​​7 Bolthouse Farms Smoothies, Ranked

When you're craving a refreshing beverage that borders on being filling enough for an entire meal, there's nothing better than a good smoothie. And luckily, at Tasting Table, we have more than a few smoothie recipes to choose from. But what if you don't have a blender or you're on the go and don't have time to stand there waiting for all of your fruits, vegetables, and liquid additions to blend together? This is when a bottled smoothie can come in handy. Chances are, if you head to the produce section of your local grocery store, you'll find Bolthouse Farms' line of fruit smoothies, which offer something between a beverage and a proper smoothie to enjoy even on your busiest of mornings.

I've sought out seven different Bolthouse Farms smoothies — all the varieties I could find at my local grocery stores — and decided to rank them from worst to best. I preferred varieties that offered a less sweet, more balanced flavor profile that tasted like real fruits and vegetables, not just added sugar. Admittedly, though, a lot of these smoothies missed the mark. Whether you're trying to figure out which Bolthouse Farms flavors to try or which to avoid, you're in the right place.

If you've ever had a Bolthouse Farms smoothie for yourself, then you've probably realized that they're quite thin. Yes, they're thicker than juice, with an opaque appearance and a bit of body. However, I'd say that they're bordering on juice territory, without the thickness you might expect from a freshly made smoothie. However, the brand's Peach Parfait Breakfast Smoothie is an exception. As soon as I poured the drink out of the bottle and into a glass, I immediately looked forward to taking a sip. The consistency looked thick and substantial, which made me feel like I was getting a beverage that really could function as a whole breakfast on a particularly busy day of the week.

Ultimately, though, I wasn't pleased at all after taking a sip. To me, it tasted like artificial peach, with a peachy flavor so intense it seemed to hijack my every taste bud. Although that thickness looked appealing at first, I realized that the texture in my mouth was quite unpleasant. It had a strange, yogurt-y thickness, but it was blended in a way that it felt like paint going down. Even if you generally really like peach smoothies, I wouldn't suggest this product to you.

How hard can it be to pull off a berry smoothie? It seems like one of the most basic smoothie flavor combos out there, so I expected that Bolthouse Farms' Berry Boost smoothie would be a solid one at least. However, it ended up being one of my least favorite smoothies of the entire lineup. Although this beverage is supposed to taste predominantly of blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries, it just tastes like apple juice with a strange, unnatural berry tartness. I'd prefer a more balanced and tarter flavor profile, but I got a drink that tastes incredibly sweet, with very little banana flavor to support those berries.

Looking at the ingredients list for this product, I see that the very first ingredients are apple puree and apple juice from concentrate. That might not be such a bad thing if you were looking for an apple-flavored smoothie, but I was expecting berries to be front and center. This product just doesn't offer the fresh berry tartness I was looking for, and it's another Bolthouse Farms smoothie I probably wouldn't get again.

Although the Blue Goodness smoothie certainly isn't my favorite of the bunch, I do think it represents a step up in deliciousness from the Berry Boost flavor, at least. Blueberry, blackberry, and blackcurrant juices are supposed to be at the forefront of the flavor you're getting in this bottle, although the first ingredient listed is actually pear juice from concentrate. Admittedly, that's pretty disappointing if you're looking for something that actually tastes like a fresh smoothie, but at least it's a less recognizable flavor than the apple juice you'll find in other recipes, which makes you feel like you're actually getting a more interesting flavor in every sip. I think the flavor of the banana puree also shows up here stronger than in the Berry Boost variety.

Overall, I find this "smoothie" too sweet, without tapping into those berry notes in the way I'd hope for. That being said, the pear juice base adds a decent amount of tartness that helps to balance that intense sugariness. This Bolthouse Farms smoothie could be good if you're looking for a more tart note in your beverage.

Green smoothies are just one of those foods that automatically make you feel healthy, like you're doing something good for your body. But let's be clear: Bolthouse Farms' Green Goodness smoothie isn't exactly the same thing as an actual homemade version of the drink. While you might expect the first ingredient in this "smoothie" to be spinach or cucumber, the first ingredients are listed as apple juice from concentrate, pear juice from concentrate, and mango puree from concentrate. 

