This simple, delicious 4-ingredient beet smoothie contains nutritious, tangy kefir, cherries and prunes for more natural sweetness and creaminess. Enjoy as part of a healthy breakfast or snack anytime.
This beet smoothie with cherries and kefir is a delicious, healthy way to start your day. I used frozen cherries so the smoothie doesn’t need to be chilled before serving. Plus it can be enjoyed any time, not just when cherries are in season. Cherries are tangy and sweet, which makes them ideal to pair with earthy tasting beetroot.
I am a huge fan of beetroot but until now I’ve only used it boiled, braised or roasted. Never raw. Raw beetroot is quite tough so it doesn’t necessarily make the best salad ingredient. But it works in a smoothie!
Can raw beetroot be blended
Yes, it can! It's a very hard vegetable so you'll need a good blender to puree it until smooth. It's also a good idea to chop it into small chunks before pureeing along with the rest of the ingredients.
Beet smoothie ingredients
Beet smoothie ingredients.
Beetroot has a sweet but also earthy flavour so it's a good idea to pair it with sweet fruit. This is especially important in a smoothie where you use raw beets. I chose to use cherries along with the beets as they are intensely sweet and really improve the flavour of the raw beetroot.
I added a handful of prunes into this beetroot smoothie for more natural sweetness and rich and creamy consistency (prunes are also super nutritious!).
Another nutritious ingredient I used is kefir. 100 ml of kefir contains only 3 g of fat and 3.9 g sugar. It contains a substantial amount of protein and important minerals such as phosphorus, potassium and calcium, as well as vitamins. It tastes fantastic on its own, is smooth and creamy, less acidic than yogurt, and with a touch of fizz, which really adds to its appeal. It goes really well with the sweet, earthy beetroot, adding a little tang and creaminess to your beet smoothie.
Check out also beetroot and carrot juice recipe ideas.
How to make beet smoothie
1. Prepare the ingredients.
2. Place all the ingredients in a blender and puree until silky smooth.
3. Enjoy chilled.
What other ingredients can be added
Beetroot works with many varieties of fruit including berries, apples (sweet rather than sour in this particular recipe), oranges, bananas or persimmons so you can experiment with the flavours and go with your favourite. Perhaps a mixture of different fruit would work for you. You can also add a few mint leaves into the blender.
How to make this smoothie dairy free
If you prefer not to use any dairy in this beetroot smoothie recipe use coconut water, almond or hazelnut milk instead. If you do I also recommend adding a splash of lemon or lime juice (according to taste) and a pinch of fine sea salt into your smoothie for more depth of flavour.
Top tips
- I recommend using frozen berries so you can enjoy your smoothie right away.
- Sweetness: This beet smoothie is quite sweet but you can play around with the ingredients to add even more sweetness: use more cherries and/or prunes. You could also add a little maple syrup into the mixture.
- Consistency: This beetroot smoothie is quite thick but you can change the consistency by adding a splash of almond milk, coconut water, apple or orange juice.
- If you can't get kefir use natural yogurt (not thick) or buttermilk.
- I recommend using a powerful blender so that your smoothie isn’t grainy.
- Best served immediately. Refrigerate your leftover beet smoothie in a bottle/jar for up to 1 day.
You might also like
- Broccoli Smoothie 2 Ways (Berry and Melon)
- Sweet Potato Mango Smoothie Bowl
- Raspberry Avocado Smoothie with Mint
- Quinoa Raspberry Smoothie Bowl with Prunes
- Spinach Berry Smoothie 2 Ways
Check out also this collection of 18 healthy, easy vegetable breakfast recipes!
Keep in touch!
If you make this beetroot smoothie I'd love to know how it turned out for you. Did you add prunes into the mixture? Let me know in the comments below, thanks:)
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Recipe
Beet Smoothie with Cherries
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 4.94 ounces (140 g) beetroot peeled, cubed
- 1¼ cups (180 g) frozen cherries 6.35oz
- 1 cup+1tbsp (260 ml) kefir
- 10 prunes pitted
Instructions
- To make the smoothie place all the ingredients in your blender and puree until silky smooth.
- Serve immediately. Leftovers can be refrigerated in a jar or bottle for up to 1 day.
Notes
- I recommend using frozen berries so you can enjoy your smoothie right away.
