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If you’re new to green smoothies—or just want one that actually tastes good—this is the recipe to start with. This simple green smoothie blends spinach with banana, mango, and pineapple to create a naturally sweet, tropical drink that comes together in minutes. It’s proof that healthy can be easy, delicious, and something you’ll actually want to make again tomorrow.
Table of Contents
What is a Green Smoothie?
A green smoothie is a blended drink made with leafy greens, like spinach or kale, and naturally sweet fruit such as bananas, berries, or tropical fruit. The fruit balances the flavor of the greens, creating a smooth, refreshing drink that’s easy to enjoy. Green smoothies are a quick and simple way to add more fiber, vitamins, and minerals to your day in one glass.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Everything you need to make my favorite green smoothie recipe is found in a garden, farmer’s market, or the produce section of your grocery store. I’ve found that the closer we eat to nature, the better we feel. This green smoothie recipe is a great way to start that journey.
- 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 on the Dirty Dozen List.
- Pineapple: I buy frozen pineapple at Costco in bulk to make Frozen Meal Prep Smoothie Packs. If it’s on sale, I’ll cut up pineapple and freeze it myself.
- Mango: You’ll find frozen mango 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. Check out my guide on how to cut mango.
- Fresh banana: Bananas add a creaminess to smoothies that is hard to replicate. It’s magic! You can also freeze bananas to use them in green smoothies, yet the best results come from blending with a fresh, ripe banana.
- Water: The liquid base in the smoothie is water. Use filtered water to avoid any unnecessary chemicals or pollutants.
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How to Make a Green Smoothie
The only equipment you need to make this green smoothie recipe is a blender for smoothies. A juicer or food processor won’t work to get you a creamy smoothie.
- Blend 1 cup of spinach in a blender with 1 cup of liquid. Blend until all leafy chunks are gone.
- 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 turn it into a smoothie bowl, use more frozen fruit. (You can freeze your favorite fruits like ripe bananas, grapes, pineapple, or berries.)
- Add in superfoods once the smoothie is nice and creamy. Chia seeds, hemp hearts, and flax seeds are all great choices.
- In order to break down the cell walls of the plants, you need to blend at high speed. You shouldn’t have any leafy chunks or weird texture in your smoothie if your blender is powerful enough.
- Drink immediately. To get the maximum amount of nutrients from a smoothie, drink it immediately after blending it.
Recipe Tips
- Following a simple smoothie method in my How to Make a Smoothie guide helps balance greens, fruit, and liquid for a smooth, great-tasting blend. Tossing in random greens can lead to bitter flavors or a thin texture.
- Frozen fruit makes smoothies thick and creamy without ice, which can dilute flavor and strain your blender. I use a fresh banana for creaminess, plus frozen mango and frozen pineapple for sweetness.
- Invest in a high-speed blender for smoothies if you plan to make green smoothies a daily habit—it makes blending faster, smoother, and easier to stick with.
Ingredient Swaps
- Banana: You can substitute it with a quarter of an avocado.
- Mango: Swap with frozen pineapple, red apple or peaches for a fiber-rich alternative.
- Pineapple: Swap with a naval orange to get that juicy citrus flavor.
- Water: Use oat milk, almond milk, coconut water or orange juice depending on your health goals.
- Spinach: Swap for kale, Swiss chard, beet greens, or any leafy greens of your choice.
How to Store a Green Smoothie
Store your green smoothie in the fridge with an air-tight lid (ex: mason jars are great) for up to 48 hours, yet I think it tastes best if consumed within 4 hours after blending. The longer your smoothie is exposed to oxygen, the more it breaks down and the nutrients deteriorate (aka: oxidation).
Green Smoothie Add-Ins
- Protein powder: You can turn any green smoothie recipe into a meal replacement by adding a serving of my Homemade Protein Powder to the blender.
- Natural sweeteners: Increase sweetness by using more natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, bananas, or dates. A smoothie can taste like dessert without any refined sugars.
