This rich and creamy chocolate avocado smoothie tastes like a healthy chocolate milkshake! Avocado creates a thick consistency, while dates provide sweetness.
Because of our rampant banana allergies over here, avocado has been a God send!
When added to smoothies and shakes, it creates a thick texture without tasting like guacamole!
Combined with a sweetener of some kind, in this case dates, you sort of replicate what bananas do without the banana taste.
Cinnamon and vanilla both add depth to the flavor, and the dash of salt brings out the flavors.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Milk - Any milk you like/tolerate can be used.
- Avocado - This is what creates a rich and creamy texture, and there is no equivalent substitute. If you prefer to use banana, try my Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie!
- Cocoa powder
- Dates - 1-2 tablespoons of honey or maple syrup could be used instead. In the video below, I use honey.
- Sea salt - I always add a pinch of sea salt when I make any type of avocado smoothie, as it brings out the flavors.
- Cinnamon - Optional, but great for blood sugar and flavor!
- Vanilla extract
- Ice
Recipe steps
Add the ingredients in the order listed in the recipe to a high speed blender, minus the ice.
Once smooth, blend in the ice until your desired consistency. Shorter blending will yield an icier smoothie, while blending a bit longer will make it smoother.
Recipe tips and tricks
I generally try to use an unripe avocado for this recipe. I find that riper avocados have more taste, which I want to avoid here.
Check out how I soften dates for smoothies and shakes to have them blend seamlessly!
To decrease the sugar, use a combination of two dates and 5-10 drops of stevia.
Try my Homemade Coconut Milk or my Rich and Creamy Hemp Milk in this recipe.
Chocolate Avocado Smoothie (NO Banana!)
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk of your choice
- ½ small avocado
- 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
- 3-4 soft, Medjool dates see Recipe Notes above for lower sugar recommendations
- pinch sea salt
- 1-2 dashes cinnamon optional
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 ice cube tray cubes
Instructions
- Blend everything except the ice together until smooth and creamy.
- Add the ice and blend until your desired consistency.
Notes
Nutrition
If you have a chance to try this recipe, please leave a star rating and a comment below letting me know how you liked it!
Gabby @ the veggie nook
This looks fantastic! I've recently been experimenting with removing bananas from my diet and been adding avocado to smoothies- so decadent and creamy!
Cindy (Vegetarian Mamma)
This looks so good! Can't wait to see what you link up at Gluten Free Fridays this week!
Anne @Authentic Simplicity
Wow, this sounds delicious.. It's similar to a smoothie I like to make, so I will definitely try it. Thanks for linking up to Healthy 2day Wednesday; see you next week.
Katie @Mexican Wildflower
MUST MAKE!!! Oh my! This looks amazing! I love that you didn't use bananas! Thanks for sharing with Natural Living Monday!
Lauren
Thank you Katie! 🙂
Carole
Hi there. The current Food on Friday on Carole's Chatter is collecting links to posts about shakes and smoothies. I do hope you link this lovely one in. This is the link . Please do pop back to check out some of the other links – there are a lot of good ones already. Have a great week.
Paleo Smoothie Recipes
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Pat
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Lauren
Thank you so much Pat! 😀
Iris Hanlin
This looks great? Can I use bananas instead of avocado? Thanks!
The Starving Inspired
Lauren
Hi Iris,
The point of this shake was actually to eliminate the banana, so I don't know. There are tons of other recipes on the web for ones with it though, so you may want to check out one of those.
Kathy
I really enjoyed this milkshake!! Kudos!
Laura
This shake has been in Rotation again as my 11yo has been wanting a tasty way to cool off on a hot Kansas day.
It can be made with bananas, we prefer frozen but unfrozen works if that's what you have. We are big fans of using what you have!
Lauren
I'm happy you guys are liking it Laura!
gina
I love it! I'm not crazy about the taste of banana so this looks to be perfect. Much appreciated! & do more videos!
Janie
This was great, thanks!
Natalie
Wow best milkshake in the world!😃
VA
This was amazing!!! I love chocolate but don't always want dessert...this is such a great substitute. Thank you!
Alice.
I finally got a chance to try this and regret not making this long ago! It was SOOO GOOD!! I devoured it almost instantly 😀 I have a hand blender, and though my dates were soft, I guess I didn't blend long enough, as I got tiny little date pieces but it was fine. (The yummy flavor compensated for the date bits;) I will try the maple syrup and honey versions next time! And with the avocado inside it's so filling and a great breakfast addition too! Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes, Lauren, and running this blog (for so many years now!)
Lauren Goslin
Thanks, Alice! I'm so happy you enjoyed this one, it's a favorite at our house too.