A Nutritious Protein Shake Recipe with Indigo Herbs

Everyone has heard the assertion that breakfast is the most important meal of the day but, if you are short of time, or money, or both, it can be really tricky to consistently find morning meals that are inspiring and appetising when you first wake up. I've recently started experimenting with protein shake recipes and have found simple ways to make them quickly and cheaply. When Indigo Herbs sent us some of their nutrient-packed protein powder free to try, I thought it would be a great opportunity to share one of my favourite recipes with you, along with some money-saving tips!


My interest in protein shakes began when I started going swimming regularly. They are meant to be really beneficial after exercise, but protein is also believed by some to help with chronic pain, so I thought a protein shake after would be a great idea, but I was really surprised at how much they cost. The shake itself can set you back around £3 to £4 and then all the fun additions, like fruit, or oats, are up to £1 each extra, so one protein shake can easily cost in the region of £5. Which seems like a lot, considering the price of the ingredients individually, so I set about finding cheaper ways to create something similar at home. The two essentials you need for a protein shake are a good quality blender and, of course protein powder. Your choice of protein powder will determine; what it tastes like and what benefits you can get from it. Today we will be trialling Indigo Herbs Organic Super Protein Powder, which is a lot more comprehensive than a standard powder. It contains five different protein powders, all organic and vegan, carefully balanced to provide the maximum benefit to the body. The list includes:

• Pea
• Pumpkin Seed
• Rice 
• Hemp 
• Chia Seed

This protein powder already packs a powerful nutritional punch, so there's no real need to add anything to it, but you can never have too many vitamins and minerals, so I started off by adding my favourite Protein Shake staples: kale, mixed berries and oats. The oats are not entirely necessary, because the proteins in this powder all ready contain slow-release carbohydrate, but they also give it a thicker consistency, so it's a bit more filling for breakfast. You can buy basic porridge oats from a supermarket for around 75p a kilo, which is really good value when you consider the cost of adding them to the protein shakes you can buy in some cafes. When it comes to saving money, though, you really can't go wrong with frozen fruit and vegetables. They work out much cheaper to buy, the fruit I used was a blueberry and strawberry mix, which cost £5 for 1.5kg, which works out at 17p a serving and the kale s £1 for 300g, which is about 10p per serving. Fruit and veg doesn't lose any nutrients when frozen so, you can be sure you are still getting maximum nutrition, but it doesn't spoil, so there's no wastage. It also makes your smoothie really cold, without the need for ice cubes, which is especially lovely in the summer. 

The one slight issue I had with Indigo Herbs Organic Super Protein Powder is that it is completely unflavoured. I've tried a few protein powders and I hadn't realised how heavily flavoured they actually were. The advantage of this is that you know that it's not full of artificial flavourings or sweeteners, but the downside is that you have to work a bit harder to disguise the taste, which isn't great. Personally, I'm a great advocate of eating for health, so I don't mind too much if really healthy foods don't taste amazing (I'm looking at you, spinach) but, for the less initiated, you will need a sweetener. There are various options for this, you could try honey, maple syrup, a delicious nut butter, or Stevia. Personally, I went with chocolate milkshake mix. Don't judge, with all the nutrition in this bad boy, I can have a little indulgence. It's also fortified with even more vitamins and it only needs two teaspoons, so the fat and sugar content isn't astronomical. If you still don't like the taste, you could switch the kale for mango or banana. Here is the complete recipe. Let me know what you think, or if you have any suggestions to improve it.

30g Organic Super Protein Powder

Half a cup of frozen mixed berries

Half a cup of frozen kale

Half a cup of porridge oats

2 teaspoons of chocolate milkshake mix

250mls milk (I used soya, some people like almond)

All you have to do is throw everything into a blender

Blitz on high for 1 minute

Then low for 2 minutes

and serve!