Is avocado a good ingredient in a smoothie recipe?

Avocados are an Aussie favourite for when it comes to a toast-topper.

But is it a good option to add to your daily frozen smoothie?

Let’s dive into the world of avocado smoothies and look at whether they are a good choice for your favourite smoothie recipes.

The health benefits of avocado

First up, it’s important to look at why you might want to include avocado in your diet in the first place.

Put simply, avocado is a nutrient-dense wholefood that has plenty of health benefits.

What are the health benefits of avocado, I hear you ask?

Avocado is:

• High in fibre
• Contains soluble fibre, or prebiotic fibre, which supports the good bacteria in your gut
• A great source of healthy monounsaturated fats
• Full of fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin E and K
• A good source of other beneficial nutrients such as folate, vitamin C, potassium and B vitamins
• Potentially beneficial for reducing ‘bad’ cholesterol and triglyceride levels
• Able to increase the absorption of antioxidants from other foods by up to 15-fold!
• Not going to stop you from losing weight if you include it within an energy-restricted diet

Not too shabby a list for a single piece of produce that’s easy to add to your smoothies!

Why you might want to add avocado to your smoothie

So now you know that avocado is pretty much a nutritional powerhouse.

So now let’s have a look at why you might want to add it to your own frozen smoothies:

• Avocados make your smoothies thick and creamy
• The high fibre content means you’ll stay fuller for longer
• Avocado is a great way to add healthy fats and fat-soluble vitamins to your smoothie
• You’re adding a serve of vegetables, and green veg at that! (yes I know avocado is technically a fruit, but nutrient-wise, I consider it a vegetable)

So based on the health benefits and the smoothie-specific benefits, it seems like a no-brainer to add avo to your smoothies on a regular basis.

The downsides of avocado

Anything has its downsides – even the humble avocado.

There are a few reasons why you might choose not to use avocado in your regular smoothie recipe.

Avocado price and availability will vary with the seasons

Like any type of produce, avocados have their own growing season too.

Different varieties of avocado’s will be available for you at different times.

For example, in Australia, you’ll usually see Hass avocados around between May-January, and Shepard avocados from February-May.

While that does mean that there’s only one month of the year that avocados aren’t widely available, there are other issues to consider.

Many people have a favourite variety, so you might only have access to your favourite avocado’s 4 to 9 months of the year.

As some avocados on Aussie shelves are from New Zealand, weather events such as storms might also affect their price and availability.

So if you’re on a budget or you’re in an area that doesn’t have a wide variety of produce available, avocado might be off the smoothie menu for you.

If you can’t live without avocado, you could ration it out to ¼ avocado per smoothie. Or as an alternative, any supermarkets also stock frozen avocado and pre-pureed avocado options too.

Avocados take a while to ripen

Is there anything worse than slicing into a beautiful avocado, only to discover it’s not quite ripe?

I’ve experienced this disappointment many times before and no doubt, will again.

Unlike most produce, avocados usually aren’t ripe when you purchase them.

You can add unripe avocado to your smoothie – it’s perfectly safe for human consumption.

I prefer not to, as it has a bitter taste and changes the texture of the smoothie.

But if you’re less fussy than me, go for it!

If the avos you buy are rock-hard, here are some tips for ripening them:

• Store them at room temperature until they are ripe
• Add them to the fruit bowl with your apples and bananas
• To speed it up even more, place in a brown paper bag with a banana or apple until they ripen

If you do want all of the goodness of avocado in your smoothie without worrying about whether it’s ripe or affordable?

Grab yourself the super greens smoothie cubes as they combine avocado with plenty of other healthy greens, and (of course) are available all-year round!

To avo or not to avo?

There are many benefits for adding avocado into your frozen smoothies and also for adding a few Super Cubes in there as well.

So if your ever stuck for ideas, it’s easy to experiment with avocado’s and other ingredients to perfect your own smoothie recipes over time.

Or if you’re looking for inspiration and don’t want to think, you can visit the Super Cubes recipe page for ideas too!