I’d like to share an apple celery smoothie recipe that’s surprisingly delicious. My favorite part of this smoothie is the fennel, a tasty herb that reminds me of black licorice. I also love that it’s low in sugar and insanely energizing as well.
My love for Good & Plenty candy led me down a plant-powered path to find a great smoothie recipe with a black licorice flavor. This recipe checks all the boxes: fun new ingredients, fresh flavor, low in sugar and refreshing to the core.
In fact, I love this recipe so much that I’ve included it in our new meal planner called Rawk the Year. Rawk the Year features over 400 recipes, weekly meal plans, personalized shopping lists, access to all of our cleanses and more. Try it free for 14 days and see what you think!
Table of Contents
Ingredients for an Apple Celery Smoothie
This refreshing beverage has a rockstar list of ingredients all designed to bring you the most nutrition possible:
- Spinach: Leafy greens like spinach contain fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium and more. There is so much goodness in these mild green leaves!
- Water: This is the simplest liquid to add to smoothies since it is sugar-free and has no weird additives.
- Fennel bulb: Fresh fennel contains potassium, magnesium and calcium. Plus, its unique taste is a lovely addition to this smoothie.
- Celery: Don’t let its simplicity fool you, celery has a host of health benefits including 12 antioxidants, a useful digestive aid, anti-inflammatory properties and is a low glycemic vegetable.
- Green apple: apples naturally contain vitamin C, fiber and anti-inflammatory properties. I chose a green apple for this recipe is it contains *slightly* less natural sugar than red.
- Ginger root: Fresh ginger is an ancient medicinal remedy due to its anti-inflammatory properties. Add just a bit (it’s potent!) to any smoothie you want.
- Lemon: Fresh lemons are high in vitamin C, a heart-healthy nutrient.
Low Sugar Produce
If you’ve ever gone on the hunt for a great low-carb/low-sugar green smoothie, look no further. A fruit or veggie is considered a low glycemic option (low in sugar) if one serving has a glycemic index score of less than 55.
Check out the glycemic index of the ingredients in this apple celery smoothie recipe:
- 1 cup spinach: less than 1
- ¼ fennel bulb: 16
- 1 celery stalk: 15
- 1 green apple: 38
- ¼ inch fresh ginger: 15
- juice from 1 lemon: 20
My blood sugar’s doing a happy dance knowing this celery smoothie won’t raise it! This recipe can be a great afternoon pick-me-up, or even a refreshing evening treat to stabilize the body’s blood sugar for the night.
How to Make a Celery Smoothie
I find the best-tasting green smoothies are blended in two steps. While you could dump all the ingredients into the blender and hope for the best, blending them in two batches produces the smoothest result without any chunks.
- Start by blending the spinach, water and lemon together. You’ll know it’s done when it looks like juice. Feel free to stop and scrape down the sides of the blender as needed.
- Add the remaining ingredients and blend again until smooth. Depending on the type of blender you have, grating the ginger and dicing the apple and fennel might help you get a smoother result.
This smoothie is less creamy than others since it is full of watery ingredients. If you want a creamier smoothie, add 1/2 banana or 1/4 avocado. You can also use unsweetened coconut milk instead of water for a creamier finish.
Celery Smoothie FAQs
They can be! I like smoothies over juices since they don’t eliminate the fiber, which your body craves and needs to process the natural sugar in these beverages. My celery smoothie recipe is loaded with vitamin C, potassium, fiber and vitamin A to give you a great jump-start to your day.
My smoothie is super flavorful with the fennel and fresh ginger in it. It tastes refreshing and will help wake you up in the best way.
Focus on whole food ingredients that are lower in natural sugar and high in fiber. You can make a variety of healthy smoothies with healthy ingredients that all taste different! There is no one right way to make one. I like this celery smoothie since it has a variety of fruits and vegetables along with fresh ginger for a whole host of healthy benefits.
More Low Sugar Options
If you’re looking for ways to decrease your sugar consumption, I’ve got you covered below! Here are a few of my other low-sugar smoothie favorites that work great as smoothies for diabetics:
- Cherry Açai Smoothie: I love the balance of flavors in this berry-filled smoothie recipe.
- Raspberry Smoothie: Guests won’t even know this is a green smoothie, it’s pretty enough for dessert!
- Alkaline Smoothie: This is a great smoothie for stabilizing blood sugar and getting a variety of produce.
- Anti-Inflammatory Smoothie: Sip away inflammation and feel better all over.
- Red Velvet Smoothie: These don’t have to “taste healthy” in order to be healthy! Enjoy a delightfully energizing beverage with real ingredients.
Does this smoothie recipe excite you or scare you? Leave a comment and rating below letting me know if this is a make or pass for you. I’d love to know!
Apple Celery Smoothie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup spinach fresh
- 1 cup water
- ¼ fennel bulb cored and roughly chopped*
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 green apple cored
- 1 tsp ginger root peeled
- 1 lemon peeled
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
Instructions
- Blend spinach, water and lemon together until juice-like consistency is reached.
- Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
Notes
- Only use the white part of the fennel bulb. The green stalk and sprigs may be used as a garnish.
- Keep as much white pith on the lemon as you can for more nutrients.
- Use at least one frozen ingredient for a refreshingly cool smoothie.
- Swap the spinach for the leafy greens of your choice.
- Swap the water with one cup of unsweetened coconut water for a natural electrolyte boost.
- Add one serving of homemade protein powder to provide ten more grams of protein, turning this smoothie into a meal replacement.
I used 1 stalk celery n 1 apple..
Been take take 4 some time now n loving it
Hi! Awesome job! This one is great right?!
This sounds so yummy but I cannot find fresh fennel in my grocery store. Could I somehow substitute fennel seeds? Thanks
Hi there Mandy, I’m sorry that you’re not having luck finding fennel. I’ve had that experience before – maybe looking at a different store if possible, because it really is a delicious ingredient. Yet, it’s not totally necessary for this recipe, so don’t stress!
Hi there Mandy, I’m sorry that you’re not having luck finding fennel. I’ve had that experience before – maybe looking at a different store if possible, because it really is a delicious ingredient. Yet, it’s not totally necessary for this recipe, so don’t stress! I wouldn’t, however, recommend using fennel seeds as a substitute as I think it would affect the flavor and texture.
This is a great recipe! The flavours blended together feel confusing for my brain – but in a good way!
The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the texture. It feels a bit foamy for my tastes. But i don’t imagine that’s something crushed ice can’t remedy.
I’m having my first one now and I agree… what a great idea… crushed ice!
This is a great smoothie. The favors all go so well together!
I’d like to add the plant based protein to this smoothie and not include the fennel. I’ll try it tomorrow.
Truth be told, I wasn’t thinking I’d be a fennel fan either, Melinda. Yet I totally love it in smoothies. Might be worth the adventure! Let us know if you give it a blend!
Greetings.
I did the 7 day smoothie challenge. All are very good but definitely high in sugar.
So, thank you for this low carb recipe. I tried it without the fennel because I don’t like licorice and added a serving of your homemade protein powder. It was good and sipped on it throughout the day.
However, do you have a suggestion for replacing the fennel? If not, I’ll just leave it out.
Thank you.
Love this question, Deborah! I hear ya about the fennel, as I wasn’t a fan at first either. However, we’d totally encourage you to give it a blend and see. It’s amazing how green smoothies have a way of disguising those ingredients that are so good for us, yet we wouldn’t eat otherwise. If fennel still isn’t your groove, then see if your blender can handle celery, caraway or anise seed as a substitute. The seeds will be strong in flavor, so go easy at first. Also, be sure to check out our Low Sugar Fruits for Smoothies! We think you’ll find it really helpful. Happy blending! 🙂
Hi, what is substitute for fennel ?
Hi Elle- you could add extra celery.
Celery in a smoothie?! Man, you guys are always keepin it fresh at SGS! LOL. Can’t wait to try!
It’s so good! Def give it a try and let us know what you think!
Thank you for this low carb/ low sugar smoothie recipe. SO good!
You’re welcome, Kim!
Talk about a fiber party! This smoothie was THICK. I wasn’t sure i would like it so I added some more water and then tasted it. Pretty good!
Glad you loved it, Dani!
I love recipes that go big on greens – this is one of them! LOVE!
Me too, Amanda!
Ok so this thirst quenching yummylicious smoothie takes longer than 5 minutes to prepare but it’s soooo worth it!! You didn’t specify if the celery, apple or ginger needed to be minced/chopped up but I did anyways. I literally could not stop drinking this smoothie, it was gone within 5 minutes! I definitely feel a burst of energy and serotonin kicking in. Thanks so much for the delicious recipe!!!
Hey Heather! So glad you loved this smoothie! It is sooo delicious. Depending on the type of blender you have, you really only have to cut your fruits + veggies into large chunks and your blender will do the rest. Keep on rawkin!
Hi! I’m not 100% sure how much a stalk of celery is. Is it just one “stick”.
Hey Oli! You are correct, it’s just one “stick.” The group of stalks (or sticks) is a bunch. You don’t need to put an entire bunch in! Happy blending! 🙂
Good morning,
I would like if you can answer my questions.
Can celery be frozen when in season? Does celery loose all or any nutritional benefits when frozen?
Thank you very much.
Angie
Hey Angie! You can def freeze celery if you have a lot and don’t want it to go bad. In general, freezing helps retain the nutrient content of fruits and vegetables. However, some nutrients begin to break down when frozen produce is stored for more than a year. 🙂
This smoothie needs to go into my regular rotation. Antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, *and* alkalizing?! You are speaking my language!!
Kale yeah!! 😀
I like celery, so this smoothie sounds right up my alley. I never understood the “juicing celery” because it takes away the fiber— the best part! So blending the celery into the smoothie is def the way to go. Thank you for the weekly smoothie recipes to keep me inspired.
We think blending is always the way to go! 😀