My Easy Strawberry Greek Yogurt Smoothie

Lately, I’ve been making a conscious shift toward a high-protein, high-fiber, low-saturated-fat lifestyle. One thing I’m discovering is that eating this way doesn’t have to mean complicated meal planning or food that feels like “health food.”

In fact, I’ve been having fun making up recipes that check three important boxes for me:

• Quick and easy
• Actually taste good
• Help me reach my protein and fiber goals without adding much saturated fat

This simple strawberry Greek yogurt smoothie has become one of my favorites.

It’s sweet, creamy, fruity, and a little tangy from the lemon juice. Best of all, I can throw everything into my Vitamix and have it ready in just a couple of minutes.

Easy Strawberry Greek Yogurt Smoothie

Makes: 1 large smoothie
Prep time: About 3 minutes
Blend time: About 1 minute

Nutrition per smoothie:
Calories: ~160
Protein: ~18 g
Fiber: ~3 g
Saturated Fat: ~0 g

The lemon juice and vanilla add only a small number of calories, and assuming your stevia is essentially calorie-free, it won’t add anything significant.

That makes this a particularly nice high-protein, virtually saturated-fat-free snack or light breakfast.

Ingredients

• 10 medium strawberries, fresh or frozen
  (I like using all frozen or half fresh and half frozen.)
• 3/4 cup Kirkland nonfat Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons stevia, or to taste
• About 1/2 cup water

Directions

Add everything to the Vitamix and blend until completely smooth and creamy.

If you’re using all frozen strawberries, you may need a little more water to get the consistency you like. If you’re using some fresh berries, start with less water and add more as needed.

That’s it!

Why I Like This Smoothie

The Greek yogurt is what really makes this work for my current way of eating. It adds a substantial amount of protein while contributing essentially no saturated fat.

The strawberries add natural sweetness, vitamin C, and fiber. Using whole strawberries instead of juice also means I’m keeping the fiber from the fruit.

And because the strawberries and yogurt already give the smoothie plenty of body and flavor, I don’t need to add cream, ice cream, coconut milk, nut butter, or other ingredients that could substantially increase the saturated fat and calories.

It’s a good example of what I’m trying to do more often: find simple foods I genuinely enjoy that also make it easier to meet my nutritional goals.

Approximate Nutrition

Using 10 medium strawberries and 3/4 cup Kirkland nonfat Greek yogurt, the entire smoothie should come in at approximately:

Calories: 150–170
Protein: 17–19 grams
Fiber: 3–4 grams
Saturated fat: 0–0.5 gram

Exact nutrition will vary somewhat depending on the size of the strawberries and the specific yogurt and sweetener used.

That’s a pretty nice return for something that tastes like a strawberry treat!

A Simple Way to Add More Protein

I’ve found that one of the challenges of increasing protein while keeping saturated fat low is that some traditional protein-rich foods bring quite a bit of saturated fat along with them.

Nonfat Greek yogurt has been a great solution for me. I can use it in smoothies like this one, add it to soups in place of sour cream, or pair it with fruit when I need a quick protein boost.

And the more I experiment with eating more protein and fiber and less saturated fat, the more I’m realizing that small substitutions can make a surprisingly big difference.

I’m going to keep experimenting and sharing the recipes that turn out well — especially the ones that are easy enough to make on a busy day and delicious enough that I actually look forward to eating them.

This strawberry smoothie definitely makes the list.