For Superior Smoothie Texture, Mix Fresh And Frozen Fruits

The beauty of a smoothie is how highly customizable it is. It's an excellent way to use whatever fruit or greens you have on hand, plus it serves as a highly nutritious breakfast or snack. For many, the perfect smoothie is thick but still drinkable, and cold but not icy. Some smoothies call for ice, but ice is hard to blend well into the fruit. This can result in a rough-textured, somewhat crystallized smoothie that gets progressively watered down as the ice melts. This will undercut the impact of the fresh fruit by giving you a weaker flavor. 

Instead, the shortcut to achieving this ideal texture is using a mixture of both fresh and frozen fruit. Fresh fruit, like mangoes, nectarines, or peaches, provide juiciness that makes your smoothie stand out for its fresh flavor. But using frozen fruit also gives the mixture a thick, smooth, almost sorbet-like texture that's delightfully cold and refreshing. 

There is not one designated ratio of fresh to frozen fruit for a perfect smoothie, that's up to your personal taste and preference. But there are some fruits that function better as fresh or frozen and vice versa, based on their juice content. For example, bananas are a great candidate to be frozen for smoothies because their texture when frozen is thick and creamy. Things that are on the juicier end of the spectrum, like fresh pineapple, will likely perform better if added to your smoothie as-is. You can experiment to see what works best for you.

In the frozen foods aisle of your grocery store, you can find bags of chopped, frozen fruit like berries and peaches. These bags make it easy to add frozen fruit to your smoothies a handful at a time, but it is also possible to freeze your own fruit at home. For bananas, you might be forced to do this, since they're rarely available at the grocery store already frozen. Simply chop the fruit and allow it to freeze flat on a sheet pan so it doesn't clump. Then you can store the fruit in a freezer-safe container until you are ready to use it in your smoothie.