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My favorite green smoothie recipe is really a tropical energy drink in disguise. With over 1,300 5-star reviews, it’s time for you to see why blending spinach into a smoothie is a tasty morning habit.
I know a green smoothie doesn’t sound (or look) very appealing at first sight, but it can be beyond delicious. I’ve blended this recipe in kindergarten classrooms (and the kids ask for seconds)! I’ve made it for my teenage daughter’s volleyball friends and they chug it down. I drink this green smoothie recipe almost every morning to boost my energy levels and nourish my body.
Table of contents
Benefits of a Green Smoothie
Drinking this green smoothie is what gave me the body and energy levels to do some incredible things in my late 30’s after having two kids. I’ve run 47 miles of the Grand Canyon, rode a motorcycle across Morocco in a 7-day race, hiked Angel’s Landing and created a backyard garden for my kids.
This simple green smoothie is great for beginners because it’s naturally sweetened with fruit (no added sugars) and loaded with greens and protein. Some of the benefits I’ve noticed when I drink a green smoothie every day are:
- More energy from the natural fruit sugars
- Don’t get sick (my immune system is strong thanks to all the nutrients)
- My digestive system is happy with all the fiber and hydration from a green smoothie
This daily habit has kept my kids healthy when we didn’t have health insurance, energized us in between school and sports and nourished us so we rarely get sick. And when we do, we can usually bounce back with some of my own natural remedies.
My kids started drinking green smoothies when they were 2 years old. Now, they’re teenagers and still drink them. Here’s some photos of them over the years (they have no clue I put these on here!).
When I created this green smoothie recipe, it changed my family’s life in more ways than I ever imagined. It was love at first sip for me, my two kids and 1 million others, who were intimidated by spinach (just like me!). Since them, I’ve published a best-selling green smoothie cookbook and shared my recipes live on The Doctors TV Show…twice!
Best Green Smoothie Ingredients
Everything you need to make a green smoothie is found in a garden, farmer’s market or the produce section of your grocery store. The closer we eat to nature, the better we feel. This smoothie recipe is a great way to start eating healthier foods. Here’s the ingredients we’ll be blending:
- Fresh spinach: Baby spinach is the most mild version to use in smoothies, and also the most easy to find. I suggest using organic spinach because it’s one of the Dirty Dozen. The right ratio of spinach to fruit makes it sweet, as well as helps you reap all the health benefits.
- Frozen pineapple: I buy frozen pineapple at Costco in bulk to make Frozen Smoothie Packs. If it’s on sale, I’ll cut up pineapple and freeze it myself.
- Frozen mango: You’ll find this next to the ice cream in the freezer section. I love how it’s already peeled and cut for you and ready to add to the blender. If fresh mango is on sale, you can always cut the mango and freeze yourself.
- Fresh banana: Bananas add a creaminess to smoothies that is hard to replicate. It’s magic!
- Water: The liquid base in the smoothie is water. Use filtered water to avoid any unnecessary chemicals or pollutants. I like using a Berkey Water Filter that I keep on my countertop.
Fresh VS frozen fruit
I prefer using frozen fruit because it chills down your smoothie without using ice, which can dull your blender blades overtime. I use fresh bananas in my smoothies because I like how creamy they make it.
How to Blend a Green Smoothie
The only equipment you need to make a green smoothie is a high-speed blender for smoothies. A juicer or food processor won’t work to get you a creamy drink you’ll want to make over and over. Once you have a blender, you can successfully make the best green smoothie recipe following the steps below.
Blend spinach with liquid base
Blend 1 cup of spinach (or another leafy greens of your choice) in a blender with 1 cup of liquid. Adding spinach to your smoothie boosts the phytonutrients and fiber, which then slows down the absorption of sugars into your body. Blend until all leafy chunks are gone.
Beginner Blending Tip
When you’re making your first few green smoothies, follow my Green Smoothie Formula to get the perfect blend. Don’t just throw spinach and kale in the blender. Chances are, it’ll taste nasty if you wing it right out of the gate.
