I am very excited to be creating a copycat recipe of my favorite Tropical Smoothie menu item, the Chia Banana Boost Smoothie.
I don’t know about you, but protein-packed smoothies are an absolute necessity if I want to start my day off right. I’m not really a breakfast person and I’m usually rushing around because I love milking every minute of my sleep (giving myself “just enough” time to get ready). So preparing a balanced breakfast for myself would be hilariously far-fetched. I’m pretty sure that families sitting around a table eating breakfast before heading off to work, sadly only happens in the movies in 2019. But I would also die if I went to work without fueling my body at all. So throwing 6-8 items in a blender is my favorite solution. Then I keep my large smoothie in a insulated stainless steel bottle and drink it throughout my morning, sometimes through lunch.
One of my new favorite smoothies at Tropical Smoothie is their Chia Banana Boost (or Chia Banana Max if you are adding protein). It calls for roasted bananas. This may seem like an ironic ingredient considering that I make my smoothies in a hurry, but I make a bunch of roasted bananas when I have free time in the evenings or weekends, let them cool and then freeze them.
This smoothie is all about the superfoods!
Packed with superfoods, this smoothie has the following amazingly beneficial ingredients:
- Chia Seeds: offer plant-based omega-3 fatty acids along with a boost of fiber.
- Coconut: They are especially high in manganese, which is essential for bone health and the metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins, and cholesterol. They’re also rich in copper and iron, which help form red blood cells, as well as selenium, an important antioxidant that protects your cells
- Natural Peanut Butter: rich in healthy fats and fiber and may contribute to lowering cholesterol. Just be sure to steer clear of those with added sweeteners and opt for those that are 100% ground nuts.
- Bananas: because they’re loaded with several kinds of good-for-you nutrients, Healthline says that bananas may help you flight cancer, asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.
- Dates: in addition to being a great source of fiber, dates provide various antioxidants that have a number of health benefits to offer, including a reduced risk of several diseases.
- Almonds: are a natural source of 15 nutrients, including plant proteins and healthy fats. They are rich in vitamin E antioxidants, dietary fiber, riboflavin, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, protein, manganese and calcium. They also contain folate, iron, niacin, thiamine, zinc and potassium.
- Oats: are a natural superfood because they are 100% whole grain with minimal processing, and contain vitamins, minerals and fibre. Oats are unique in that they are one of the richest sources of beta-glucan, a soluble fiber that can help lower cholesterol reabsorption.
Did you try this recipe?
Please let me know if you tried this recipe and be sure to tag me @BadBatchBaking on IG and use #badbatchbaking so I can share your photos on my story! I look forward to your feedback and comments below!
Looking for more copycat recipes? Check these out:
Kiwi Quencher Tropical Smoothie Copycat Recipe
McDonald’s Chicken McGriddle Copycat Recipe
Chicken Alfredo Pizza Fritta Olive Garden Copycat Recipe
Nashville Hot Chicken Nuggets Cheesecake Factory Recipe
KFC Chicken Littles Copycat Recipe
31 Comments
Jan Gillihan
October 20, 2019 at 4:20 am Thank you! This is our family favorite TSC smoothie and I just printed out your copy cat recipe. It's all there, right down to the optional peanut butter.badbatch
November 3, 2019 at 4:08 pm Hi Jan! Thank you so much. I hope you had a chance to try it. It's our absolute favorite recipe as well :)Tiffany Unsworth
November 15, 2019 at 5:43 pm Thank you for sharing! Tastes delicious. And thank you sincerely for posting the recipe right away, rather than having a trail of stories and text intermingled with ads, causing the reader to scroll for a while before getting to the ingredients and instructions!badbatch
November 17, 2019 at 2:56 pm Thanks so much Tiffany! I literally have the same pet peeve with other blogs. I know it’s a way to make some money and all but I really don’t like making people suffer just to get a recipe. Glad to hear you noticed the difference on my blog.Becky wheeler
December 16, 2019 at 7:18 pm OMG! I JUST MADE THIS. ITS MY FAVORITE SMOOTHIE FROM TROPICAL AND NOW I CAN HAVE IT WHENEVER . THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE RECIPE I AM ECSTATIC 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼badbatch
December 27, 2019 at 3:50 pm Haha so we had the same reaction then! Lol this is literally the greatest smoothie and will save you tons of time and money! Yay :)Sandy
January 7, 2020 at 9:09 pm First time to your site. This was amazing! I think it is even better than the orig8nal from TS. Many thanks for posting.badbatch
January 26, 2020 at 2:17 pm Thanks so much, Sandy. This comment made my day! It's a recipe in my weekly smoothie rotation, I love it so much. Glad I could share it with you.Sandy
January 7, 2020 at 9:10 pm Amazing!Lori
February 23, 2020 at 5:34 pm Omg! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! This is my favorite TS and now I can make it myself! It’s amazing!! You made my day!badbatch
