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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.
I started making green smoothies two weeks ago, and have been making the full recipe, drinking one that day and putting the rest in a mason jar in the fridge for the next day. In one of your emails it said not to use frozen bananas if you arent drinking the smoothie that day because the banana will go bad. So far I haven’t noticed any changes the next day in taste, color or consistency. If I Don’t notice any change can I continue to do this or can it make me sick?
It was so good I can drink that everyday
Hi there, are fresh baby spinach leaves ok or does it have to be the large on the stalk English spinach?
Baby spinach is great! And organic is even better.
Billy, I think they mean it the opposite way. That amount makes 2 servings. One serving is 1 cup of everything. 🙂
So I’m a little confused on your serving size. You give the amount to buy each week to make 5 days worth of smoothies. But your serving size says that the recipe makes 4-5 cups, half a serving. Naturally one would think you’d want a full serving of something like this a day. That being said we would need to double the amount needed to buy a week and the recipe each day to get a full serving. Can you further explain just what exactly we should be taking in a day, full or half serving. Thanks!
Hi Billy. Our recipes typically make 2 servings (or 4-5 cups). We make 2-serving smoothies to always have enough to share, drink later in the day or save for the next day. If you only want to commit to drinking one green smoothie a day, then you only need to drink 2 cups worth (so we recommend halfing the recipe). I hope that helps Billy!
Wow, I’m super excited about the 30 day challenge! I bought a nuti bullet and experimented with different recipes for a few days, then, the machine stopped working. I returned it, disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to do the challenge. Then I put the ingredients in my blender, *tada!* it worked! Thanks for the inspiration and motivation. I have hypertension, am overweight and looking forward to getting healthy!
Hi, we seldom have spinach here in the Philippines. What can you suggest for replacement?
Use whatever fresh dark leafy greens you can get your hands on. The taste will vary, so you might have to experiment a little, Louie.
Some of the veg in the Philippines can be toxic if consumed raw. The safest thing I can think you can use in a green smoothie is pechay or lettuce if you can get it.
This is great! I have been drinking a green smoothie a day, sometimes two, for 5 days now and I feel so energized that I have been going for walks around the local high school’s track after work instead of plopping down on the couch!
This is music to my ears— love hearing the quick results from just adding a green smoothie into your daily lifestyle. Woohoo Kelly!
Why are bananas a food to avoid? I see a lot of the smoothies will contain bananas
I don’t think you should avoid bananas, but you should limit the amount as they are high in sugar.
If Im trying to loose weight with this how would i benefit the most.
I have hypothyroid. What substitutions if any should I do?
I think you should take the recipe to your dr and ask, since these ladies aren’t health care professionals.
How many servings is recommended for weight loss?
Smoothie for breakfast and lunch?
Hi Jennifer. This would be something to talk to a nutritionist about because is really depends on your BMI and what other sort of foods you eat for the rest of the day. Just by introducing a green smoothie as your breakfast and following clean eating lifestyle, you should lose some unnecessary weight.
What would you suggest for someone who despises bananas whole-heartily? You say to swap it out with other fruit. Any other fruit in particular or just something I have on hand?
I hear ya Melissa. We swap it a lot with mango, pineapple or even avocado (if you are wanting that same creamy texture).
I just made this smoothie with my unidentified leafy green and it’s delicious. Thanks so much for the push I needed to get my daily allowance of fruit and veg. It’s a goal I set for myself this year and with your recipes, I’m going to meet it. Yay for green smoothies!
If i drink 2 smoothies a day that means i am only eating one meal a day? wont my body store fat bc i am not eating enough calories? someone help me what to do here I am confuse.
Hi Hazel— you don’t have to replace your meals with green smoothies. The point of teh challenge is to just drink a green smoothie daily. If you want to use it as a meal substitute you can, but you can also have it as a snack or dessert. We want you to pack in the fruits and veggies that your body needs to function properly and green smoothies are such an easy and yummy way to do that.
Hey, I’m having trouble. What time exactly are we suppose to drink the
smoothies