A smoothie is a thick, creamy drink made by blending fresh or frozen fruit with liquid (like milk, yogurt, or juice) until everything becomes smooth and drinkable.

Making a smoothie is simple. You might blend strawberries, a banana, and some orange juice together, or mix frozen mango with yogurt and a splash of milk. The blender's spinning blades pulverize everything into a consistent mixture that's somewhere between a drink and soft-serve ice cream. Some people add ingredients like spinach (which you can barely taste!), peanut butter, or protein powder to make their smoothies more nutritious.

Smoothies became popular in the 1960s and 1970s when affordable home blenders became common, though health food stores had been serving similar drinks since the 1920s. Today, you'll find smoothie shops in shopping centers and gyms, where people order them as a quick breakfast or post-workout snack. Unlike milkshakes, which are based on ice cream, smoothies focus on fruit and are often considered a healthier choice, though they can contain quite a bit of natural sugar from all that fruit.