- Chia seeds: A simple way to add more healthy fats and protein is to add 2 tbsp chia seeds. It won’t alter the taste, but drink fast or it will congeal. Some recipes suggest adding almond butter, yet that’s disgusting in a tropical green smoothie
- Collagen: Unflavored collagen is a simple way to add additional protein and support gut health.
- More vegetables: Try adding 1/4 cup frozen cauliflower for a fiber boost without altering the flavor.
More Green Smoothies
Once you try the recipe below, you’re gonna want more green smoothie recipes. It happens every day in my inbox! I love it! Here’s some of the most popular ones on my blog to try next:
- My son is obsessed with this Mango Orange Smoothie recipe.
- This Simple Kale Smoothie will surprise even the pickiest smoothie drinkers.
- I love this Glowing Green Smoothie with spinach and romaine lettuce for digestive support.
- Escape with this tropical Detox Island Green Smoothie to heal from within.
Dietary Adjustments & Substitutions
Need to accommodate a food allergy? Click the button below for tailored suggestions just for you:
Best Green Smoothie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup spinach
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup pineapple frozen
- ½ cup mango frozen
- 1 banana
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.
Video
Helpful Tools
Notes
- Try adding a serving of Homemade Protein Powder, it’s super clean and easy to make.
- 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).
- Store in the fridge with a lid until ready to drink.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review for a chance to win signed copies of my cookbooks!Common Questions
You won’t be able to taste the spinach if you use the proper ratio of fruit to spinach (1½ : 1). This green smoothie recipe tastes like a mango pineapple smoothie with a hint of banana flavor.
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.
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. Adding kale or spinach in a smoothie has incredible health benefits with additional phytonutrients. What we eat can truly transform our body 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 and leafy greens, typically spinach or kale. They’re loaded with iron, potassium, fiber and vitamins galore.
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.
Signed up and can’t wait to start on April 1st. I am going to start working on the beginner’s luck smoothie in the mean time. Very excited.
I am so looking forward to my first 30 day smoothie challenge. Bring on the Greens..:)
My first challenge starts April 1…looking forward to my emails with my smoothie recipes
Dear Simple Green Smoothies,
I’ve been looking into the whole green smoothies thing or a few weeks now, and trying it a few times a week. When I was searching for new recipes, I stumbled on some sites that talked about the dangers of consuming raw greens because they contain a lot of oxalates. For instance, talks about this.
You use a lot of spinach in your recipes, so I was wondering how you feel about the oxalate-debate. I would really like to know!
The Healthy Home Economist should always be taken with a grain…no, make that a shaker full of salt. 99% of what gets posted there is baseless pseudoscience.
That is the case with her nonsense article on oxalates. While they can pose a problem for certain people (those with kidney problems, arthritis, gout, or vulvodynia), the vast majority of people excrete the oxalates through their urine normally.
Contrary to what is in the article, they will not deposit “anywhere in the body”, that is just plain silly. the claims od “fungal” distress are equally baseless, so no worries there, either.
Maggie,
Bobby has a pretty helpful response written for you already, but I just wanted to add a bit, too. It is possible to have too much of a good thing, but having 1-2 cups (one cup per serving in our recipes) of leafy greens on a daily basis is not too much. For every article you find saying to stay away from leafy greens, you’ll find ten more that are supportive and advocate consuming them!
Lastly… We like to use this old phrase: “The proof is in the pudding.” There have been SO many people that have contacted us letting us know how their lives have improved because they started drinking green smoothies. We hear stories about various body test results coming back with incredible numbers, diabetes lessening or going away, increased energy, weight loss, improved outlook on life, and even how green smoothies have helped jumpstart a better and healthier eating lifestyle.
Hope this helps!
I am looking forward to the 30day challenge !
I signed up for the April challenge, but wanted to give the smoothies a try ahead of time. I made one with what I had on hand (Kale, carrots, apples, frozen berries, green tea base) and the results were…OK. I’m sure I’ll get better as time goes on. The taste was good, but the consistency was pretty off. Of course, that’s likely because my blender isn’t up to the challenge.
Don’t, worry…this hasn’t put me off. It’s just made me want to get better at making them! And possibly buy a new blender.
found your website reading this: and i think it’s just so fine of you to share all this recipes!!
i’ve tried Tropicolada Fiesta yesterday and it’s a part of my breakfast today!!! so yummy!!!
can’t wait to april =)))
thank you!
