie!
Health reasons aside, we simply love this smoothie because it tastes AMAZING! It’s a spinoff of my Blueberry Muffin Smoothie in that it tastes like dessert, in this case Strawberry Shortcake, but is sweetened with zero added sugar.
In Strawberry Shortcake Smoothie, strawberries are blended with almond milk (or whatever you have in the fridge), bananas, a splash of vanilla extract, a teensy bit of fresh lemon zest (if you’ve had the Blueberry Muffin Smoothie then you know how key this is to making the smoothie taste like a baked good,) and a secret ingredient – cashews!
Why cashews? Well, raw cashews are a creamy and sweeter-tasting nut that takes the place of yogurt in this smoothie, plus it mimics the flavor of shortcake. Some of my kids are allergic to dairy so the cashews help give each sip a creamy, thick consistency, plus they’re loaded with iron which I’m a big fan of.
Just one step to this simple recipe – throw stuff in a blender and push on!
Said “stuff” includes 1/2 cup almond milk (or again, whatever you have in the fridge,) 1 cup sliced strawberries, 1/2 banana, 2 heaping Tablespoons raw cashews, a splash of good vanilla extract and 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest. You can skip the zest but it totally makes this smoothie!
Here are the cashews I use. Make sure you’re not using roasted cashews, rather, we want the creamy, sweet raw ones.
Add 1/2 cup ice on top of the other ingredients then blend, blend, blend until ultra smooth.
Pour into a glass then sip! Honestly you’re going to flip your lid for this smoothie. Sweet and decadent tasting yet no extra sugar (nor baking) required. Enjoy!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup milk, any kind
- 1 cup sliced strawberries, ~8 strawberries, fresh or frozen
- 1/2 banana, fresh or frozen
- 2 heaping Tablespoons raw cashews
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/2 cup ice
Directions
- Add ingredients to blender in order listed.
- Blend until smooth.
Notes
- A high powered blender is necessary to get the cashews blended until creamy.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
I just forwarded this to my 13-year-old. He made it himself and claimed it “so bussin’”. So that is high praise!!!
Oh my gosh I LOVE that. LOL!! Thank you so much for sharing this!!
I looooooooooove your smoothie recipes. Could pls make some more?
Would this work without the nuts? (I’m allergic) I’m still going to make this with or without the nuts though ;)
Absolutely! You might lose a little bit of that “baked goods” flavor but it will still be absolutely delicious. :)
I LOVE your blueberry muffin recipe and can’t wait to try this one! I don’t usually have lemon zest, but tried a couple drops of lemon essential oil. . . SO GOOD!!! Can’t wait to try it in this recipe too. Thanks for sharing!!
My little guy has the same pajamas! They’re so funny…and random! This might be a stupid question but Ive been looking everywhere for raw nuts (ive never eaten them!). How would I know they are raw (I dont see it written on the package)? And also, where did you buy them? Thanks!
Raw nuts are usually sold in the “health food” section of the grocery store. They’re really hard to find gluten-free though (due to cross contamination at packaging plants,) so I always order mine from Nuts.com!
After 4 or 5 attempts at eating cashews, I have sadly accepted the fact that I have an intolerance serious enough that I throw up every time I eat them. Can you suggest a substitute that will provide the added creaminess and flavor to this smoothie? I have no problems with any other food.
creamy and
Hi Tonya! I would use Strawberry Greek Yogurt. I think it will lose a bit of the “shortcake” flavor but it will still be delicious. :) Enjoy!
So…just so you know, I made this and added 1/2 cup of frozen peas instead of ice. No one was the wiser. :D
Hehe! Good idea, Brooke!
This is delicious! I’m on my third morning straight of having this for breakfast, with the addition of frozen blueberries. Love the zing the lemon zest gives it. I’m going to try it with cashew milk once my almond milk runs out. Thanks for a great recipe!
Gluten and dairy products have become a no go area these days in my daily diet,as for vegetables and not liking them i made my daughter a juice which contained mainly fruit but i put three kinds of vegetable in the mix.
She is very fussy when it comes to eating veg,alongside pineapple,grapes,apple and ginger and lemon i added spinach,carrot and celery.
She drank it and said it was nice to my happy surprise,i am going to try and make some of these beautiful smoothies for her especially now it is summer here in the U K.