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My favorite green smoothie recipe is really a simple and healthy alternative to a tropical energy drink. I’ve made this smoothie almost every morning to boost my energy levels and nourish my body for the past 12 years. With over 1,900 5-star reviews, I can’t wait for you to blend it and vote (by leaving a review) to let me know if you think it’s the best green smoothie.
Health Benefits of a Green Smoothie
Green smoothies are a delicious and convenient way to improve your health. Packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber, a green smoothie offers a wide range of benefits. Here’s a few of the benefits I’ve experienced:
- More energy from the natural fruit sugars blended so it’s easily absorbed
- I rarely get sick (my immune system is stronger thanks to the vitamins in the ingredients)
- My digestive system is happy with all the fiber and hydration
- My skin is glowing. Adding spinach to a smoothie boosts the phytonutrients and fiber, which then slows down the absorption of sugars into your body and makes it officially a “green smoothie”.
- My kids are growing strong and healthy (they’ve been drinking green smoothies since they were little as you can see from the photos below).
I’m in my early 40’s and have two teenagers— so life has worn me down a bit. 😜 Green smoothies keep me energized and fueled so I can still go after my bucket list adventures, like:
- Run 47 miles across the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim (I’ve done this 5 times now)
- Complete a 7-day motorcycle adventure race in Morocco (I slept in floors in random houses each night)
- Hike Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park with my family (that was intense!)
- Complete a 4-day backpacking trip with my son in the Rocky Mountains last summer (my toenail still hasn’t grown all the way back)
I don’t share my adventures to brag. I share them to help you see what is possible when you nourish your body with fruits, vegetables and the best green smoothie recipe that we’ll get into now.
Best Green Smoothie Recipe Ingredients
Everything you need to make this 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. Here’s the ingredients you’ll need:
- 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 of drinking green smoothies.
- 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.
- 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!
- 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 to filter my water.
Should I use Fresh or frozen fruit in a Green smoothie?
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 Make a Green Smoothie
The only equipment you need to make this green smoothie recipe 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. Check out my list of the top 10 best blenders for smoothies. Once you have a high-speed blender, you can successfully make the best green smoothie recipe by following the steps below.
- Blend 1 cup of spinach (or other leafy greens of your choice) in a blender with 1 cup of liquid. Blend until all leafy chunks are gone. You can follow my leafy greens guide for help.
- 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 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. 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 smoothie 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.
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 won’t taste as great if you wing it right out of the gate.
Best Green Smoothie Recipe 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: If you are wondering how to make a smoothie sweeter without processed sugar, explore my list of the best natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, bananas, or dates.
- 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.
- Collagen: Unflavored collaged is a simple way to add additional protein and support your gut health.
- Banana swaps: Don’t care for bananas? You can substitute it with a quarter of an avocado.
- Mango swaps: If you don’t have any mango, a full cup of frozen pineapple or peaches will work.
Common Questions
You won’t be able to taste the spinach if you use the proper ratio of fruit to spinach. This green smoothie recipe 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.
Green smoothies aren’t inherently fattening. They’re packed with nutrients and fiber. A basic blend of spinach, mango, pineapple, banana, and water has about 203 calories per serving. To keep them light, avoid added sugars and high-calorie extras like sweeteners or full-fat dairy. Stick to whole fruits, veggies, and water for a healthy, balanced drink.
6 More Green Smoothie Recipes
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.
- Try this vitamin-C packed Blueberry Spinach Smoothie to recharge the body.
- Boost your metabolism with these Fat-Burning Smoothies For Weight Loss.
- 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.
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.
Equipment
Video
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.
I just wanted to say that I am absolutely loving the recipes. I’ve had no trouble at all getting acclimated to all the Smoothies. This is my new lifestyle! Kudos to all of you that were involved in putting this site & program together. <3
Thanks for joining us, Cecilia, as well blend our way to health. 🙂
I’ve lost 15 lbs total since the start of Oct’s Challenge to date, plus some inches. Felling better as well. I already referred family, & now I’m going to refer my Fibromyalgia Support Group here. I hope they take advantage of the opportunity you all have given to us. 😉 Oh, I referred my Dr as well! lmao
Hey, I think your smoothies are fantastic and I’m on the Smoothie Challenge for October. I’m off-roading it with my own recipes after relying on yours for the first two weeks – though still smoothie-ing every day. I feel way better! Just wanted to suggest that maybe for us Europeans, you could include the measurements you give in metrics as well as in Imperial? It would really help as when I was following your recipes I kept having to convert. We don’t work in Imperial measurements anywhere in Europe these days, and fruit and veg are only sold by metric weight, so it means having to do all the conversions at home before hitting the supermarket. Just an idea! Thanks in the meantime for giving me the impetus to do this – it’s brilliant!
Hey Caroline!
