Photo by Jordan Shakeshaft

Last month, we had a contest asking the Greatist community for their absolute tastiest, healthiest, breakfast smoothies and milkshakes. The contest taught us two things: First, that our readers are fricking amazing. And second, that they can make some kick-ass smoothies.

We received all sorts of recipes from light, berry-based options to thick oatmeal-enriched concoctions, with avariety of interesting, good-for-you ingredients in between (pumpkin or spinach anyone?).

Greatist paid due-diligence and actually set about making, blending, slicing, and stirring all the submissions in one late-afternoon taste-testing rush. After much deliberation and extremely scientific testing, we chose a grand winner (and two fantastic runner-ups). Take a look, and thank you to everyone who submitted, we had fun trying them all!

The Winner!

Congratulations to Debbie Phillips for this tasty mix of bananas, peanut butter, almond milk, and protein powder. Using unsweetened almond milk helped emphasize the ‘shake’s nutty goodness while also cutting down on excess sugar. The consistency was also just right thanks to the pro tip to freeze the banana well-before blending. Congrats, Debbie!

Photo by Jordan Shakeshaft
PB and Banana Breakfast

Submitted by Debbie Phillips

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or milk)
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (your favorite brand)
  • 1-2 tbsp PB2 (this is powdered peanut butter, we used the off-the-shelf, jar kind)
  • ½ frozen banana

Directions: Blend until smooth. Yummy!

Honorable Mentions

Photo by Jordan Shakeshaft
The Incredible Hulk Smoothie

Submitted by Julia Irizarry Dalrymple

Kale sound scary? While we still had some residue left over, bright flavors like fresh pineapple and blueberry pomegranate juice help this healthy glass taste super yummy.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup kale
  • 1 cup diced fresh pineapple
  • ½ cup blueberry pomegranate juice
  • 2 tbsp honey

Directions: Add lots of ice (to taste) and blend.

Photo by Christine Nelson
Strawberry Potassium Pow

Submitted by Christine Nelson

This take on the class strawberry shake is loaded fresh fruit (and other superfoods) to help kick off any day right. Christine also rounded up some nutrition data, which you can find on her site, Take With Food.

Ingredients:

  • ½ large banana
  • 5 whole frozen strawberries
  • ¼ cup coconut water (she uses pineapple flavor)
  • ½ cup nonfat plain yogurt
  • ½ cup orange juice
  • 6 cranberries

Directions: Blend and serve. It couldn’t be easier!

Congratulations again to our winners! Do you normally start your day with a breakfast smoothie? Let us know in the comments below.