Chocolate Zucchini Smoothie (5 Minutes, Serves 2)

A chocolate zucchini smoothie sounds like a dare, and then the first sip settles it. Frozen zucchini gives the thickness of ice cream without any flavor of its own, so what you taste is cocoa, banana and peanut butter. The recipe takes 5 minutes, but the one step that needs planning is freezing the zucchini ahead. That is also what makes it a good October recipe: grocery-store zucchini cut into chunks and kept in the freezer is ready whenever you want a drink. It serves 2, and it is the breakfast on the way out or the after-school drink that ends the argument.

Why this works

• Frozen zucchini is mostly water locked into ice crystals, so it thickens like ice without watering down the chocolate the way melting ice cubes do.
• Frozen bananas add sweetness and a creamy body.
• Cocoa, peanut butter and maple syrup cover any vegetable taste.
• Putting the milk in first lets the blade catch and blend smoothly.

This works because zucchini is mostly water, and frozen water behaves like ice in a blender. You get the body of a milkshake without adding ice cubes that melt and thin the flavor. The zucchini also has almost no taste on its own, so it does not compete with the cocoa and peanut butter. It is a quiet ingredient that does one job, and it does that job well.

What to know about the ingredients

The zucchini is 1 cup of frozen chunks, from 1 medium zucchini. Freeze fresh store-bought zucchini yourself: cut it into 1/2 inch (12 mm) chunks, spread them on a tray so none touch, freeze at least 4 hours, then bag them once solid.

The rest is simple. Use 2 medium frozen bananas, 1 1/2 cups of milk, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and a small pinch of salt, 1/8 teaspoon. The salt brings out the chocolate, so do not leave it out.

Peel nothing: the zucchini skin blends away. Choose a firm, small to medium zucchini, since big ones have more seeds and a slightly bitter edge. Bananas should be ripe before you freeze them, which is when they are sweetest. Unsweetened cocoa powder gives a deep chocolate flavor, and the maple syrup balances its bitterness. If you are making this for kids, taste before serving and add a little more syrup only if it needs it.

Chocolate Zucchini Smoothie

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Frozen zucchini gives the thickness of ice cream with no flavor of its own.

Prep5 min

Total5 min

Serves2

Scale1x2x3x

Ingredients

• zucchini, frozen in chunks — 1 cup (1 medium) (150 g)
• bananas, frozen — 2 medium (240 g)
• milk — 1½ cups (360 ml)
• peanut butter — 2 tablespoons (32 g)
• unsweetened cocoa powder — 2 tablespoons (12 g)
• maple syrup — 1 tablespoon (20 g)
• vanilla extract — 1 teaspoon (5 ml)
• salt — ⅛ teaspoon (1 g)

Instructions

1. Freeze the zucchini ahead: cut a medium zucchini into 1/2 inch (12 mm) chunks, spread them on a tray so none touch, and freeze at least 4 hours. Bag them once solid.
2. Put the milk in the blender first, then the cocoa, peanut butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt. Liquid at the bottom is what lets the blade catch.
3. Add the frozen bananas and the frozen zucchini chunks on top.
4. Blend on high 45 to 60 seconds, until the sound of the motor drops to a steady low hum and no flecks are visible against the side of the jar.
5. Check the thickness: it should fall from a spoon slowly in one piece. Thin it with 30 ml (2 tablespoons) milk at a time, or thicken it with 4 more zucchini chunks.
6. Pour into two glasses and drink right away, before it separates.

Nutrition per serving

395Calories

13 gProtein

52 gCarbs

15 gFat

Estimated per serving from standard nutrition reference values; will vary with brands and substitutions.

Tips for getting it right

1. Freeze the zucchini on a tray first so the chunks do not clump into one block.
2. Pour the milk in the blender first, then the cocoa, peanut butter, maple syrup, vanilla and salt.
3. Add the frozen bananas and frozen zucchini on top.
4. Blend on high for 45 to 60 seconds. You are done when the motor sound drops to a steady low hum and no flecks are visible against the side of the jar.
5. Check the thickness. It should fall from a spoon slowly in one piece.
6. Pour into two glasses and drink right away, before it separates.

A blender with a strong motor will handle frozen chunks in under a minute. If your blender struggles, stop and stir the contents, then restart. Do not add extra milk right away, because the smoothie thickens as the blades pull the frozen pieces in. Wait until it is fully blended, then judge the thickness. Rinse the jar right after pouring, since cocoa and peanut butter dry hard on the glass and are a chore to clean later.

How to store, freeze and make ahead

Drink the smoothie fresh. It separates as it sits, so do not plan on making it the night before. The make-ahead step is the zucchini itself: the frozen chunks keep for up to 6 months, so you can freeze a whole zucchini in one afternoon and blend a drink any morning after that. This is the only step that takes any planning.

What to serve with it

Pour it for a quick breakfast on the way out the door, or hand it over as the after-school drink. For a sit-down weekend breakfast, serve a glass alongside Banana Zucchini Pancakes. It also works as dessert in a glass after dinner.

Variations

• Use a different nut or seed butter in place of the peanut butter.
• Swap the milk for another milk you like, keeping the amount.
• Add a pinch of cinnamon for warmth.
• For the same chocolate-and-zucchini idea in baked form, try Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies or a loaf of Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread.

For more ways to use and freeze zucchini, see Zucchini Recipes and Small-Batch Preserving.