Smoothie Prep: How To Make Frozen Smoothie Packs (+ Best Containers)

Smoothie prep doesn’t have to be complicated. This step-by-step guide shows you how to make frozen smoothie packs using any recipe. You can prep smoothies ahead of time, save time in the morning, and enjoy smoothies on a daily basis.

Frozen smoothie packs in clear cups layered with strawberries, bananas, spinach, and blueberries for easy meal prep

This changed my mornings—so easy and everything blends perfectly. I’m obsessed.

- Lilah E.

Jump to:

Choose Your Smoothie Recipes
Choose Your Smoothie Prep Containers:
Plan Your Smoothie Prep + Shop Your Ingredients
Assemble Your Frozen Smoothie Packs
Blend + Enjoy
Things You'll Be Glad You Knew
Download the Smoothie Pack Guide
Similar Recipes
Comments

Bailey's Thoughts ...

Now that it’s finally warming up, we’re back to frozen smoothie packs for breakfast. A frozen smoothie pack is exactly what it sounds like: a prepped, portioned smoothie—fruit, greens, add-ins, all ready to go—frozen until you need it. When you’re ready, just dump it in the blender, add your liquid of choice, and hit go. If mornings are busy (they are), and you want a way to eat something good without creating a mess (you do), smoothie packs are a great place to start.

There’s a little bit of an art to making a good frozen smoothie pack—one that blends easily, doesn’t turn weird in the freezer, and still tastes like something you actually want to drink. The good news? Almost any smoothie recipe can be turned into a freezer pack once you know what you’re doing. I’ve been making these for years (and learning things the hard way), so I pulled everything I know into this post. You’ll learn how to avoid the most common mistakes, the best containers to use, and exactly how to build a smoothie mix that works for you and your whole family.

-Bailey

P.S. You can download The Smoothie Pack Guide HERE. It’s packed with my favorite smoothie recipes, must-have tools, printable labels, and all the tips I use to make smoothie prep actually work.

Choose Your Smoothie Recipes

Frozen Smoothie Pack Guide on a table with strawberries, spinach and blueberries.

If you already have a favorite smoothie recipe, great—use it. Just check the chart below to make sure it doesn’t include anything from the “Skip These” column. If it does, that smoothie’s probably better made fresh. If you’re new to smoothies, I’ve included five of my go-to recipes to help you get started below. I recommend picking 2–3 different combos so you’ve got some variety in the freezer. Around here, each of my boys picks one—that’s usually enough to keep everyone happy.

✅ What to Freeze

Bananas (sliced)
Berries
Mango, pineapple, peaches
Spinach, zucchini, avocado, cauliflower
Chia seeds, flax seed, hemp seeds
Nut butter (frozen in scoops)
Protein powder (layered between fruit)
Vanilla extract

🧊 Add Fresh

Liquid base (like almond milk, dairy milk, coconut water, oat milk, water, etc.)
Yogurt (freezing it gets icy and weird)
Lemon or lime juice (the flavor dulls when frozen—add it fresh for brightness)
Honey (Doesn’t freeze well—add it fresh, or sub maple syrup in the pack.)

🚫 Skip These

Watermelon (gets mushy)
Citrus segments (like orange or grapefruit)
Lettuce or delicate herbs
Raw carrots (unless shredded)

Need ideas? Start with one of these.

Note: All five of these smoothies are included in The Smoothie Pack Guide, with full instructions for turning each one into a freezer-friendly pack.

💡 Pro tip: Prep 2–3 recipes at once so you’ve got a mix of flavors ready to go.

Choose Your Smoothie Prep Containers:

Freezer Smoothie Prep Containers. Freezable cups, vacuum sealed or Ziploc bags.

Before you shop for ingredients, figure out how you’re going to store your smoothie packs. You don’t need anything fancy—but you do need something. All of the options below work. What you choose depends on how many smoothies you’re making, how long you need them to stay fresh and how much freezer space you have.

Freezer-Friendly Cups (My Go-To): My go-to. Sturdy, stackable, and easy for kids to use. We blend and pour right back into the same cup. Not airtight, so packs don’t last quite as long—but good enough for regular use.

Vacuum Sealer Bags : Great for bulk prepping. They keep everything airtight and compact, but you’ll need a sealer—and they’re not reusable.

Freezer Bags with Stand-Up Bottom: Budget-friendly and easy to fill. Freeze flat, store upright, pour into a cup to serve.

Reusable Silicone Bags: Eco-friendly and durable. They seal tight and stand up on their own, but you'll need a decent stash if you're prepping a lot at once.

Plan Your Smoothie Prep + Shop Your Ingredients

Before you head to the store, take a minute to figure out exactly what’s going in each smoothie pack. Most recipes can be broken into two parts:

In the pack: fruit, greens, seeds, nut butter, protein powder
Add fresh when blending: liquid base, yogurt, citrus juice, anything delicate

Once you’ve chosen your recipes, decide how many packs you want to make. I usually aim for 6–10 at a time. Then multiply ingredients and make your shopping list.

Fresh or frozen fruit? Both work. Use what you have. Just make sure it’s cut to blender-friendly sizes before packing.

