During the pandemic, everyone seemed to cycle through new routines: baking sourdough bread, getting together with old friends for virtual happy hours, or falling in love with a new at-home workout. I started habitually drinking smoothies at least once a day. I found myself completely reenergized after polishing off a pint glass filled with blended dragon fruit, bananas, peaches, pineapple, and mixed berries. My newfound ability to power through any sign of an afternoon slump was accompanied by an overzealous hand in the kitchen. I went from carefully measuring each type of frozen fruit before adding it to the blender to eyeballing everything. I lost my practiced touch and ultimately dumped the excess smoothie down the drain day after day . . . that is, until I was scrolling through Instagram one night and watched a story posted by my colleague, Food52's Associate Editor Caroline Mullen.
She had whipped up a green smoothie earlier in the day and poured the leftovers into a silicone ice cube tray to freeze. I was immediately impressed and subsequently face palmed — why did I never think of this before?
Using ice cube trays to save leftover smoothies is obviously less wasteful than pouring it into the sink, but it's also so much more convenient than measuring (err, eyeballing) fruit day after day. If you want to get ahead on meal prep, purposely make an extra-large smoothie, pour the leftover mix into an ice cube tray, and freeze. Or, if you're feeling playful, pour the leftovers into an ice pop moldand save it for a sweltering summer day.
As you now know, don't do as I do. Don't just pour your smoothie down the drain. Oh, and definitely don't use regular plastic ice cubes trays to store your smoothies. When frozen, the smoothie cubes stuck to plastic ice cube trays (unless I aggressively banged the tray on the countertop, which ultimately meant that my parents' brand new white quartz countertop was suddenly streaked with pink dragonfruit).
The solution? Souper Cubes! These silicone-based trays are super flexible, which means you can easily pop out the frozen smoothie cubes for blending. The smallest size measures out to 2-tablespoon portions, which makes it easy to prep smoothies early in the morning. I found that six cubes were the perfect amount to make a single serving. Plus, Souper Cubes include a super (pun intended) convenient lid so I won't spill the juicy leftovers as I'm placing the tray in the freezer.
Our favorite smoothie recipes
Time to put this method to the test! Whip up a few of our favorite smoothie recipes — and make a little bit extra so you can store the leftovers in ice cube trays for days.
Fresh avocado (and banana!) keeps this graciously green smoothie super creamy, which means that it will also reblend easily when it's time for round two.
In some ways, this is an Elvis sandwich in the form of a big, delicious smoothie — it starts with a spoonful of peanut butter, a duo of almond milk and coconut milk, and banana. Chopped fresh ginger and turmeric are not only revitalizing ingredients, but they also help create the drink's muted yellow hue.
This is my go-to smoothie recipe: I will always, always, always choose to blend a combination of berries, banana, oats, chia seeds, and almond milk.
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