This delicious protein-packed vegan strawberry bean smoothie is a healthy, simple and refreshing breakfast or snack. Secretly hiding some veggies and white beans, it’s the perfect 5-minute recipe for kids, athletes and those looking to eat healthier.
Here are two words you probably haven’t heard in the same sentence: “bean smoothie”.
This fruity shake doesn’t taste anything like beans, of course — instead, it’s nicely packed with plant-based protein, fiber and minerals!
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No matter if you want to make it in the morning or as an afternoon post-workout snack, this vegan bean smoothie will keep you refreshed and satiated for hours.
You can add some vegan protein powder to your smoothie if you like or keep it on the fruity side!
So, if you’ve been trying to eat more plant-based foods or haven’t been the biggest fan of beans yet, let this smoothie win you over.
You also need to try our mango chocolate smoothie, this super green broccoli smoothie and our sweet potato smoothie bowl!
Browse this collection of plant-based smoothies next and keep on reading to find out why this strawberry bean smoothie is a must-try.
Recipe overview
- Refreshing summer treat
- Great pre- or post-workout snack
- Gorgeously pink & berrilicious
- Convenient grab-and-go snack
- Protein- and fiber-packed
- All the benefits of beans minus their taste
- Rich and creamy low-fat shake
- Easy to make & customize
FYI, this recipe will create a large blender jar full of delicious berry bean smoothie. Depending on your hunger and overall calorie needs, this can make 2-4 servings.
Ingredients needed
- Frozen bananas — fresh bananas also work well but frozen ones make for a nicer texture!
- Strawberries & blueberries — nothing else says “Summer” as much as this double berry action; when they are out of season, choose frozen ones.
- Cooked white beans — that’s where things get interesting!
- Vanilla extract — optional but recommended.
- Frozen cauliflower — hiding some veggies in fruity smoothies is so easy!
- Hemp Seeds — more protein, more creaminess and omega-3’s.
We recommend that either the bananas or the berries in this bean smoothie are frozen to achieve the best texture.
How to make a berry bean smoothie
Let’s make this delicious shake! All you need is a knife, cutting board and a blender — no huge kitchen skills at all.
Simply add all ingredients for your smoothie into your blender and blend to create a smooth, deep pink liquid.
Depending on the exact quantities of your components, you might need to add some additional soy milk or a splash of water.
Adjust the bean smoothie to your taste preferences, adding more banana or berries for sweetness.
If you don’t have frozen cauliflower, don’t swap it for raw cauliflower! The result won’t be the same.
Storage & serving
This protein smoothie is best enjoyed right away. Divide it between glasses and offer it to your kids — they love the fruity taste and won’t detect any veggies or beans!
You can also decorate your bean smoothie with fresh blueberries, coconut flakes, nuts, seeds or granola!
We love this recipe as a base for a breakfast smoothie bowl with rolled oats, hemp seeds, more fruit and any toppings just mentioned.
This smoothie works for meal prep as you can store any leftovers in a lidded glass jar in the fridge for around 2 days. It might separate after a while, so give it a stir before enjoying your smoothie!
Tips & FAQs
Make it sweeter
If our vegan protein shake isn’t sweet enough for you, you can add some dates, maple syrup or more bananas. The vanilla extract also helps make this recipe taste sweeter without adding any refined sugar!
By the way, if you add a scoop of vegan protein powder to it, you can opt for sweetened vanilla protein powder and increase the sweetness at the same time as you add more protein!
Add more protein
This bean smoothie recipe is perfect for those who are somewhat new to eating legumes — if you’re a seasoned plant muncher, you can easily double or triple the amount of cooked white beans in your shake!
Other ideas are adding some silken tofu or soy yogurt in place of or in addition to the white beans for more protein.
Topping your bean smoothie with a couple of hemp seeds also bumps up the protein content!
Plant-Based Protein Guide →Increase healthy fats
If you’re looking to gain weight as a vegan or want to stay full for longer, it’s a good idea to add a tablespoon of nut butter or some soaked cashews or almonds to your smoothie!
Additionally, you can top it with more chopped almonds or hemp seeds.
Which blender do I need?
Since we’re working with frozen produce here, a semi-good blender is required. If yours looks a little weak, let the frozen ingredients thaw for around 10 minutes at room temperature.
The main difference will be the creaminess of your drink!
What kind of milk should I use?
Our favorite plant-based milk is soy milk because of its great nutritional profile! However, you can go for almond milk, oat milk or coconut milk if you like.
Any plant-based milk is fine!
More vegan breakfast ideas
Start your day off right with a delicious plant-based meal! Here are more easy and healthy recipe ideas.
- Chocolate Overnight Oats
- Sugar-Free Apple Crumble
- Raspberry Banana Bread
- Coconut Oat Bars
- Almond Milk Crêpes
Did you make our berry bean smoothie? Share with us in the comments below, leave a rating and Pin this recipe here!
This looks good. Are the white beans cooked with seasoning or just with salt alone
they are without seasonings, just normal canned beans for convenience. They usually have just salt added, some are even without salt but that’s not super important :) We often batch-cook beans from scratch and freeze some of them. In this case, they are without salt.
This sounds like a great way to add in more beans to our intake – especially the kids and husband! Which variety of white beans do you use?
glad you are intrigued :) we used cannelloni here but it doesn’t matter so much, the big white beans work as well here. Let us know how everyone likes it!
