My simple Cranberry Cleanse Smoothie will wake you up, and slap you back into shape after all manner of foodie indiscretions…did I mention it also happens to be insanely delicious?
My cranberry cleanse smoothie is a day-after tradition!
It’s that time again…time for a healthy cleanse after a day, a week, (or how about since March?) of eating with abandon. That’s ok, there’s nothing wrong with that as long as we eventually regain our sense of balance. Before I start stacking any mile high turkey sandwiches this weekend I’m going to make myself a refreshing cranberry cleanse smoothie.
What makes cranberries a healthy superfood
- The same compounds that give cranberries their incredible color are responsible for many of the health benefits.
- Cranberries are extremely high in antioxidants, which help the body fight cell damage that can lead to cancer and heart disease.
- They’re a good source of Vitamin C ~ sailors used to eat cranberries to prevent scurvy centuries ago (an 8-ounce glass of cranberry juice cocktail contains 137% of your daily value)
- Cranberries are high in fiber
- and low in calories
- Medical research over the past few decades has found that cranberries promote urinary tract health, so if you suffer from UTIs, cranberry juice can help.
- They can help lower blood pressure and may help reduce your ‘bad’ (LDL) cholesterol levels
You can enjoy healthy cranberries all year round ~ just freeze them
Frozen cranberries are just as healthy as fresh, and so easy to freeze
- Literally all you have to do is pop your bag of fresh cranberries into the freezer. You can stack up as many bags as you like.
- If you buy your cranberries loose or in a mesh bag, just transfer them to a sturdy zip lock freezer bag and throw that in the freezer.
- Flatten out your bags and stack them at the back of your freezer.
- Frozen cranberries will last up to a year and can be used just like fresh. In many cases you don’t need to thaw them before using.
Fresh ginger for digestive health
Ginger not only brightens this smoothie, it gives your digestion a boost.
Among the many health benefits of fresh ginger, it has long been used to help with digestive issues. It helps break up gas in the digestive tract, and can calm nausea. Women have relies on it for generations to ease mentruel cramps.
I love it in this smoothie for its zippy flavor. Use it peeled or unpeeled.
the cranberry craze continues all winter
- Cranberry Jelly
- Cranberry Porridge
- Cranberry Breakfast Cake
- Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
- Cranberry Orange Bread
- Chocolate Cake with Cranberry Buttercream
Cranberry Cleanse Smoothie
Equipment
- blender
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- 1 cup vanilla yogurt
- 1 seedless clementine, peeled
- 1 Tbp chopped ginger
Instructions
- Put the cranberries into a blender. Top with the yogurt, clementine, and ginger.
- Blend until smooth.
Notes
- If you use unsweetened yogurt you will want to add some kind of sweetener to your smoothie because the cranberries are so tart. Use honey, maple syrup, or sweetener of your choice, to taste.
- use frozen cranberries to make a frozen smoothie.
Nutrition
This smoothie was fantastic! It was a little too thick, so I added some etra creamy oat milk and a tablespoon of honey and it was perfect. Thank you so much. I love your blog!
I will use a Vitamix and the rule with Vitamix is always out liquid first. Since there is no liquid mentioned in the recipe, would adding water reduce the taste? I really don’t want to wreck the machine and I don’t have any OJ on hand. Thanks for help!
Hi again, I was wrong, the yogurt was enough to mix just fine. It was indeed tart so I added some pure maple syrup which did help. The color is beautiful as well as tasty. Thx for this recipe.
This was one of the very few times that I had all the ingredients. It was very good but I wound up pouring it into a cereal bowl because it was too thick. I added a little more orange juice but it didn’t help. I have one of those $500 blenders so I was surprised. I’m going to try it again tomorrow thinking that I will add the yogurt first.
How would this recipe work with a food processor?
It would work fine. You might have a bit more texture in your smoothie, that’s all.
This combination of these ingredients is a winner (and also would be excellent as popcicles).
May the cleanse-force be with you, Sue 🙂
Lol, and yes, it would make great popsicles. I was thinking, as I was writing up the post, of throwing the mixture into my ice cream machine for a great frozen yogurt, too.