Moringa is a healthy vegetable and powerful supplement, and it's one we've talked about extensively on this blog already. There are a lot of different ways you can take the supplement, such as in juice or capsule form, but not everyone enjoys taking simple supplements like that. Often, you might find yourself looking for an alternative or a way to add moringa to a smoothie.
Smoothies are a great way to give yourself a ton of fruits, vegetables, and supplements while still being an enjoyable experience. When it comes to moringa, you generally have two choices.
- Add some moringa juice or the contents of a couple of capsules to any smoothie you're already making.
- Make a smoothie centered around the moringa flavor.
For the purposes of today's post, we're going to focus on the second one.
What Does Moringa Taste Like?
Moringa is a vegetable and a supplement, and as such, it comes in a variety of different forms. Each of those different forms has a different taste, yet all of them have an undercurrent of moringa distinct from other foods.
Capsules, for example, are largely flavorless because you're swallowing them. You may taste some of the dusting of moringa caused by a broken capsule somewhere in the supply line. Generally, though, you're going to taste nothing but the gelatin capsule, which has nearly no flavor at all. You may experience a grassy, earthy burp from time to time, though.
Moringa juice concentrate, as another example (and our favorite moringa product), is usually mixed with a variety of other fruit juices to give it more nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and flavor. Our moringa juice has a load of added ingredients, and the flavor is primarily derived from elderberry, cranberry, pomegranate, acai, mangosteen, and goji berries. In other words, it's a tart, fruity flavor, with slightly earthen undertones.
Moringa in the raw, as a vegetable, can taste like a variety of other vegetables. Some people describe it as something similar to green beans. Others describe it as tasting more like spinach with a hint of the kick of radish. Still, others describe it as matcha with hints of spirulina. In general, it's always a green, grassy, earthy, vegetal flavor when consumed fresh or as a powder.
So what kind of smoothie do you make? That depends on the kind of flavor profile you want.
We have two main recommendations. If you're using moringa capsules or powder, go with a green smoothie. If you're using something like our moringa juice concentrate, go with a fruitier smoothie base.
Mixing and Matching Flavors
Before getting into specific recipes, let's talk about flavor profiles and flavors you might use to mix up your own custom recipe. Everyone has different tastes and preferences, after all. You can develop your own taste and create your own recipe.
If you want to use moringa juice as a base, you're likely going to want to augment it with various fruit flavors. Apple juice is generally a good base and is better than water or plain ice. White grape juice is excellent as a sweeter grape flavor base. Meanwhile, additives like nut butter can give you some healthy fats, banana is great for substance, flavor, and potassium, and honey is a great natural sweetener.
On the other hand, some people don't like the base taste of moringa, especially if they're using the powdered form of the supplement. If you want to mask the flavor rather than augment it, you're better off using stronger flavors that override it. Orange juice is a powerful base that tends to dominate flavor combinations. Coconut milk is also a good base with a strong flavor. Mint is a good way to mask other flavors but might clash with citrus. Cocoa hides the earthiness of the moringa behind its own bitter dark flavor, as well.
If you don't mind the flavor of moringa and want to accentuate the flavor with other green smoothie ingredients, you can mix and match some other options. Ginger is a great flavor, with dried ginger giving you a spicy kick and fresh ginger providing a spicy fruit flavor. Spirulina takes the "green" flavor up 10 levels, making it a dominant flavor profile for your smoothie. Green tea is also a good option for subtle flavor combinations and for health benefits.
There's a lot more to it, and we went into greater detail in our article about ways to adjust the flavor of moringa. Feel free to peruse that post for more ideas.
Now let's get into some recipes you can try out for yourself.
Recipes for Moringa Smoothies
We've put together a list of some of our favorite smoothie recipes from around the web here.
Chunky Monkey Smoothie from Making Thyme for Health
This smoothie combines the flavor profiles of chocolate, peanut butter, and banana to make the familiar chunky monkey flavor for a smoothie. The recipe calls for two frozen bananas, three tablespoons of peanut butter (but any nut butter will suffice), three tablespoons of cacao powder, 2 tablespoons of moringa powder (but a single serving of any moringa supplement will do), four ice cubes, two dates, and a cup of unsweetened almond milk.
Take this ingredients list and combine it in a blender until smooth. The name might imply that it's meant to be chunky, but that's not the case. A nice smooth, well, smoothie, is always a pleasure, and this has a rich chocolate-banana-nut flavor that many people love.
Five Options from The Smart Consumer
The next handful of smoothie options all come from the same place. There are actually more recipes than just these five at the source link if you want to explore more options. These five are the favorites that we've tried from the list. All recipes simply blend the ingredients together until smooth, no additional preparation needed.
- Blueberry Grape Detox Smoothie. This healthy option uses a base of two cups of chopped kale, a tablespoon of moringa, a cup of seedless grapes, half a cup of blueberries, a tablespoon of chia seeds, and a slice of lemon with the skin and seeds removed.
