Check out my cheaper, easier, longer-lasting recipe without bananas, too.

How to mix bulk batch of dry ingredients

Read Bret's recipe instructions (find his most recent version on the site's list of most popular recipes) for his details on how to mix dry ingredients in bulk batches.

My only significant revision: I find it's quicker, easier, & cheaper (particularly if you don't own a power drill, but also if you simply lack a concrete-mixing attachment) to mix all dry ingredients sufficiently by using at least two 5-gallon buckets, filling them only halfway, stirring them around a bit (making sure to scoop ingredients from the bottom to the top), & shaking each vigorously (approximately 1-2 minutes). I try to dump multiple layers of oat flour & whey (or whatever protein source you prefer) in each bucket, too: 1/4 total amount of oat flour in one, 1/4 total amount of whey on top, 1/4 total oat flour, 1/4 total whey, sugar/sucralose, vitamin mix, dark cocoa powder; repeat in the next bucket; stir, shake. At around 3000 calories per day, I find I can fit about 15 days' worth in a volume of just under 5 gallons, so at near 2000, you'd be able to fit about 23 days' worth, or 3-3 & 1/2 weeks' worth.

--I think Bret's instructions talk about this, & you might infer it for yourself regardless, but the precise amounts of sugar, sucralose, dark cocoa powder, & xanthan gum depend on what you like, & to determine that you'll have to experiment some. I recommend double his amount of daily dark cocoa powder (& I do recommend dark cocoa over regular cocoa). I prefer to add the xanthan gum per daily batch rather than with the bulk batch, so I have more control over the viscosity. I add less sugar because the bananas have sugar & bring the short-chain carb / long-chain carb ratio near 1:5 as it is (not that I have a rigorous idea of what the optimum ratio would be for me or anyone else anyway).

How to mix daily liquid batch

Add the mass of each dry ingredient per day to determine what the total mass of your dry powder per day will be. Depending on the volume of your blender, you may have to blend in two rounds (I do, but I usually blend 3000 calories). Weigh out whatever amount you're about to blend in. Put something like 1/8 tsp xanthan gum on top if you didn't mix it in with your bulk batch (I actually do about 1/8 tsp per round).

Chop or rip the banana (both or one) into the blender.

Add the coconut oil. I use teaspoons & tablespoons for the oil. 15 ml=1 tablespoon=3 teaspoons. My daily amount calls for an even 5 teaspoons (25 ml), so I do 3 in the first batch, 2 in the next. Just eye it if your proportion isn't as convenient. --The coconut oil is pretty sticky when it's not warm enough to be in liquid form. I use stainless steel measuring spoons & have some warm water running to deposit it in the blender (or blending pitcher, whatever) easily.

Add the canola oil. As it's a greater volume than the coconut oil in this recipe, I use tablespoons.

Fill water to about 2/3-3/4 of the total volume of the, er, blending pitcher, leaving room to add dry ingredient. Warm water promotes a thorough mixing, & after a couple hours' refrigeration the mix should be cold.

Snap the lid on your blending pitcher & blend the banana, oils, & water on a really high setting for 10-15 seconds.

Without turning the blender off, switch to a really low setting, remove the lid, & scoop the dry ingredients into the blending pitcher with a spoon. (Once the mix is swirling, you shouldn't have to deal with any sudden rise in the total volume of the liquid, but any time you have to turn the blender off & restart it, be sure to have the lid on.)

Pour into your pitcher or whatever you're refrigerating/transporting in. Repeat if you only did half.

Additional notes

My best-tasting version of this recipe actually has a flavored whey cut into the unflavored: subtract about 10-30% of your unflavored whey (again, find the proportion that works for your taste buds, & adjust it according to how much total protein your particular recipe is aiming for) & replace it with something like Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Rocky Road whey. Keep in mind this will raise costs. Hold off on adding sugar & especially sucralose to your bulk batch, or add very light amounts. Continue with the dark cocoa powder though (I'd recommend).

Bret's recipe outlines reasonable, succinct nutritional explanations for why he chose the ingredients he did.

My recipe has a high ratio of protein & fat (but still lower fat & more carbs than Bret's). Bret's recipe is modeled of the official Soylent recipe's macronutrient ratios, the rationale for which I've never looked into. Anecdotally, I've heard a diet high in protein & fat puts more strain on the liver--I haven't looked into what the negative long-term effects of that might be. I do it mainly because my recipe still has a quite dominant oat grain taste/texture as it is, but also because it may suit my metabolic profile, & at the least doesn't ever feel unsuitable. If you want a different ratio, check out some of the variants, or any of the many, many other recipes on this site. There's also a nutrient profile calculator on this site & it's not hard to find more information on the varieties of nutrient ratio profiles recommended for various body types & activity levels (or to determine how to adjust the ingredients accordingly).

I add bananas & coconut oil not only because I think it improves taste & texture but also because I intuitively like the idea of having a 1:4 or 1:3 ratio of fast-digesting:slow-digesting or short-chain molecule:long-chain molecule in my macronutrient profile. That being said, to execute that intuition completely I'd have to vary my protein sources more--whey protein is so popular because it has a complete amino acid profile & digests quickly. If you like that idea, you could look into using wheat protein like Bret, or maybe casein (though that'd be more expensive than whey even). It also looks like a survey of available research suggests the purportedly beneficial effects of coconut oil on cardiovascular health & fat consumption/loss require more research, to put it very briefly.

My recipe isn't as cheap or time-saving as Bret's, but I like the way it tastes, the consistency & potency of the energy it gives, & I'm accustomed to the effort it takes. You can easily buy 3-4 days' worth of bananas at once, & more if you refrigerate or freeze. I plan on developing a satisfactory non-banana/non-fresh recipe eventually. You can cut out the coconut oil if you don't care about the taste or texture it adds, & pat yourself on the back for not using a trendy fat source that likely provides a much more modest degree of the beneficial effects than is often advertised. If you want a cheaper, easier recipe that a lot of people like, look into Bret's most recent recipe ($1.94 per day). I couldn't get into his recipe using rice protein, but once I run low on whey I may try his latest.

--I don't know why this site thinks my recipe has 10701% potassium. Compare it to Bret's recipe without bananas, or do the math: with two medium bananas & 1.7 g potassium chloride, you're coming to about 3.4 g potassium, still 0.1 g short of the 3.5 g DRI.

Update, 3/18: I've added citric acid to help prevent spoiling, which starts about 24 hours after blending. It starts to taste sour & slightly fermented. I haven't tested it myself, as I just made a large batch of the non-banana variety, so I'm not sure if half a teaspoon is enough.