Thanks for the suggestion! 🙂 We totally hear ya, and we are working on giving our recipes in Metric as well. 🙂 Be on the look out for it to be coming your way soon. 🙂
I’m with you Caroline, wish the US would just convert already, would make things a whole lot easier on all of us. I have a tendency to get hold of European recipes and have to convert it back for my use in the states, enough already. Enjoying my first homemade smoothie as I write, I could get used to this!
Thanks Deb for your input. 🙂 It would be nice if we were be on the Metric System. 🙂 Maybe one day…until then we will get those conversation out asap! 🙂
Do you have the calories fo the smoothies?
Hey Elizabeth. 🙂
We personally don’t count calories, so we don’t include them in our recipes at this time. You’ll find that when you consume more nourishing whole fruits and veggies, you will not only feel full longer, but you’ll also have lessened cravings for high-calorie, nutritionally empty foods. So in the end it balances out. But we know many people would like to have calorie info. Three great resources for tracking calories are Self Nutrition Data and the phone apps My Fitness Pal and Lose It.
Awesome thank you
I am starting my Smoothie challenge but I am not being able to save the pdf on my tablet, desktop or my cell.
Beginner’s Luck Green Smoothie, is the beginning of the challenge right?
Monell
Which tablet are using, Monell?
How long does a smootie last ?I find using pineapple it foments quickly
Hey! 🙂 Great question. Some people say you have to drink it “right away” to get the optimal nutrients from each blend. But if left in the fridge over-night for one to three days, the taste and satisfaction is still there. You also may add a small amount of lemon juice to preserve and keep the smoothie blend as fresh as possible. Your body is still reaping the benefits of consuming fruits and vegetables even if it is not consumed right away.
My 3 and 5 year old boys loved this smoothie. We added superhero seeds (what they call chia seeds) to make it that much better. Thank you for sharing this recipe! Funny because apart from the banana, they would never eat the other ingredients but love them blended together.
Wonderful!!
I’m allergic to coconut, what would be a better sub . for coconut milk.
Hey Dawn,
Rice, hemp or almond milks are great choices. 🙂
If you have a Vitamix, do you still recommend blending the liquid and leafy greens together first, or should you put it all in and blend at once? How long do you recommend blending?
Thank you!
I’m very excited to start this challenge, just got my new Vitamix today! Can these smoothies be made the night before for the following day? Also, can you drink more than the recommended pint?
Hey Kim. Here are our prep ahead tips. 🙂 https://simplegreensmoothies.com/frozen-smoothie-packs
Is it a problem if I add Greek yogurt to my smoothie?
Hey Jessi.
Great question! We’ve talked with a lot of nutritionists and milk isn’t all that it’s been hyped up to be. Dairy is one of the highest diet allergies (and often goes undiagnosed), yet can cause inflammation and infections. And if you aren’t buying organic milk, you’re also getting doses of antibiotics, hormones, etc that can tip your own body out of whack. So we just avoid milk for our family (and opt for almond milk). We get our calcium from plant-based sources mainly— broccoli, spinach and kale.
It’s definitely a personal choice, and you just have to decide what works best for you and your family.
New to this. Never heard of almond butter. Where do you buy it?
Hey Barbara.
Almond butter is a food paste made from almonds. Almond butter may be crunchy or smooth, and is generally “stir” or “no-stir”. Almond butter may be either raw or roasted, describing the almonds themselves prior to grinding. You can buy it at most grocery stores, it is near the peanut butter.:)
Good morning, I am new to this challenge and I just want to double check that I should start with the Beginners Luck on the first day and then move on to the other smoothies.
Thank you,
Adrienne
Hey Adrienne.
Thanks for the question. Have you signed up and received Week 1 Recipes and Shopping list? You can sign up here: https://simplegreensmoothies.com/challenge and we will send you what is on our menu for this week. If you would like to have Beginner’s Luck, go for it! It is FABULOUS!
So, yep looks like I missed your response….. Yes, I was signed up when I made my inquiry. I have been receiving all of my information and I must admit the smoothies have been delicious so far.
Thanks.
Wonderful to hear! 🙂 Let us know if we can help with anything else. 🙂 Keep blending those leafy greens!
Hi
Thank you for theses amazing recipes. I would like to know if we susbstitue the super by one of these smoothies?
Could you please add the number of calories and suger for each smoothie?
Thank you so much again
the beginner’s luck green smoothie sounds lush – definately going to try this
I just registered for your 30 day challenge. I am a newbie as well. I am also anemic and had to have a blood transfusion a few months ago. I also have a week immune system so I am looking forward to doing this challenge to rebuild my system. My husband is doing it for the health benefits.
How do you purchase your recipe cards?
Excited to start the 30 day challenge. Just bought a Ninja blender yesterday and made the beginners luck smoothie today with kale, it was yummy! My 5 year old (who is quite a picky eater) helped me make it and really liked it too. Thanks for all you are doing to help the rest of us get healthy and eat more fruits and veggies!