Chocolate Avocado Smoothie

This yummy chocolate avocado smoothie recipe is made with frozen avocado chunks, cacao powder, banana and almond milk. The frozen avocado makes it a super creamy smoothie, even though it’s dairy free, and super satisfying too.

I recently posted a Choc Chip Strawberry Cake recipe because strawberry season is totally peaking in Australia right now. Another fruit that seems to be going absolutely crazy are Australian avocados! The Hass variety are so cheap right now and they’re so damn delicious. Cannot. Stop. Purchasing.

However, occasionally I accidentally get ahead of myself in the avocado-purchasing game, and end up with some extra ripe avocado that’s about to go bad (which, even though avocado pretty cheap right now, feels like a serious crime). So I’ve been experimenting with freezing it.

And putting it in this delicious Chocolate Avocado Smoothie recipe!

How to freeze avocado

So it turns out, yes you can freeze avocado. I chose to cut mine into chunks that could be used in a smoothie really easily, but I can see that it would be also useful to store it mashed (maybe in a large-sized ice cube tray?). If you choose to store it in chunks, the method I followed was:

• Line a small tray with baking paper;
• Peel and chop avocado pieces;
• Lay on tray and pop tray in freezer until the pieces are firm;
• Transfer pieces to a zip lock bag or freezer safe storage container.

I follow the same method for freezing fruit!

If you’re going to mash the avocado first and store it that way, most websites I looked up (yes, I researched how to freeze avocado!) recommend adding a squeeze of lemon juice to the mash before freezing, to stop it browning too much when it is thawed. I guess you could coat the chunks too but I didn’t!

I did try thawing some of the avocado chunks and mashing them to use on toast as well. The consistency wasn’t as good as a fresh avocado, but in a pinch I could put up with it. If it’s just for you and you need a bit for a sandwich or a salad topping then I’d totally do it again, but maybe not for a dinner party…

Anyway let’s get back to this Chocolate Avocado Smoothie. It’s made with frozen avocado, frozen banana, cacao, chia seeds (or ground flaxseed), almond milk and a medjool date. Optional add-ins are some protein powder, and maybe a little peanut or almond butter if you love nut butter in smoothies but I think the avocado makes it rich enough.

The medjool date gives this smoothie the best sweet caramel-ish flavour, but if you don’t have any then a touch of honey or maple syrup would be perfect. If you find the smoothie too sweet leave it out, but I kind of love it in this recipe. It just works so well with the cacao!

If you were making this for little ones and didn’t want to give them cacao powder, a non-caffeinated substitute is carob powder. Carob is a bit sweeter than cacao so you could experiment with leaving the medjool date out then.

However you choose to make this Chocolate Avocado Smoothie I think it’s going to be a winner! If you make it don’t forget to take a snap and tag me @nourish_everyday on Instagram!