Meal Shake Recipes – How to add a twist to your meal replacement shake

By Matt Smith

Published: April 9, 2025

When we were first designing Rootana there were a lot of balls to juggle, such as ensuring our meal replacement shake was nutritionally complete, was made with nothing artificial and tasted amazing. We think we’ve accomplished this, and have created a shake composed of real food ingredients with the choice between a subtly sweet, oat flavor and a cocoa variant, which combines a more bold dark chocolate flavor with that subtle oaty taste.

The thing is, whether you’re new to meal replacement shakes or are a decorated veteran, it’s easy to imagine that things can start to get a little bit stale, especially if you’re having a meal replacement shake every day. Luckily there’s a lot more to Rootana than just mixing it with water, and with a bit of creativity and ingenuity you can end up with some rather spectacular offerings that, once posted to your socials, will make all of your friends jealous.

That’s why we’ve written today’s article, compiling a few of our favorite options that we think compliment Rootana well without interfering with the original goal; to offer a healthy, plant-based drink that is nutritionally complete and tastes amazing.

Check out how Rootana stacks up against the competition here

Banana

Recommended Portion: 1-2 medium bananas

Calorie content: 90-120 per banana

It feels like such an obvious choice, to the point that if you asked someone to say the first thing that came to their mind and used the prompt “Banana”, it’s highly likely they’ll say “shake”.

Banana shakes taste amazing – it’s a statement you’ll find very few people would disagree with. We find that when it’s mixed with Rootana Original, you get a shake that is sweet without feeling decadent, and is indulgently thick. In fact we actually recommend you add a bit of extra water to prevent the shake from being too thick, though it’s all down to personal preference.

You might be worried about the sugar or calorie content however, and that’s a perfectly reasonable worry as one banana contains roughly 12g of sugar. The thing is, the sugars contained here are all naturally occurring. Naturally occurring sugars are digested much slower, meaning you’re much less at risk [1] so enjoying some banana in your Rootana isn’t going to be the end of your diet and is a great way to get one of your 5-a-day.

Coffee (Editors Choice)

Recommended portion: 1-2 teaspoons of instant coffee

Calories: Zero

Around the office this is the most common sight, and it’s a sight to behold. When first presented with a Rootana Mocha it was a revelation – Breakfast and morning coffee in one fell swoop. It’s as if someone took the very concept of convenience and somehow gave it material form.

Not everyone loves the taste of coffee but it’s hard to deny that coffee and chocolate go hand in hand, especially dark chocolate. The best thing about it isn’t the energy boost, and it isn’t even the wonderfully married taste or convenience, it’s that it’s zero added calories. The fact this can be enjoyed completely guilt free, with all of the benefits it provides is exceptional.

We’ve mentioned how popular this is across the office, but its convenience extends far beyond that. One of the motivating factors behind Rootana’s inception was having a reliable source of nutrition and energy whilst hiking, and adding a hit of caffeine to that can be the difference between reaching the summit or not. The fact you don’t need a blender for this to work is also fantastic for hiking, as you don’t need to make the decision to add it ahead of time, instead simply bringing along a bit of coffee if you think you’ll need the extra boost.

Caffeine also has a lot of benefits for weight loss, increasing resting metabolism via thermogenesis [2] and helping with appetite control [3] to name a few, so if your motivation to get Rootana is to use it as a weight loss tool, adding a shot of coffee to the mixture is going to help you along with that.

Peanut Butter

Recommended portion: Two tablespoons

Calories: 188

Though we originally tested this out with the idea that it would fit better with Rootana original, adding peanut butter to Rootana Cocoa is like having a reese cup milkshake that is highly rich in nutrition.

If you go to our homepage you’ll see that we recommend people to add in an extra two scoops if they’re looking to put on weight or bulk up, and this is a great option, bringing the total calorie count up to 600. Peanut butter is a great alternative to this however, adding incredible flavor with a nutritionally dense 188 calories.

Speaking of nutrition, peanut butter is very high in protein, making this a fantastic choice for anyone hitting the gym.Just generally though, it’s loaded to the brim with vitamins and minerals such as Iron and Calcium, which can be difficult to get in a plant-based diet.

