Snack
Chocolate cherry recovery smoothie
Within 30 minutes of practice or match ending. Tart cherries reduce muscle soreness, real research backs this.
- Servings
- 1
- Total
- 5 min
- Skill
- Easy
What you need
Ingredients
Making for
1 serving
- Frozen pitted cherries1 cup
- Bananas1 each
- Unsweetened cocoa powder1 tbsp
- Unsweetened almond milk1 cup
- Plain Greek yogurt0.5 cup
- Honey1 tbsp
Quantities scale linearly with servings. Round to the nearest practical amount when shopping.
Steps
- 1
Stack the blender
Add 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1 cup frozen pitted cherries, 1 frozen banana, 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, ½ cup plain Greek yogurt, 1 tbsp honey.
- 2
Blend deep purple
Blend on high for 60 seconds until completely smooth and deep purple-brown. Looks like a chocolate milkshake.
1:00
- 3
Drink immediately
Drink right after practice ends. The 30-minute recovery window is when muscles soak up protein + carbs the fastest.
Coach's notes
- Tart cherries reduce post-exercise muscle soreness. Studied in endurance athletes and runners.
- 18 grams of protein from yogurt alone. Adequate for recovery, no powder needed.
- Sub regular milk for almond milk if you don't have it.