- Kiwi Moringa Energy Smoothie. This simple recipe uses a tablespoon of moringa along with two passion fruits, two kiwis (skin removed), and 250 ml of coconut water.
- Pineapple Banana Blueberry. This pink-as-Pepto smoothie uses a teaspoon of moringa, a banana, a cup of pineapple chunks, half a cup of blueberries, a peeled orange, and a cup of coconut water as its ingredients list.
- Breakfast Meal Replacement Smoothie. This high-protein smoothie serves as a great meal replacement for breakfast. It uses a tablespoon of moringa, two tablespoons of green superfood protein powder, a quarter cup of coconut meat, a cup of spinach, a quarter cup of kale, half a frozen banana, a tablespoon each of almond butter, coconut butter, and coconut oil, two cups of almond milk, and ice to bring it to the right consistency.
- Green Detox Smoothie. This final option from The Smart Consumer uses a cup of spinach, a cucumber, the juice of a lime, a green apple, a kiwi, a tablespoon of moringa, and a cup of ice for a thick, green, sweet smoothie.
As with any recipe, feel free to adjust the proportions and flavors to suit your desires. Don't like almond milk? Try rice, soy, or cashew milk instead. Don't like coconut? MCT oil can be a good supplement in place of it. You have options!
Moringa Green Smoothie from The Seasonal Diet
This is a fairly simple green smoothie base with moringa added to it for that extra superfood punch. As with all of the smoothie recipes on this list, all you need to do is toss the ingredients into a blender and pulse it until smooth, with more or less liquid or ice to get it to the consistency you want.
For this one, you need 2-4 kale or chard leaves, a banana, a tablespoon of almond butter, a date, half to three-quarters of a cup of coconut water, a tablespoon of cocoa powder, half a teaspoon of moringa (but you can add more if you like), and a cup of ice. This recipe also works well with our moringa juice concentrate as well!
Moringa Superfood Smoothie from Boots and Hooves Homestead
This one is another pretty simple recipe that works equally well with moringa powder and with our juice concentrate. In fact, with the tangy pineapple, we'd venture to say it works best with moringa juice over powder. The recipe calls for two bananas, a small avocado, a cup of pineapple, half a cup of almond milk, a teaspoon of moringa, and a cup of ice.
Antioxidant-Rich Moringa Smoothie from Kind Earth
This smoothie focuses on the antioxidant content of both moringa and the other ingredients added to the smoothie. It calls for a tablespoon of moringa powder or juice, 200 ml (about 0.8 cups) of water, two bananas, two tablespoons of hemp seeds, half an inch of cubed fresh ginger, a handful of baby spinach leaves, half a cup of pineapple, and 2/3rds of a cup of mango. The pineapple and mango should be frozen for the best consistency on this one.
Building Your Own Smoothie
If you want to build your own smoothie, just pick a few ingredients from each of the three categories below. You can build your own flavor profiles, mix and match, or just use a tried-and-true formula you know you like. For moringa content, add a single tablespoon of the powder or a single serving of the juice concentrate, depending on your favorite preparation.
Part 1: The fruit. Fruit adds sweetness, tanginess, and a ton of vitamins and antioxidants to your smoothie. Banana is always a great option to add, both because of its light flavor and because it helps to thicken up any smoothie you add it to. We love adding berries, particularly blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, acai berries, goji berries, and raspberries. Be aware that a couple of those, like raspberries and blackberries, will add a lot of little seeds to your smoothie, so keep that in mind. You can also add other fruits like citrus, dragon fruit, peaches, or mango.
Part 2: The greens. Moringa is a primary green component to your smoothie, but you can add more greens if you want a more vegetal, green-powered smoothie. Many greens add a lot of nutrients, in particular, minerals and trace nutrients, while also providing some much-needed fiber. Spinach, kale, chard, and collards all work, as do dandelion greens and arugula. We prefer baby spinach for the best blend.
Part 3: The liquid. Every smoothie needs some kind of liquid to thin it out into a thick beverage rather than a paste or batter. Many people like to use water and ice in a mixture to get the consistency they want. We tend to prefer using a milk base, though cow's milk isn't the best. Try out almond milk, cashew milk, soy milk, rice milk, or pea milk for some modern options. Hemp milk can also work. Coconut milk works as well but adds a lot of sweetness and coconut flavor to your smoothie, which you may or may not desire.
An optional fourth part is a sweetener or additive. Cocoa powder, dates, maple syrup, honey, and even molasses can all work here, depending on your goals. They're also completely optional if you find the natural sweetness of ripe fruit is enough.
Building your own smoothie has a few benefits. For one thing, you can always customize it to your desires. Feeling a little fruity one day? Add more berries or citrus. Want something more subdued and green? Add more vegetables. Want a nice, sweet addition? Add dates, honey, or maple syrup to your smoothie to sweeten it. The choice is yours!
Do you have a favorite recipe for your own moringa smoothie? If so, please leave a rundown in the comments. Let others know what your favorite blend is, and we'll be sure to check them out later.
