Evidence-based
This article is based on scientific evidence because it has been written, fact-checked, reviewed, and regularly updated by experts that follow our strict editorial process.
The sources used by our editorial team are trustworthy, experienced, and authoritative, such as peer-reviewed journals and governmental information.
All the pieces of evidence are clearly highlighted in the articles as sources in the form of clickable endnotes ([1],[2],[3]) or simple in-text links.
Learn more about our editorial process.
Medically Reviewed
Unfold Today articles that require additional medical expertise are reviewed by a qualified member of our Expert Review Network, a group inside Unfold Today's team that verifies content to guarantee that the information delivered to our readers is thorough, authoritative, accurate, and fact-based.
Iulia Serban, RDN, is a registered dietitian nutritionist with a Bachelor's degree in Nutrition and Dietetics, and a Master's degree in Nutrition and Quality of Life.
Collage and smoothie photo credit: Unfold Today. Novak Djokovic photo credit: James Boyes.[1]
If you've ever dreamed of a champion-approved smoothie that blends bananas' sweetness with kale's superfood qualities and chocolate's deliciousness, you can now experience it thanks to Novak Djokovic's recipe presented in this article.
The only downside of the tennis champion's smoothie recipe, shared in his book “Serve to Win”, is that it yields 4 serves of less than 200 calories each.[2]
Title: Serve to Win: The 14-Day Gluten-Free Plan for Physical and Mental Excellence
Type: book
Written by: Novak Djokovic, world-class tennis player
But don't worry. You can transform Novak’s smoothie into a high-calorie one by turning those 4 servings into one single serving.
To guide you through the recipe, we purchased the ingredients, blended the smoothie, and documented the entire process with photos. Since we’ve previously prepared Djokovic’s High-Calorie Breakfast Smoothie and his High-Calorie Mango Banana Smoothie, we are ready to add another one of Novak's recipes to our list of weight gain smoothies.
Smoothie's calories
The standard version of Novak Djokovic's Banana Chocolate Kale Smoothie yields one serving of 445 calories. If you need more calories from the smoothie, however, you can adjust ingredient quantities by following these guidelines:
Ok, now let's get to the recipe.
To make Novak Djokovic's Banana Chocolate Kale Smoothie, you need two pieces of kitchen equipment:
Even though Novak Djokovic didn't pinpoint the reasons why he had selected each ingredient in this smoothie, he left hints in the same book where we can find the recipe.
To begin with, Novak included bananas because they are high in nutrients and count among "the best sources of potassium, which helps prevent heart disease and high blood pressure."
Second, he chose kale because "it's high in fiber and vitamins A, B, C, and K."
Moreover, Novak poured some organic chocolate syrup because he loves chocolate. Yet, Djokovic eats very small amounts of sugary products like chocolate because they spike insulin. Therefore, Djokovic likely uses zero-sugar chocolate syrups for his smoothies.
Djokovic added almond butter rather than peanut butter because it's "even healthier". Yet, Nole warns that you should use only nut butters that are made solely of nuts.
In the end, Novak chose almond milk because he lists it as a dairy substitute that's not high in sugar or full of unhealthy fats.
If you have nut allergies, you can substitute almond butter with a type of seed butter, like sunflower butter. Regarding almond milk, you can substitute it with a type of dairy milk, like cow milk, or plant-based milk, like oat milk.
Think whether all the ingredients will fit inside your blender.
If you use a small blender with a capacity of less than 616 ml (20.8 fl oz), break the ingredients into two or more identical portions, then follow the next instructions for each of them individually.
Add the ingredients to the blender making sure almond milk ends up at its bottom.
If you own a blender with an ingredient recipient that installs upside down on the blender, always add the almond milk lastly. This way, the blades will work smoothly without clogging in other ingredients.
Blend the ingredients until the smoothie develops a fine texture (about 30-60 seconds).
If you own a less powerful blender, you may need to mix the ingredients for longer than 1 minute. Still, to prevent overheating your blender, abide by the recommended blending duration in your blender's manual.
Pour the smoothie into a glass or a shaker bottle, and serve.
Regarding its flavor, the smoothie has a bittersweet but refreshing taste thanks to the crispness of the kale leaves, the bittersweet aroma of the chocolate syrup, and the sweet savor of bananas.
Since Djokovic advises serving his smoothie "immediately", he doesn't store smoothies. You, however, can usually keep smoothies in the fridge for about a day.
Out of the 445 calories found in Novak Djokovic's High-Calorie Banana Chocolate Kale Smoothie, 71% come from carbohydrates, 23% from fats, and 6% from protein.
Consequently, this smoothie is an energizing drink with plenty of healthy fats and some protein. It's worth mentioning that since the smoothie has less than 30% of its calories coming from fats, it qualifies among the low-fat high-calorie foods.
For more nutritional details, let's explore the contribution of each ingredient to the smoothie's overall nutrition facts.
Source: FoodData Central - Raw bananas.[3]
Name: FoodData Central
Type: food database
Operated by: U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Characteristics:
The frozen bananas bring 72% of the carbs in Djokovic's High-Calorie Banana Chocolate Kale Smoothie. As extra information, bananas are one of the fruits with the most calories.
Source: MyFitnessPal - Kale leaves, no stems.[4]
Name: MyFitnessPal
Type: food database
Operated by: MyFitnessPal, Inc
Trust characteristics:
Source: Calorie King - Santa Cruz Organic Chocolate Syrup.[5]
Name: Calorie King
Type: food database
Operated by: CalorieKing
Characteristics:
Organic chocolate syrup, counting among the weight gain syrups, brings 16% of the carbs in Djokovic's High-Calorie Banana Chocolate Kale Smoothie.
