Green Thickies: Filling Green Smoothie Recipes

Complete Meal Green Smoothie Recipes & Diet Plans

Blackberry Smoothie with basil (Green Smoothie/Green Thickie)

Blackberry Smoothie with basil

Green Thickie recipe

Blackberry Smoothie with basil Green Smoothie/Green Thickie

This fresh, sweet and aromatic blackberry smoothie has a twist.  It contains basil which works amazingly well with blackberries in this Green Smoothie.  The two are a match made in heaven.  If you don’t believe me you really have to give it a try . It’s such a treat for your taste buds and really gets your senses working (in a good way).

Blackberries in season

Blackberry Smoothie with basil Green Smoothie/Green ThickieBlackberries are just coming into season here in the UK but I know this varies across the world and if you can’t get hold of fresh blackberries you might be able to get hold of frozen blackberries.  I actually used frozen blackberries in this recipe as they are cheaper than fresh ones here and they’ve got the added benefit of making the smoothie lovely and cool without having to go to the trouble of freezing them myself.

We refer to blackberries as brambles here, and I’ve heard that they get called black caps in the US.

Benefits of Blackberries

  • Blackberries are low in calories.  One cup of Blackberries only contains around 62 calories, but don’t let that fool you, this is a recipe for a complete meal smoothie (Green Thickie) so it will fill you up if you replace your normal meal.
  • Blackberries are extremely high in antioxidants and can fight off free radicals which cause cancer.
  • They have inflammatory properties which is good for reducing the risk of heart disease.
  • Two cups of Blackberries contains more than the amount of recommended daily vitamin C.  So you can get your daily quota in just one serving (contains 2 cups) of this recipe.  Vitamin C is great for the immune system.

Picking Blackberries

The best thing about blackberries is that you can actually freely pick them, costing you nothing.  If you can’t find anywhere in the wild to pick them, you can always visit a pick your own farm.

** Please note that this post may contain affiliate links which means that I can receive a small payment if you make a purchase through my links.

As I’ve recently moved to the north of Scotland (Inverness) and also have a baby I’ve not got round to finding anywhere that I could pick blackberries yet, but it’s on my to do list for the future.

Some people say that thorny blackberries taste sweeter, so just be careful to only touch the blackberry, not the thorns while you are picking it.

Blackberries don’t ripen once they’re picked so make sure they are ripe when you pick them.

How to tell if blackberries are ripe

You can tell if a blackberry is ripe before you pick it as:

  • It will come away freely from the branch
  • It is a deep black colour, not purple or red
  • It is plump and firm to the touch

Blackberry Smoothie with Basil

Blackberry Smoothie with basil (Green Smoothie/Green Thickie recipe)To be honest, I’m not actually a massive fan of raw blackberries.  I find them a bit too tart for my liking.  That could be because they are picked unripe, who knows!  Anyway, throw them into a smoothie or a crumble and they take on a whole new dimension.

This blackberry smoothie just has the freshest taste ever.  It might sound a bit too unusual for you, but I really think it’s worth pushing yourself out of your comfort zone for this one.  This is another smoothie that would be on my ‘regular smoothies’ list if blackberries were a bit cheaper here or if I could find a place locally to easily pick them.

This smoothie was originally found on Choosing Raw, and I loved it so much I actually featured it on my Top 10 Green Smoothies list.  I have now decided I had to turn it into a Green Thickie (as I need my smoothies to fill me up!) so I’ve added in some oats, a few almonds and some raisins to sweeten it up.  I think it’s just perfect!

[tweetherder]You might enjoy picking some free blackberries for this Blackberry smoothie with basil. [/tweetherder]

I can’t wait to take my baby blackberry picking when she’s a bit older.  Do you ever go blackberry picking?

