The Vegetable You Can Substitute For Liquid In Your Smoothies

There are endless smoothie hacks out there — all promising you a perfect one. However, while there are many tips for making a thick smoothie, such as using frozen bananas, there aren't as many tips for thinning it out when your blender gets stuck. Not everybody has $300 lying around to drop on a Vitamix and the strain in your arms from constantly stopping your blender, scraping down the sides, and starting it up again can fire up quickly.

All in all, without the right equipment, an extra thick smoothie can be a strenuous process. But on the other hand, adding cup after cup of milk or water can feel counterintuitive. That's where having a few extra cucumbers lying around can come in handy. Made up of 96% water, cucumbers are the most water-rich vegetable you can find and they can help you simultaneously thin out your smoothie while bulking it up with additional nutrients.

Mild-tasting and undoubtedly refreshing, cucumbers are a superhero in your smoothies — especially in those moments when you're questioning how much your blender can handle. Packed with vitamins and fiber, cucumbers aren't just water-rich but also nutrient-rich, delivering as much as 19% of the vitamin K you need in a day, along with vitamins B and C, and beneficial minerals like copper, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium in just one cup, per WebMD. 

All these benefits, combined with their low-calorie count, make cucumbers a much more effective liquid for your smoothies than milk or water would be. Seeing as they're almost completely made up of water, all you need is a generous chunk to loosen up your smoothie and get your blender back to blending and they won't even alter the taste of it that much. If anything, they'll add a nice refreshing cucumber flavor that will pair particularly well in your go-to green and fruit smoothies.