Source: FoodData Central - Plain almond butter.[6]
Name: FoodData Central
Type: food database
Operated by: U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Characteristics:
Almond butter, one of the high-calorie nut butters, brings 69% of the fats in Djokovic's High-Calorie Banana Chocolate Kale Smoothie. Also, because it's a high-calorie nut butter, almond butter is one of the snacks with the most calories and stands among the best weight gain foods.
Source: FoodData Central - Almond milk.[7]
Name: FoodData Central
Type: food database
Operated by: U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Characteristics:
As is the case with his other smoothie recipes, Novak Djokovic's High-Calorie Banana Chocolate Kale Smoothie is filled with health benefits. Explore each of them below.
To begin with, Novak Djokovic's High-Calorie Banana Chocolate Kale Smoothie can help you gain weight easier because it's rich in calories and it doesn't fill you up for a long time.
As social proof, according to the top of the best weight gain foods for females, 91% of the women who gain weight successfully drink smoothies regularly.
Djokovic's High-Calorie Banana Chocolate Kale Smoothie efficiently increases caloric intake because it's nutritious, having 445 calories per serving. All of these calories will make it easier for you to achieve a daily caloric surplus, the essential condition for gaining weight.
Nevertheless, consider that a person with an extremely active lifestyle like Novak Djokovic needs much more calories to maintain or gain weight than the average person.
Besides increasing your total caloric intake, Novak's High-Calorie Banana Chocolate Smoothie allows you to consume more food because, as opposed to many solid foods, it keeps your appetite satisfied only for brief periods.
To support this claim, a University of Bristol study compared fruit smoothies with fresh fruits and other drinks in terms of satiety. They concluded that fruit smoothies are more filling than drinks that are less alike to food (e.g., water and milk) but less filling than solid foods.[8]
Name: A Comparison of the Satiety Effects of a Fruit Smoothie, Its Fresh Fruit Equivalent and Other Drinks
Type: journal article
Published in: Nutrients (peer-reviewed journal)
Made at: University of Bristol
Djokovic's Banana Chocolate Kale Smoothie raises energy levels because it's rich in carbs, most of which come from the bananas in the smoothie's composition.
After all, according to a University of Lausanne study on the energy potential of carbs, carbohydrates are the main energy source for humans.[9]
Name: Carbohydrates as a source of energy
Type: journal article
Published in: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (peer-reviewed)
Made at: University of Lausanne
Djokovic's High-Calorie Banana Chocolate Kale Smoothie can strengthen bones because it contains almond milk, a solid source of calcium.
The almond milk in Djokovic's smoothie brings 540 mg of calcium., which is around 54% of the daily recommended intake of calcium.
Novak's smoothie fortifies immunity because it contains four sources of antioxidants:
Antioxidants, according to a scientific review of antioxidants, increase health protection and disease prevention.[10]
Name: Antioxidants: Molecules, medicines, and myths
Type: journal article
Published in: Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (peer-reviewed journal)
Novak Djokovic's High-Calorie Banana Chocolate Kale Smoothie is healthy for the heart because it contains potassium, which reduces blood pressure.
As scientific proof, a review of the effects of potassium says that potassium lowers blood pressure.[11]
Name: Beneficial Effects of High Potassium
Type: journal article
Published in: Hypertension (peer-reviewed journal)
Made at: Medical College of Wisconsin
Djokovic's smoothie increases eye health because contains kale, a source of vitamin A.
Vitamin A, according to an Australian study about vitamin A's effects on early myopia, is "vital for eye health" because it protects against "night blindness and corneal thinning."[12]
Name: Is Dietary Vitamin A Associated with Myopia from Adolescence to Young Adulthood?
Type: journal article
Published in: Translational Vision Science & Technology (peer-reviewed journal)
Made in: Australia
Nole's smoothie is also very efficient at hydration because it contains three sources of water: bananas, chocolate syrup, and almond milk.
Novak's High-Calorie Banana Chocolate Kale Smoothie can improve digestion because it contains kale and bananas, which are both good sources of fiber.
One of the benefits of eating fiber, as stated in a 2009 review of the health benefits of dietary fiber, is a lower risk of gastrointestinal diseases.[13]
Name: Health benefits of dietary fiber
Type: journal article
Published in: Nutrition Reviews (peer-reviewed journal)
Made in: USA
To follow Novak Djokovic's High-Calorie Banana Chocolate Kale Smoothie recipe in a compressed format, use the summary below.
Whether this smoothie made it to your list of favorite smoothies or not, try the other two high-calorie smoothies shared by the tennis champion: Djokovic's Breakfast Smoothie and Mango Banana Smoothie .
Now, If you want to try other homemade smoothies that can help you gain weight, visit our full list of high-calorie smoothie recipes,
And in case you wish to get creative, you can build your own high-calorie smoothie recipes. Learn what can you add to your smoothie and how to bring extra calories to it from our guide on how to make high-calorie smoothies for weight gain.
And if it happens to get bored of smoothies...
Try switching high-calorie smoothies for high-calorie shakes or other weight gain drinks.
Unfold Today has rigorous sourcing principles adhering to the top journalistic standards, so our writers always look for official, experienced, and first-hand sources. Read more about how we keep our content trustworthy and updated by reading our editorial process.
