Strawberry Smoothie

Michael Eisenwasser

Print Recipe

A single-serve strawberry smoothie using Monash serve sizes for the berries, milk, and optional protein or banana.

Prep 5 min

Cook 1 min

Serves 1

Gluten-freeVegan-option

Ingredients

• 10 medium strawberries (about 150 g), fresh or frozen
• 1 cup (250 ml) lactose-free cow's milk or unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 cup ice (skip if using frozen berries)
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)
• 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup (optional)

Instructions

Blend

1. Add the milk to the blender first, then the strawberries, ice, vanilla, and maple syrup.
2. Blend on high for 30 to 60 seconds, until smooth. Scrape down the sides once if any berries stick.
3. Pour into a glass and drink right away. The texture thins as it sits.

Tips & Substitutions

• Make it a protein smoothie. Add 1 scoop of whey isolate, rice protein, or egg-white protein powder. Skip plant-protein blends like Orgain, Vega, and Garden of Life. Many contain inulin or chicory root fiber, which is high-FODMAP. Check the label for "prebiotic fiber" and polyol sweeteners too.
• Banana-free version. Strawberries alone blend to a lighter, more drinkable smoothie. If you want body without banana, thicken with 1/2 cup lactose-free Greek yogurt or a tablespoon of chia seeds (let it sit 2 minutes before blending).
• Add a banana. For elimination, use half a small firm banana (weigh it) and follow the Monash app for current gram limits by ripeness and type. Riper bananas become higher-FODMAP at smaller serves, so lean conservative.
• Pick a safe milk. Lactose-free cow, unsweetened almond (up to 1 cup / 250 ml), macadamia, hemp, or rice milk (up to 3/4 cup / 187 ml). Canned light coconut milk is low at 1/2 cup. Oat milk is brand- and serve-dependent; use a Monash-certified carton or skip it. Choose unsweetened and avoid added fibers (inulin, chicory root, prebiotic fiber) and sugar alcohols.
• Sweeten with maple syrup only. Honey and agave are high-fructose and not low-FODMAP. A few drops of stevia or sucralose work if maple isn't your thing. Skip polyol sweeteners like sorbitol, xylitol, maltitol, and erythritol.
• Fresh vs frozen berries. Both work at the same 10-berry serve. Frozen strawberries thicken the smoothie and chill it, so skip the ice and add a splash more milk if it's too thick to pour. Fresh berries give a brighter flavor; frozen give a thicker, colder texture.

Why This Works

Strawberry serve. Monash lists 10 medium strawberries (about 150 g) as low-FODMAP, a generous serve compared to most other fruits. That makes strawberries one of the more forgiving berries on the diet, though portion size still matters — stick to one serve per glass.

Milk matrix. Lactose is the FODMAP issue in regular cow's milk. Lactose-free dairy and most unsweetened nut milks are low at 1 cup or more, which is why this smoothie works without cutting the milk volume.

Protein-powder trap. Most plant-protein blends sold to gym and wellness shoppers contain inulin or chicory root fiber. Both are high-FODMAP fructans, and they show up even in "clean" or "gut-health" labels. Whey isolate, rice, and egg-white powders are the safer defaults.

Sweetener rule. Pure maple syrup is low-FODMAP at 2 tablespoons. A teaspoon is plenty with ripe strawberries, and it keeps honey and agave (both high-fructose) out of the glass.

Storage

Blend and drink right away. If you need to hold one, cap it in a sealed container and refrigerate for up to 24 hours at 40°F (4°C) or below. Shake or re-blend before drinking; separation is normal. To prep ahead, freeze the strawberries, vanilla, and maple in a zip bag and add milk and ice at blend time.

Not sure about an ingredient? FODMAP Tracker includes a database of 1,000+ foods with FODMAP ratings to help you cook with confidence.