This high calorie banana shake is a twist on a classic shake. In this recipe we pack in over 600 calories using delicious high calorie ingredients. We hope we enjoy this shake!
High Calorie Shakes
High calorie shakes are one of my favorite ways to stop unintended weight loss and promote weight gain. I’ve found that even when someone is full and can’t take another bite of food, they can still sip on a high calorie shake.
Be sure to try this delicious high calorie banana shake (recipe below). And if you want to have even more recipes, check out our High Calorie SHAKES e-Cookbook!
When to Drink a High Calorie Shake
Best practice is to drink high calorie shakes in between meals. Eating 3-4 small meals and drinking 1-2 shakes works well for most people.
This high calorie banana shake can be filling. We don’t want to have you fill up on a shake before eating a meal. Then you will be unable to finish your meal.
All that being said, drink the shake when it works best for you. Some people can drink a shake and meal together. Others replace a meal with their shake. It’s important to do what works best for you.
High Calorie Banana Shake Ingredients
This shake has a variety of high calorie ingredients. Calories are important for stopping weight loss and promoting weight gain. People lose weight because they are unable to get the calories their bodies need.
Let’s take a peek at the ingredients:
- Half and half: 350 calories per cup
- Banana: 105 calories per medium banana
- Ice-cream: 275 calories per cup (varies by type)
It is important to choose ice-cream high in calories. Avoid low-fat, reduced-fat, or light varieties. You want to get as many calories as possible in this shake! Keep in mind the calorie content of this shake may vary depending on the type of ice-cream you use.
Reading the Nutrition Label
As mentioned, you want to select ingredients highest in calories. How do you do this? You read the nutrition label. For high calorie, we want to look at 3 parts of the food label.
Three parts of the food label to examine:
- Serving size
- Servings per container
- Calories per serving
Different products may use different serving sizes. It is important to always check how much is considered a serving in an individual product. This way when you check out the calories section, you will know how much you will need to eat to hit that number.
The nutrition label contains a variety of other information you may find helpful depending on your health status and individual situation.
High Calorie Add-ins
Want to add in even MORE calories to our high calorie banana shake? Here are some high calorie add-ins you can throw into the blender.
High calorie add-ins:
- Peanut butter
- Almond butter
- Honey
- Chocolate syrup
- Chocolate chips
- Hazelnut spread
- Shredded coconut
You can add these ingredients in the blender. Or you can sprinkle them on top with some whipped cream for some added garnish. The only limit is your imagination.
High Calorie Drinks
If you love high calorie shakes, then you’ll love our other high calorie drink options.
Go check out these articles on our sister webpage The Geriatric Dietitian:
There are plenty of drink options to help you gain weight!
High Calorie Banana Shake Recipe
Let’s get to it! Below is the recipe for our high calorie banana shake. This classic shake recipe is creamy and refreshing. But best of all, it helps promote weight gain!
This high calorie banana shake is a good way to use up bananas that are starting to brown. Bag them up, throw them in the freezer, and use with this recipe at a later date! If your bananas aren’t frozen, that’s OK. You can still use them, the shake just might not be as cold. Enjoy!
High Calorie Banana Shake
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup half and half
- 1 medium banana frozen (optional)
- 1 cup vanilla ice-cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- whipped cream if desired
Instructions
- Add half and half, banana, ice-cream, and vanilla extract into a blender.
- Blend ingredients until smooth.
- Pour into a glass and garnish with whipped cream, if desired.