Add frozen fruit to blender
Toss in frozen mango, pineapple and bananas in the blender. Blend on high until smooth and creamy. If you want your smoothie to be extra chilly or possibly even be a smoothie bowl, use more frozen fruit. You can freeze your favorite fruits like ripe bananas, grapes, pineapple or berries.
How to sweeten a smoothie
If the smoothie isn’t as sweet as you would like, add in some natural sweeteners like bananas, mango, oranges, honey or pitted dates.
Scoop in the superfoods
Once the smoothie is nice and creamy, you can add in superfoods. Chia seeds, hemp hearts and flax seed are all great choices. You can turn any smoothie recipe into a meal replacement by adding a serving of homemade protein powder to any smoothie recipe.
Blend smoothie on high speed
In order to break down the cell walls of the plants, you need to blend on high speed. You shouldn’t have any leafy chunks in your smoothie if your blender is powerful enough.
Drink green smoothie immediately
To get the maximum amount of nutrients from a smoothie, drink it immediately after blending it. The longer your smoothie is exposed to oxygen, the more it breaks down and the nutrients deteriorate. This is called oxidation. To minimize this, you can store your smoothe in the fridge with an air-tight lid for up to 48 hours, yet I think it tastes best if consumed within 4 hours after blending.
Green Smoothie Recipe Variations
It’s easy to swap ingredients based on what you have on hand. If you’d like more green smoothie recipes, check out these popular ones below:
- My son is obsessed with this mango orange smoothie recipe.
- Try this tropical pina colada smoothie to head to the beach asap.
- Want to boost your metabolism? Then this is a great fat burning green smoothie recipe.
- This kale smoothie will surprise even your taste buds.
Best Green Smoothie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup spinach
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup pineapple frozen
- ½ cup mango frozen
- 1 banana
- 1 serving homemade protein powder optional
Instructions
- Measure: Tightly pack spinach in a measuring cup.
- Add: Put spinach to blender with water. Blend together until all chunks are gone. (Should resemble green water when blended well).
- Toss: Pineapple, mango and banana to blender. I like to use frozen pineapple and mangos to chill the smoothie down and save time cutting and prepping. It’s a win-win!
- Blend: It all together until smooth and creamy. Depending on your blender, this could take as little as 30 seconds or as long as 2 minutes.
- Pour: Into a glass and serve immediately.
- Store: In the fridge with a lid until ready to drink.
Equipment
Video
Notes
- Not a fan of bananas? Swap it for 1/4 avocado, additional 1/2 cup mango or 1/2 cup peaches.
- You can use 1 cup pineapple if you’re out of mango.
- Frozen fruit is recommended to chill the smoothie (and save time cutting and washing).
Nutrition
Common Questions
You won’t be able to taste the spinach if you use the proper ratio of fruit to spinach. This green smoothie tastes like a mango pineapple smoothie with a hint of banana flavor.
Green smoothies are the healthiest fast food out there. Blending spinach and fruit into a smoothie is a great way to boost your immune system, increase fiber intake, and boost your energy levels. A kale or spinach smoothie has incredible health benefits with additional phytonutrients. What we eat can truly transform our bodies and our lives in powerful ways.
Most smoothies you buy or find online are made with just fruit and fruit juice. This makes them crazy high in sugar, which can cause inflammation and consuming excess calories. A green smoothie, on the other hand, is made with fruit, vegan milks and leafy greens, typically spinach or kale. They’re loaded with iron, potassium, fiber and vitamins galore. If you’re not sure which leafy greens to use in your smoothie, check out my Ultimate Leafy Greens Guide for Smoothies.
Any blender will work, yet to get the creamiest green smoothie you’ll need a high speed blender. Check out my Best Blenders for Smoothies guide, where I reviewed countless blenders to find the best ones for green smoothies. The key is to get rid of leafy chunks, blend quickly and provide tons of value for the price. Hint: not all of them cost $400.
For busy weeks, you can create Frozen Smoothie Packs that you prep on the weekend and enjoy all week, or month. It’ll only take you 5 minutes every morning to have a green smoothie ready to go. You can also blend your smoothie the night before and store it in your fridge until ready to drink.
