Bananarita Smoothies
Bananaritas are a deliciously smooth banana smoothie with milk, honey/sugar, and a little zip of zesty lime! We love these for breakfast, a snack, or even a healthy treat!
Bananarita smoothies have been a staple in our home for over 20 years. They are a delicious breakfast on the go, a great snack, and a nice treat as well. I first shared this recipe back in 2008 and here I am, 8 years later updating the photos.
I always think of these banana smoothies when school starts back for a very funny reason. When I first made them, they were called non-alcoholic banana margaritas. I started making them, fell in love, and always referred to them as “banana margaritas”. I would make them for breakfast when I had bananas getting too ripe and the whole family just loved them, especially Brady.
Shortly after he had started kindergarten, I made them for breakfast one morning. Brady drank his share and then some, filling up on the tangy smoothie and bragging about how good it was. I didn’t give it another thought until I found out later that Brady had marched right into kindergarten and announced to his teacher that he’d had a margarita for breakfast. Fortunately, she gave us the benefit of the doubt on that one!
So here you go, one more way to use up ripening bananas, another way to keep cool, and a quickie breakfast on school mornings! All you need is bananas, sugar or honey, bottled or fresh lime juice, ice, and the milk of your choice. Place all ingredients in a blender and in a flash you’ll have your very own banarita smoothie. It’s smoothy and creamy with that little zesty touch thanks to the lime.
Recipe Ingredients
- Milk
- Sugar (I often use honey as a substitute and it adds a great flavor as well so go with your preference).
- Bananas
- Lime juice
- Ice
How to Make Banana Smoothie With Milk
Fill your blender up about halfway with ice cubes.
Add bananas…
Then add sugar or honey, milk, and lime juice.
Blend that until nice and creamy and drink up!
Oh yum! These are so good, and the riper your bananas the sweeter it is.
You may even like it without any sweetener added at all!
I hope you get to try one of our “margaritas” soon!
Storage
This is one of those recipes you can adapt to suit you so there are no leftovers. For example, divide each ingredient in half to make only 2 banana smoothies.
Recipe Notes
- While I love to use ripe fresh bananas, this healthy banana smoothie recipe also works with frozen banana chunks.
- You can use any kind of milk or non-dairy milk alternative you like, including coconut milk, , , or almond milk.
- Here are some variations to try to make this banana smoothie recipe work for you:
- Add 1/2 cup of other frozen fruit or fresh fruit, like mango, orange, pineapple, or berries (I recommend blueberries or strawberries).
- Add 1 cup of greens like spinach or kale.
- For more flavor, add a teaspoon of your favorite spice, like ground ginger, turmeric, cardamom powder, or ground cinnamon.
- Add a tablespoon of cocoa powder for a chocolate banana smoothie.
- Add a spoonful of protein powder.
- For a banana peanut butter smoothie, add a tablespoon of creamy peanut butter, , or your favorite .
- To make a creamier smoothie, add 1/4 cup of plain Greek yogurt.
- Instead of sugar or honey, use maple syrup or a sugar-free alternative like Splenda or Swerve. Vanilla extract is also another way to add sweetness to your smoothie.
- Add 2 tablespoons of old-fashioned oats to make this banana smoothie with milk more filling.
- Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of coconut flakes.
If you have more ripe bananas, check out these recipes:
Bananas in Red Stuff (a.k.a Strawberry Glaze)
Caramel Banana Pie (a.k.a Easy Banoffee Pie)
Gluten-Free Banana Nut Muffins (No Dairy or Eggs)
How To Make Homemade Banana Pudding From Scratch
Ingredients
- 4 bananas
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup sugar or honey
- 1/2 cup lime juice
- ice
Instructions
- Fill blender halfway full of ice, add remaining ingredients, blend until frothy, then serve!4 bananas, 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup sugar or honey, 1/2 cup lime juice, ice
Nutrition
Leslie: Thank you! It really is good. I can get up and do the whole cooking breakfast thing, but I really hate to have to hit the ground running like that! On school mornings, its quick and easy all the way!
