I love vegetables, and there are few that I simply don’t like. Brussels sprouts aren’t amongst my favorites, but if they are cooked the right way, I will eat and even enjoy them. (Hint: not steamed to a mushy, sulfury mess!) I’ve tried to figure out how to make beets taste good so many times!
But they are one that I can’t seem to enjoy no matter how they are prepared. After belonging to a CSA and getting tons of beets, I’ve tried to cook them in every way possible: steaming (belch!), roasting (better, but still, no thanks), pureeing into soup (gross!), eating on salads, and everything in between. I tried juicing them, but no matter what I added, it always tasted like dirt juice to me. Lovely, bright pink, dirt juice, but dirt juice nonetheless. Same with smoothies. I scrubbed, peeled, and scrubbed again, and still I couldn’t get past what others called “earthy.” To me, this means it will taste like I just ate a spoonful of dirt. Add this to the fact that they stain everything they touch bright pinkish red, and I can’t quite see the point.
Recently, though, I’ve learned to somewhat enjoy beets in a smoothie. Truth.
A while back I was in Whole Foods and in the front of the store was a guy doing a demonstration on a Vitamix. Since I already own one of these awesome machines, I was going to walk on by when I saw that he had an entire lemon in the blender with some spinach and an avocado. Not peeled, not sliced, just a whole lemon. Naturally I stopped and tasted a sample of what he made, which was a bright green, ice cream like concoction. It tasted delicious. Lemony, sweet, and creamy.
I immediately bought some lemons and went home and tried it myself, and lo and behold, it was just as amazing as it was in the store. I’ve adapted the recipe to make a smoothie, but the basics are you throw a whole lemon, half an avocado, a big handful of spinach in the blender with a frozen banana and some honey. Add some water and blend well, pushing everything down with the tamper to make sure the lemon gets blended. Pour and drink.
I’ve used this basic recipe for many smoothies, sometimes adding some frozen berries, and I’ve even used a lime. It’s always delicious, although the citrus is definitely the dominant flavor.
It just recently occurred to me that I could try this same thing with beets. If the lemon overpowered everything else, why not this vegetable that I loathe?
So I experimented and came up with this recipe, which does not taste like beets at all. Of course, if you don’t like beets or lemons, you’ll have to keep experimenting, but if you love lemons, this is an easy way to get rid of all those beets you may have on hand (okay, not all of them, because I still only use half a beet, but still.)
Note: I make this with either a frozen banana or half an avocado, and I don’t add any sweetener, so it’s on the tart side, especially with the avocado. Feel free to add some honey or other sweetener to taste. Also, I have only done this in my Vitamix, and don’t think a regular blender would blend the whole lemon as smooth, but feel free to try.
Magical Beet Smoothie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 beet scrubbed, not peeled
- 2 celery sticks
- 1 apple I use Honeycrisp
- 1 lemon whole or cut in half
- 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
- 1/2 avocado OR 1 banana
Instructions
- Put all of the ingredients in a high powered blender and add about a cup of cold water. Blend, using the tamper to push down all the ingredients. Add more water if necessary to reach the desired consistency. I usually add a lot of water to make it more of a juice like consistency, but that’s up to you 🙂
Hello! I literally just scarfed down a beet smoothie I made 5 minutes ago, because like you mentioned, it had that “earthy” taste. I even stopped drinking midway through & added some pineapple juice thinking it would help mask the taste. But alas, the “earthy” taste was there :(.
I’ve been trying to add in more beet into my diet for health & benefit reasons. Plus not to mention, it seems to make some of the most beautiful vibrant pink smoothies I’ve ever seen. But for some reason, I can’t get over the “earthy” taste.
When you say add a whole lemon, do you mean a whole PEELED lemon or a whole UNPEELED lemon?
Thanks
Hi Jennifer,
I’ve scarfed down plenty of smoothies like that too 🙁
I add the entire lemon, rind and all, which makes it less sour, but gives it very strong lemon flavor. I have a Vitamix, and it works great, but I don’t know how it work with a regular blender. You might be able to soak the lemon to soften it up first, (or try it peeled, because hey, you never know until try.) Like you, I’ve tried all kinds of other things, and could never get past the taste, but if you like lemon, this does the trick. This actually masks the taste of lots of veggies in smoothies I’ve found. Good luck!
Thankyou so much! And since it’s legit hot where I am, I’ve been craving lemonade like crazy! haha. I’m going to try to make a beet “pink lemonade” smoothie tomorrow 😉
Thanks again & thanks for the tips! 😀
I’m sorry to keep bothering you, but i just want to give you an update 🙂
Yesterday, i tried your advice on adding the whole lemon & it was BIG improvement! It still had somewhat of an earthy taste, but that was because i didn’t really had any other fruits or veggies on hand except for some baby spinach (i ran out of other produce). But once i stock up on some more produce, i’m definitely going to continue to play around with different ingredients because i just love the way colorful pink beet smoothies look! haha
However, i can say that i did just find a new staple beet smoothie so far ^_^ I went looking for more beet smoothie recipes today on the internet & came across The Green Forks vegan beet ‘Red Velvet Cake Smoothie’. Since i had some unsweetened hershey’s dark cocoa powder, medjool dates & the other ingredients on hand, i went ahead and gave it try. It. is. DELICIOUS. It tastes EXACTLY like a legit chocolate milkshake! I swear you can not taste the beets at all! The cocoa powder COMPLETELY masked the beets! I felt like i was drinking dessert! lol. The next time i make it, i think i’ll add in some chia seeds and/or some homemade sunflower seed butter to make it extra creamy.
Sorry to keep bothering you haha. Thanks again!
The lemon definitely makes a a difference. I add whatever veggies I have on hand to my smoothies, and with the lemon in it, you can’t taste anything. Broccoli, cabbage,bitter greens or whatever; can’t even taste it! I have yet to try cocoa powder with beets, but I think I’ll give that one a try for sure. Thanks for the tip!
Also, you’re not bothering in the least, especially if I now I have a new way to eat beets 🙂
Can’t wait to try these! I also am a beet hater,but there’s so many recipes in juicing that use beets! I’m a new juicer,but bought a ninja for blending. Should I juice first,then blend or just blend the whole thing. Will probably try juicing and blending except the lemon,I’ll blend that since I hear it doesn’t juice well. Will let you know,thanks for the info!
Well,I tried the recipe in my ninja blender (first time using it ). All I can say is yechh! It was WAY too chunky and I nearly puked. So,to be fair I may try again (I still have one beet,) ,but THIS time I will juice first, then blend in the strawberries and banana. But adding water to it only makes more to swallow, I won’t do it!
So I am just not a beet juicer,it’s too bad because they are so good for me. Maybe I will wait a few months and try again once my pallet gets used to the veggies it never had before. I’ll keep you posted.
Wow.. will try the lemon trick before i give up on Beets. There is something bout Beets and celery in a smoothie that I absolutely hate…also makes me feel sick
Beets are definitely not my favorite, but you really can’t taste them here, promise!
Can I use beet juice instead of a whole beef to make this smoothie or I can buy the best concentrate to mix in a smoothie what do you think thank you for your reply Donald
Hi Donald – I’m sure you can use beet juice, but you’ll lose some of the fiber from the whole beets. Your smoothie will also be a thinner consistency. I’ve never used any type of concentrate, so I would just experiment, and adjust as necessary. Hope this helps!