Blueberry Limeade Cloud Smoothie (Vegan, GF, Fruit-Sweetened, Naturally Colored)

Kelly
Sep 12
6 min read

The next smoothie has arrived... a Blueberry Limeade Cloud Smoothie! Bright sky blue, this aesthetic smoothie is decorated to look like it's in the clouds. And its flavor is so, so dreamy: sweet, lime-forward, creamy, with a pop of berry brightness, and oh-so refreshing. And it's not just all looks or just about the taste- it's actually good for you too. It packs in 4 1/2 servings of fruit, approx. 20 gr of protein, superfoods, healthy fats, probiotics, electrolytes, vitamin C, + antioxidants aplenty. It's the perfect end-of-summer smoothie somewhere between a limeade, a blueberry smoothie, and a parfait. Treat yourself, and go make this smoothie for a blue-vibes-only drink 💙

Jump to Recipe

A smoothie for you sky-lovers and cloud-dreamers. This drink is the perfect way to ride out the crest of summer while the temps are still warm/hot and fruit is still in season. It's everything you could want in a smoothie: blue, creamy, sweet, citrusy, aesthetically pleasing, and healthy. Don't take my word for it, try it yourself!

I've really been loving citrus fruits lately, and I think it's just as important to listen to what your body is craving as it is to use what's in season. I'm trying to do that more with my recipes now and moving forward. This smoothie also makes me want to try the lemon olive oil drink trend (and a lime variation) because I'm just really in my citrus era rn!

As always, this smoothie is dairy-free, plant-based, and sweetened only with whole fruit, and that natural blue color comes from- you guessed it- blue spirulina! As for the purply-blue and the white colors in this drink, that's just blueberry preserves + coconut milk yogurt smeared on the inside of the glass for decoration. However, you don't have to decorate it this way if you don't want to, it will still be delicious on its own!

Seriously: what smoothie or recipe do you all want me to make next?? Drop your suggestion in the comments, and feel free to give this recipe a like if you tried it + loved it!

I'm currently in the process of perfecting/improving some of my old recipes, such as my classic Date-Sweetened Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe, among others. ANNND I'm testing brand new recipes to freshen up the blog and do some FALL cleaning!

I'm also thinking of releasing a cookbook soon, and was wondering if you all want to see me post some cake recipes here? Give me your thoughts in the comments!

Substitutions for this Blueberry Limeade Cloud Smoothie

Frozen bananas

you can use fresh bananas instead. I don't really have any other substitution suggestions here. I would say try a cup of fresh/frozen pineapple or fresh frozen mango instead, but I haven't tried this personally. For lower sugar, I could suggest using cooked and frozen Japanese sweet potato or a couple of fresh or frozen ripe plantains, but I haven't tried this and cannot guarantee at all that it will work.

Blueberries

fresh or frozen work. Instead, you can try fresh blackberries or fresh mulberries to keep it blue. If the color doesn't *have* to be blue, you can substitute strawberries, raspberries, cherries, or even grapes (which could be cool and actually give the final smoothie a "sunset sky" effect!)

Lime

instead, try a half a lemon, unpeeled, for more of a blueberry lemonade smoothie. OR you try a quarter to a half of an unpeeled orange OR grapefruit. If you don't want the pith + peel of the citrus in your smoothie, just juice 1/2 a lime and add that juice to the smoothie. If it's not citrusy enough, juice the other half and add that to the smoothie with a dash of lime zest. If you're allergic to citrus or simply don't want the lime, you can omit the lime for a blueberry cloud smoothie (Pro tip: if you omit the citrus, add some fresh mango, fresh pineapple, and/or passion fruit to make the flavor more tropical, interesting, and complex, so it isn't just a blueberry smoothie)

Unsweetened plant milk

you can use any kind of plant milk. For nut-free, try oat milk, rice milk, soy milk, coconut milk, hemp milk, pepita (pumpkin seed) milk, pea milk, or buckwheat milk. For soy-free, avoid soy milk. To keep this smoothie grain-free/paleo, opt for almond milk, cashew milk, macadamia milk, sunflower seed milk, tigernut milk, or really any nut or seed milk. Instead of plant milk, you can use coconut water (make sure it's unsweetened) OR even filtered water. Or, you can use extra pineapple/orange juice instead. If you can consume sugar, sweetened plant milk is fine

Pineapple orange juice

Instead of a pineapple orange juice blend, you can use just pineapple juice OR just orange juice, with no added sugar (pref. not from concentrate). Or instead, you can substitute passionfruit juice, guava juice, mango juice, peach juice, OR chilled hibiscus rose hip tea. Alternatively, you can replace the juice with additional plant milk, coconut water, OR filtered water.

Protein powder

Technically optional, but highly recommended for a protein boost. You can use a plant-based protein blend like Vega's Protein & Greens in Vanilla flavor or Unflavored/Natural flavor (this protein powder is great because it has 20 gr of protein per scoop, is 100% vegan, has hidden veggies in it, and has no added sugars). Or try a plant-based pure protein powder, such as pea protein, hemp protein, or really any nut- or seed-based powder. I personally used pea protein in my smoothie.

Chia seeds

Instead of chia, try hempseed, flax meal, or even basil seeds. You can increase the amount of seeds in the smoothie to bump up the protein count if you're not using protein powder. Or, omit the seeds if you don't want them/can't have them

Dates

Any variety of dates work. Instead of dates, you can use 1-2 Tbsp of maple syrup, agave, OR honey for extra sweetness (but keep in mind that the smoothie will no-longer be fruit-sweetened if you use these)

Blue spirulina

Blue spirulina is highly nutritious and adds a vibrant sky blue color, but instead, you can use other blue colorants, such as blue butterfly pea flower powder OR blue cornflower powder. If you don't need the sky + clouds aesthetic and the color doesn't have to be an exact blue, try green spirulina instead for a teal-green shade. If you don't have any of these on hand and don't need a bright blue hue, you can omit the superfoods, and the blueberries will still lend enough of a blue shade to this smoothie for a subtler color

Blueberry extract

The blueberry extract is perfectly optional, but opt for natural extract if you do use it. Instead, you can add a little vanilla or a bit of coconut extract to make this smoothie a little more interesting. Even almond extract or strawberry extract could be nice.

For serving

For serving, I recommend unsweetened coconut milk yogurt and no-sugar-added blueberry jam for a cloudy sky effect, but you don't have to garnish/decorate your glass at all if you don't want. Any kind of dairy-free yogurt works, such as coconut milk yogurt, almond milk yogurt, cashew milk yogurt, oat yogurt, etc. (just make sure it's unsweetened, if you can't have sugar). My go-to choices of vegan yogurt would be unsweetened coconut milk yogurt (plain or vanilla), unsweetened almond milk yogurt, OR unsweetened vanilla almond milk Greek yogurt (vanilla makes the almond milk Greek yogurt SO much better and more palatable IMO). As for the blueberry jam, any kind works, store-bought or homemade (again, just make sure there's no added sugar if you can't have sugar). Rigoni di Asiago's Fior di Frutta makes a good blueberry jam without added sugar. So does the Chia Smash brand. Or, for a simple decoration without the yogurt and the jam, just garnish with a wedge, slice, or peel curl of lime. Or if you're not looking for anything fancy, just enjoy the smoothie on its own! Serve however you like!

Future Recipes Sneak Peek + What's Next!

Welcome back to the "Future Recipes Sneak Peek" feature, in which I preview 3+ recipes coming to The Dimpled Date soon! Some new recipes that are in the works or are already perfected include: