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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.
Loved this for the first day. Not too sweet but just enough sweetness. I left out the protein powder because mine is chocolate flavored and I wanted to taste the tropical flavors. Otherwise made just like the recipe. Very good.
You’re so right. This one is a great start to day 1, Rosanna!
The Best Green Smoothie is absolutely delicious. Sweet and creamy. A great smoothie to start the 7-Day Smoothie Challenge of November, 2023. This recipe will be a go to smoothie for me in the future!
Yay! So glad you’re off to a great start, Eileen!
Easy and delicious. Sometimes I use peach instead of mango. Either way, it’s yummy!
Ooohh peach is sooo good in this one, Colleen!
I love this smoothie I’m not a fan of banana so I use avacado first time I’m using water in place of almond milk it’s filling and delicious!!! I love mango the flavors mingle wonderfully together.
Avocado is just as good in this one, Danielle! The mango makes it feel super tropical!
I could live on these smoothies! What better way to start the day than with The Best Green Smoothie! Very easy to drink, can’t miss the spinach taste layer with a tropical blend of pineapple and mango! Great combination.
I could make this one everyday too, Cheryl!
I thought calling it the Best Green Smoothie was going to be subjective at best, but this really is a fantastic smoothie! I used a fresh banana for more creaminess and the spinach was blended down enough that there were no chunks or separation – just yummy, sweet, green deliciousness. Wow! It made more than would fit into a pint glass so I was bummed my boyfriend wasn’t around to share it with me.
So glad we’ve convinced you it’s worthy of the name, Sylvia!
Was excited for the smoothie challenge!
First time I have used water instead of Almond milk and it was delicious however I didn’t like the taste of my Organic plant based protein powder maybe I will use less next time. But will definitely add this green smoothie on my rotation. Thanks
Hi Peggy! You can definitely decrease the protein powder if it was too overpowering!
This is by far the tastiest green smoothie I’ve ever had! So simple, yet so fulfilling. I added hemp seeds for protein, and it was delicious. This will definitely make it into my top five rotation of smoothies!
Adding hemp seeds is a great idea, Kay!
I love this recipe. I’ve been making this for years now. I use double the amount of spinach. One of my weekly go to recipes.
You can never go wrong with adding more spinach, David!
Love it !
Healthy, refreshing and easy to make!
Love it !
Healthy, refreshing and easy to make!
So glad you liked this one, Jeffery!
For a green smoothie this is tops in flavor and texture. It pays to blend the spinach and water first. Never knew that before!
Yes! You’re so right, Lois. Blending the spinach and water first is a game changer!
I’m not really a fan of green smoothies, but I was pleasantly surprised with this Day 1 smoothie. There was no detection of spinach anywhere. It wasn’t super thick and “fleshy” as the one’s I’ve had in the past were. Also, it had a nice balance of just overall flavor and sweetness. Looking forward to Day 2. Thank you!
Yay! Love that this one surprised you, Valerie!
Delicious! Thick as a milk shake and a very fresh sweet flavor. I added unflavored pea protein. Definitely enjoyed this smoothie.
Pea protein is a great addition to this one, Terry!
Sorry, I did not use your recipe because the calorie count was over my limit. I used another low cal mixture:
1/2 cup Baby spinach and baby kale
1/3 Cucumber
1 peeled and seeded lemon
1/2 Green apple
1 Tbs beet powder
1 Tbs home made cranberry sauce. (made with stevia)
1 1/2 cups of filtered water
blend
Hi Laura! If you’re looking to reduce the calories, you can substitute more mango for the pineapples!
Tasted great and is filling.
Thanks so much Lillie!
This was okay but not delicious. I mostly tasted the banana. It seemed a bit thin/watery. But overall okay and will probably have it again.
Hi Pam! Next time reduce the banana or maybe swap it with an avocado!