Vegan Lactation Smoothie recipe – delicious, dairy-free, healthy smoothie for breastfeeding moms!
Don’t you just love lactation smoothie recipes? Smoothies are so quick and easy to make that they’re perfect for a breastfeeding mom – for breakfast, lunch or any snack! You can make them super healthy and delicious and they even keep the breastfeeding munchies away.
Lactation smoothies are super versatile – substitutions are easy! You can swap out almost any ingredient and still end up with a delicious smoothie. This is great if you’ve run out of banana, but you still have berries. You can also change up the ingredients to suit the texture you’re craving. Want dreamy and creamy? Add avocado, or even more frozen banana! Want a tropical slushy? Add extra ice and add citrus.
The best thing about smoothies is you can adapt them to almost any dietary requirement. You can easily make your smoothie:
- vegan
- nut-free
- dairy-free
- keto
- paleo
- low carb
- protein-full!
- sugar-free
You can also boost the nutritional value of your smoothie with hidden vegetables, protein powder or collagen powder or other supplements. So your smoothie is even better for you!
This smoothie was made vegan – perfect for anyone who avoids animal products AND for those who’ve found that dairy protein upsets their little one’s tummy.
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Do Lactation Smoothies Work?
Every mom knows someone who struggled with their milk supply until they tried a home remedy, which they now swear by – whether that is coconut oil, Gatorade, Mother’s Milk Tea, fenugreek supplements or lactation smoothies.
Lactation smoothies work by adding galactagogues – these are ingredients that are commonly thought to help increase your milk supply. Most popular galactagogues include:
- oatmeal
- Brewer’s Yeast
- barley
- ginger
- green leafy vegetables
- almonds
- fennel
- brown rice
- garlic
- fenugreek
There’s plenty of stories and anecdotal evidence for lactation smoothies – but not so much on the science side. However, lactation smoothies contain healthy ingredients and will help you keep hydrated and fed – both very important elements in a healthy milk supply!
Obviously, not all of these ingredients taste that great in a smoothie… but you don’t have to consume the entire list to get the benefits.
Please note, if you have a true medical reason for low supply, lactation smoothies or cookies will not help and you must talk to your doctor.
What’s in my favorite vegan lactation smoothie:
Banana – great for sweetening your smoothie naturally, frozen bananas also help make it super creamy (you’ll want to start a freezer stash of frozen sliced banana!) Bananas contain lots of healthy vitamins and minerals too, like potassium.
Flax Meal – full of essential fatty acids and phytoestrogens, it’s thought that flax seeds can help increase your milk supply. You won’t taste them in a smoothie, but they’ll help make it thick and creamy.
Brewer’s Yeast (Debittered) – optional! A well known galactagogue (foods that increase milk supply) you can add Brewer’s Yeast into this smoothie once your baby has arrived. The best kind to get is this one, which has been ‘debittered’ as it has a bit of an aftertaste.
Rolled Oats – another famous food to increase your milk supply. In a smoothie, oats add creaminess and help to keep you full.
These ingredients (plus a few more) when mixed together make a decadent and delicious vegan smoothie that you’ll be happy to enjoy any time of the year. I’ve added some cocoa to this one to make the smoothie chocolate flavor – feel free to swap out for vanilla or add dairy-free, preferably sugar free flavor syrup.
Vegan Lactation Smoothie
Smoothies are seriously delicious and easy as pie to make vegan - here's a simple base vegan smoothie you can spin off into endless variations!
Ingredients
- 1 cup non dairy milk
- 1 tablespoon flax meal
- 1 frozen banana, sliced
- 1/3 cup rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
- pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon debittered Brewer's Yeast (optional)
- extra ice (optional - helps it stay icy cold and adds a bit of thickness)
Instructions
- Add all ingredients into a high-powered blender and blend for 1 minute.
- Pour into a glass and enjoy.
Notes
There are so many flavors you can create with a simple basic smoothie:
- swap out the almond butter for peanut, hazelnut, cashew
- use a flavored non dairy milk
- swap out the banana for berries, citrus or apple
- swap out the cocoa for a teaspoon of vanilla extract
- add a scoop of vegan protein powder for more of a protein boost to this smoothie.
When To Start Drinking Lactation Smoothies
You can start drinking lactation smoothies right now – it doesn’t matter if you’re trying to conceive, pregnant or breastfeeding.
I started while I was pregnant.
Ok, there are a few ingredients I prefer to skip, like Brewer’s Yeast, because of the taste. But, most lactation smoothies are simply very healthy and packed to the brim with nutritious ingredients.
You might even find that in the face of first trimester nausea , drinking a healthy smoothie is something you can manage and keep down. And when baby starts getting bigger in the third trimester (move over stomach!) you might find it easier to drink vitamin-packed smoothies than to eat a full meal.
Start now!
Lactation Smoothie Freezer Packs
I love make ahead meals. My freezer gets a work out when it comes to preparing for postpartum too… one of my favorite things to freeze are smoothie packs!
Smoothie packs are so convenient:
- you buy all the ingredients you need in bulk (so you don’t go to make your smoothie one morning and find out someone ate the last banana yesterday)
- you make your packs and use up all your perishable ingredients (no waste!)
- all you need to do is add liquid, blend and you’ve got an instant, perfectly frosty smoothie for breakfast or for a snack!
You can make this vegan lactation smoothie into a freezer pack really easily by adding all ingredients (except the liquids) into ziploc sandwich bags. Stack them as flat as possible in your freezer and then when you’re ready to whizz them up, just break the ingredients up into your blender and add liquids. Blend and you’re good to go!
More Reading on Breastfeeding and Milk Supply
- Pumpkin Spice Lactation Smoothie The Ultimate Fall Smoothie
- Lactation Smoothie Recipes Milk Boosting Smoothies for New Moms
- Avocado Lactation Smoothie
- Blueberry Lactation Smoothie
- Chocolate Lactation Smoothie
- 19 Delicious Lactation Smoothies to Boost Your Milk Supply
- 22 Delicious Lactation Cookie Recipes to Increase Your Milk Supply
- 6 Breastfeeding Tips to Increase Your Milk Supply
- 31 No Fuss Healthy Snacks for Breastfeeding Moms
- The Ultimate Breastfeeding Class