- Sweetness: This beet smoothie is quite sweet but you can play around with the ingredients to add even more sweetness: use more cherries and/or prunes. You could also add a little maple syrup into the mixture.
- Consistency: This beetroot smoothie is quite thick but you can change the consistency by adding a splash of almond milk, coconut water, apple or orange juice.
- If you can't get kefir use natural yogurt (not thick) or buttermilk.
- Dairy free: use almond or hazelnut milk, coconut water instead of the kefir, along with a splash of lemon/lime juice and a pinch of salt.
- I recommend using a powerful blender so that your smoothie isn’t grainy.
- Best served immediately. Refrigerate your leftover beet smoothie in a bottle/jar for up to 1 day.
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is automatically generated and should be considered as an estimate.
**A note about baking: If using a fan-assisted oven refer to your appliance's instructions and adjust the temperature accordingly.
Lathiya
What a gorgeous looking smoothie...it have a vibrant color
Monika
Thank you Lathiya, beet is great for adding lots of colour!
Rebecca Smith
I absolutely love the idea if this Kefir smoothie, I make my own dairy free kefir with water and molasses sugar.I really want to make the dairy free version using coconut milk as I know it grows far more bacteria and is supposed to taste amazing...this smoothie has given me the kick I needed to make it now, the colours are awesome! Thank you for linking up with #Got2bGF Monika xxx
Monika
You are welcome Rebecca! Coconut kefir sounds amazing, I am sure it's delicious, I haven't seen any in the shops though, I wonder if anyone makes it... I'll look into making my own.
Lacey
Okay we are new to super healthy breakfast smoothies ,but we've had milk kefir grains for a long time so we have plenty. I finally got them on a good 1 healthy breakfast smoothie a day and tried this recipe. Well, if you are not used to beets, and are not used to lightly sweetened smoothies, I'm going to give you a couple of ingredients that I ended up having to throw into mine to get everyone in the house to drink it. I had already followed the recipe to the dot ,but it was very earthy, I don't know if it's because my beats were homegrown or if that makes a difference, but hopefully someone reading this will get some use out of it. Not that this didn't turn out very beautiful and yummy ,just my family(the kids) are the type you have to cover the taste of the vegetable. Lol, anyway to do that, I added a Apple, a banana and 3 teaspoons of monk fruit sweetener. Everyone thought it was just cherries and bananas ,but the kids drank it. I made quite a bit of it and I couldn't let it go to waste, so thank you for the recipe it was a good way to sneak some beets in!
Monika
Really glad you were able to make this recipe work for you. I didn't try to mask the beetroot flavour too much so understand how some people might find it a little earthy but so many ingredients work with beets, as you have shown, it's easy to make a few tweaks if needed. Your feedback is much appreciated.
Suzanne
Beautiful and healthful!! Thank you for bringing to the party!!
Monika
Thank you! Happy FF!
Corina Blum
I haven't tried beetroot in a smoothie yet but it sounds delicious and especially with the apple and cherries to make it a little sweeter. It's one of those vegetables that I like but I don't really use very often. I need to make an effort to try this though.
Monika
Thanks Corina, it does go well with the fruit.
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie
I have tried beetroot raw in juices and it's one of the few things I really don't like. I find it too overpowering and earthy. But I wonder if I would prefer it in a smoothie, with more sweeter/creamy flavours like yours - I imagine they temper the flavour of the beetroot and stop it being so overpowering. Must try and find out! Eb x
Monika
I agree beetroot can be a little overpowering, but this smoothie has a pretty mild beetroot flavour, you'd like it:)
Rita
Never tasted Kafir witll try this recipe. Thanks for paosting to Fiesta Friday. Happy New Year !
Monika
Kefir is yummy, try it! Happy New Year to you too!
george szyman
this is the best smoothie I have had this year
Kat @ Kat's 9 Lives
This smoothie is so pretty! I enjoy smoothies often, and I will have to consider making a pink smoothie in the near future! Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday!
Monika
Thank you! I love colour in my food, which is why beetroot is one of my favourite vegetables.
Jacqui Bellefontaine
I like the sound of this. Im really getting a bit of a taste for Kafir,
Happy New Year and thank you for linking to #CookBlogShare.
Monika
Thank you Jacqui, Happy New Year to you too!