Tina (Mommy’s Kitchen)- My husband calls you “That Mommy”, lol! I just love having you around!
Christy we made the Bananarita smoothie this morning. I am happy to say we drank the entire blender full. Darn i was hoping to have some leftovers for just me grrrrrr. my dh said do I taste a hint of lime? I said yeah isnt it good he said yes. who’s recipe? I said Christy!! as if he knew who you were kind of like a old friend the way I put it. LOL. He said oh your blogging food buddy.
4 simple things to put together in the AM..this is the shake for me! I will rise and shine to this any morning!
Yippee, a recipe blog that Mr. Sweetie will LOVE….if I ever cook anything for him. I’m going to try several of the recipes you’ve shared.
Loved the posts and the photos.
Thank you, Stephanie! Your recipes are just awesome, btw. Everyone check out her blog!
Tina (Mommy’s Kitchen)- Let me know how you like them. They are addictive! I use Splenda so I can drink all I want with no guilt. I LOVE THESE! It beats an alcoholic drink any day!
Lord, if I had a dime for every time my kids have said something to embarrass me….lol
That smoothie looks so delish Christy and so simple. I have some bananas i need to use so i think i will try this tomorrow morning. Dont kids say the funniest things LOL.
That’s so funny that he was bragging about having Margarita for breakfast! lol! These smoothies look delicious.
it’s a cute thing a child said. I’m sure teachers hear all kinds of stuff.
right now I’m dealing with our grade school selling smoothies during the lunch period. One flavor is called Margarita. They don’t seem to see a problem with this? Am I the only one who finds this offensive?
Looking for resources to help me.
I only wish our school served smoothies for lunch. It would be healthier than the pizza, french toast strips and other less than healthy/yummy food! I suggest you unbend a little, kids are exposed to so much these days, I doubt any of them are dumb enough to think the drink in a bar is the same as what they get in school.
You could always call it a Peggy Smoothie. As a former principal of a Christian elementary school, I think one of the major problems is uptight parents, and I’ve seen a lot of those. The kids are just plain cool, and could teach their parents a lot about acceptance.
You could call it a Practice What You Preach Smoothie too Ruth 😉 Seriously, though, I can see why a person would be hesitant to embrace an elementary school feeling the need to call their smoothies margarita flavor. Kids grow up quick enough and will have time for ‘ritas later. Not about them being dumb enough to think they are the alcoholic version, however no need to glamorize them to a 13 year old, or younger. Acceptance of ones opinion is different than questioning how your child is influenced. They could call carrot sticks cigs and do a whole happy hour theme lol. Sorry Christy, just playing the helicopter parents advocate, there are much worse types. BUT, planning on doing your vidalia pickled onion recipe tonight btw, which is why I found your sight. It sounds great and I have a box of them so thank you so much.
I was keeping up until you mentioned pickled Vidalia onions and then my mouth started watering and I forgot what we were talking about… 😉
It would bother me too. I don’t believe in drinking and do not want it promoted or seen as “normal” with my children. I’ve now buried an alcoholic brother, alcoholic father and have at least 2 more brothers who are alcoholics.
My adopted son has fetal alcohol syndrome. I hate alcohol.
Christy, I have no idea if you’ll see this since this comment since this post is “years old” by now, but I just want to thank you for posting this recipe without alcohol! I recognize that my own personal convictions are not everyone’s, but these are my convictions and I have them for good reasons.
The thought occurs to me that my kids can read and try this recipe without me ever having to worry about them tasting a drop of alcohol.
As I often remind my kids, “You can never become an alcoholic if you don’t touch a drop of the stuff.”
Bless you!
Michelle, I do try to read every comment left and try to answer as many as I can. Alcohol is one of the things you won’t see on Southern Plate. I try to make everything very family friendly so even if you send your child to find a recipe on here you won’t have to worry about what they see. ~HUGS~
And THAT is the very reason Im buying three more of your cookbooks…one for each of my daughters. Love your cookbook using familiar ingredients and no alcohol…no recipes to have to alter. THANKS!!
Thank YOU Julia!! You just made my day!!