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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 green vegetables, 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 bowls, 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. Here are some of my favorite oat milk brands and almond milk brands to buy.
- 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.
If you make this best green smoothie recipe, I’d love to hear how it turned out in the comment box below. Your feedback helps me and all the readers in this community. And if you’re interested in more plant-based recipes (and exclusive content), sign up for my weekly recipe newsletter.
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.
Hi,
nice recipe!
What is the reasons that makes this one a good starter’s smoothie? That is contains many fruits and thus is rather sweet? Just wondering 🙂
I have a nice green smoothie recipe with spinach, pear and kiwi on my blog:
I just had this and it was great. Do you know what the calorie count is for this?
Hi Nikki,
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.
i got the power mix of green veggies , there are some name that i don’r recocnize and i wonder if you can help me with them and if they are got for me oak leaf, lollo rosa,tango,mizuna, thanks for your help.
Hi Sharon,
Power mix is a great option! We love using a variety of leafy greens when blendin’ our green smoothies. Oak leaf is a type of butter lettuce, it gets it’s name from the shape of its leaves. Red Lollo Rosso lettuce is a classic Italian lettuce, with dark copper red fading to bright green, finely crinkled frilly leaves which are crisp, almost brittle when snapped. Tango lettuce has ‘ frilly’ leaves and looks like endive but, with a mild tangy taste. And Mizuna is a Japanese mustard green. All are great addition to your next green smoothie!
Hope this helps!
can leafy green be the baby spinach or baby kale? is there any different ?
Hi Sharon,
Of course! We love blendin’ with leafy greens! They’re packed with major nutrients, but with a milder flavor than their more mature counterparts.
Cheers 🙂
Hi today I tried this recipe. As mango isn’t our local fruit I substituted it with persimmon and turned out delicious. I’ve always been avoiding fruit juice as it can increase blood sugar rapidly. Though in your recipes use whole fruits instead but I’m still worry about consuming these much fruits. Have you guys ever measure your blood sugar after drinking one cup of these smoothies?
Hi Lina,
Yum! Blendin’ our Beginner’s Luck Green Smoothie recipe with persimmon sounds delicious! Worried about the sugar content of our green smoothies, turn our Simple Green Smoothie Formula on its head! Instead of blending 60% fruit with 40% leafy greens, blend 40% fruit with 60% leafy greens. Or try blending with low-sugar fruit options. Here are a few of our favorites…
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/low-sugar-fruits
Can the fruit be canned / frozen or does it need to be fresh? I’m not very good with preserving fruit.
Hi Jess,
Great question! We love blendin’ with frozen fruit, not only does it allow us to enjoy our favorite fruits when they’re out of season, but creates a great chilled and creamy green smoothie! Canned fruit on the other hand, even when packed in it’s natural juices has additional sugar. So while you can definitely blend with canned fruit, it’s important to take that added sugar into consideration.
Hope this helps!
Hello,
How many calories are in the Beginners Luck smoothie?
Thank you!
Lorea
Hi Lorea,
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.
Hi, can I switch out the pineapple (I’m allergic) for strawberries and be able to leave it in the fridge all night to have in the morning?
Hi Jen,
Of course! Other great substitutes for pineapple are orange, grapefruit, + mango. And our recipes will keep in your fridge for up to two days in an airtight container. Know you’re going to store your green smoothie. We suggest adding a small amount of lemon juice to help preserve their green goodness!
Cheers 🙂
Just found you gals courtesy of Nerd Fitness! Cant wait to try out recipes this weekend! Whoop whoop!
Hi Crystal,
We’re so excited you found us in this busy internet world! Reach back out + let us know what you think of our Beginner’s Luck Green Smoothie recipe!
Cheers 🙂
Thanks for the information, just one question, isn’t this a lot for on smoothie?
6 cups of green and fruits, seems a lot for one person
Greeting from Mexico!!!
Hi Rolando,
Thanks for joining us! All of our recipes make 2 (16oz) servings, perfect for sharing or saving for later.
Cheers!
Hi, made this today…I think I’m a convert from the first sip! Have always found it hard to get a good amount of iron in my diet, I think incorporating green smoothies will give it a big boost. Great site, very informative and easy to navigate.
Thanks team!
Hi Tina,
Yay! We’re so excited to have you blendin’ with us. I’m right there with you – I have trouble getting enough iron too and use green smoothies and their leafy greens to ensure I’m fueling my body right. Reach out with any questions + keep us updated on your green smoothie journey.
Cheers 🙂
This is my first time to know about this green smoothies. I am very thankful that having found this variety of juice makes me easier to change my lifestyle. Thank you.
Hi Gloria,
Yay! We’re so happy you found us in this busy internet world! Have fun exploring our site. Reach out with any questions!
I really want to try the 30-day green smoothie challenge, but I’m worried it will cost too much. I am only 15 so I rely on my parents for grocery expenses? Is there a cheaper way to make the smoothies?
