Banana, vanilla & almond milk make the sweet, creamy base of this matcha smoothie. It's a healthy, antioxidant-filled breakfast or afternoon snack!
Matcha treats – I can hardly remember my life without them. Since we’ve been in Japan, matcha ice cream, matcha doughnuts, and matcha cakes have become daily afternoon snacks. This matcha smoothie, I promise, is a much healthier treat than any of those. Sure matcha is healthy, but a doughnut is still a doughnut after all.
At home, this is how we enjoy matcha. I use my go-to smoothie base – almond milk and bananas – and add matcha powder along with a bit of vanilla bean.
If you’re new to matcha, it’s very finely ground, high quality green tea powder. It’s sweeter than steeped green tea and is super healthy because all the amazing green tea antioxidants are more concentrated. Try it in this matcha smoothie, and you’ll be hooked.
What Is the Best Matcha Powder?
Buying matcha for the first time can be confusing – there are so many brands, and they vary widely in quality. I’ve tested out all of the top matcha powders as tea with water, in lattes, and in baking recipes. My favorite one for smoothies is Golde Pure Matcha Ceremonial Grade! It doesn’t have any added sugar, and its bold flavor cuts through the other ingredients in a smoothie.
Get the Golde Pure Matcha Ceremonial Grade on Amazon for $29, or check out some of the other matcha powders I tested to find the best one for you!
If you love this matcha smoothie recipe…
Try this one with mango and this one with kale & peach!
Vanilla Matcha Smoothie
- 2 bananas, frozen
- 1 cup original Almond Breeze Almond Milk
- Matcha powder - a few teaspoons to a few tablespoons depending on your matcha and your taste. I used a few tablespoons of this kind.
- Vanilla bean - a tiny scrape from about 1-inch of the pod
- A few handfuls of ice
- Honey, agave, or sweetener of choice (optional)
- Blend everything together. Taste & adjust to your liking. Add some sweetener if you wish.
A note about matcha – you should be able to find it at your organic grocery store (Whole Foods or similar). If not, check an Asian market in your area or order it online. The cost of matcha will vary depending on the quality – more expensive matcha is more mellow, less expensive matcha has more bitterness. Some may have sugar added (the best kinds won’t). If you want to get crazy about it, search online for any type made in Uji, it’s the area of Japan where the best matcha is produced.
I’m just starting with Matcha and I’m in loveeee! This smoothie is perfect, so rich and creamy and fresh! I added a couple of tsp of Chia and yum!
yum this looks great! I just got a bag of matcha green tea powder so I can’t wait to try some recipes out! Thanks for sharing!
lifeisashoe
This sounds like a great idea! Do you think this would keep overnight so that I could make this as my breakfast the night before? Or even two nights so that I could make two breakfasts at once? Thanks for the recipe!
I am in love with you guys loving matcha! Growing up with the lovely powder made my heart leap when I saw this smoothie recipe because all I’ve ever known was the tea and ice cream version. Plus this is super healthy.
Thanks so much for sharing.
Much love, Alli
Rgis sounds delicious, although I don’t like bananas 🙁 does it taste strongly of banana? Is there a substitute you reccomend? Also, what about vanilla almond milk?
Sometimes I sub mango for banana, or sometimes almonds or cashews… (you’ll have to play around with the ratio).
I thought I was the only one that did not like the taste of bananas! Have you tried avocado? I think I will.
Hi Lisa, avocado should work well – I also love this one with mangos (the mango thickens it nicely): https://dailycove.info/matcha-mango-smoothies/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EI also love adding a few tablespoons of hemp seeds or a scoop of almond butter for creaminess without a banana.
Tried this today. Substituted coconut milk for almond milk as that’s what I had on hand (snowed in at the moment thanks to Juno) & it was great! Didn’t add sweetener of any kind either. Thanks for sharing!
What do you recommend using as a substitute for almond milk? Most dairy free milks have carrageenan as an ingredient. I’m lactose intolerant.
In your next visit to Japan, try this “Tokusen Tsujiri Parfait”.
It’s a assort of various forms of Powdered-Green-Tea-Sweet.
http://www.giontsujiri.co.jp/saryo/menu/kyoto_isetan/pafe/
A few branch in Kyoto and one in Tokyo.
I love matcha!
Yum! I just made this. I use an unsweetened matcha from Whole Foods for my morning matcha lattes, and it’s much stronger than the stuff that’s made for lattes (this stuff is supposed to be had just with water, but I’m not a purist). If anyone is using matcha like that, you’ll probably only need a couple teaspoons!
I use my matcha in phases – time to bust it out! I can imagine it taking amazing with vanilla.
This sounds delicious!
I love matcha, but haven’t had it in a really long time. I may have to look for some online. 🙂
I love smoothies for busy days and this looks completely delicious!
I enjoy matcha this way and every other way possible – have you tried avocado as a base, I sometimes like it that way too 🙂
Hi Dixya, I haven’t but that sounds amazing!
I will have to try this. I’m not usually a fan of matcha green tea, although I like the ice cream, so I think this cold drink will be great.
http://liveitinerantly.com
I love matcha. These smoothies are right up my alley. I know what I’m making tomorrow morning!
I love matcha! Love the look of this smoothie. I made no-churn matcha ice cream recently using bananas and cashews which was awesome http://coconutandberries.com/2013/08/24/raw-vegan-green-tea-ice-cream/
yum, looks delicious!
Loving this flavour! I like how you used frozen bananas instead of ice, creamy texture with out the cream!
Green tea is my most requested creamy drink flavour and now I can make it home, Thanks for the recipe!
I used some ice too :). But the frozen banana really helps it become creamy!
mmm…. my favorite tea house serves these, though they are usually not vegan. the last time I was there they ran out of milk and ask if I would “mind” if they used almond milk… mind? are you crazy? gimme!!!!
ha! I love it with the almond milk too (plus I just can’t do regular milk) 🙂
I am in love with matcha, and matcha and vanilla especially – these smoothies sound fantastic.