My Honest Review of Daily Harvest’s New Protein Smoothies

If you were to profile me, you would peg me as a protein powder (or protein shake) enthusiast. I’m a registered dietitian, lift heavy weights three times a week and am in my 40s.

But you’d be wrong: I am a major protein powder snob. 

My ability to detect protein powder in a smoothie is akin to a toddler spotting pureed cauliflower in their mac and cheese—you can’t hide it from me. And even though that extra hit of protein is a boon for my peri-menopausal body, if it doesn’t taste good, I truly do not care how much I need it. 

Over the last year, I have tested double-digit numbers of protein powders and ready-to-drink protein shakes, and only a few made the cut. So when Daily Harvest sent me samples of their new protein smoothies, I was intrigued. Not only was I eager to find a more affordable solution to my smoothie shop purchases, but I was also curious if they could fool my tastebuds.

You know how this story ends—my headline gave it away. I l-o-v-e-d Daily Harvest’s new protein smoothies, and their vanilla bean flavor is my leading favorite. 

Vanilla Bean Protein Smoothie

I’ll get to the flavor, texture and ingredients in a minute. First, let’s talk about the nutrition this smoothie delivers: 20 grams of protein, 25% of my daily fiber quota (at 7 grams) and healthy doses of calcium, iron and potassium. And that’s before I add my liquid. Depending on my liquid of choice, those numbers could all increase. 

The protein comes mainly from pea protein powder, chickpeas and a little bit from other ingredients like organic parsnips. I love that the smoothie includes vegetables—don’t worry, though, you can’t taste the parsnips or chickpeas. 

If you don’t care much for bananas, this smoothie might not be for you. The first ingredient is bananas and while I didn’t find the banana flavor to be overpowering, it is detectable. 

Daily Harvest was aiming for a vanilla milkshake experience, and while it isn’t a dead ringer for the real deal, it sure does come close. The texture is silky and smooth, with a milkshake-like creaminess that coats your tongue. The vanilla flavor is bold, and for a dairy-free option, I’d give it four out of five stars for its likeness to a milkshake. 

Like I mentioned earlier, I enjoyed all three flavors! My second favorite was the Dark Chocolate followed by Mixed Berry. I anticipated dark chocolate to be my first choice because I rely on chocolate flavors to cover up the protein powder taste. If you are a fan of dark chocolate, this one will win you over.   

Dark Chocolate Protein Smoothie

Daily Harvest says brownie batter was the inspiration behind this smoothie’s flavor and I can tell. As with their other protein smoothies, this one is 100% plant-based, organic, gluten-free and has zero added sugars. The sweetness comes from the dates. 

Mixed Berry Protein Smoothie

Of the three protein smoothie flavors I tried, mixed berry was my third choice. It blended up a little thinner than I expected, so it didn’t quite match the “berry froyo” I had in mind. That being said, the berry flavor was delicious. I loved that it included flaxseeds (for some plant-based omega-3s) and I found the protein powder essentially undetectable.

Remember how I said I was looking for an alternative to my smoothie shop purchases? Well, Daily Harvest delivers. The only consideration is that you have to spend a minimum of $50 to place an order and shipping isn’t included—mine was $9.99. The good news? They offer more than just smoothies, so you can mix and match items to fill your box. Even with the minimum spend and shipping, my cost per smoothie still came out to $2 to $3 less than what I’d get at a smoothie shop. 

There’s one more thing that I appreciate about Daily Harvest, especially since I’ve tested a handful of meal kit subscription services recently. The ordering process is a breeze. You can choose your delivery date and leave specific delivery instructions (such as if you have a doorman, etc.). And it’s easy to pause, skip or cancel the service without needing to connect with customer service. 

Shop More Smoothies at Daily Harvest

Cacao + Date Smoothie

Carrot + Cinnamon Smoothie

Blueberry + Cacao Smoothie

At the time of publishing, the price was $10 per smoothie.