Hi Daisy,
Great question! We’re all about making healthy living easy + affordable!
If you are new to eating a lot of fruits and veggies, your grocery bill may be a little shocking with the extra fresh and frozen produce purchases. Overtime, you will eliminate a lot of processed food items which will in turn bring your grocery bill back to normal. But here are a few quick tips to saving money on produce.
-Make a shopping list: Making a weekly meal planning list that covers what you will eat on a daily basis will help you only buy what you need. Make sure to include snacks in your meal plan and shopping list, too.
-Buy seasonal fruit and veggies: Purchasing produce is in season and is typically cheaper. And if you see a good deal on fresh fruits and veggies, purchase in bulk and freeze for future smoothies.
-Buy out of season fruits frozen: Costco and Sam’s Club sell large bags of organic frozen fruit at good prices. If your freezer can accommodate bags in bulk, take advantage of making these purchases.
-Buy from local fruit stands, farmer’s markets and CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture): For the tastiest and most fresh organic produce, buy locally. Not only has the produce been grown and harvested close to home, but buying locally also helps our environment by eliminating the time and resources needed to deliver. Visit, http://www.LocalHarvest.org to find your local farm, farmers markets, and other local food sources.
-Follow the EWG’s Dirty Dozen: This list will help you know what is worth getting organic and what you can buy conventional.
Hope this helps! 🙂
I have read that collard and/or kale has more vitamins than spinach? Is it ok to substitute those for the spinach?
Thank you!
Hi Mimi,
Of course! We love switching up our leafy greens! Learn more about our favorites here…
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/leafy-greens
Delicious and super easy! Thank you.
Thanks for blendin’ with us, Natalia!
Hi I am super excited to have found you ladies…I loooooovvvveee smoothies and now having all these recipes and the 30 day challenge I’m in my glee….even invested in a Magic Bullet so I blend at least two to go every morning…
#smoothielover 🙂
Rawesome, Tricia! Thanks for blendin’ with us!!
I’m from india.. lot of veggies and fruits that you recommend/ include in your recipes are difficult to find here.. what can i use instead of them? like kale
Hi Aakash,
Thanks for blendin’ with us! We have to admit it, we love our recipes, but don’t feel like you need to follow them to a “T”. Experiment with your favorite fruits + leafy greens available where you are in India. We also love reaching for frozen fruit when our favorites are not in season or available fresh.
Looking for substitutions for a specific recipe? Reach out anytime! We’re happy to help!
Cheers 🙂
Aakash, you’d be surprised to know that most of these fruits and veggies are available in India, but you may have to go to a bigger market, e.g. INA Market in Delhi. If not, it’s super easy to substitute. For kale, use saag or palak, for example. Also, remember you have amazing fruits and vegetables cheaply available on every corner in India, which may not be on this website but which are tastier and more healthy than what’s on here that you should definitely use: chikoo, papaya, sitafal (custard apple), lychee, amla, karela, anar, fresh coconut water, fresh bananas, etc.
I may not be able to find anything usable in the smoothies. My dr. won’t allow more than 1/2 banana per day (or equivilent) for fruit. Due to health I am on both low carb and gluten free eating. Any suggestion?
Hi Marilyn,
We love blendin’ with fruit, it whats makes our smoothies delicious + is a major part of our recipes! If your doctor suggests limiting your fruit intake, try swapping out banana for avocado (it will still give your smoothie that great creaminess), + adjust our recipes to meet your needs! We’re here to inspire you, please don’t feel like you need to follow our recipes to a T.
I’m looking forward to this challenge. I have been thinking of doing the whole juicing thing and this may be what I need to make the transition. Also hoping to lose some weight from this. Thank you!! 🙂
Hi Earthgal,
We’re so excited to have you blendin’ with us! Interested in learning the difference between juicing + blendin’, check out our post here…
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/juicer-vs-blender
Hoping green smoothies will help you reach your weight loss goals? Did you know our co-founder Jadah lost over 25 lbs by replacing one meal with a green smoothie. Learn more about her story + using green smoothies as a meal replacement here…
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/about
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/meal-replacement-smoothie
Will u pls tell me when I can drink this smoothie? Nd what will be every day food chart in this days?
Hi Urmee,
Wondering when to blend your green smoothie? Any time of day is perfect for enjoying Beginner’s Luck or any of our recipes. I personally love enjoying my green smoothie as a breakfast meal replacement (I just add healthy fats + protein to my green smoothie to make a it a complete meal). Starting with a green smoothie helps me make better food choices throughout the rest of the day. If you plan on enjoying your green smoothie at night, just know your green smoothie will give you a great energy boost similar to a cup of coffee.
Wondering what to eat throughout the day? Our goal for you is to add one green smoothie to your day along with your normal diet. You can use green smoothies as a meal replacement for 1-2 meals, just like I do! Learn more about using your green smoothie as a meal replacement here…
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/meal-replacement-smoothie
Hope this helps!