Let's Break One Down:

The Very Best Green Smoothie

Ingredients

1 cup milk - (add when blending)
1 cup baby spinach - (add to pack)
1 banana, sliced - (add to pack)
2–3 ice cubes - (omit )
1 tablespoon nut butter (add to pack)
1 tablespoon chia seeds (add to pack)
¼ teaspoon vanilla (add to pack)
Pinch of ground cinnamon (add to pack)

Label: Best Green Smoothie. 2 servings. Add 1 cup milk before blending.

Notes:

Ice: If a recipe calls for ice, skip it—your ingredients are already frozen, so no extra ice needed.
Portions: Some smoothie recipes (like this one) make more than one serving—this will vary. Either halve the recipe for single servings or label it as a double serving.

Prep Your Ingredients

Frozen Smoothie Pack Ingredients on a white counter. Blueberries, strawberries, spinach, chia seeds, bananas, peanut butter, yogurt and flax seeds.

Proper prep makes assembling your smoothie packs quick and easy. Here’s what you need to do:

Wash + Dry: Wash leafy greens (spinach, kale) and any fruits that need it. Dry them well to prevent freezer burn.

Cut to Size: Slice fruits and veggies to fit your blender’s strength. Stronger blenders can handle bigger pieces; if yours is weaker, cut things smaller to help it blend smoothly.

Pre-freeze Nut Butter: Freeze nut butter in scoops on parchment paper. It’s less messy and keeps it from sticking to the sides of the bag. If you’re in a rush, place it between fruits or veggies to prevent it from sticking.

Slice and Freeze Bananas: Bananas tend to stick together when frozen in chunks, which can cause blending issues—especially if you're not using a high-speed blender. If you have time, slice and pre-freeze them on a baking sheet before adding to your packs. If you're in a rush, just spread the slices out in the bag to keep them from clumping.

Assemble Your Frozen Smoothie Packs

Line up your containers like an assembly line. Fold the tops of freezer bags to keep them open.
Label everything now. Trust me, they all look the same once frozen. You can use a black Sharpie (write directly on cups, lids, or bags) or stick on a printable label. Either way, do it before they hit the freezer—frozen surfaces won’t hold ink or stickers. Include the smoothie name, what to add when blending, and how many servings.
If you're using bags, press out the air and freeze flat. Once solid, stand them up like a little smoothie library. Done.

Want your packs to look as good as they taste? The Smoothie Pack Guide includes printable labels you can stick right on your bags or cups.

Blend + Enjoy

Freezer smoothie packs - hot pink smoothie being poured from the blender into a glass.

When you're ready for a smoothie, grab a pack from the freezer, let it thaw for a few minutes (especially if it's stuck), and dump it straight into the blender. Add your liquid base and blend until smooth.

If your blender struggles, here’s what helps:

Let the pack sit at room temp for 5–10 minutes to loosen up
Add a splash more liquid if it’s not blending easily
Start on low speed, then increase

Once it’s smooth, pour it into your favorite cup (or right back into the freezer cup if that’s how you stored it) and enjoy.

If your blender really isn’t cutting it, I highly recommend this Ninja . It’s a solid mid-range blender with attachments for both big batches and single servings. I use it, I love it, and I haven’t had a single smoothie it couldn’t handle.

Things You'll Be Glad You Knew

Don’t skip the label. Frozen smoothies all look the same. Write down the name, what to add when blending, and how many servings. (Do this before freezing—Sharpies don’t work on cold bags.)

Nut butter is sticky. Freeze it in scoops on parchment before adding, or bury it between ingredients so it doesn’t stick to the sides of the bag.

Honey tip. Honey hardens in the freezer and sticks to everything, so it’s best added fresh when blending. If you want to include a sweetener in your pack, sub in maple syrup—it freezes well and blends smoothly.

Bananas clump. Slice and pre-freeze them if you can. If not, just spread them out inside the pack to avoid blender issues.

Ice is unnecessary. If the original recipe calls for it, skip it. Your ingredients are already frozen.

Frozen fruit is totally fair game. You don’t have to use all fresh produce—frozen is convenient, always in season, and blends beautifully. It’s especially helpful when your favorite fruit isn’t available (or priced like gold).

Weak blender? Cut small. Smaller chunks of frozen fruit = easier blending. If you’ve got a high-speed blender, go wild.

Let it sit for a few. If your smoothie pack won’t come out of the container, let it sit at room temp for 5–10 minutes. It’ll slide right out.

Your freezer is a factor. If you’re short on space, freeze packs flat and store upright. Freezer cups are great if you’ve got room.

Download the Smoothie Pack Guide

A screenshot of go-to smoothie essentials from The Smoothie Pack Guide. — Helpful Links

A screenshot of the recipes included in The Smoothie Guide. — Helpful Links

You’ve got the plan. Now you just need to make it happen.

The Smoothie Pack Guide pulls everything from this post into one place—plus extras like:

5 of my favorite freezer-friendly smoothie pack recipes
A printable label template (cut and tape onto smoothie packs or print on Avery Sticker Labels #5163)
Links to my favorite tools and containers

Print it out or save it to your phone. However you use it, it’s there to help you actually do the thing.

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About Bailey Sissom

Bailey Sissom is a 3rd grade teacher turned stay-at-home mom and the creator of Simply Sissom, a blog for busy moms who value feeding their kids healthy meals and snacks, but struggle with finding the time to make it happen. On Simply Sissom, Bailey shares practical recipes, tips and tricks to help make preparing whole food meals happen consistently.