Copycat Panera Bread Strawberry Banana Smoothie

This Copycat Panera Strawberry Banana Smoothie recipe is velvety, fruity, and creamy!  In fact, this homemade version is BETTER than the Panera Bread smoothie that runs close to $7.00 for 12 ounces! This at-home Panera Bread smoothie uses accessible ingredients that you can find at most grocery stores, with the added benefit of savings lots of money.

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This Panera bread strawberry banana smoothie makes four 12-ounce smoothies so perfect for a crowd. The best part about this recipe, is that you can freeze it!  I’ll share how to freeze these Panera smoothies at the bottom of the post.

The Players for Panera Strawberry Banana Smoothie Recipe

Ingredients:

• Strawberries – To make a strawberry puree, we’ll be using frozen strawberries. Alternatively, you can use fresh strawberries, but you’ll need to add more ice to make it thicker.
• Banana – Before starting your healthy smoothie, you’ll need to freeze one large ripe banana for your banana strawberry smoothie.
• White Grape Juice – According to Panera’s fruit smoothie ingredients, they use White Grape Juice concentrate. I was unable to find it in any of the grocery stores near me, so I swapped it for some white grape juice that you can find anywhere. If you can’t find white grape juice, you can also use a concord grape juice concentrate or regular grape juice.
• Apple Concentrate – In addition to the white grape juice, they also use an apple puree, so you’ll need either frozen apple juice concentrate or regular apple juice.
• Greek yogurt – To make these creamy yogurt-based smoothies, you’ll need some whole milk plain Greek yogurt.
• Ice – For this original smoothie, you’ll also need some ice cubes.

Tools:

• Blender – You’ll need either a blender or a food processor to blend our copycat Panera smoothies! 
• Freezer Containers –If you would like to freeze this copycat copycat panera strawberry smoothie recipe, you can place them in mason jars or silicone molds.  I love using these 8-ounce mason jars to pre-portion smoothies. Alternatively, you can use silicone molds like these souper cubes. This is one of my favorite things to use when I want to freeze soups, broths, or even drinks like a green smoothie or Panera’s Mango Smoothie!  You can even use ice cube trays if you’d like!

How to make Panera’s Strawberry Banana Smoothie Recipe

Start by placing your frozen strawberries into a blender.  Panera’s strawberry smoothie is very strawberry-forward, so our base begins with a strawberry fruitbase.  

Add in your frozen banana, white grape juice, apple concentrate. Greek yogurt, and the ice cubes. Blend the ingredients together until smooth and creamy.  Enjoy!

Freezing Panera Strawberry Banana Smoothie Recipe

Place your leftover smoothie into ice cube trays or mason jars.  If you decide to freeze your smoothies in mason jars, be sure to leave about 1 inch at the top.

Liquids tend to expand when they freeze, and if the jar is filled, it may crack or break as the contents expand. Leaving some space at the top allows for this expansion and helps prevent the jar from breaking.

Defrosting Strawberry Banana Smoothies

To thaw your frozen smoothie, place your mason jar into the onto your counter or in your fridge for an hour to slightly thaw.

If you want your smoothie sooner and forgot to thaw it, no problem! You can place your frozen smoothie into a large glass or container that is filled with cold water to help the thawing.  

Optional Additional Ingredients

While this Panera Bread smoothie only uses 5-6 ingredients, you can make this recipe yours by adding or swapping your favorite ingredients!  Here are some delicious ideas:

• Add in 1-2 tbsp vanilla protein powder to give you additional protein and to help keep you fuller longer.
• For a smoothie that contains less sugar, you can substitute the white grape juice for some almond milk or even one cup milk.
• To give this smoothie a citrusy flavor, add in some orange juice.
• Enjoy peanut butter? Make this into a Peanut Butter banana smoothie by adding in a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter.

Pin it for Later!

If you end up making this Panera Strawberry Banana Smoothie recipe, leave me a comment.  I’d love to chat with you!

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