Two small cups of pink strawberry banana yogurt smoothie

Kid Smoothie Recipes with Yogurt You Can Make at Home

ByCraig Brockie Last updated

Recipe at a glance

  • Yield: 2 kid-size smoothies, about 1 1/4 cups each.
  • Prep time: 5 minutes.
  • Total time: 5 minutes, or 4 hours if you freeze leftovers into pops.
  • Equipment: a blender and two cups.

These kid smoothie recipes start from one plain-yogurt base and change the fruit. Plain yogurt keeps the sugar to what the fruit and milk bring naturally, and it gives the drink a thick, creamy body kids tend to like. Ripe fruit does the sweetening, so there is no honey, syrup or juice in the base.

Ingredients for the strawberry banana base

  • 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
  • 1 small ripe banana, peeled and broken into chunks
  • 1 cup frozen strawberries (or fresh, plus a few ice cubes)
  • 1/2 cup milk, plus more to thin
  • Optional: 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whole-milk yogurt makes a smoother drink. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030 recommend full-fat dairy with no added sugars, and they list full-fat yogurt among the foods to introduce to young children.

Method

  1. Pour the milk into the blender first, then add the yogurt. Liquid at the bottom helps the blades catch.
  2. Add the banana and frozen strawberries.
  3. Blend on low for 10 seconds, then on high for 30 to 45 seconds, until no fruit chunks remain.
  4. Check the thickness. If it will not move through a straw, add milk 2 tablespoons at a time and blend for 5 seconds after each.
  5. Taste it. A very ripe banana usually makes it sweet enough. If not, add a few more strawberries or half a pitted date and blend again.
  6. Pour into cups and serve right away.

Choosing the yogurt

Plain yogurt is the key ingredient. Flavored kids’ yogurts often add sugar, and the new Dietary Guidelines say added sugars should be avoided during infancy and early childhood. For live cultures, look for a label that says “contains live and active cultures.” Under the federal yogurt standard, a yogurt treated after culturing to kill its bacteria must say it does not contain live and active cultures.

Many families also make their own. Homemade plain yogurt costs less per cup and lets you choose the milk and how tart it gets. Our guide to homemade yogurt walks through it, and a milder, shorter ferment suits kids who find tang too sharp.

Three kid-friendly variations

Purple, yellow and tan smoothies in three small glasses

Each one uses the same 1 cup plain yogurt and 1/2 cup milk, and makes 2 servings.

Purple berry with hidden spinach

Swap the strawberries for 1 cup frozen blueberries and add a small handful (about 1 cup loosely packed) of baby spinach. Keep the banana. The blueberries turn it deep purple, which hides the green.

Peanut butter banana

Use 1 large banana instead of the berries, and add 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter and a pinch of cinnamon. It is more filling, so it works as a snack after sports. Skip it for kids with a peanut allergy, or use sunflower seed butter.

Mango sunshine

Use 1 cup frozen mango chunks plus the small banana. Mango is sweet and very smooth, so this is a good first smoothie for picky drinkers.

For more grown-up versions, see our yogurt smoothie and Greek yogurt smoothie recipes.

Tips for younger kids

  • No honey before age 1: the NHS advises not giving honey to children under 1 because of the risk of infant botulism.
  • Skip juice as a base: the American Academy of Pediatrics says fruit juice offers no nutritional benefit over whole fruit and suggests limiting it to 4 to 6 ounces a day for children ages 1 to 6. Whole fruit in a smoothie keeps its fiber.
  • Keep portions small: a half cup is plenty for a toddler. The NHS goes further than U.S. guidance: for children 4 and under, it counts the natural sugar in smoothies as sugar to avoid, while eating whole fruit is fine. Serving a small cup with a meal, rather than as an all-day sipper, is a sensible middle ground.
  • Watch for allergies: introduce new foods such as nut butters one at a time.

For a wider look at feeding kids for digestion, see kids’ gut health.

Storage

Smoothies taste best right after blending. If you have extra, cover it and refrigerate at 40°F or below. USDA guidance for leftovers is 3 to 4 days in the fridge, though the texture separates after a day, so shake or re-blend it. Do not leave a smoothie at room temperature for more than 2 hours.

Leftovers also make good freezer pops. Pour into molds and freeze for at least 4 hours. Food kept frozen at 0°F stays safe indefinitely, and freezer times are for quality only, so plan to use them within a few weeks for the best taste.

Nutrition per serving

We calculated these from USDA FoodData Central values for plain whole-milk yogurt, whole milk, banana, strawberries, blueberries, spinach, peanut butter and mango. Fresh-fruit values stand in for frozen. They are estimates, not lab results, and all of the sugar is naturally present in the fruit and dairy.

Smoothie (1 of 2 servings)CaloriesProteinFiberSugarsCalcium
Strawberry bananaAbout 1807 g3 g19 g230 mg
Purple berry with spinachAbout 2008 g3 g22 g240 mg
Peanut butter bananaAbout 27010.5 g2.5 g19 g230 mg
Mango sunshineAbout 2057 g2.5 g26 g230 mg

Related topics

Sources

Craig Brockie is the founder of Ultimate Health Solutions, the company behind Ultimate Gut, and the author of Ultimate Health, The Ultimate Gut Health Guide and The Unlimited Probiotics Guide. After injuries and chronic health problems in his twenties that conventional care didn’t resolve, he began researching health on his own and has studied natural health for 30 years. He is not a medical professional, and his articles are general information, not medical advice.

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