Coffee Protein Shake Recipe
Need a hit of caffeine with your morning protein powder? This coffee protein shake is the best of both worlds and can be customized based on the flavors you want!
Ingredients in this Coffee Protein Shake
In this coffee protein shake, we use a base of vanilla protein powder, coffee, frozen avocado slices, and almond milk. We added chia seeds for more fiber, maple syrup for sweetener, and added cocoa powder to enhance the chocolate notes of the espresso coffee. While many recipes call for frozen bananas as a thickener and sweetener, we replaced this with frozen avocado because we didn’t want a banana-flavored shake.
Type of Coffee to Use
After testing out different types of coffee, we preferred instant espresso because it has a bolder flavor that doesn’t get diluted with the other ingredients. We enhanced this flavor by also using instant espresso ice cubes we make a night ahead. You can also use drip coffee or instant coffee if you don’t have instant espresso but the flavor might be lighter.
Which Protein Powders to Use
We used plant-based vanilla protein powder Vega for this coffee-flavored protein shake. Using vanilla protein powder is a good base because you can add other flavors like caramel or cocoa powder to change up the shake. However, if you want a mocha-flavored shake, you can also use chocolate protein powder too.
Flavor Variations
This iced protein coffee recipe is a great starting base to explore different shake flavors when you need a boost in the morning. While we use vanilla protein powder, you are free to add cocoa powder or even use chocolate protein powder to make a mocha shake too.
Here are other tasty variations:
- Choco banana: frozen bananas and chocolate protein powder (or cocoa powder)
- Chocolate nutter butter: chocolate protein powder (or cocoa powder) and nut butter
Tips For Making Coffee Protein Shake
Here are some tips for making the creamiest coffee-flavored protein shake:
- For stronger coffee flavor without an espresso or nespresso machine, use instant espresso powder. This flavor was better than drip or instant coffee.
- Make coffee ice cubes: If you have time, premake coffee the night before and freeze some of them into cubes and chill the rest in the fridge. This prevents the coffee flavor from being diluted when using ice cubes.
- Frozen avocado slices: If you also have some leftover avocado, freeze these the night before to get the creamiest consistency. You can also use frozen bananas, but I prefer avocados because their flavor isn’t as strong.
- Blend the wet ingredients with the protein powder in the blender until it’s incorporated so you don’t have any chunks of protein powder later.
For other smoothies or shakes in the morning check out our frozen smoothie packs and anti-inflammatory turmeric smoothie.
Can You Mix Protein Powder With Coffee?
While this protein powder coffee recipe is a shake, you also have the option of adding protein powder directly to your coffee in the morning. However, we prefer adding it to this coffee protein shake because it mixes really well in a blended drink–you can hardly tell you’re drinking protein powder.
Can You Just Buy Coffee Flavored Protein Powder?
You can purchase coffee-flavored protein powder, however, we like making our own shake because you can tailor the flavor variations to your preference and also adjust the sweetness levels too.
Coffee Protein Shake
Equipment
- ice cube molds (optional)
- strong blender (Vitamix)
- spatula
Ingredients
Coffee ice cubes (optional)
- 4 tsp instant espresso powder
- 12 oz filtered water
Coffee protein shake
- ⅔ c instant espresso chilled (from the leftover ice cube mix above)
- ½ c almond milk or other milk
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder or protein powder of your preference
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- ½ c frozen avocado slices
- 1 c coffee ice cubes from above
- 2 tbsp maple syrup optional
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder optional
Instructions
Coffee ice cubes (optional)
- NOTE: This is optional. You can always use normal ice cubes, but if you want extra strong coffee flavor, then make coffee ice cubes. Mix the espresso instant powder with the hot water and let chill for 20 minutes until cool.
- Measure out ⅔ cup of coffee into a mason jar or container and place it in the fridge. Put the rest of the coffee mix into one ice tray and place in the freezer for two hours or until it’s frozen.
- Transfer the rest of the coffee mix into an airtight container and place it in the fridge to chill.
Coffee protein shake
- Add your chilled espresso mix, almond milk, and protein powder to your blender. Blend for about 5-10 seconds or until the protein powder has been incorporated fully.
- Add the rest of the ingredients into the blender and blend until all the ingredients including the ice cubes are fully mixed.
- Serve immediately.
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