Many people follow a “Low Carb” diet, and are rightly concerned about consuming too much sugar in their smoothies. Many smoothies (especially commercially prepared smoothes) are indeed high in natural, and sometimes added sugars. Combine this truth with the fact that many people have a hard time thinking outside of “the Vitamix-is-a-Smoothie-Maker” box, and you have a group of people who might think that a Vitamix is not for them. Nothing could be further from the truth, and you will be happy to learn that you can use your Vitamix on a Low Carb diet.
This article does not include many recipes, just links to a few recipes, with a focus on Recipe Ideas. This is not an exhaustive list – just a few quick recommendations that I put together…
I eat Low Carb. All of my smoothies are “Green Smoothies“, and I make them with low glycemic fruits. (Black Berry, Raspberry, Blueberry, Strawberry, Green Apple, Tart Cherries, Pears, Grapefruit, Kiwi, etc.) I focus on the Berries – especially Blackberries. I have trained my taste buds to require less sugar, but if I need something to be sweeter, I use blood-sugar-friendly Stevia, or Yacon Syrup.
For the “high in soluble fiber” portion of a good smoothie, I use Avocado + Stevia instead of Banana. If I don’t have any Avocado on hand, I use Glucomannan Powder (truly amazing stuff – check out the reviews on Amazon to learn more). To get a “mix-n-match” smoothie chart that includes a column for high soluble fiber ingredients (every smoothie should have one ingredient from this column) pick up a copy of my 30 Green Smoothie Recipes eBook. That chart also has a “greens rotation” built in. It is very important that you don’t eat the same kinds of greens daily – the eBook explains why you should rotate your greens.
You can make “Saloups”, Cold Green Soups, Blended Salads, Green V8-type drinks, and All Veggie Smoothies. “Saloups” are Salad/Soups – basically a cold veggie soup, with texture included. In future blog posts, I will devote an entire article to “Saloups” and Blended Salads, and another article to Green V8 and All Veggie Smoothies. These are all Low Carb recipe ideas, and I make all of them in my Vitamix!
Here is a “Basic All Veggie Smoothie” recipe. (click on the link)
The Vitamix is the most convenient food processor for chopping veggies I can imagine. No pulling out an appliance from storage in a cabinet, assembly, use, disassembly, washing, reassembly, and returning to storage. My Vitamix is always out, cleans itself, and I don’t “put it away” when I am finished! Using my Vitamix as a food processor/chopper, I chop veggies for salads (tuna, sardine, chicken, all veggie, etc.).
You can shred cooked meats for things like chicken salad, BBQ Beef, or to use in recipes.
Many Soups are Low Carb – I make Low Carb Soups ALL OF THE TIME such as:
Carrot
Sweet Potato
Cauliflower (actually I most often make cauliflower into something like mashed potatoes)
Aparagus
Kale – check out this “Kream of Kale” soup.
Collard
Tomato
Squash Soups of all kinds including: Pumpkin, Acorn, Winter Squashes, Zucchini, and Yellow.
Spinach
Mushroom
Broccoli
You can Wet-Chop veggies, and scramble eggs all at the same time (only takes 30 seconds or so on Variable Speed #1) to make Omelets, Quiches, and Frittatas.
You can make Coconut Butter from dehydrated coconut flakes (a daily staple in my diet, I eat it right out of the jar from a spoon!) “Coconut Bites” are a delightful treat that can be made from Coconut Butter!
You can make dairy-free Nut Milks and Coconut Milks.
Make Nut Butters – How To Make Nut Butter in a Vitamix
Lemon or Lime Icees! And here is something fun, make them completely sugar free with Lemon or Lime and Ice as the ONLY ingredients by using Miracle Fruit tablets! You simply have to check these out! Read the Amazon reviews – they are a GREAT, they are NO Carb, and they are FUN!
Use your Vitamix to make butter (the dairy kind from raw cream).
These are only a few ideas – there are more! But this should get you well on your way to using your Vitamix daily in your quest to nourish your body with healthy, Low Carb foods!
