On most mornings Master E will run to the cupboard and pull out his favourite smoothie cup and proceed to the appliance cupboard and pull out my favourite appliance, the Breville Boss to Go. But a little while back he started to have some tummy issues, and a week off dairy as suggested by the doctor really helped and so I decided to find alternatives, one of them being almond milk.
Not long after making the change to almond milk, I tried Almond & Coconut Milk and started adding it to our morning smoothies. We loved the taste and best of all it is dairy free.
Easy peasy healthy smoothies for kids
For me, making smoothies in the morning while I’m still half asleep has to be easy and of course, the smoothies have to be to the liking of my little fussy eater, so I created some dairy free smoothie recipes. You can find out how to make the smoothies for kids (and adults) in the recipes below.
The good thing about these dairy free smoothies is that there’s little preparation in terms of cutting up or peeling fruit. They also use fruit & greens that you will normally have on hand, nothing fancy! And the best thing of all, there’s hidden veggies and other superfoods that even the pickiest eater will not taste (I have photographic evidence below)!
Please note that even though the recipes I share below are almond coconut milk smoothie recipes, you can use substitute this with plain Almond Milk, Rice Milk, Soy Milk or Cow’s Milk.
Very Berry Smoothie
This mixed berry smoothie has to be one of our favourite fruit smoothies for kids because of it’s natural sweetness and lovely vibrant pink colour!
Serves 1
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Almond & Coconut Milk
1 cup frozen mixed berries
1/2 cup plain Greek yoghurt (you can omit this for a dairy-free smoothie)
1 teaspoon honey
1 medium banana
Add the frozen berries and blitz in a blender or with a stick mix and then add the banana and blitz again. Add the yoghurt, honey and Almond & Coconut Milk and blitz until combined.
Kid Friendly ‘Green’ Smoothie
This dairy free green smoothie for kids may not look green, but it’s what’s in this smoothie that makes it green! Kid friendly smoothies with spinach is one of the best ways to hide vegetables.
Serves 1
Ingredients:
1 cup Almond & Coconut Milk
2 handfuls of baby spinach (you could substitute this with baby kale)
1 cup mixed berries
1 banana
1 tablespoon chia seeds
Optional – a dash of honey.
Blitz the mixed berries in a blender or with a stick mix first, followed with the spinach and then banana. When these have been broken down, add the Almond & Coconut Milk and chia seeds and mix until the milk has combined.
Here is the evidence of a fussy eater enjoying the ‘green’ smoothie for kids!
Dairy Free Choc Banana Smoothie
Your kids will think it’s so cool they can have chocolate in the morning! This dairy-free banana smoothie with cocoa is one of our favourite kid friendly smoothie recipes!
Serves 1
Ingredients:
1 cup Almond & Coconut Milk
1 tablespoon honey
2 bananas (frozen or alternatively blitz 4 ice cubes before adding other ingredients)
1 tablespoon good quality cocoa powder
Blitz the bananas first (or ice cubes if not using frozen bananas). Add the Almond & Coconut Milk, honey and cocoa powder and blitz until combined.
Breakfast Smoothie for kids (and adults)
Serves 1
Ingredients:
1 x cup of Almond & Coconut Milk
1 x large banana
1/2 cup frozen mixed berries
1/2 cup traditional rolled oats
2 teaspoon LSA (ground linseed, sunflower seeds and almonds)
2 x teaspoon honey
1 cup greek yoghurt (you can omit this if you’d like a dairy free smoothie)
Blitz the frozen berries first followed by the banana until it’s creamy. Add the all the other ingredients and blitz until combined.
Almond milk for kids
With so many diets and healthy eating lifestyles around these days, it can be difficult to know what is good for you and what isn’t. When it comes to children though, and certainly depending on age, it’s important to consider their dietary intake as a whole.
Almond milk for toddlers, for example, is somewhat different to a toddler who may consume cows milk. Where cows milk contains calcium and protein, almond milk actually contains more calcium than cows milk because it has been fortified, however, almond milk is typically low in protein. So if you’re relying on your child getting a big chunk of their protein intake from an almond milk based smoothie, it might pay to add some extra chia seeds, kale, oats or even almond butter into the mix if they’re unlikely to get this elsewhere.
I think the main thing when preparing dairy free smoothie recipes for kids, particularly if you wonder if almond milk is good for toddlers or any other cow’s milk alternative, is that you understand what you might have to make up for in their diet. The best thing about fruit and vegetable smoothies for kids is that you can adjust what’s in them to cater to their diet and most of the time, your child won’t even know.
If your child refused to eat their dinner the night before, add some extra spinach or kale in their morning smoothie. If they look like they might be coming down with a cold, add a dash of Manuka honey. If they have decided, all of a sudden, they don’t like meat, add the natural proteins to their smoothie as I mentioned above. Dairy free smoothies for kids are so versatile, that and they’re not just for kids, they’re great for adults too! And if the texture of smoothies is just not for you or your kids, you can always try a lovely and fresh cold-pressed juice!
Thanks for the recipes. Did you make them with te stick blender (my fave appliance). I have avoided smoothies because I not have a super blender yet so would be encouraged to start if these work with the stick xx
No problems Deb, I really enjoyed making them. Yes, all of these were made with my stick mix, also my fave appliance!
We make smoothies, fruit muffins, and I only put fresh fruit into their lunchboxes at school instead of muesli bars (surprising how when one is hungry, one will eat whatever is in front of it!)
we eat fruit salad as a family in the evening – kids love to eat what they see their parents eating.
