This pumpkin smoothie was one of my first experiments with pumpkin purée TEN years ago. I had a little bit of pumpkin leftover from another recipe and thought, “Hey, can I put this in my smoothie?” Yes, Beth, yes you can. And it will taste like a pumpkin pie milkshake. Forget the PSL, this is the pumpkin drink I want to be drinking. Especially if you live in the south and it’s still 80 degrees outside in October. :P
Originally posted 10-19-2011, updated 10-27-2021.
What’s in A Pumpkin Smoothie?
The ingredients for this smoothie are incredibly simple: pumpkin purée, frozen banana, ground flaxseed, pumpkin pie spice, milk, sweetener of choice, and vanilla extract. The frozen banana gives the smoothie an ice-cream-like texture and the ground flaxseed almost makes the smoothie taste like a graham cracker crust has been blended right into the drink. It’s magical!
Use the Milk of Your Choice
I used whole milk because it is the richest and creamiest, but you can use any non-dairy milk substitute in its place. If your non-dairy milk is already sweetened or vanilla flavored, you can reduce the added sweetener and or skip the vanilla extract listed in the recipe below.
Sweeten to Taste
The best part about making your own smoothie is that you can add as much or as little sugar as you want, and use whatever kind of sugar or sugar substitute that you like. I used brown sugar because it has a rich flavor that makes the smoothie even more pie-like, but you can use honey, white sugar, agave, stevia, or whatever you like. The frozen banana does offer some sweetness on its own, but I found the little extra sweetness really made a difference.
Pumpkin Pie Spice
If you don’t have store-bought pumpkin pie spice, you can use my recipe for homemade pumpkin pie spice here, or just sub in ¼ tsp cinnamon if needed. It’s such a small amount in the smoothie that it won’t make or break the smoothie.
Pumpkin Smoothie
Servings 1 16oz.Ingredients
- 1/3 cup pumpkin purée ($0.18)
- 1 frozen banana ($0.20)
- 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice ($0.02)
- 1 cup milk* ($0.42)
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract ($0.07)
- 1 tsp brown sugar* ($0.02)
Instructions
- Add the pumpkin, frozen banana, flaxseed, pumpkin pie spice, milk, and vanilla in a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Add the brown sugar (or sweetener of choice) and blend again. Taste and adjust the sweetness to your liking. Enjoy cold.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!
How to Make a Pumpkin Smoothie – Step By Step Photos
Add ⅓ cup pumpkin purée, 1 frozen banana, 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed, ¼ tsp pumpkin pie spice, 1 cup milk, and ¼ tsp vanilla extract to a blender.
Blend until smooth, then give the smoothie a taste and add the sweetener of your choice to your liking. I added one teaspoon brown sugar.
Briefly blend again to dissolve the sweetener into the drink, then enjoy!
I love this. I’ve only made it once so far, but I was delicious. A little bit too banana flavored for me, but I think I’ll try adding slightly more pumpkin and maybe some more spice the next time.
Thanks!
This is the first pumpkin pie Smoothie I have tried and it was so amazing! I will be making again
So I’m now mildly obsessed with adding frozen riced cauliflower to smoothies because of your chocolate-coffee breakfast smoothie. If I wanted to add some to this recipe, would I need to alter anything else? Maybe use less banana?
Let’s wake up your inner chef! I would have a little taste after each addition until it tastes exactly right for you. XOXO -Monti
This recipe calls for 1 TBS of ground flaxseed and from your recipe description, it seems it’s added just for flavor rather than for thickening which is what ground flaxseed can often do: “and the ground flaxseed almost makes the smoothie taste like a graham cracker crust has been blended right into the drink. “ Can the ground flaxseed just be omitted? Your recently published Peanut Banana Smoothie is so extremely similar and it doesn’t call for ground flaxseed at all.
You can absolutely omit the flaxseed. XOXO -Monti
You have a new fan. I found you thru your meatloaf recipe. So glad, I like your style!
Thank you. Mary Arthars, Randolph, NJ
Very good. I didn’t have frozen banana but added a few frozen cherries. I used maple syrup for sweetener. It’s the perfect recipe for the mini ninja smoothie blender. I like this recipe also. E cause it didn’t require yogurt since I’m avoiding dairy. I used almond milk instead.
Hi there. Has anyone tried using vanill greek yogurt in this instead of milk?
Been having these almost daily! I leave the banana out, double the pumpkin, and throw in a handful of ice. Like drinking a pumpkin pie!
That’s awesome, thanks for sharing this. I am allergic to banana and it’s frustrating trying to figure out banana substitutes for these tasty smoothies (to add that same sweetness and creamy, thick texture). Good to know that in this instance I can leave it out and still have great results!!
Hi, I’m writing about a technical issue. I use Pinterest as a shopping list app, and up to now all the ingredients appeared in my app when I pinned a recipe from a website. But now in the app I get only the recipe photo and I have to open the website to get to the whole recipe. This issue appeared a few months ago, I wrote about it and you fixed it. But now it re-appeared. Could you do something about it? I use Android phone. Thanks!
So good! I used more pumpkin, less honey & flaxseed and used regular unflavored almond milk- delicious and filling!
Easy, cheap, delicious!
So happy to find this! I was just googling “pumpkin smoothie” and I couldn’t believe my luck that my favorite website Budget Bytes had just the recipe I was looking for! Smoothie turned out great! Thinking of using a similar mixture for overnight oats.
Just made this, Yum! I had leftover pumpkin pie filling after filling my pie for Thanksgiving & hadn’t had breakfast yet.
Jac
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing Jackie!
Try freezing your pumpkin as well as the banana. I use foil cupcake liners and muffin tins. I can scoop out 1/3 to 1/2 cup and put it in the liners. Freeze then pop them out and put them in smoothie packs or just freezer containers. I use the 1/3 cup for these smoothies and 1/2 cup for a soup recipe I love. Easy, convenient, and I can buy the pumpkin when it’s cheap and still have it when it’s not.
Perfect idea Suzanne!
Please share your soup reciepe