Chai Tea

Recommended portion: brew small batch to taste

Calories: Zero

A bit more of an odd choice but the subtle hints of cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom pair so well with Rootana original that we just had to include it in this list. It’s a breath of fresh air and a really great way to add a bit of variety to your routine that is completely guilt free, being zero calorie.

Drinking Chai has many health benefits, especially when it comes to boosting immunity. This is thanks in large part to the antioxidants, which chai tea is highly abundant in, but you can’t forget the important flavonoids that put in a lot of work as well. Flavonoids work similarly to antioxidants in that they limit the impact of free radicals, being able to neutralize them before they get to work damazing your cells [4].

Fresh/Frozen Berries

Recommended portion: 80g

Calories: 22-40

Nothing quite captures the taste of summer quite like fresh summer berries, and they’re another fantastic option for jazzing up your daily Rootana. Whether you go fresh or frozen is really down to preference, as the taste is largely the same once it’s all blended in.

This is a great way to get one of your 5-a-day whilst also indulging in an easy to make, great tasting and largely guilt free meal replacement shake. Depending on how much of each different berry you have the calories can fluctuate a bit, as blueberries are more calorie dense than something like strawberries, but if you stick to 80g your calorie count shouldn’t exceed 46.

You also get the great benefit of how rich berries are in vitamins and antioxidants, helping you to reach your recommended daily intake of micronutrients such as manganese and Vitamin C, bolstering the already impressive micronutrient profile in Rootana.

Wildcard – Porridge

Recommended portion: One-two scoops of Rootana

Calories: 100-200

Flipping the script here, have you ever considered adding Rootana to your favorite recipes? You might be surprised with the outcome. Take porridge for example, which is a highly popular choice for breakfast for people. Adding one or two scoops of Rootana original or cocoa helps to sweeten the porridge whilst making a nutritionally rich meal.

Porridge is so popular for providing energy throughout your entire day, and Rootana simply adds to that without interfering. It’s very quick to make, as you simply add the scoop/scoops to the porridge mixture and then carry on as normal. Thanks to Rootana being designed to be so mixable you’ve nothing to worry about when it comes to clumps, it’ll mix right in as if it was never there.

This is just one suggestion however, you could add Rootana to any home recipe. Planning on baking a cake, why not add a scoop of Rootana? Fancy pancakes, why not add in some Rootana, similar to how you’d make protein pancakes?

Conclusion

We’ve explored many different options here today, but you’re really only limited by your imagination as, thanks to the wonderfully tasting formula, Rootana can be mixed with almost anything and still turn out delicious.

We’d love to see your own Rootana creations so be sure to send them our way on facebook and Instagram.

Check out how Rootana stacks up against the competition here.https://www.rootana.com/articles/huel-vs-rootana/

References

1 – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22854401/

2 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6467726/

3 – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28446037/

4 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5465813/

LEARN MORE ABOUT ROOTANA

The Nutrition You Need. And Nothing You Don't.

Complete Nutrition: Perfect Balance of Macros, Vitamins & Minerals

No Sweeteners: No Stevia, No Sucralose, No Aspartame, No Acesulfame K, No Monk Fruit

No Half Measures: 400 Calories Per Serving

Tastes Like Real Food: Because It Is Real Food

LEARN MORE

The Nutrition You Need. And Nothing You Don't.

Rootana is a 400 calorie complete meal, with 27 vitamins and minerals. And no unwanted extra ingredients.

Complete Nutrition: Perfect Balance of Macros, Vitamins & Minerals

Rootana is a perfectly balanced combination of complex carbohydrates for slow energy release, the right amount of protein for a balanced meal and all 27 vitamins and minerals.

No Half Measures: 400 Calories Per Serving

Many meal shakes are simply too low in calories and too high in protein to be a complete meal, meaning they're little more than a protein shake. Rootana fuels you effectively and has the perfect macro split for a balanced meal.

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No Sweeteners: No Stevia, No Sucralose, No Aspartame, No Acesulfame K, No Monk Fruit

We don't include any sweeteners as they don't provide any nutritional benefit and may have short or long-term unwanted effects. Rootana is naturally flavored with a small amount of coconut sugar.

Tastes Like Real Food: Because It Is Real Food

With no sweeteners like acesulfame k, aspartame, stevia or sucralose (Splenda), Rootana tastes like real food. That means no artificial after taste and none of that bloated feeling that many sweeteners cause.