February 24, 2020 at 12:25 am And you just made my day!! Thank you so much. I am thrilled you enjoyed it.Jake
March 2, 2020 at 12:08 pm my smoothie wasn’t cold and the texture was too thick and dry. Is it because i didn’t roast the banana? Any suggestions?badbatch
March 3, 2020 at 2:11 am Hi Jake - I am so sorry to hear that! Sounds like something went wrong. Did you use ice? I know that's a silly question but I am wondering how it wasn't cold if ice was used. Not roasting the banana shouldn't really change the texture, temperature or make it dry. It will just affect the flavor a bit. Perhaps try using a bit more almond milk. I find that with smoothies, each time I have to always make small tweaks, they just never come out identical each time. If it's too thick just add a few splashes of almond milk / milk into your smoothie until it looses up a little. You can also cut back on the oats a bit as well. Sure hope this works out better for you the next time you try it. I usually get rave reviews and wish you had the same experience.badbatch
March 3, 2020 at 2:12 am Another thing that just occurred to me - it could be the type of protein powder you are using as some are totally different. Try cutting it back to just one scoop and see how that works. Good Luck!!Trice
May 10, 2020 at 12:37 pm My favorite smoothie. So good. I added flax seeds and spinach to mine as I do when I order one from tropical smoothie Cafe. Thank You for the recipe.Lisa Coleman
May 19, 2020 at 7:13 pm ExcellentLeah
May 20, 2020 at 6:11 pm I literally just opened my computer after coming home from TSC with a Chia Banana Max in hand, looking for a recipe. Yours was the top result (as a marketer, well done, haha) and I am so excited to try it! The recipe sounds great and the comments are encouraging. I also second the comment about getting right into the recipe and not having a long trailing story :) can't wait to dig through your blog some more now!Chris
September 8, 2020 at 5:18 pm How much almond milk do you use? It is probably just me but I can't see that anywhere on the recipe. I see that you say to start with the almond milk but not the amount. I am just beginning to make smoothies and haven't quite figured out the portions yet. However, I am excited to try this recipe. (I agree with the other reviews, I appreciate that you don't write out a long drawn out story or thoughts before you get to the recipe.!!!)badbatch
September 8, 2020 at 5:40 pm It is 1 cup of almond milk! You should find that amount to be successful, if you like your smoothies thinner in texture you can always add more almond milk after it blends and blend for a second round. Thanks so much for the feedback, I am sure it would help my SEO If I rambled more LOL, but I much prefer a user friendly experience for my readers than to “pay the price” by long page loads full of ads and 500 feet of blah blah blah before getting to the recipe. Hehe :)Ashley Corbin
February 14, 2021 at 1:47 pm Try to make this this morning and I'm a little confused. Your text says to add ingredients to blender starting with almond milk and ending with ice, but there's no almond milk in the recipe? And when you say one banana, do you mean one whole banana, or one quarter of banana since we cut them to roast them? Thanks!badbatch
July 29, 2021 at 8:00 pm Hi Ashley - I am sorry for my wording not being clear enough. I have edited the recipe to make it more concise! Thank youKathy
May 26, 2021 at 1:35 pm Didn’t have almonds. Didn’t roast the banana. Used 1 scoop of the protein powder. Oh my gosh! This is AMAZING! Thank you!badbatch
July 29, 2021 at 7:57 pm Yay! And it was still amazing - that's great to hear!!Traci Kay Williams
June 16, 2021 at 3:58 pm I love this recipe!!! But yes from the above comment... there's no Almond Milk mentioned in this recipe. But I read all the comments to find it. Thank you so much! I love this smoothie!badbatch
July 29, 2021 at 7:56 pm Thank you so much for letting me know. It seems like there was a glitch on my recipe card. I've fixed it a few times and info keeps getting left off. I've reinstalled the plugin so hopefully we will be good to go now :)Anna Ruth
July 21, 2021 at 8:39 pm This is my favorite TS menu item. Thanks for helping me successfully make it at home! Definitely hits the spot. (Also delish with subs like frozen unroasted banana chunks, coconut flour instead of shredded coconut, and water rather than plant milk.)badbatch
July 29, 2021 at 7:55 pm Awesome! I am so happy you enjoy it and can save some money and time doing it at home :) Thank you for the substitution recommendations as wellWilmarie
October 30, 2021 at 6:35 pm Why roasted bananas? Is there a benefit than just fresh bananas? Just wondering!badbatch
October 30, 2021 at 8:15 pm It’s a great question. They use roasted bananas in the store, so I am just duplicating how they do it. Fresh bananas still taste fantastic, I’ve done it this way many times. But roasting the bananas brings out a deeper, toasty flavor.Terri
December 25, 2021 at 10:39 pm I haven’t tried this recipe yet because I just got a blender for Christmas! This is my addiction for TS and am thrilled I can make it at home now. Quick question: how many strawberries would I use to make it like TS’s version? I don’t eat peanut butter. Thank you, so much!badbatch
December 26, 2021 at 12:44 am Awesome. You’ll have to let me know how it goes. TS uses one cup of (frozen unthawed) strawberries if you do those instead of peanut butter.