Protein shakes are an easy way to up your daily protein intake, especially if you’re on a vegan diet and have trouble getting enough protein in otherwise.
They’re simple to make, even if you’re essentially hopeless in the kitchen – all it takes is dropping some ingredients in a blender and pushing the button. And voila, once everything is blended together, you’ve got yourself a decently nourishing, protein-packed drink that can act as a great pre or post-workout snack that can help with repairing and building your muscles and curb hunger.
In fact, if you’re on the go and need a quick meal replacement – just up the satiety factor of your protein shake by adding a couple more ingredients, and you’ve basically got yourself a drinkable meal that has actual long-term satiety factor to it (unlike most smoothies, sorry not sorry).
And the best part? It’ll take all of 5 minutes to make.
What You’ll Need to Make the Vegan Protein Shake:
1 Scoop of Your Favorite Vegan Protein Powder
½ of a Large Frozen Banana – for the thick and creamy texture
¾ Cup of Unsweetened Almond Milk
2-3 tbsp of Almond Butter
¼ to ⅓ cup of ice cubes
Upping the Protein Content
If you want to increase the protein content in your shake, you can increase the protein powder amount by around half a scoop – it shouldn’t affect the taste so much as to overpower all other ingredients flavor-wise. You can also add a tbsp of chia seeds as an option if a little additional crunch won’t ruin the texture for you.
How to Make the Protein Shake
Again, the best thing about protein shakes is that they’re super easy to make. You can just dump all the ingredients in the blender, press the button and keep blending it all together until you have a smooth creamy homogeneous mass on your hands.
However, I’d recommend sparing a little extra time and experimenting a little on your first try, just to find the perfect texture that fits your specific taste buds.
Maybe you’d prefer a thicker texture to your shake? Then maybe try adding Almond milk gradually, instead of pouring all of it in one go. Or maybe you’d like the nut butter to balance the tastes out a bit differently? Add it tablespoon by tablespoon instead of dumping all 3 at once.
This may sound like an unnecessary overcomplication at first glance, but sparing an extra 10 minutes and finding your ideal balance will work in your favor in the future when you’ll be able to whip your ideal vegan protein shake up automatically in less than 5 minutes.
Which Protein Powder Flavor to Choose?
Since we’re working with a bunch of flavors – banana, nut butter, almond milk – I’d advise going with a more “classic” flavor that goes well with additions, like vanilla or chocolate.
Unique protein powder flavors are becoming more and more popular these days – but those unique flavors are often overpowered by other ingredients when making a protein shake that gets a bit more complicated than “add a scoop of protein powder to water, and shake”.
Don’t Be Afraid to Customize Your Protein Shake!
If you’ve noticed that this recipe is a tad bit basic – good! That’s the idea! It’s supposed to be simple and easy and fit with most people’s tastebuds. You aren’t bound by oath to make it exactly like the recipe says. In fact, the more you experiment with it, the better!
Want peanut butter instead of almond butter? Go ahead! Eant to add some pizzaz to your vanilla protein powder shake? Add ⅓ tsp of ground cinnamon and a bit of vanilla extract to it. Want to feel a bit fancy? Top your chocolate protein shake with some vegan whipped cream and dark chocolate nibs!
The ball is in your court now. Experiment, my friend.