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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
Chia Banana Boost (Max) Tropical Smoothie Copycat Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond milk
- 2 scoops vanilla protein powder
- 1/4 cup quick oats
- 1 roasted banana - but room temp or cold 1 tablespoon of coconut oil or butter for roasting
- 2 tablespoons shredded coconut
- 1 tablespoon Chia seeds
- 2 tablespoons chopped or shaved almonds
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
- 1 pitted medjool date chopped
- 1.25 cups of crushed ice
- Squeeze of honey to taste
Instructions
Roast bananas
- Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a small baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Cut the banana(s) in half, then cut diagonal lengthwise (as shown in the photo). You should end up with a quartered banana. Lay banana pieces flat on baking dish and add small knobs of butter or coconut oil on top of the banana. Roast for 20 minutes, turning halfway through. Allow bananas to cool completely before making smoothie. You can also freeze roasted bananas as well for future usage.
Blend Smoothie
- In a blender, combine all ingredients starting with the almond milk and ending with crushed ice. Blend on a medium-high speed until smooth and no chunks of banana, dates or almond remain. Serve immediately.
Notes
I’m clearly missing something because I do not see a recipe on this page just what is in it but not the amounts to create this masterpiece. Please help.
Hi Jocelyn – happy to say you aren’t crazy! My recipe plugin had issues but I have been able to get this resolved. It is there now 🙂
I’m clearly missing something because I do not see a recipe on this page just what is in it but now the amounts to create this masterpiece. Please help.
Hi! It looks like the recipe is no longer listed on this post. Is there any way to have it reuploaded?
Hi Gabrielle – it is back up now! Just an recipe plugin issue that we thankfully able to resolve and has been restored.
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!
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.
Why roasted bananas? Is there a benefit than just fresh bananas? Just wondering!
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.
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.)
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 well
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!
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 🙂
Didn’t have almonds. Didn’t roast the banana. Used 1 scoop of the protein powder.
Oh my gosh! This is AMAZING!
Thank you!
Yay! And it was still amazing – that’s great to hear!!
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!
Hi Ashley – I am sorry for my wording not being clear enough. I have edited the recipe to make it more concise! Thank you
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.!!!)
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 🙂