Blackberry Smoothie with basil (Green Smoothie/Green Thickie recipe)

Blackberry Smoothie with basil (Green Smoothie/Green Thickie)

This fresh, sweet and aromatic blackberry smoothie has a twist. Basil works amazingly well with blackberries in this Green Smoothie.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings: 2 servings
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Cups Water If you are drinking this straight away substitute one cup of water for ice
  • 1 Cup Basil loosely packed (Or any other mild green if you really can’t face basil but it really is delicious with the basil)
  • ¼ Cup Almonds or any plain seeds if you don’t eat nuts, or leave out for less calories.
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract Pure or ground vanilla has a better flavour
  • ½ Cup Raisins or any other dried fruit which can also be pre-soaked for a smoother blend
  • 4 Cups Blackberries I used one punnet of frozen blackberries
  • 1 Banana
  • OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED FOR HEALTH BENEFITS
  • 1 drop of basil therapeutic grade essential oil. Click here to find out where I buy my favourite therapeutic essential oils at wholesale prices
  • 1 Filler Click here to choose a filler

Method
 

  1. Blend the ingredients in the order listed. Blend the greens and liquid first and then blend the rest of the ingredients. This creates more space in your blender. Add more water if required to thin it out. Substitute any of the ingredients for whatever you already have. If your smoothie is too warm, you can cool it down in the fridge or freeze some of your ingredients before blending.
  2. NOTE: The calories shown are for half of the ingredients listed as this smoothie serves 2. If you want less calories add less oats.
    Blackberry Smoothie with basil Nutrition

Notes

If you are new to Green Thickies and have more questions about making the perfect green thickie, please read this guide on How to make a Green Thickie .
Suitable for Special Diets:
Gluten free (Use GF Oats or Quinoa), raw (Use raw oats/quinoa), vegetarian, vegan, dairy free, egg free, sugar free, wheat free, soya free (don’t use soya milk), salt free, nut free (use seeds instead of nuts)* If you want to check if you can drink green thickies on your special diet please read this first. This will suggest some substitutions so you can still enjoy Green Thickies with ingredients you can tolerate.

This has been shared with Wellness Weekends, Healthy Vegan Fridays and Fight Back Friday.

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Hi Katherine,

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I have lost 6lbs, do not feel like I need more my morning coffee, the flushing of my facial skin from rosacea has dramatically reduced and I am so excited to wake up each morning and make a green thickie for breakfast!!

I am a stay at-home, homeschooling momma of 3 littles and at times so busy I would forget to feed myself!

I would go most of the day without eating and then snack on random things.

I gained 60 pounds the last 6 years during pregnancy.

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Katherine Kyle @ Green Thickies
Latest posts by Katherine Kyle @ Green Thickies (see all)

Comments

  2. Hi, Katherine,
    I just discovered your site and have looked over enough of your content to know that I just have to ask you to join in over the weekly Wednesday link-up. If you would like to or are able to, many would benefit from your site. Love your practical and helpful posts. Thank you.

    Reply

    • Hi Jacqueline. Thank you that’s so very kind of you. I’ve added your blog hop to my regular list now and I usually submit to all my blog posts first thing in the morning (UK time) with all the ones that are live at that time. Thank you for hosting that great blog hop.

      Reply

  5. I love the fresh combination of the Blackberry and Basil, we grow both so it is a great Smoothie for us. Hope you are having a great weekend and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

    Reply

  6. Blackberries and basil, huh? That’s a unique combination! We used to have a HUGE blackberry bush growing wild in the yard of one of our former homes. I really miss that bush. We also had a fig tree! Why did I ever move? Good question! I sometimes ponder over that myself! Thanks for linking this up at Meatless Monday recipe hop :)

    Reply

    • Oh wow, blackberries and fig trees! I’ve only ever tasted properly ripe figs a few times and adore them. I’d never stop eating them if I grew them myself. Most of the figs in this country are picked unripe. That’s a shame you moved away. That is my dream for later on in life to grow loads of my own fruit.

      Reply

  13. Katherine, this looks great, never thought about using basil in a smoothie! I recently bought a vitamix so think I will try this out soon! I did a no-no, I put my stick stirrer in without the lid and broke it…. dumb I know, lol!

    Anyhow, I love your pictures and this is going to be chosen as my top 3 this week! And thank you so much for linking up with Healthy 2day Wednesdays as always! Hope you have a blessed week and hope you’ll be linking up this week! I also wanted to let you know we are looking for another person to co-host H2W’s with us if you are interested! :) (just email me!)

    Reply

    • Hi Rachel

      Aww that’s such a shame you put your stirrer stick in your vitamix. If you think that was dumb, I put my fingers in my juicer while it was running! That was really dumb. I hope you manage to get a new one.

      Thank you so much for featuring my recipe this week and for inviting me to co-host with you. I’m honoured that you asked me and have emailed you. I hope you got it!

      Reply

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