5 Sweet and Savory Primal Shakes
Some days, a fork and spoon can feel like a bit of a hassle. Okay, not really, but the temptation to simply drink our food is one we give into now and then when convenience is a priority. A Primal shake is a good way to mix things up, treat yourself to a healthy snack in the afternoon or add a little extra something to an evening meal. Some shakes, even without the addition of dairy or added sugar, can even satisfy a hankering for dessert.
When you’re making a shake, it’s tempting to throw anything that looks good into the blender, stick a straw in it and suck it down. But be careful; what started as a healthy snack or meal-replacement can quickly turn into a huge glass of carbs and sugar.
In the following recipes we avoid this pitfall by limiting sweeteners and starting our shakes with a solid base of healthy fats, ideally, 50-70% of the total calories. Coconut milk, nut butters and avocado are a good starting point, and you don’t have to choose just one. Coconut milk and nut butters are practically decadent together and coconut milk with avocado is a soothing combination worth trying. The avocado loses all its savory inclinations and blends into a shake with a slightly sweet flavor and incredibly creamy texture. An occasional spoonful of seeds will add fat too, as will a drizzle of coconut or olive oil, or an egg if you’re so inclined. Which leads us to the next layer in our shakes: protein.
Generally speaking, you’ll want to shoot for 10-30 grams or so of protein. Again, nut butters are great for this, and a scoop of whey protein can boost the protein content of any shake. Once you have your fat and protein in place, the last thing to consider is keeping the carbs in check.
Try not to total more than 25 g per shake; the lower the better. Though, of course the precise carb count will depend on your particular goals. Berries work well here. Their carb/antioxidant ratio is tough to beat and they’re high in flavor, so a mere 1/2 cup is usually plenty.
Even if you concoct the perfect ratio of fat, protein, and carbs, it’s all for naught if the shake doesn’t taste good. If you throw ingredients into a blender in clean-out-the-fridge mode you might end up with some questionable flavors and colors. Then again, you might stumble onto some combinations that are pure genius. We already mentioned the avocado/coconut combination we stumbled upon. We’re equally fond of the refreshing combination of blueberries and kale, and a savory shake made with tomato and cucumber. We’ve provided recipes for these shakes and a few more to get you started, but experimenting is the best way to come up with your own favorite. For example, the last two recipes are delicious as-is but are low in fat, so you might want to either add some fat or create them as a complement to a fatty Primal meal.
Tell us what you think in the comment board. Share your thoughts on your personal favorite Primal Shake concoctions. Grok on!
Coconut Avocado
- 1/2 avocado
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 1 scoop whey protein
- 2-4 tablespoons water (optional, if needed for texture)
- 1/2 – 1 cup ice
FitDay says:
Calories: 461
Fat: 36.2 g
Carbs: 17.2 g
Protein: 26.9 g
Chocolate Almond
- 3 tablespoons almond butter
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
- 1/2 – 1 cup ice
- 2-4 tablespoons water (or other liquid)
FitDay says:
Calories: 519
Fat: 43.7 g
Carbs: 16.5 g
Protein: 26.0 g
Spicy Tomato
- 1/2 cup chopped tomato
- 1/4 cup chopped cucumber
- 1/2 avocado
- 1/3 cup frozen spinach or a small handful raw spinach
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce or black pepper, or to taste
- squeeze of lemon
- 1/2 cup ice
FitDay says:
Calories: 148
Fat: 10.9 g
Carbs: 13.2 g
Protein: 3.1 g
Berry-based shakes tend to be higher in carbs and lower in fat, which is why we prefer drinking them right before or after a meal that is high in fat and protein, like eggs or steak. You can, however, up the fat content in either of these shakes by adding half an avocado, a spoonful of coconut milk or oil, nut butter, or yogurt if you eat dairy.
Vanilla Berry
- 1/3 cup frozen berries
- 1/4 cup coconut water
- 1 scoop whey protein
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- sprinkle of cinnamon or fresh mint
FitDay says:
Calories: 177
Fat: 0.9 g
Carbs: 26.5 g
Protein: 17.9 g
Blueberry Kale
- 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
- 1/4 cup coconut water
- 1 stalk kale, chopped (stem removed). Kale is easiest to blend if you either boil it for 1-2 minutes or put it in the freezer for 30 minutes or so.
- 1 scoop whey protein
FitDay says:
Calories: 166
Fat: 1.8 g
Carbs: 22.8 g
Protein: 19.9 g
Get Free Health Tips, Recipes and Workouts Delivered to Your Inbox
Posted By: Worker Bee
Thanks for the super ideas!!! Yummy!! They all look great!
Blended fruit smoothies are one of my favourite sweet treats I get from my girlfriend. I`m gonna definitely try these recipes out because now we mostly make them from frozen berries, bananas and pears. This is something new and interesting!
My favorite is a half cup of heavy cream, about a quarter cup of blackberries, a scoop of egg protein, a bit of ice and a little sweetener if the berries are a little tart.
Heaven in a glass.
Chocolate whey protein and avocado mix well with water and make a pretty good shake for race day. I didn’t believe it until I tried it out.
which whey protein do is best?
We use fresh, young, Thai coconuts often in our smoothies. Alternatively, almond milk or hazelnut milk works well as a liquid base, too. If we want the coconut flavor, but don’t have coconut milk or fresh coconut, using a tablespoon of coconut oil works, too.
Frozen bananas are also a great way to ‘thicken’ a sweet shake, but we’ve never tried avocado. Great idea!
