What Is Skinny Fat? How to Fix It, Examples, & More
Learn what causes “skinny fatness” and how to fix it.
Protein shakes are a gym-goer’s best friend: they’re a tasty, convenient, and affordable way to easily nail your daily protein needs.
That said, the old protein powder + water combo can get stale after a few months. Plus, if you’re trying to gain muscle, mixing protein powder into shakes is a delicious and efficient way to boost your daily calorie intake.
And that’s where high-protein shake recipes become clutch.
Good protein shake recipes give you endless flavor options, so you never get bored with the most important macronutrient. What’s more, they’re also a delicious way to squeeze in more fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds into your diet, which provide important vitamins and minerals necessary for maintaining optimal health.
In this article you’ll learn why you need protein to gain muscle, what to add to a protein shake to make it taste great, 12 premier protein shake recipes, including the best protein shakes for muscle gain, the best protein shake recipes for weight loss or gain, and more!
Table of Contents
A protein is a large molecule made up of chains of smaller compounds known as amino acids.
You can think of amino acids as the “building blocks” of muscle proteins—without the requisite amino acids, the body can’t construct new muscle protein, and thus you can’t get bigger or stronger.
The primary reason to eat protein, then, is to provide your body with adequate amino acids to continue building and repairing your body.
As you can imagine, regular weightlifting and exercise increases the body’s demand for protein, but adequate protein intake is important among the sedentary as well.
If sedentary folk don’t eat enough protein as they age, they lose muscle faster. And the faster they lose muscle, the more likely they are to meet an untimely demise.
A good rule of thumb is that you want to eat about 0.8-to-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day to support muscle growth. You also want to ensure most of the protein you eat comes from high-quality sources, which contain an abundance of essential amino acids (those most involved in the muscle-building process).
When it comes to protein powders, some of the highest-quality proteins are whey, casein, and pea or rice (all of which work perfectly for protein shakes for muscle gain).
After several months of drinking the same flavor, even the most delicious protein powders can get boring. That’s why it pays to have a few plant or whey protein shake recipes up your sleeve to break the monotony.
Here’s a list of the best things to put in protein shake recipes (or protein smoothie recipes) that’ll keep the taste and texture of your shakes fresh and toothsome:
Whether you’re looking for something that’s low-calorie, high-calorie, vegan, or just mouth-wateringly delicious, you’ll find a recipe (or five) that you want to try on this list of the 12 best protein shakes for muscle gain.
You don’t need any special instructions about how to make a protein shake to get excellent results: Just chuck all the ingredients in a blender and blend them until smooth. Easy!
(Oh, and if you’d like more delicious, high-protein recipes, check out The Shredded Chef cookbook, which includes 125 “fitness-friendly” recipes for building muscle, losing fat, and staying healthy.)
Banana protein shake recipes are a great go-to when you don’t have time to cook a well-balanced breakfast because the starch in the bananas keeps you fuller for longer and gives the shake a thick, creamy, milkshake-like texture. This protein smoothie recipe mimics the flavor of baked goods with cinnamon, almond butter, and honey.
Serves 2
Calories: 282
Protein: 25 grams
Carbs: 34 grams
Fat: 6 grams
Peanut butter is a good source of protein, but it’s also high in fat and calories, which means slathering some on toast isn’t always practical if you’re on a weight-loss diet. This peanut butter and chocolate protein shake for weight loss is a better way to go because it satisfies your cravings for peanutty goodness and it’s comparatively low in calories and higher in protein than the peanut butter concoctions most people consume.
Serves 2
Calories: 240
Protein: 22 grams
Carbs: 20 grams
Fat: 9 grams
This is one of my all-time favorite chocolate protein shake recipes because it takes all the flavors of a marshmallow-topped peppermint hot cocoa, and puts them into a protein-packed shake that’s perfect for dessert.
Serves 1
Calories: 297
Protein: 32 grams
Carbs: 41 grams
Fat: 5 grams
Having a hard time saying no to everyone else’s birthday cake at the office? Indulge in this sippable version instead. There’s no icing, but you’ll be surprised how much this vanilla protein shake recipe satisfies your cake cravings, and since it has protein instead of simple carbs, it’ll fill you up instead of weighing you down. It’s also a perfect protein smoothie recipe for Birthday Cake Whey+!
