Drinks

Unicorn Tears Protein Shake by Joe & the Juice recipe

Name: Unicorn Tears Protein Shake by Joe & the Juice
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 1
Ingredients: 3 pieces banana (or 1 small banana); 1 heaped tablespoon date purée (or 1-2 pitted dates); 2 scoops protein powder (15-20g, vanilla collagen and whey, or pea); 2 swirls almond butter (around 30g); 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 1 tbsp blue spirulina (or 1 heaped tsp green); 10 ice cubes (less if using frozen blueberries); 150ml (⅔ cup) Sproud m*lk; handful frozen blueberries (reduce ice if using); 1 scoop creatine powder; 150g (¾ cup) whole pitted dates; 125ml (½ cup) freshly boiled water

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Recreate Joe & the Juice’s discontinued protein shake, Unicorn Tears. It works out around 65% cheaper (if you could still buy it). You’ll save even more money if you use green spirulina.

Prep10m
Total10m

joe-and-the-juice protein smoothie

Unicorn Tears copycat recipe using green and blue spirulina

Unicorn Tears gets its gorgeous hue from spirulina. There are two kinds and Joe & the Juice opt for blue. It’s easy to see why. It’s extracted from green spirulina and has a mellow flavour. Green comes from the whole algae and is more nutritious, but it can have a seaweedy/fishy taste.

I made Unicorn Tears with both. If using green, I’d recommend reducing the amount slightly; a heaped teaspoon instead of a tablespoon.

If you’ve got frozen blueberries, chuck in a handful and reduce the ice cubes. They thicken the smoothie, boost the flavour and add one of your 5-a-day.

Don’t miss the date purée recipe below. I wasn’t entirely convinced (why not just use whole dates?) but it’s versatile and delicious.

Notes

Someone on Reddit recommended using organic spirulina, but I just wanted the best value per gram. I found a pack for around £15 on Amazon, but on closer inspection, it contained just 55% spirulina.

I‘d fully committed to recreating Unicorn Tears as someone requested it (it was their favourite and they used a tear emoji). 100% organic blue spirulina costs TWENTY THREE POUNDS for 75g and muggins here bought it. It’s gorgeous but honestly the green stuff is fine. 125g of organic green spirulina costs £3.76 from Buy Whole Foods Online.

Recipe credit

r/TopSecretRecipes

Recipe

Unicorn Tears Protein Shake by Joe & the Juice

Prep10m
Total10m

Serves: 1

Ingredients

Unicorn Tears

3 pieces banana (or 1 small banana)
1 heaped tablespoon date purée (or 1-2 pitted dates)
2 scoops protein powder (15-20g, vanilla collagen and whey, or pea)
2 swirls almond butter (around 30g)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp blue spirulina (or 1 heaped tsp green)
10 ice cubes (less if using frozen blueberries)
150ml (⅔ cup) Sproud m*lk

Optional extras

handful frozen blueberries (reduce ice if using)
1 scoop creatine powder

Date purée (can be doubled)

150g (¾ cup) whole pitted dates
125ml (½ cup) freshly boiled water

Method

Unicorn Tears

Basic Unicorn Tears: Add 3 pieces of banana (or 1 small banana), 1 heaped tablespoon of date purée (or 1-2 whole, pitted dates), 2 scoops of protein powder (15-20g), 2 swirls of almond butter (around 30g) 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of blue spirulina (see notes) and 10 ice cubes to a blender (reduce ice if adding blueberries). Pour Sproud m*lk up to the 16oz mark (roughly 150ml or ⅔ cup).
Optional extras: Add any extras like a handful of frozen blueberries, or a scoop of creatine, if using.
Blend until smooth.

Date purée (alternative to using whole, pitted dates)

Soak 150g (¾ cup) of whole pitted dates in 125ml (½ cup) of freshly boiled water for 10 minutes (skip the soak if you have a high-powered blender).
Blend until smooth. I have to stop the blender periodically and scrape down the sides.
Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 3 months.