Healthy Kid-Friendly Smoothies

Jess Novak|Oct. 9, 2014 11:52 am EST

Encouraging the smallest members of your family to eat enough vegetables and fruits can sometimes — okay, always — be a bit of a challenge. One of the easiest and simplest ways for you to fit bunches of fresh, healthful produce into their diet? Smoothies. Tasty, smooth, and sweet, one drink can be packed with serving after serving of vegetables, and your kids won't even notice them.

10 Kid-Friendly Smoothies (Slideshow)

Most of our smoothies use just fruit for their sweetness, but there are lots of options if your kids have a more powerful sweet tooth. Instead of pouring in regular sugar for added sweetness, try blending in coconut sugar, honey, or lucuma powder, which is a low-gylcemic index option. For a brown sugar flavor, you can always add a bit of honey mixed with blackstrap molasses — which has the added benefit of boosting iron content.

There's a reason everyone is so obsessed with kale right now: it's stuffed with 45 different flavonoids, packed with antioxidants, and full of fiber — this is a great ingredient to incorporate into your kids' diet, but on its own, the stuff tastes like peppery, bitter dirt, which is not exactly a kid magnet. We've written before about ways to make kale smoothies you actually want to drink — there are some excellent tricks to masking kale's flavor. One simple solution is to freeze kale in advance, which softens the leaf's bitter flavor. Incorporate pungent, sweet fruit — especially pineapple and strawberries — in order to cover up the flavor some. Almond, cashew, or peanut butter can also mask the flavor while boosting protein.

The following recipes are only suggestions; play with your blender and figure out what consistencies and combinations your family enjoys. Some kids like a thicker smoothie, almost the consistency of a shake, whereas others prefer their smoothies so thin they're practically juices. You can always adjust your ingredients to suit your and your children's preferences. All of the various milks we call for (almond, soy, coconut, dairy) can be substituted for each other depending on your child's needs and allergies.

Note: Some of these recipes call for honey, which is not recommended for children under 12 months.

So sweet and delicious, your kids won't even know how healthy this drink is: packed with protein, vitamin D, and vitamin C, this is one treat you'll feel great about giving them.

Creamsicle Smoothie Recipe

So sweet and delicious, your kids won't even know how healthy this drink is: packed with protein, vitamin D, and vitamin C, this is one treat you'll feel great about giving them.

Click here for our Creamsicle Smoothie Recipe

Chocolate-Almond Smoothie Recipe

This smoothie tastes like dessert, but is really packed with flavonoids, vitamin E, and tons of protein. We won't tell you if you don't.

Click here for our Chocolate-Almond Smoothie Recipe

Jess Novak is the Drink Editor of The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @jesstothenovak