What type of oatmeal is best for a smoothie? Since you don’t want to sip a big chunk of oatmeal through your straw, I think old-fashioned rolled oats or quick-cooking oats are best in a smoothie. If you don’t have a powerful blender, I recommend blending the oats first, so they are already ground before you add in the rest of your smoothie ingredients. Steel cuts oats could work if you grind them in a high-speed blender first, too, but it’s more of a risk that your smoothie won’t be perfectly creamy.
Benefits of Oats
Why would you want to add oatmeal to a smoothie? Oats have some impressive nutrition inside! Here’s why you’ll love them:
Oats are one of the only sources of antioxidants called Avenanthramides, which have been shown to have an anti-inflammatory and anti-itch effect. (Hence, why some people take oatmeal baths for poison ivy!) They contain a soluble fiber called beta-glucan, which may help to lower LDL cholesterol levels. Eating oatmeal may act as a prebiotic (feeding good bacteria in the gut). This soluble fiber may also help to lower blood sugar and insulin response. Oats have also been shown to increase feelings of fullness.
Looking for more ways to sneak oats into your day? Try my Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal, Chocolate Overnight Oats, or my other oat flour recipes for more ideas.
How to Make It
To make this Oatmeal Smoothie, I like to start by briefly grinding the oats. This will ensure you don’t get any chunks of oats through your straw later, but you can skip this extra step if you have a high-speed blender that you know will pulverize everything, regardless. Now that the oatmeal is ground, add in the liquid, peanut butter, frozen banana (here’s how to freeze bananas), ground flax seeds, and maple syrup, if you’d like a little extra sweetness. Want to add spinach? You can add that when you add the peanut butter and bananas, too. The smoothie will just look green in that case! Blend until smooth, then add in a handful of ice cubes, to give this smoothie a slushy texture. The more ice you add, the more diluted the flavor will be, so I think 3 to 5 cubes is plenty. Enjoy right away for the best taste and texture. Oatmeal tends to thicken as it sits in liquid, so if you need to add an extra splash of water or milk to your drink, you can do that as you sip!
Substitutions
Need to try something different? Here are some other ideas that might work. Banana. You can replace the banana with frozen avocado for creaminess, but it will be less sweet in that case. Try adding 1-2 dates, or a squeeze of honey or maple syrup, if you’d like to make it sweeter in that case. Almond milk. You can try another dairy-free milk like oat milk or hemp milk, or just use plain water instead! Dairy may inhibit the absorption of antioxidants in the body, so that’s why I don’t use it in my smoothies. Peanut Butter. I love the flavor peanut butter adds here, but you can use almond butter or sunflower seed butter to add creaminess, too. Flax seeds. These seeds add omega-3 fatty acids to the smoothie and help keep you feeling full, but you can also try chia seeds instead, or just leave them out.
More Smoothie Recipes
Looking for more smoothie inspiration? Try one of these!
Apple Smoothie Zucchini Smoothie Beet Smoothie Pumpkin Smoothie Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie Chocolate Smoothie (with no banana) Strawberry Banana Smoothie Watermelon Smoothie (a favorite!) Spirulina Smoothie
If you try this Oatmeal Smoothie, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it! And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too. – Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite smoothie combination?
