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.

Best green smoothie recipe in mason jar.

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
Woman adding spinach to Vitamix blender in a white kitchen to make 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.

Girl drinking green smoothies in mason jar with metal straw and smiling.

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!).

Teenage boy pouring green smoothie recipe from blender into glass.

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!

Freshly cut bananas and pineapple to make a green smoothie recipe.

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.

Green smoothie with spinach, mango, pineapple and banana.

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.

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.

Not Sweet enough?

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.

Storing green smoothies in mason jars for freezer prep.

Common Questions

Can you taste the spinach in a green smoothie?

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.

Are green smoothies healthy?

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.

What blender do I need to make a spinach smoothie?

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.

Can I make a green smoothie ahead of time

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.

Two mason jars filled with blended green smoothie on countertop.

More Green Smoothie Recipes to Try

If you’d like more green smoothie recipes, check out these popular ones below:

Don’t forget to rate + review this green smoothie recipe once you’ve made it. I love getting your feedback!

4.83 from 1955 votes

Best Green Smoothie

The best green smoothie recipe is a tasty tropical treat packed with iron, potassium and vitamins galore. There's no need to be scared of a spinach smoothie when it tastes like this.
Prep: 3 minutes
Total: 5 minutes
Author: Jen Hansard
Course: Smoothie
Cuisine: Plant-Based
Serves: 1

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

Calories: 203kcal, Carbohydrates: 51g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 38mg, Potassium: 818mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 34g, Vitamin A: 3829IU, Vitamin C: 88mg, Calcium: 63mg, Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe? Show me!Mention @SimpleGreenSmoothies or tag #SimpleGreenSmoothies!

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Comments

    1. Hey Dawn,

      Rice, hemp or almond milks are great choices. 🙂

  1. 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!

  2. 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?

    1. 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.

    1. 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.:)

  3. 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

    1. 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!

    2. 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.

    3. Wonderful to hear! 🙂 Let us know if we can help with anything else. 🙂 Keep blending those leafy greens!

  4. 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

  5. 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?

  6. 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!

  7. Hi I’m a newbie to this site and just joined the challenge. I have borderline diabetes, high blood pressure and bipolar disorder. The medications I take have caused me to gain a great deal of weight over the past several years. My goal for this challenge is to lose weight and feel better physically and mentally. Good luck to everyone, I’m excited to be on this journey with you all!

  8. Thanks for this wonderful challenge. I have Sjogren’s Syndrome (autoimmune disorder) and have just been through a scary time with a horrible virus and SS flare. During one ER trip discovered that my potassium level was almost not there. Sodium low, too. I’m still too weak to walk far and wheezing like crazy, but determined to claw my way back out of it. I want to get as many of the nutrients I need as possible from food, so this is perfect. It’s also something I used to do and then gradually stopped. No clue why. So again, thanks. This can do nothing but good for me.

    1. Hey Kristin! I’m so glad you found us!!! Super low potassium and sodium is scary stuff! So glad you are recovering and motivated to bounce back. You are an inspiration. I wanted to suggest adding coconut water to your green smoothies (swap it for water or any other liquid base in a recipe)– it’s considered nature’s gatorade and will give your smoothies an extra boost of potassium. And feel free to add in some Himalayan sea salt to your smoothies too for the sodium boost. You can do this and we are here cheering you on! Cheers to your health!

  9. So I am very excited to start this challenge. 🙂 I also just purchased a Blendtec, and can’t wait for it to arrive. I purchased your recipe cards and info sheets. I want to loose about 25 lbs, get mentally and physically fit and better memory and more energy. I am so tired of being tired all the time.

    1. Hey Tayna.

      So glad you are joining us, hope you enjoy your Blendtec. 🙂 Wishing you all the best success, we are cheering you on!! 🙂

  10. I’ve been having a lot of health issues and when I cut out eggs, gluten, dairy and gmo’s as well as other foods I found out I’m alergic to and went organic for about 6 months my heath got better. I”m still not 100 % as I cheat from time to time and more since I did get better. I went to a natropath, my doctor did not have a clue what was wrong and kept perscribing me creams and ointments for the excema I kept getting. The natropath had a food alergy test ran and found out I”m alergic to a lot of things and he said some could be temporary due to geting auto imune disorder somehow. My guess is from all the GMO’s and chemicals they use to fight the bugs etc.As well as stress helping out too.

    1. Hey Tanya.

      Thanks so much for joining us on the 30-Day Challenge. Glad to hear the natropath is helping you figure things out, hope you feel better soon. 🙂

  11. Question.. am I able to add ice to it to chill it along with the water or will that mess it up?

    1. Hey Marge,

      Thanks for the question. We like to add frozen fruit, rather than ice. It is easier on your blender. 🙂