Pomegranate Smoothie

This tasty pomegranate smoothie is one of the best ways to use those bright pink seeds! It’s loaded with flavor, nutrients, and protein.

Got pomegranate seeds? We’ve got a recipe for you. Try this perfect Pomegranate Smoothie! This delicious pink drink is bursting with fruity flavor and one of our favorite ways to use pomegranate seeds (except eating them by the handful, of course!). It pairs the jewel-toned seeds with frozen pineapple and banana to make a creamy puree that’s full of nutrients and vitamins. Throw in a little Greek yogurt for protein and you’ve got a smoothie that’s filling and irresistibly good. In fact, our 3 year old goes gaga over this one (it was actually his idea, too).

Pomegranate smoothie ingredients

This pomegranate smoothie is so beautifully fruity and creamy, you’ll add it to your smoothie rotation stat! We love grabbing whole pomegranates and using the seeds to snack on and for salads and smoothies. In fact, our 3 year old Larson loves them so much he had the idea for this recipe (“What if we made a pomegranate smoothie?”). This one has a short ingredient list…the star ingredient of course being those jewel-toned fresh pom seeds! The pomegranate smoothie ingredients you’ll need are:

• Pomegranate seeds: You can use the whole fruit or separate seeds; see below
• Frozen pineapple: Pineapple melds with the pomegranate and doesn’t overwhelm. Other ideas? Frozen mango or frozen blueberries.
• Banana: Use a room temperature banana: no need to freeze it unless you want to!
• Ice: This completes the frothy texture.
• Greek yogurt: Greek yogurt adds loads of protein: 12 grams or 6 grams per serving. You can use the vegan variations below as desired.
• Maple syrup: We like just a hint of sweetener for this one to brighten the flavor! Feel free to substitute honey or agave syrup as your sweetener of choice.

Use a whole pomegranate or buy the seeds

This pomegranate smoothie uses 1 cup seeds: this is enough from 1 medium pomegranate. It’s actually very easy to seed your own pomegranate! Here are a few tips for how to get those seeds:

• Cut the pomegranate in quarters, then remove the seeds in a bowl of water. This avoids a big mess of pink splatters all over your kitchen! We’ve got a great step-by-step tutorial: go to How to Cut a Pomegranate.
• Or, buy pomegranate seeds instead! Pomegranate seeds that are already removed are easy to find at your local grocery. The downside? They’re not as fresh, and they go bad quickly.

Only got pomegranate juice? Here’s a variation

Were you hoping for a pomegranate smoothie using store-bought pomegranate juice? You can do that too! Here’s what to do:

• Substitute ⅓ cup pomegranate juice for the pomegranate seeds.
• Consider using a frozen banana. This can help to make a thicker texture if you’re using juice and not seeds. But it works with room temperature banana as well!

Make it a vegan pomegranate smoothie

Want to make this pomegranate smoothie into a vegan smoothie? Here’s what to do:

• Substitute the Greek yogurt with coconut milk. This works well with the texture! See also our Coconut Milk Smoothie.
• Add back some protein! We love using Greek yogurt in smoothies because it’s packed with protein to keep you full. Here are some ideas for adding plant based protein: try 1 to 2 tablespoons cashew butter or almond butter or 2 tablespoons chia seeds.

We hope you enjoy this tasty way to enjoy this magic fruit: let us know what you think in the comments below!

Pomegranate nutrition

There are lots of inflated claims around pomegranate nutrition. In fact, a popular pomegranate products company was hit with an FTC complaint around false advertising about reducing the risk of cancer and heart disease. That said, pomegranates are a very healthy fruit that’s part of a healthy diet! Here’s what we do know (source: Healthline):

• Antioxidants: Pomegranates have lots of antioxidants: punicalagins and punicic acid, if you must know!
• Vitamin C: 1 cup of seeds has 30% of your daily vitamin C.
• Fiber: 1 cup of seeds has 7 grams fiber.
• Other vitamins: Pomegranates are also a good source of vitamin E, folate, potassium, and vitamin K.
• Sugar: Like most fruits, pomegranate does have sugar! 1 cup seeds has 24 grams sugar.

This pomegranate smoothie recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free. For plant-based, dairy-free and vegan, see the substitutes above.

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More smoothie recipes

Love healthy smoothie recipes? Try one of the following:

• Greens & veggies: Kale, Celery, Pumpkin, Avocado, Cucumber, Avocado Banana, Green, Beet or Spinach Smoothie 
• Berries: Strawberry, Coconut Milk, Mixed Berry, Fruit, Blueberry, Strawberry Banana, Strawberry Mango, Cranberry, or Blueberry Banana Smoothie 
• Creamy: Yogurt, Coffee, Oat Milk, Vanilla Protein, Kefir, Oatmeal, Chocolate Banana or Peanut Butter Smoothie 
• Fruits: Banana, Grape, Peach, Apple, Tropical, Acai Berry, Watermelon, Orange, Mango Pineapple, Dragon Fruit, Kiwi, or Pineapple Smoothie