We make fresh fruit juice at home and sneak few veggies in there also which kids love to drink.
moreover fresh fruit & veges are the first thing they are offered as snack a home…
great ideas and recipes. My boys love my green smoothies which I love but we’re pretty much dairy free so these ideas with almond and coconut milk alternative are a great idea!
Mmm, delicious
These look great! I start my day with a smoothie too – otherwise I don’t seem to fit breakfast in!
Refreshing smoothies and delicious homemade soups for those cold winter days. The kids always love them
I insisted they eat all their veggies up when thay were little and now they don’t hesitate to empty the plate and often say how they love their veggies
I give my daughter fruit and vegies in her school lunch. I’m not there for her to complain to and she either eats them or stays hungry!
Hayley is allergic to dairy and soy so we will be restricted to almond milk or rice milk for her. She’s only 9 months though so we wont be moving to it until she’s over 12 months or possibly even later on as the paediatrician is not sure whether her tummy with stomach it at 12 months. Good to know that Elliot likes it though because I was worried she might not like the taste when we have to have it.
Such a good idea for those who are dairy free!!! I had not thought of it before!
My daughter just got us to build her a vegie garden (or a garden of pots in our case), she is happy trying everything she grows which is a huge surprise!
Yummo! See my kids are fussy they don’t like the texture of strawbs, you know the seeds, BUT me on the other hand, these are WAY up my alley! Great post and I’ve never thought about making them dairy free! Em – also visiting as part of #teamIBOT
I love chucking fruits and veg on kebab sticks. My kids love anything on a stick!
tawhi Kirk
tuffdeck@hotmail.com
I am very fortunate–my son loves veggies and eats them whenever I give them to him. One of his favorites is Spinach Egg Muffins.
Before the kids get it all I want some of this. I never knew they made coconut and almond – YUM! I am struggling with my toddler at the moment, refusing to eat and drink pretty much everything but constantly asking to eat. This is going to be my solution, I just know it! (fingers crossed)
Mmmm…. I’ve gotta go make a smoothie now, these look so good. We are big smoothy fans here, kids and all. Always on the lookout for good new recipes. Thanks!
Eva – I would LOVE to win this! One of my boys has a life-long dairy allergy so we are presently keeping the Sanitarium company afloat! It is the nicest tasting soy on the market and I have been a soy drinker since I was about 16! Love the stuff. My boy would be in milky Heaven with this!
I don’t really have a problem with fruit in this house. It is the only thing the kids have available for snacks as I don’t buy them. I spend a fortune on fruit and veg weekly but it is not something that concerns me as it’s nature’s best. 😀
I’ve only just come across this almond and coconut milk this week and I am dying to give it a go for Mercedes. She’s recently been taken off dairy and I’ve been using soy to make her morning smoothie (we use it to hide her probiotics and supplements) but I think almond and coconut sounds lovely!
I’m fortunate that my kids’ aren’t terribly fussy about fruit and veg, but I do sneak grated zucchini into just about everything to boost their intake.
I sneak more fruit & veg into my child’s diet by blending up smoothies full of goodness. I also find blending veggies and adding them to pasta sauce or patties bulks them up and keeps their little tummies happy.
Smoothies are great – my 15 month old loves them, my 3 year old – sometimes! But when she does like them, at least I can get some good things into her. This new milk sounds good!
I am so pinning this post!! Smoothies are the best and my kids LOVE them too. Mine have also mastered what YUK is too, hahah – how do they learnt it so quickly?? x
Thanks for linking up Eva xx
Its so tricky sometimes but I find if I rotate the fruit week to week, it all becomes new again and they seem to gobble it all up. At the moment strawberries are the best….again. I love smoothies and I love the chocolate so good. Might have to give some of these recipes a whirl.
Use fruit in smoothies and on their breakfast cereal. Mix their vegetables with a little bit of vegemite.
Yummmm, Not only is these recipes great for kids, they would be perfect post workout. Now I just need some almond milk… know where I could get some 😉
My boy never refuses fresh fruits but he denies veggies. I make tasty smoothies or soups to add the veggies into his diet. He loves them.
Smoothies are the best way to increase children’s intake of fruit and veg. They taste like icecream, and what child refuses to eat that?!
I’m really loving almond and coconut milk at the moment! So thanks for these smoothie recipes! Can’t wait to try them 🙂 x
You can hide soo many “veges” in a smoothie…now I just need to be able to do the same with cooked veges on a plate.
Always sneaking a cup full of baby spinach into their milo smoothies!
Soups, stews or shredded in zucchini slices or fritters…trail and error! Also, see what new ideas are on the recipe websites.
Sneaky vegetable muffins for breakfast in the morning gets our day off to a good start and helps us get through the daily servings of veggies without even realising it!
I make Fruit ice cream, Fruit juice icypoles, i shred vegies into most meals, pasta sauces, casseroles, soups, pancakes,fruit and vegie muffins, vegie cupcakes, milk shakes
i put fruit and veg into their school snacks i bake at home like muffins, pikelettes, loaves and slices. We also make fruit people and faces sometimes playing with your food is a must.
We are BIG smoothie drinkers! The best thing we ever bought was our nutribullet. It gets a workout at least 3 times a day!. Thanks for the sneaky recipes, although my kids love fruit and veggies so I have never had any trouble getting them to eat them.