This thick and creamy breakfast smoothie is made with cocoa powder, Greek yogurt and instant espresso powder to create the ultimate protein-packed cafe mocha smoothie recipe.
I’m going to level with you all about something: I love adding cocoa powder to my smoothies. Full of antioxidants and with very few added calories, almost all fruit-based smoothies taste better with a little chocolatey goodness added in the background, am I right?
For a healthy spin on the coffee-house classic, I decided to turn my husband’s favorite mocha into a healthy protein-packed smoothie recipe. The secret ingredient? Instant espresso powder!
Very early on in life I learned the art of using coffee to accentuate the flavor of chocolate. In fact, to this day, my mom adds a tablespoon or so of instant espresso to her famous chocolate duck-shaped birthday cake.
This protein-packed cafe mocha breakfast smoothie has over 21 g of protein per serving and is around just 250 calories. To make it extra thick and creamy, try using frozen bananas. Want to top with whipped cream? I certainly won’t stop you.
Your straw is waiting.
Cafe Mocha Protein Smoothie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 banana
- 1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
- ⅓ cup chocolate protein protein
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a high speed blender along with ½ cup water. Pulse until it starts to break down, about 30 seconds, then add in enough ice to thicken – about 1-2 cups, depending on preferred level of thickness.
Chef’s Notes
Nutrition
Check out my Pinterest board for more healthy breakfast ideas!
Linda
OMG Liz! This is such a very delicious and enjoying drink. I really love this smoothie. It’s one of my favorite. Thanks for the recipe. Your smoothies are always the best!
Liz DellaCroce
Thank you so much Linda!!
Susan
This smoothie sounds wonderful, but unless there is such a thing as decaf espresso, I’d have to use decaf regular instant coffee to make it, since I can’t handle caffeine. I’ve been away for a couple of months, and just noticed your new recipe format – I like it a lot. It’s nice to be able to scale recipes before printing (or saving) them.
Liz DellaCroce
Yes there is decaf espresso!!! You can definitely find it! I’m so glad you like the new recipe format as well. :) My husband works hard to keep our recipes easy to use!
Linda Johnston
Just had gastric sleeve surgery and protein shakes are a must! But this has a lot of calories for the meal plan I have to follow. Assume the banana makes up about 100. . . any suggestions for something else to go in it?
Liz DellaCroce
Bananas are 120 calories and the protein powder is about 160 or so. :) It’s meant to be a meal replacement.