Do you eat Low Carb? Do you have any questions? Please comment below.
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I purchased a VITAMIX and I am on a low carb diet. My husband keeps asking me “are you going to use it” with little to no knowledge of how this mixer would work on the way of life. It seemed so simple in the store and I’m sure it is just do not have any ideas of what recipes would fit into this low carb lifestyle. Please help!
Hello Sheila,
Thanks for this note! What do you think of the low carb recipe ideas in this blog post? Have you tried an all-veggie smoothie yet?
Love my Vitamix I bought from you! You are a wealth of information…thank you so much!
Thanks for the tips. I boight my Vitamix last week and really want to make smoothies but on a strict LCHF diet I have found recipes loaded with fruit. I was getting worried I wont be using my Vitamix much, but now have hope again.
I’m not on Facebook, but would really like to try the low carb basic smoothie recipe. i have a vitamix but have difficulty with vegetables, especially the green leafy ones. The kale or chard wrapped around the blades in strings and it took me forever to deal with it. Bananas have way too many carbs for me. The berries in small amounts or cantaloupe works much better but I’m still looking for a recipe that works for me.
I will send you the information you need (the recipe, and and article about how to layer ingredients so they don’t wrap around the blades) in an email. The FB group is so valuable, that some people have created fake Facebook accounts just to join!
Thank you for shAring your knowledge with us. It is good to have someone to turn to we you gave a question. It’s so much information it’s hard to know what is right and what is wrong. Thanks again.
I have a question. Is there a ratio of puree or juice to chia seeds for making chia pudding? I’d like to use up fruit occasionally and instead of trying to find a recipe, it would be good to have a ratio like the one for ice cream to make pudding without ending up with soup or jello.
I’m sure that everyone has a texture they prefer, but many recipes use 1/3 cup of chia seeds to 1 and 1/2 cups of liquid. A fruit puree isn’t completely liquid, so the ratio might be 1/3 cup of chia seeds to 2 cups of fruit puree. Hope this helps!
The Glucomannan pwd sounds like a Great alternative!
I have your Green Smoothie e-book and it is well worth the money! Lots of good recipes and information!! Thanks for all the great information.
So glad that you found the book of value! Means a lot to me to know that the information is helpful! Here is the link for anyone who might want it: 30 Green Smoothie Recipes
Thank you for the low carb ideas! I’m trying to lose weight and have been struggling for a while, so I think these will be helpful. : )
I use bananas in my green smoothies even though banana flavor is not my favorite. Haven’t liked the texture of avocados the few times I’ve tried it, but I really need to make a concerted effort to try again. I have successfully moved away from adding any sweeter to smoothies, so maybe I can learn to like avocado.
If you want the “creamy factor” you get from banana and avocado, but NO TASTE, try Glucomannan Powder. I will soon be doing a blog post about Glucomannan Powder, but until I’ve done that, there is more information about it in this article about Miracle Berries. The information is in step #5 of the Green Lemonade Recipe.
Hi Lea,
Do you have a ratio of how much stevia to use in place of 1 cup sugar?
Thanks
Hello Mary, I wish that I had a good answer. Different brands of Stevia have different sweetening abilities and volumes. Some powdered Stevia products have fillers so that when you measure it is a one-to-one equivalent to sugar. Pure powdered Stevia is unbelievably concentrated. I would take the brand of stevia that you want to use, and contact that company to see what they say. They should have that kind of information. Hope this helps!
Dear Lea, Thanks so so much for this great article! I bought my Vitamix last fall and lately have realized I can’t eat so much fruit in those morning smoothies and had been wanting to cut back. Other than giving my husband half my smoothie, I wasn’t sure where to begin. This is a very helpful start! I had just ordered glucommanan because I’m reading THM and you confirmed that decision too! Bless you and thank you for all you do for us!
Hello Marva,
You are WELCOME! I am pleased that you found the article helpful. The glucommanan powder is a great way to get the benefits of soluble fiber that a banana brings to a smoothie (creaminess and emulsification), but without the sugar!