Serves 2
Calories: 259
Protein: 25 grams
Carbs: 30 grams
Fat: 1 gram
If you’re looking for fresh, fruity, and healthy protein smoothie recipes for muscle gain, this strawberry mango layered fruit smoothie is a gem. It also works with pretty much any two-fruit combination you can think of, so feel free to experiment (banana-pineapple and blackberry-watermelon are two of my favorites).
Serves 3
Calories: 299
Protein: 14 grams
Carbs: 36 grams
Fat: 12 grams
Turn your morning coffee into breakfast with this weight-loss protein shake recipe. It’s a great way to enjoy the perks of coffee—including increased metabolic rate and improved physical performance—all while getting a serving of protein.
Serves 1
Calories: 218
Protein: 35 grams
Carbs: 13 grams
Fat: 2 grams
Turn your post-workout protein shake into a taste of vacation with this fruity protein smoothie recipe. It might not help you escape the workweek, but it’ll do something about your cravings for piña coladas.
Serves 3
Calories: 349
Protein: 27 grams
Carbs: 55 grams
Fat: 5 grams
Turn your favorite summer dessert into a healthy way to cool off with this low-calorie protein shake recipe. It doesn’t taste quite as indulgent as ice cream, but it has half the calories and ten times the protein. That’s a fair trade when you’re still able to enjoy fresh peaches and cream—not heavy cream, of course, but low-fat cottage cheese.
Serves 1
Calories: 217
Protein: 41 grams
Carbs: 14 grams
Fat: 1 gram
If you run out of protein powder or want to stick to whole foods instead, this strawberry cheesecake shake with cottage cheese is one of the best homemade protein shakes for muscle gain.
Serves 1
Calories: 164
Protein: 11 grams
Carbs: 18 grams
Fat: 5 grams
If you’re looking for protein shake recipes for weight loss, look no further than this cinnamon roll protein shake. It uses egg white, almond milk, cinnamon, and maple syrup to recreate the essence of a Cinnabon. But instead of a whopping 880 calories per pastry, this cinnamony shake adds up to less than 200 calories yet has 33 grams of protein.
(With only seven grams of carbs, it’s one of the best low-carb protein shake recipes, too.)
Serves 1
Calories: 189
Protein: 33 grams
Carbs: 7 grams
Fat: 2 grams
If there’s one cocoa combo that challenges chocolate+peanut butter, it’s chocolate+hazelnut. This protein shake for muscle gain includes half a banana and a handful of hazelnuts for flavor, and a mix of hemp, flax, and chia seeds for a big nutritional boost.
The final result doesn’t taste exactly like Nutella, but if that’s the flavor you’re after, you can always add a tablespoon of the hazelnut chocolate spread to the recipe. Doing so adds around 100 calories and makes this an excellent protein shake recipe for weight gain.
Serves 1
Calories: 525
Protein: 39 grams
Carbs: 38 grams
Fat: 27 grams
Think you’ve tasted every possible fruit smoothie combination? Think again. This avocado mint protein shake recipe with vanilla powder contains a unique blend of creaminess and freshness that’s perfect for livening up your protein smoothie recipe rotation. Be aware, though, this one’s high in calories, so it’s best suited to people looking for weight gain protein shake recipes.
Serves 1
Calories: 525
Protein: 39 grams
Carbs: 38 grams
Fat: 27 grams
"Dieting" doesn't have to suck. You CAN eat foods you like and have the body you want!
Click Here to Learn HowWhat if I told you that just about everything magazines and trainers “teach” you about dieting is wrong?
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Learn what causes “skinny fatness” and how to fix it.
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Many companies use shipping and handling fees to increase their profit margins, but here at Legion, we hate profits, so our shipping is free!
Okay, so we do dig on profits, but we also go in for happy customers, and free shipping works like gangbusters. So, if you’re outside the USA, your order ships free when it’s over $199.
Why the restriction on international orders? Unfortunately, shipping abroad is very expensive, and if we didn’t require a minimum order size, we’d lose a lot of money. But! We're also hustling to improve our international logistics and will be passing our savings along to our international customers.
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