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
Equipment
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.
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.
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!