More than just your standard soda or milkshake, your go-to fast food restaurants have put a huge amount of effort into creating large drink menus where there’s something for everyone. Especially within the past few decades, there has been a goal of creating healthier or lighter options, and nothing says light and refreshing like a good smoothie (although, that does become debatable with the higher amounts of sugar present in some of these smoothies).
Besides the dedicated juice and smoothie joints like Jamba Juice or Smoothie King, some of your favorite fast food places also have smoothies for you to dive into and order when you want a delicious, fruity treat. Some of these restaurant options include Panera Bread, McDonald’s, Dairy Queen, and Baskin Robbins, which all offer a decent variety of options. Throughout this list, any prices mentioned will be a general estimate, since each price can greatly vary by location.
Panera Bread has an extensive drink menu
Amongst its soup and sandwiches, Panera Bread has a decently large drink category, which includes a few smoothies for you to choose from. The flavor options include strawberry, mango, tropical green, and strawberry banana. All of these aim to be refreshing but also take on a sweet taste and thick consistency, something we noted and appreciated when ranked 13 drinks at Panera Bread from best to worst.
The strawberry banana smoothie was one of our favorites, along with the mango, which we even thought resembled a custard with how rich it was. The tropical green smoothie underwent a recipe change and features guava and mango puree with pineapple, white grape, spinach, passionfruit juice, and, of course, ice. The two more self-explanatory flavors — the standard strawberry, and the mango — include a fruit puree and juice base mixed with Greek Yogurt, which helps cut through any extreme sweetness. All smoothies at Panera are in the general price range of $6.39 and only come in one size.
McDonald’s focuses on quality over quantity with its smoothies
McCafé, McDonald’s line of specialty drinks such as coffee, hot chocolate, etc, is decently sized. However, it seems like this iconic chain restaurant is going for quality over quantity with the number of smoothies present on its menu: The only options available are a strawberry banana smoothie and a mango pineapple smoothie. Both use the flavor’s respective fruit puree and juices with a blend of low-fat yogurt and ice. The two smoothies come in small, medium, or large sizes, and a small is estimated to cost around $3.49, a medium $3.89, and a large $4.79, though prices can vary.
You’ll find that most smoothies on this list use ice to keep the chill and create a thicker consistency. However, if you’re buying one of these smoothies to save for later and you’re concerned about the ice eventually watering down your smoothie as it melts, there are some ice cube alternatives to check out, such as using frozen fruit or freezing milk or juice in ice cube trays.
Dairy Queen partnered with Orange Julius for smoothies
Besides Dairy Queen’s iconic Blizzards (which we ranked 14 of) and dessert milkshakes, smoothies are accessible and available at D.Q. through its collaboration with Orange Julius. There are many flavors to explore and choose from, but some of the standard smoothie flavors at Dairy Queen include strawberry banana, mango pineapple, and tripleberry, which include strawberry, blackberry, and raspberry. All of these smoothies contain their respective fresh fruit mixed with low-fat yogurt and sweetener.
The Orange Julius and Strawberry Banana Julius are other options to enjoy for a smoothie-esque drink but with some extra orange acidity and a more frothy texture with a sweet vanilla addition, representative of a creamsicle. These Julius products, however, can only be found at a select D.Q. locations, but other smoothies are universal for every location. The prices for Dairy Queen are not as fixed, especially since there are optional add-ons. Your best bet if you are unsure is to just double check with your local location to be able to create whatever smoothie or Julius you would like.
Baskin Robbins expanded beyond ice cream and into smoothies
Baskin Robbins has way more to offer than just its iconic 31 ice cream flavors. Alongside ice cream cakes or milkshakes, you can also order fresh fruit smoothies. These smoothies were first released in April of 2023 along with a special graduation cake and PB ‘n J ice cream flavor. Although the latter two seemed to be limited time, the smoothies have stuck around since then.
These smoothies are all non-dairy and come in three flavors: strawberry, mango, and mixed berry, which consists of strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry. Because of the lack of dairy present, this can be an accessible smoothie for anyone lactose intolerant or vegan. On Baskin Robbins’ website, a small-sized smoothie is stated to cost about $5, a medium $6, and a large $7, although prices will slightly vary based on location.
