Watermelon Banana Juice Recipe | Summer Refresher

Watermelon banana juice is a refreshing drink that is perfect to make with fresh juicy watermelon and ripe bananas. Lemon juice adds a nice tang in this delicious summer thirst quencher.

Did you ever think if watermelon and banana go together? I have been thinking about it many times in the recent week. Because we bought a huge watermelon from the market and we also had ripe bananas. So, that's when the idea of combining these 2 together came about.

To answer the question, the combination is delicious and refreshing. Do try it out. Don't get me wrong, I love eating fresh watermelon. But there's only so much we can eat. Some of it had to be used up in this delicious smoothie recipe.

Juice vs Smoothie

As I was making this watermelon and banana juice, my husband and I had a very serious conversation about the difference between juice and smoothie. Back home in India, we used to call everything juice. It could be just freshly squeezed fruit juice or a mixture of fruit juice.

But there is a technical difference between juice and a smoothie. Juices are made with a juicer that takes out the indigestible fiber from the fruit making it easily absorbed by the body.

Smoothies on the other hand are made by blending the fruit. So, basically entire fruit or vegetable skin with all the fiber is pulverized into a smoothie. Here's a good Huff post article about juice vs smoothie and which one is better for you.

So technically this is a watermelon banana smoothie recipe but I choose to call it a juice. It's all in the semantics, at the end of the day it is a refreshing drink/ beverage on any day.

Ingredients

All you need to make this drink is:

• Fresh Watermelon, cubed
• Ripe banana, chopped - if you have frozen banana, then feel free to use them
• Sweetener - totally optional, depending on the sweetness of watermelon. I usually add a tiny bit agave nectar if the juice is not sweet enough for me.
• Lemon juice - adds a nice tang to the drink.

Instructions

• Place the watermelon cubes and chopped banana in the blender.
• Add lemon juice, sweetener and ice cubes (if using).
• Process/ blend into a smooth puree, about 40-50 seconds. Serve chilled.

Want to make a Smoothie instead?

As I said, the combination of watermelon and banana is delicious as is. But if you want to make it into a smoothie, like my husband, then here's what you can do:

• Non-vegan version: Combine the fruit along with 1 cup of Greek yogurt, sweetener (optional), 1tbsp hemp seeds, 1tbsp chia seeds and blend until smooth along with ice cubes. Enjoy!!
• Vegan version: Combine the fruit along with 1 cup of coconut water/ almond/ oat milk or other non-dairy milk or chilled water, sweetener (optional), 1tbsp hemp seeds, 1tbsp chia seeds and blend until smooth along with ice cubes. Enjoy!!

Few more refreshing drink recipes

• Aam Panna (Green Mango Juice)
• Mango juice concentrate
• Apple Orange Mocktail