My simple Cranberry 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 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. Which is exactly why I’m going to make myself a refreshing cranberry cleanse smoothie.
cranberry smoothie ingredient notes
Cranberries
- use fresh or frozen cranberries. No need to thaw from frozen.
Yogurt
- your choice. I use vanilla yogurt which balances out the tart berries.
Clementine
- a whole seedless fruit, peeled.
Ginger
- a chunk of fresh ginger not only brightens this smoothie, it gives your digestion a boost.
What makes cranberries a healthy superfood
Cranberries are gorgeous, and have an incredibly vibrant flavor, but they’re also insanely healthy.
- 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 contains 137% of your daily value)
- Cranberries are high in fiber for good digestion.
- Cranberries are 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
Fresh ginger for digestive health
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.
how to make a cranberry smoothie
- Load your blender with cranberries, yogurt, clementine and ginger.
- Blend!
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 most cases you don’t need to thaw them before using.
the cranberry craze continues all winter
- Cranberry Jelly
- Cranberry Porridge
- Cranberry Breakfast Cake
- Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
- Cranberry Orange Bread
- Chocolate Cake with Cranberry Buttercream
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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 is just a general message, not a review for this recipe, but I can’t wait to try it. I’ve subscribed to many recipes pages/blogs over the years and end up unsubscribing after not using them for different reasons. Yours is the only one I know is a keeper and I am starting to use your recipes and love them. Thank you for what you do, and please keep it going!
Thanks so much for the sweet message Nancy ~ it made my day!
Sue, you mention using maple syrup or honey if the yogurt is unsweetened. Would you please give me an idea of how much of either one you would recommend using?
You might start with a tablespoon, taste, and add more if you want it sweeter.
I’m feeling u see the weather and this seemed like the perfect thing. I had all of the ingredients and whipped it up in no time with a stick blender. It was tart but fantastic! I’m so glad this was highlighted in your newsletter!
Thanks so much ~ I love how this smoothie is bracing even in the coldest weather.
Sooo good! Love the tartness! I do not have fresh ginger so I used 1/4 tsp of ground ginger. Perfect!
So simple and so good. Used Greek vanilla yogurt. As is, it was a bit too tart for me and a bit plain. So, I added maple syrup to taste. Ymmm!
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.