We can’t wait ’til April, either! Thanks for sharing this with us.
OMG I am so happy that I pick your site to read. I will be part of the April 1st. challenge. Many Blessings to the both of you. 🙂
So glad you are joining us, Sharon! We’re really looking forward to the challenge!
Jadah & Jen,
I’m a new reader – I love your recipe, especially since it isn’t “juicing” and doesn’t require equipment I don’t have. I have a really hard time getting affordable produce where I am, and my budget is really limited. I know frozen isn’t as nutritious as fresh, but given the procurement problem, what do you think of freezing “smoothie cubes” and saving them, especially for the fall/winter. (“Smoothie cubes” = blend up a bunch of kale with water or almond milk, freeze into ice cubes, and use as ingredients later on.)
Thanks!
It’s a great idea, and lots of people already do it! Go for it 🙂 We suggest using water and a tiny bit of coconut oil when doing this.
Hi, with the beginners green luck smoothie and any other smoothie how much ice do you put for a thicker drink? Thanks
Hi Alicia!
We rarely add ice… We only add it if none of our fruit is frozen, but prefer to use one frozen fruit to chill the smoothie 🙂
I just got my reconditioned Blendtec yesterday and made our first green smoothie this morning. My husband, son and I just LOVED it! I am so excited to start the 30 day challenge! Thank you!
Congratulations on the new blender!!!
I’ve recently gotten into smoothies. I’ve even gotten a Vita mix… which has been awesome! The only problem is that I can’t figure out the right formula for my smoothies. They’re either watery, not sweet enough (maybe from using too much frozen fruit or fruit not ripe), and I’ve also noticed that whenever I do “green smoothies” I miraculously get sick within a few days. I really want to get healthier and drink a smoothie a day, but I feel like I’m waisting a lot of money and almost to the point of giving up.
Do you think that adding water makes the smoothly too watery (can I add juice or does that defeat the purpose), or are there ways to chose fruits ( mango’s, pineapples, and strawberries) that are ripe and sweet?
Hey there, Tisha!
We don’t like hearing that you get sick within a few days of drinking green smoothies 🙁 Have you been following the formula that’s on this page? Also, keep in mind that most recipes are two servings!
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/how-to-make-a-smoothie
Hi Tisha!
I don’t mean to mess with their recipe, but before I found this website I was doing a similar smoothie using almond milk, and I was really happy with that. The best kind for you is unsweetened, with no flavor label (like “vanilla”), but they’re all better than milk from what I’ve heard. Maybe that would smooth out the experience for you?
I have been really enjoying my green smoothies! And all of the other wonderful meals I have made with my Vitamix 750! The 100% wheat bread was incredible. Took the left over half loaf to make some awesome croutons for our salads
We haven’t tried the wheat bread in ours, yet… Was it pretty simple to do, Mike?
My reconditioned Vitamix got here Friday and I made my first smoothie this morning . It was great . Love your site . Now just looking for a pre-workout smoothie
Woohoo, Tiffany! Don’t you love your Vitamix! I use one, too, and it’s fantastic. 🙂
Hi! Would you suggest the green smoothie challenge for kids in high school? Also, do you have any fast, easy school lunches. It’s almost impossible to not eat junk food for lunch. Thanks!
Absolutely! Anyone, any age can drink green smoothies! That’s such a great idea, we hope you keep us posted if you have a challenge for high school kids. 🙂
Hello, I am going to get my life back on track I have decide to start working out in the mornings and wanted to have a green smoothie before I work out but I am not sure which one. I am also a beginner in green smoothies so am not sure which one is best for before a workout. Do you have any suggestions that can help me out.
Thank you so much.
Hi Alexandra! Really, any green smoothie would be great. This one looks like a winner for your situation, though 🙂
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/almond-milk-smoothie
Just curious is baby kale and spinach as nutritious as the original versions?
It is pretty similar, Kelly 🙂 Any kind of kale works when blending green smoothies!