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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 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
- 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. A juicer or food processor won’t work to get you a creamy smoothie.
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 green vegetables 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
Here’s some of the most popular green smoothie recipes on my blog to try next:
- My son is obsessed with this mango orange smoothie recipe.
- This tropical 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 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 canned (in juice) pineapple be used in place of fresh or frozen without altering the taste or texture too much? It’s a much more affordable option where I live.
Hey Kim.
Thanks for the comment. Canned usually is sitting in a lot of sugar. Is frozen fruit more affordable than fresh? If so, go for that. 🙂
can you resend the weekly grocery list. I didn’t receive anything in my inbox.
Hey Krystal.
Thanks for reaching out to us. Here are the links to Week 1 + 2 + 3 on our website (which are valid links until January 31st).
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/challenge/
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/challenge/
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/challenge/
Also, I have resent the list + recipes to your inbox. 🙂
Cheers!
I’m starting a smoothie journey with my fiance, we desperately need to lose weight for health problems. For Christmas him and his mom got me a ninja kitchen system and we’re just beginning to play with it. I’m curious if you could increase the pineapple and use either oranges or another fruit in place of the mango? I’m not a fan of mango…anyone else use other tropical fruits? I’ve done berries, but don’t want to be burned out on them…and my other half is seriously skeptical about a green smoothie! Thanks for the help!
Hey Laura. Thanks for joining us! If you are doing a full smoothie there should be
2 cups leafy greens
2 cups of liquids
3 cups of fruit of you choice
(one frozen item)
So not matter what we sub in or out that is the formula that we use. Hope that helps.
I’m a newbie to the green smoothie kick but I’ve been wanting to start incorporating a smoothie a day with my hubby so for Christmas he bought me a nutribullet system. I’m very excited to start using it. one of my questions is we have been taking frozen wheatgrass juice every morning. just thaw and shoot it. if I’m incorporating fresh leafy greens do I still need the wheatgrass, or do both offer different health benefits that I can incorporate into one smoothie?
thanks!
I´ve been spending for hours to find out, how many grams is 1 cup of spinach. Would be very thankful to get the answer here!
you can use the following URL
for measurements.
Hope it would help!
Thanks!
Any good substitutes for bananas? I’m allergic to them and I don’t like avocado. Thank you!
How about chia seeds? They make your green smoothies nice and thick and creamy when they’re blended. Or pineapple or mango work well too. 🙂
Hey Is there anything else I could use instead of pineapple please
Yes Brooke! Mango, bananas, berries, kiwi, etc. Use what you like and what you’ve got on hand. 🙂
I added 4 raspberries instead of mango and a half cup of pineapple additionally and it was delicious!
Ooh I’ll have to try that one, Melissa! Thanks rawkstar! 🙂
Joined the 30 Day Challenge. Just had my first green smoothie ever (Beginner’s Luck)…it was actually delicious. Not gonna lie, I would love to lose a few lbs, but adding some healthy changes is what’s driving me to this…thanks for helping me get started!
Awesome, Maureen! So happy to have you here! 🙂
No spinach in Nigeria. Can i use other vegetables
hello Modupe
I used cucumber, since we don’t have Spinach in Nigeria. You can also use lettuce. Lettuce is available in Nigeria
Hope this helps
Cheers
@Modupe: Efo is spinach
Yep thanks for all the subs! You can use regular lettuce, kale, chard, even fresh herbs like parsley. 🙂
Just joined the January challenge.Super excited. My sister got me a blender for Christmas…Been wanting to do this for ages.!!!!
Can’t wait….
Woohoo, Lorraine! New blenders rawk! 🙂
Thanks so much for the recipes; going for a cleanse- already made the bokchoy, coconut milk and banana recipe. 🙂
Sweet! 🙂
Thank you guys. I Love my smoothies and have shared the “Green Smoothie Challenge” with my co-workers at school. Jan. 05. (I already started). So I am extra excited.!!!!
YAY! 🙂 Thanks for blednin’ with us!
Hi guys,
I was just wondering how many grams exactly is in a cup? I don’t understand cup measurements.
Does this help Bryany:
Spices | Proteins | Superfoods:
½ tsp = 2mL
1 tsp = 5mL
2 tsp = 10mL
1 TBSP = 15mL
2 TBSP = 30mL
Fruits:
Mango | Pineapple | Strawberries | Beets | Carrots | Blueberries | Raspberries
1 cup = 250mL
1 ½ cups = 375mL
2 cups = 500mL
Liquids:
Water | Coconut Water | Coconut Milk | Almond Milk | Fresh Squeezed Juice | Rice Milk
½ cup = 125mL
1 cup = 250mL
1 ½ cups = 375mL
2 cups = 500mL
I’m so ready to start this program! (we are still on vacation though until 1/5/14) Anyway, I need to blend enough for our 9, 7, and 5 year old plus 2 adults. Are the recipes on the site for one serving? Maybe I should blend 3 times and have the kids share one?
I usually add ice to make it extra cold and help with the presentation. Is that not recommended? Do I substitute the water for ice?
Hi Stephanie.
Are you wanting to replace meals for everyone which would be 16oz + protein or as a family snack on 8oz?
Most of our smoothies make about 4 – 5 cups (32 – 40 oz)– we call this family style. A serving size is 2 cups
I just bought a smoothie blender and ready to get super healthy! Thanks for making this the easiest new years resolution ever! #amazing