Can You Make Smoothies The Night Before? (Tips)

Smoothies are a great way to sneak in some extra nutrients into your diet.

But can you make smoothies the night before and put them in the fridge?

Will their quality diminish over time?

And are there any ingredients you should avoid adding?

In this article, I’m going to answer these questions and offer you a few tips on how to make your breakfast smoothies more flavorful.

Can you prepare smoothies the night before?

When you’re caught up in a hectic schedule it’s sometimes hard to find time to make breakfast.

Thankfully, making smoothies is an effortless action that barely takes any time.

All you need to do is pick some fresh fruit, veggies and milk and throw them in the blender.

However, firing up your blender first thing in the morning isn’t the best idea when you’re living with someone else.

This naturally brings the question if you can make smoothies the night before.

Fortunately enough you can make both fruit and protein smoothies ahead of time without any loss of flavor.

And you can actually do this in three different ways.

Let’s check them out.

The easiest way to keep a smoothie fresh overnight is to store it in a mason jar.

You can also store your smoothies in a glass container as long as it’s made of tempered glass.

After you make the smoothie and pour it in the mason jar you can keep it in the fridge or freeze it for later use.

Once you’re ready to drink it, you should give the smoothie a shake or thaw it at room temperature if it was in the freezer.

It’s worth noting that you shouldn’t fill the jars all the way to the top.

This is because the liquid will expand when it’s stored in the freezer and the jars might crack.

Another great way to make smoothies ahead of time is by freezing them into ice cube trays.

This way you can simply blend the ice cubes when you’re up for a drink or thaw them and pour them into a shaker.

I personally love using silicone molds since they’re extremely versatile and easy to clean.

You can also use silicone molds for baking which is another plus.

Alternatively you can freeze all of the smoothie ingredients in airtight packages and store them in the freezer.

Even though this isn’t my preferred method, it can be useful if you want to prepare a larger batch of smoothies.

Anyways, to apply it simply chop all of the ingredients and put them in reusable plastic bags.

Once you’re ready to make your smoothie, let the ingredients thaw in the fridge or at the counter and blend.

You can store smoothies in the fridge for 1 – 2 days before their quality begins to diminish.

In my experience, their flavor starts to go slightly off after the first 24 hours.

The rate at which their flavor degrades mostly depends on the ingredients you’re using.

Leafy greens tend to oxidize fast and separate so I avoid using them.

Adding acidic ingredients to a smoothie on the other hand can cause dairy products to curdle.

If you’re storing your smoothies in the freezer you can keep them fresh for up to 3 months.

Even though smoothies are extremely easy to prep, there are a few things that can go wrong when you’re making them ahead of time.

With these tips you can be sure that your premade smoothies will always taste fresh:

Avoid leafy vegetables. Leafy greens such as spinach and basil oxidize really fast and turn black. This can change the flavor of the smoothie and make it taste bitter which is not ideal for your classic basil and mint smoothie.
Don’t use ice. In fresh smoothies, ice acts as a thickener that also cools down the drink. If however you use it in pre-made smoothies, the ice will melt and actually make the smoothie more watery. This is not to contradict freezing the premade smoothies. When you freeze the smoothie itself you do not put in added water.
Skip acidic juices. Acidic liquids like grapefruit juice don’t work well with premade smoothies. Opt for fresh milk, yogurt or non-dairy milks instead.
Don’t freeze dairy free smoothies. If your smoothies are made with non-dairy milk it’s better to keep them in the fridge. Dairy free smoothies don’t thaw as well and can curdle when they’re kept in the freezer.
Toss some chia seeds in. Adding some chia or flaxseed to a non-dairy smoothie can help thicken its consistency. This trick will also help if you want to keep your smoothies thick overnight. Just add the chia seeds after you blend the smoothie.
Add emulsifiers. Emulsifiers are substances that bind ingredients together. Bananas, peaches and yogurt work great as emulsifiers.