If you’re a smoothie person, you eventually settle on a single type of smoothie that you make pretty much every time without thinking about it. You fall into a smoothie rut. And no matter how good you’ve got it down, it eventually gets a bit boring.

When it comes to a great smoothie, honey is the secret ingredient. Because it’s not enough to just make a smoothie sweeter. It has to be the right kind of sweetness, dialed in for your recipes and your tastes.

Check out our Honey Finder to pick the perfect Local Hive Honey for you.

Honey vs. Sugar

Why use honey instead of sugar in a smoothie? Well, for one: it’s a liquid, just like your smoothie. If you’re already dissolving protein powder or spirulina or creatine or what-have-you into your smoothie, there may not be enough liquid to fully absorb the sugar.  

But the even better reason? Honey tastes sweeter than sugar, so you get more sweet taste with fewer calories.

The Green Smoothie

Ever wonder how people can manage to gulp down a green smoothie? Surely it must be chunky and full of plant stuff, right? Wrong! Green smoothies can be just as sweet as their yellow, orange, and pink friends — if you make them right. Here’s an easy one that gets an extra bump of green-ness from kiwis:

• 2 large handfuls spinach or kale (Spinach tends to blend better.)
• 1 large banana (Try frozen for an icier texture.)
• 2 fresh kiwis, skinned
• 1 1/2 cups coconut water or almond milk (Use unsweetened since you’re adding honey.)
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 cup ice cubes
• 2 Tbsp. Local Hive Midwest Honey Blend (Any Local Hive Honey Blend will work. Midwest is bright and floral, so it helps add some character to cover up the greens.)
• 2 Tbsp. almond butter

1. Blend the spinach/kale and coconut water/almond milk thoroughly.
2. Add all other ingredients, adding honey and almond butter last. Blend until smooth.

Cranberry Blueberry Fruit Smoothie

Cranberry probably isn’t the first ingredient you’d reach for in a smoothie, but cranberry juice really shines when it’s blended with a few ingredients to tone down the tartness. This recipe calls for silken tofu, which you can find at most grocery stores. If that’s a little too out-there for you, try whey protein instead.

• 1 large frozen banana
• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 cup pure unsweetened cranberry juice (Watch out for added sugar!)
• 1/2 cup silken tofu
• 2 Tbsp. Local Hive Utah Honey Blend (This honey tastes a bit like berries already. Perfect for a berry smoothie!)
• 1/2 cup ice cubes

1. Blend all ingredients until smooth.

Blue Spirulina Smoothie

Now we’re getting into the real smoothie-head ingredients. Spirulina is a form of blue-green algae that can be harvested and dehydrated into a brilliant dark-green powder, with plenty of naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, and enzymes — plus a little bit of protein. For smoothie snobs, it’s beloved for a wide range of potential health benefits and for its incredibly rich color.

• 4 tsp Spirulina powder (Start small. A little goes a long way in a smoothie.)
• 1 medium banana
• 1/2 small avocado (Make sure it’s ripe enough to blend)
• 1 cup frozen blueberries (If you use fresh blueberries, add some ice, too.)
• 3/4 cup frozen pineapple
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (Watch for added sugar)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1–2 Tbsp. Local Hive Florida Honey Blend (The hint of citrus in our Florida honey blend will complement the pineapple.)

1. Blend everything together until smooth.

The PB&H Smoothie

If you like a smoothie that eats like a meal, peanut butter and honey is the way to go. There’s plenty of filling protein and fiber, plus sweet, raw & unfiltered honey to make it a cravable, nutritious snack or meal.

• 1 large banana
• 1 Tbsp. peanut butter (Look for a “no sugar added” option. And don’t add too much peanut butter, or you’ll overpower everything else.)
• 1-2 scoops whey protein powder (Vanilla or chocolate both work great.)
• 1 cup Oat or cow’s milk (Oat milk makes it taste a bit more like a sandwich. Trust us: it works. But cow’s milk has more protein.)
• 1-2 Tbsp. chia or flax seeds (Chia seeds tend to taste better. Flax seeds are more filling.)
• 2 Tbsp. Local Hive Texas Honey Blend (A hearty smoothie calls for big flavor. Our Texas honey blend has a bold, complex sweetness that really ties together the salty-sweetness of peanut butter and banana.)
• 1 cup crushed ice

1. Blend everything together until smooth.