This smoothie is fantastic! I made it this morning and my two sons and I loved it! You really can’t taste the beans and they give the smoothie a very creamy consistency! I’m so happy I gave this a chance!
Hi Kristen, so happy to hear that! Thanks for sharing and hopefully inspiring others to try this. Not easy to add beans to kids diets but smoothies are usually fun to make and drink :)
Sounds delicious and filling-yippee! I think I will also add greens to this smoothie, as I like to have greens in all my smoothies. Thank you!!!
wonderful to know, Robyn! Yes, it’s delicious and even more nutrient-dense when adding greens :) This is just an easy entry-level smoothie. Let us know how you tweak it!
This is a keeper. I added a handful of spinach, a date, and cut it down to one serving. Great breakfast smoothie. I would never have thought to add white beans to a smoothie. Very clever. Thanks.
happy to hear, thanks for sharing your own version of it :) sounds delicious!
I was hesitant to try because I don’t like the taste of beans but this is just genius! Like Rosemary said, this is a keeper. Will also add greens next time
This is so creamy and delicious. We had it every morning this week. We found it very satisfying, and we were pleasantly surprised that there was absolutely no bean taste! A total winner.
Love this idea!
I haven’t tried beans, but I add a serving of tofu to my smoothies and honestly it just makes it so creamy and delicious.
great idea to add some tofu, I love like to do that sometimes :) Let us know how you like the white beans in your smoothie!
I just made this smoothie and I am completely shocked! I can’t believe that you don’t even taste the beans!!! The batch I made was a lot. How long will leftover last?
you can keep this smoothie in the fridge for 2-3 days but it might separate, so be sure to give it a stir or shake if that’s the case!
Thank you! I went back and saw that in the instructions.
I’m new to smoothies. I often have cooked cauliflower in my refrigerator. Is it ok to add that instead of raw?
sure, it’ll just result in a different texture :) we like added cauliflower in our smoothies the best when it’s frozen!
Hi Alena
Because of IBS I can’t eat any beans. Is there a good alternative I cane use?
Thanks
you can omit the white beans, replace them with any vegan yogurt or more bananas, use protein powder if you still want this smoothie to be higher in protein or choose silken tofu if you can tolerate this food :)
Do you have to cook the canned beans first or no?
Hi Marlene, excellent question! You need half a cup of cooked cannellini beans for this recipe — just use canned ones :) I’ll re-write this part to make it clearer, so thanks for the feedback and enjoy this berry bean smoothie!
Best,
Alena
Omgosh!!! This is the best smoothie I have ever drink. My husband was looking for protein recipes to increase our protein in our diet. He found your website and I fell in love with your page. Some much information that it’s helping me to focus on my new life style. Having a hard time with my kids though. You have amazing recipes and looking forward to try them out. Thank you for all the time you have put in your website to guide us in a healthy life! So blessed!!!
wow, thank you so much for your kind words! this means a lot to us :) yeah, we’re known for sneaking some veg or protein into traditional dishes! so happy to know you guys like our content.
warm wishes!
Well, that was so delicious!! I cut the recipe in half for just 1 serving for myself. I didn’t have milk so I used yogurt and water, didn’t have cauliflower so I tried walnuts instead. It worked. Thoroughly enjoyed this smoothie which is saying alot….it’s hard for me to find a smoothie recipe I REALLY like!
I am thrilled to know that H.L. substituted walnuts for the cauliflower because I want to try this. I always have walnuts but not cauliflower. I love beans. Can I just put in other fruit instead of bananas which I can’t tolerate?
sure, Ali! You can make it a berry-only smoothie if you can’t have banana :) I’d add some kind of sweetener to the smoothie in this case, though.
I want to try this but do not care at all for the taste of bananas. I’m sure I can leave it out but is there anything I can substitute for the banana? Thanks!
sure, you can simply omit the bananas :) other add-ins that would be lovely are pineapple, mango, or dates. let us know what you end up doing!
I came across this recipe a few days ago. I made this smoothie minus the cauliflower..Sadly, forgot to purchase it. I added spinach.
It was deliciously creamy and flavorful. No bean taste at all. Thank you for sharing
Good lawd this was actually really, REALLY good!!!!
Is the listed nutrition based on the needed items only, nothing listed as optional?
Hi Shawn, the nutrition is automatically calculated by our recipe plugin and I can’t see what items it used to create all of these numbers! Sorry I can’t offer any details here. I hope we can change to a better plugin soon!
I made this last night and I already know it’s going to be a staple meal for me. I added a full cup of cannellini beans, but next time, I’ll try 1.5 cups.
As someone who usually improvises with whatever ingredients I have on hand, I was blown away by the incredible flavor and nutritional punch packed into this concoction. The addition of beans and cauliflower might sound unconventional, but let me tell you, it takes this smoothie to a whole new level. Not only does it provide a boost of protein and fiber, but it also adds a creamy texture that perfectly complements the other ingredients. And the taste? Wow. I mean, seriously, wow. I’ve had my fair share of smoothies, but this one easily takes the crown as the best I’ve ever had. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe! It’s definitely going to become a staple in my smoothie rotation.
How many oz is one serving? Thanks already had this a couple of times and it is delish!
Thanks for the feedback! I haven’t measured this in ounces yet — the recipe yields 2 servings. Hope this helps!