Thank you for the 21 day ,and the 30 challenge, you all are awesome.Before I found your website my intake of fruit and veggies was almost nil.
Now its min once a day at the most twice. I feel better and the color of my skin is better. Now if only there was something for the lines and wrinkles (lol) Seriously, most of my co workers have been sick and I believe that the changes I have made and continue to make have helped me from not catching the flu. Love the receipes
So awesome to hear, Kimi! Thanks for sharing with us 🙂
I have a question. How many grams is a “cup” of spinach, or pineaple or banana? Do you just do it randomly? if so, how big are the cups you use, or what is their volume?
A cup of spinach is about a medium handful 🙂 Here is a good resource for conversion:
How many servings of fruits/veggies are in a smoothie?
Each smoothie serves two people, so there are about 1.5 cups of fruit and 1 cup of leafy greens 🙂
If you liked the beginner recipe just do the 30 day smoothie. The recipes are so simple and its not anything you have to go out of your way to buy. So glad i found this site. Will be doing the cleanse as soon as i finish my 30 day smoothie challenge
When does the next 30 day challenge begin?
We have them quarterly, so the next is planned for April 🙂
I notice a lot of your recipes are measured out for large benders. We only have a Nutribullet. Any suggestions on how to properly scale down the recipe or is it not necessary?
Hi Jessica! Just cut everything in half 🙂 Each recipe is meant for two servings, so if you cut everything in half then it will make one serving. If you need another, then just blend it twice!
What are some suggestions you can substitute for pineapple?
Thanks!
Anything sweet and juicy, Kelsey 🙂
hi,
i will start on my smoothie today. can i still join the thirty day challenge?
You can!
Hi, I was wondering, since I don’t have any mangoes could I just substitute it with another fruit?
You sure can 🙂 Something juicy that is slightly sweet would do the trick! Peaches maybe? It’s up to you!
This comment was submitted twice, evidently! Please delete this one. Thanks.
I’ve been making and drinking the green smoothies for two weeks, plus now, but I was told that ingesting too much fruit isn’t good–that the fructose can cause health problems. Please comment on this. Thanks. This is the first comment I’ve made on this subject!
Well yes and no. Technically yes too much fruit will give you health problems. But too much fruit is like having 15 servings of fruit. You will be totally fine as long as you also have starches and dairy throughout the day.
Thanks for the help in answering this, Dylan 🙂 It’s true, that too much of ANYTHING is not good for you, but you have to figure out what too much is. We encourage people to drink one green smoothie a day, which ends up being half of each of our recipes (each recipe makes two servings). This is nowhere close to too much fruit 🙂
When a recipe calls for coconut milk, do you use canned on carton?
Great question! We use the cartoned version.
Hi. How much is 1 cup(in grams) for this recipe? or how much do you use in your smoothies(in grams)?
Love your site by the way, thanks for all the info!
Here’s a good tool for cup to gram conversion 🙂
I received an email that says Challenge week #3, do I start here? Is there no way to see week 1, & 2. Do I need to go in order? Also, can I substitute apples instead of pineapple? Can I add Carrotts and celery to any?
Contact us through the link below so we can help you out 🙂
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/contact
Hi! I just found your website and signed up for the 30 day challenge. My question is where do I start? Can I start at week 1, and if so. Where can I find those receipes. I made this am the first ever green smoothie, but mine didn have pineapple so I put apples in it. Is this okay? I’m allergic to pineapples. Also. What week should I continue for tomorrow? So lost!! Wish I had a setup and check of list. I was doing juice recipes.com challenge and it’s a check off list but I wasn’t juicing I was blending, so that’s why I switched to you guys. But I’m confused on where to start and if I’ll be able to see what week 1 was. Help! Also, my husband is doing smoothie with me, he wants to know if it will help him lose weight.
Hi!
Have you received your week one email? That email should explain everything you need to do, but if you haven’t received it then you should be contacting us through this link below 🙂
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/contact
How can I get the back weeks?
Hi Mary!
Contact us through this link below so we can help you out 🙂
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/contact