We’ve found that our Vitamix blender makes short work of Kale if you put it in first with a little water, no need for boiling or freezing.
Thanks for posting these recipes I’m looking forward to trying them out!
Vita-Mix will make short work of anything
Does kale work if you’re making your smoothies in an ordinary blender? (as opposed to a high-powered one/a Vitamix) Some of us aren’t yet so blessed!
Have never tried it, for fear it wouldn’t blend sufficiently.
not really-you really need a Ktec or Vitamix to break down the fiber of the kale. But if you have hypothyroid be sure to cook yr kale first before blending (kale is goiterogenic)
I put kale in my $20 blender from Walmart. Blends just fine.
I’m drooooooling!
Spicy tomato , sounds great.
Mark, you have this incredible ability to write a post on whatever my mind has been thinking about lately…I’ve been thinking about trying to make more shakes as of late(possibly investing in a vitamix) and then you write an awesome post like this. I will have to try these out with my current blender..they look awesome.
Sorry for the double post…but where do you all suggest getting all these coconut products(water, milk)? I have some coconut oil but cannot find the other two that easily at my local grocery.
If your supermarket has an international section (most do) you can find coconut milk with the Thai foods. Whole Foods has a house brand coconut milk which is the only one I’ve encountered that will turn into near-custard if you put it in the fridge–kind of primal pudding!
you can find coconut milk in the ethnic aisle with the asian foods, and coconut water can generally be found in the baking aisle.
Making coconut milk is easy!!!
2 cups organic desiccated unsweetened coconut
6 cups hot water
Pour 3 cups hot water over coconut in blender and let sit for 20 minutes.
Blend for 2-3 minutes and pour through fine sieve into container, pressing to remove most of the liquid. Add remaining 3 cups of hot water to blender, along with coconut pulp in sieve and let sit for another 20 minutes. Blend again and press through sieve. Discard pulp. Refrigerate or freeze milk in 1 cup portions (or whatever size you want/need)
You will never need to buy canned coconut milk again!
4 oz. Coconut milk kefir
4 oz. water
1 raw egg
1 scoop chocolate whey protein
1/2 banana
spoonful almond butter
spoonful coconut oil
Filling and satisfying
If kale is too bitter for some – spinach is a great replacement (1-2 Cups). Avocado is definitely adds some creaminess to a shake! I throw in some wheatgrass as well.
Beautiful pictures, by the way.
I liked to add raw, pastured or organic egg yolks and coconut oil to my smoothies. A friend adds coconut flour for added fiber and protein.
1/4 c coconut milk
a little water
1/4 c pumpkin
1/2 banana
1 egg
1t. vanilla
This sounds unbelievably good. Think you could add a bit of cinnamon? It might taste like a pumpkin pie.
I’m having this tomorrow (I’d have it right now if I wasn’t going to bed).
Thanks!
I’m sitting here at work eating my big salad, but now I wished I had a smoothie for lunch. I wonder if anyone would notice if I plugged a blender in underneath my desk? haha.
Great looking shakes…I like adding about 1/4 cup whole plain yogurt to my shakes. Really gives them a creamy texture.
I use greek yogurt too. I couldn’t figure out why none of these recipes were using it….. because it’s dairy I suppose, but I don’t have any trouble with dairy, so…. yum!
Worker Bee; you rock!
Man, Those seem so Primal?
Spicy tomato looks amaaaaazing, but it set off a fierce Bloody Mary craving.
The chocolate almond looks pretty good but I wonder what brings out the sweet flavor of the cocoa powder, is it the milk?
And in case you don’t want all the yummy fat in an avocado, the stores now sell Lite avocados with 30% less fat… WHAT??? I can’t believe that some idiot scientist decided to screw with the avocado and take out the fat… next thing they’ll make coconut oil with 0% saturated fat.
Here’s a recipe that I like a lot:
2 scoops whey protein
water
harden up.
you mean, harden the f up. a great youtube vid, btw.
Doesn’t being primal somehow indicate that we should be using the chewing mechanism for food (which a shake is).
And not puting deodorant on either =D
well, I use botanical deoderants, etc. But point well taken. I just wonder whether the chewing mechanism is important in the digestive process.
if you’re worried about digestion, i think the blender takes care of the “chewing” for you.
There is a blog I follow “Oh She Glows” and she makes “Green Monsters”. It’s amazing how much spinach or kale can be thrown into a shake yet not tasted when fruit and coconut water is added. Very healthy and clean:)
These are yummy recipes, thanks for sharing Mark!
Babs
I love doing green smoothies. They really pack a bunch of nutrients into my breakfast. You’re right though, many smoothies end up being sugar traps. I hate that so many smoothie places load sugar into the blender. Fruit is naturally sweet on it’s own. No sugar needed!
My wife & I share a smoothy every morning. Half cup frozen berries, 2 scoops whey protein, a little fruit juice, a lotta water, liquid D3, and liquid fish oil. That holds us over for a while.
What about using raw eggs in smoothies? Much cheaper than whey protein. If you wash the shells, there’s a very low chance of getting salmonella. I’ve been making eggnog-y smoothies with egg, cream milk and cinnamon.
I am eager to try these shakes out. In the meantime I drank this for my postworkout tonight:
1 cup almond milk
1 cup raspberries (frozen)
25 g whey protein
What a great snack following a great kettlebell routine!
Oh my god, that Avocado Coconut shake looks delicious. I love avocado. Some absolutely fantastic recipies here guys.
I agree. I want to try that avocado/coconut shake ASAP!