How Long Do Smoothies Last in the Fridge?

Have you ever made a smoothie before, but you weren’t able to finish all of it at once? This happens to me all the time, and it easily leads to this question: how long do smoothies last in the fridge? The truth is, it really depends on the smoothie. We’ll get into all the details in this post!

Smoothies are a wonderful thing. They are made by blending ingredients together in something like a vitamix (my personal favorite blender!)

You can add a variety of different things to a smoothie, like frozen fruit, fresh fruit, vegetables, yogurt, juice, and even oats (like in my strawberry grape smoothie!)

While the amount of time that a smoothie will last is greatly dependent on the ingredients you use, in general you can keep a smoothie in the fridge for 1-2 days.

SHOULD you keep a fruit smoothie for later?

Like I mentioned earlier, there may be times when you really need to store your smoothie for later.

This could be because you weren’t able to finish it all. Or maybe, because you wanted to make it ahead of time!

I know when I was on a weight-gain diet, I was eating protein smoothies every day. It could be a pain to make a new one every day, so I started making a double batch, and storing one glass for the next day! This way, I only had to blend up a smoothie every OTHER day.

However, there’s something I want to address here: SHOULD you do this? Is it really a good idea to store your smoothies for later?

While you CAN do it, it is not necessarily the best thing in the world.

Your smoothie can last without going bad, but often it is not as good as when it was freshly blended.

Here’s a few things that may happen to your smoothie if you put it in the fridge:

1. It May Melt

If your smoothie has any kind of frozen fruit or ice in it—like my peach smoothie or strawberry cherry smoothie—it will melt in the fridge.

Now personally, this doesn’t bother me too much. But if you like the thick, creamy texture of a frozen fruit smoothie, you won’t be too pleased. Your smoothie will be more like juice after being stored in the fridge.

2. The Texture May Change

Another thing I’ve noticed when storing certain smoothies in the fridge is that the texture changes overnight. This is more when making smoothies that have bananas in them.

Smoothies with certain ingredients won’t melt, but the texture will change in a different way. Instead of being smooth and creamy, they may get a bit lumpy.

This can happen overnight, making your smoothie unappetizing in the morning.

This happened ever so slightly to me when I was making those protein smoothies I was talking about. I still drank the leftover smoothies stored in the fridge (they weren’t bad or anything!) But it also wasn’t my favorite thing in the world.

How to Store a Smoothie in the Fridge Properly

With all this being said, there still may be times you want to store your smoothie for later.

The main thing I want you to understand is that a smoothie is always better eaten fresh. I’ve never made a smoothie that was BETTER after being stored. But, there are still times it needs to be done.

So if you need to store your smoothie, here are the steps to take:

1. First of all, never leave your smoothie out at room temperature. It should be stored in the fridge.
2. Next, make sure you put your smoothie in a jar or container with a lid—preferably an airtight one. If you don’t cover your smoothie, oxidation can start to form, speeding up the process of it going bad. So sealing it up will always give you the best results!
3. It also helps if you use a container you can fill to the top. The less air the smoothie is exposed to, the better!
4. One other idea you can try is adding a little lemon juice to the smoothie. This can help keep it fresh.

How long does smoothie last unrefrigerated?

Unrefridgerated, a smoothie can last for a few hours. It does depend on the ingredients, once again. If you use any dairy products like yogurt, you’re not going to want to leave it for long at room temperature.

However, it is still advisable with ALL smoothies to store them in the fridge rather than on the counter. This will keep it cold too. No one likes to drink a warm smoothie. Yuck!

How to know if your smoothie is bad

If you forgot about your smoothie in the fridge, you might be wondering how to tell if it is okay to drink. There are a few things to keep in mind when figuring out if a smoothie is bad.

First, observe the way it looks. If it is starting to turn brown, that is not a good sign. No one wants to drink a smoothie that looks like this anyway, so probably best to throw it out.

Another thing to keep in mind is the smell. If it smells off or sour in anyway, it is probably bad. Do yourself a favor and don’t drink it! Just make a new one instead.

Freezing a Smoothie for Later

If you don’t want to deal with the effects of putting a smoothie in the fridge, but you still have leftovers you need to store…

A great compromise is to freeze your smoothie for later!

In my opinion, the best way to not waste leftover smoothie is by making it into popsicles.

Simply put the leftover smoothie into a popsicle-maker. If you don’t have one, you can also use paper cups and popsicle sticks. Freeze the smoothie in one of these things, and overnight you have a delicious frozen snack (without sacrificing on the smoothie texture or flavor!)

You can also freeze a smoothie and defrost it later, but the texture still won’t be as good as when you first made it. This is why I recommend making it into popsicles.

Smoothies You Need to Try

If you’re ready to make some smoothies for yourself, I have some pretty yummy recipes here on the blog that I would love for you to try! I already mentioned a few of them, but I wanted to give you this list so you can try them all 😉

• Mango Cherry Smoothie
• Peach Smoothie Without Yogurt
• Strawberry Grape Smoothie
• Mango Peach Smoothie
• Strawberry Cherry Smoothie
• Banana Pear Smoothie

Of all of those, I would have to say my favorite has to be the peach smoothie and the strawberry grape smoothie. (They’re all delicious, though!)

I hope you give one of these a try. If you do, let me know what you think!

Conclusion

Saving a smoothie for later is a tricky thing. Smoothie can last for 1-2 days in the fridge, but keep in mind it is always better to eat a smoothie fresh right after blending. I hope you learned a lot from this post and make lots of yummy smoothies from here on out!