Smoothies are a great way to incorporate a variety of foods all packed into one drink! They are easy to make and delicious. This strawberry calcium-rich smoothie for toddlers and kids is full of calcium-rich ingredients to support your little one's bones. A dairy-free option is also provided!
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This was inspired by my blog post on the importance of calcium, and provides a great example of how you can load up calcium-rich foods into a quick and easy smoothie.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
These ingredients were specifically chosen to provide wonderful boosts of calcium. We may not think of collard greens and oranges as good calcium sources, but they are!
- frozen strawberries
- collard greens
- orange
- chia seeds
- yogurt
- milk or fortified plant-based alternative beverage
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Shred the collard greens off the spine. Add the shredded collards to the blender.
Remove the thick peel of the orange and add half the orange to the blender.
Combine the remaining ingredients into the high speed blender. Blend for 30-40 seconds until smooth.
Serve in a small open cup, reusable smoothie pouch or wide-straw cup, depending on what your child likes using.
Hint: If your little one is working on drinking from an open cup, using a thicker liquid such as a smoothie can be helpful when practicing. The thicker liquid will move slower as they practice this new skill.
Substitutions
- Dairy free - instead of yogurt you can use a plant-based yogurt such as almond or coconut based and for the milk, use a fortified plant-based beverage.
- Collard greens - you can use spinach (fresh or frozen)
Variations
- Thicker or additional calorie booster - add a tablespoon of smooth almond or smooth peanut butter or avocado
- More berrylicious - add some blueberries
- Additional protein - use a soy milk instead of an almond or oat beverage or add 2 tablespoon hemp hearts
- Sweeter - add 2-3 dates (pit removed)
Equipment
A high speed blender such as a Vitamix works great when blending up frozen berries. A magic bullet can also work.
Storage
I would recommend drinking this smoothie right away for best results or same day and keep it refrigerated.
Top tip
Depending on your blender, this smoothie may be super smooth or may be a bit chunky. If your little one doesn't like chunks, you can omit the collard greens and still have many other wonderful calcium rich foods in the smoothie! The collard greens sometimes do not blend up finely.
FAQ
How do you boost calcium in a smoothie?
How do I get my toddler to drink a smoothie?
Are smoothies a healthy option?
Recipe
Strawberry Calcium-rich Smoothie for Toddlers and Kids
Equipment
- 1 High speed blender
Ingredients
- ½ cup frozen strawberries
- ½ cup collard greens (stem removed)
- ½ orange (thick peel removed)
- ½ cup yogurt plain full fat, or plain full fat Greek
- 2 tablespoon hemp hearts
- 1 cup regular cow's milk or fortified plant-based alternative beverage
Instructions
- Shred the collard leaves off the stem. Add to the blender.
- Remove the thick peel of the orange. Add orange to blender.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender. Blend on high speed for 30-45 seconds or until smooth.
- Serve in an open cup, reusable pouch or thick straw cup.
Nutrition
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Tenzin says
I am not sure if you mentioned but what is the total amount of calcium in this recipe? You had awesome tips in your blog. Thanks for sharing!
Ali Ellis, MSc., RD says
Thanks so much for your comment! I've updated the post to now include all the nutrition facts :). The total smoothie provides 532mg of calcium! Although a toddler may not drink this whole smoothie, it still provides a great amount to support them in getting their RDA of calcium.