You don't actually get any of that bitterness or any of the green flavors you might expect from a fresher version of a green smoothie, apart from a slight note of cucumber juice from concentrate further down the ingredients list. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing really depends on your stance on green smoothies in the first place.

Personally, I'm not the biggest green smoothie person, as I'd prefer to just eat a salad than to blend my greens into beverage form. Therefore, this sweet, fruity base to the drink isn't totally unenjoyable for me, and I think I'd prefer it to a green smoothie packed with veggies. Still, I think that this smoothie is too sweet, and I wish it had a bit more balance in its flavor profile.

Although the Immunity C-Boost smoothie from Bolthouse Farms isn't my absolute favorite of the lineup, it's one of the tastier options from the brand. Although pear juice and apple puree from concentrate are the first ingredients you'll see on the ingredients list for this product, this smoothie still packs a pretty strong mango flavor that overpowers those less obvious, more neutrally sweet juices. Since I love mangoes, this flavor is definitely appealing to me, even though I don't think it tastes as light and acidic as it would in a fresh mango smoothie.

Along with that strong mango note, I can also taste a touch of cherry-like flavor from the acerola. That makes for a more complex sip and introduces a touch of tartness and bitterness to make things more balanced. Like basically every smoothie on this list, the Immunity C-Boost is still too sweet. However, that sweetness is perhaps a bit less egregious here than it is in some of the worst-ranked varieties on this list. If you're looking for a mango-forward flavor but don't have access to the next smoothie, this bottle might be your second-best bet.

When you're craving a smoothie, you typically want a drink that tastes like actual fruits and veggies, not like generic, sweet juice. Unfortunately, most of Bolthouse's smoothies seem to fall into the latter category. But there are a couple of options that give you more of a genuine smoothie experience, and the brand's Amazing Mango flavor is one such option. Perhaps that's because the first ingredient in the bottle is actually mango puree from concentrate. That may not be quite the same thing as real chunks of fresh mango, but at least it's really mango that you're tasting here. That refreshing tart and sweet flavor makes for the perfect base here, even if the smoothie isn't quite as thick as I'd want.

You'll also find other ingredients in this smoothie, like apple, orange, and lemon juices from concentrate, along with banana puree. The banana is a nice addition and definitely makes the drink taste a bit more like a smoothie, although the fruit juices give it a slightly-too-sweet tinge that I don't particularly like. However, this seems to be one of the simpler Bolthouse smoothie recipes, and I'm absolutely here for it.

Now, we've reached the Strawberry Banana smoothie, the best that Bolthouse Farms has to offer in the smoothie section — according to my taste buds, at least. This flavor is closer to a real smoothie than anything else on this list. Perhaps that's because it's tapping into such a classic smoothie variety: strawberry banana. Personally, I think a homemade strawberry banana smoothie will always taste the best, since you get a lot of thickness from the banana that is unfortunately lacking here. However, I do think that this Bolthouse flavor has at least a slightly thicker consistency than the other varieties.

I also appreciate that strawberry and banana are the main flavors coming through. Yes, you still have those unnecessary apple and pear juice flavors, since they make up a large portion of the drink — apple is first on the ingredient list. But for a bottled smoothie, I taste a lot of the advertised flavor. Would I choose this smoothie over a fresh smoothie of any kind? Probably not. But if you're really pinched for time but are still craving a smoothie-adjacent beverage, you could do worse than this specific Bolthouse flavor.

I chose to review these specific Bolthouse Farms smoothies because they were the flavors I could readily find at my nearby grocery stores. I considered both overall flavor and texture and consistency of these drinks, when applicable, when deciding where each one landed in the ranking. I also considered how close they tasted to the advertised fruits or flavors listed. 

Therefore, the best-ranked smoothies in this ranking most adequately reflect the flavors they're meant to represent. Sweetness and flavor balance are other factors I took into account — less aggressively sweet products rose to the top, while the sweeter and more artificial-tasting varieties ranked near the bottom of the list.