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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 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! 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
The only equipment you need to make this green smoothie recipe is a blender for smoothies. A juicer or food processor won’t work to get you a creamy 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.
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 greens 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
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.
- 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.
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 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.
I’m kinda lazy – can I do a week’s supply at the weekend, freeze it in small containers then defrost in the microwave as needed?
I’ve made this recipe several times. I usually use Kale instead of spinach or both and instead of water, I use cold coconut water. I also, add a little of fresh ginger and I like all my fruit frozen before I blend it all in my Vitamix. It’s one of my favorite green smoothies. .
Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Hey Grisel,
Thank you for sharing how you make this smoothie your own!!
So happy that you love this recipe 🙂
Wow this was delicious, so nice and sweet. I was so shocked at how something green would taste this amazing.
Thank you Imogen!
I am so glad you were pleasantly surprised by this recipe!
Can I use one cup of almond milk instead of water?
Hey Alana,
Of course!
You can totally make changes to this recipe to make it your own!
Enjoy!
I love these smoothies, but I AM always being scolded at, by my naturopath and nutritionist, for the “insane” amount of sugar & carbs.
The sugar being from fruit is “still sugar!” ugh….
I’m not diabetic or YET on the verge, but it seems as if sugar is the evil of all things edible. I’ve had it be blamed, in part, for my vicious battle with depression.
I’m frustrated!
I use 1.5 cups greens and half the amount of fruit. Not as tasty but still doable.
I am very interested in knowing your thoughts on sugar and carbs intake/numbers for the day.
Thanks!
Hey Mare,
We personally believe that good healthy sugars and carbs are totally fine and a MUCH better source then consuming empty calories and junk foods like so many prefer. However, we do know that some have specific diets they need to follow for their health. So we like to suggest switching the measurements of your greens and fruits or adding in some “low sugar” fruits instead of the ones in this recipe. Here is a great article on lower sugar fruits that I think you will really enjoy!
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/low-sugar-fruits
I’m sure that your naturopath and nutritionist know that the fiber in fruit slows down the absorption rate of their Natural sugars. They simply cannot be compared to processed sugars (white table sugar, brown sugar, etc) that are highly processed with no fiber and no nutrients. All sugars are NOT the same. Fruits come with a ton of critical vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, amino acids, etc that are not just beneficial, but needed! According to this Harvard Medical School Professor, “Fruits are not harmful and are even beneficial in almost any amount,” says Dr. Bruce Bistrian. See it here
Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water 😉
I’m new to the site and I already love it! I can’t wait to go shopping!
Suggestion: in the nutritional information change the folic acid to folate. Folic acid is the synthetic form, folate is the natural. 🙂
Love it
So happy to hear that, Taliyah!!
Cheers 🙂
This is very tasty and I can even add more spinach without it affecting the taste much.
One question, what would you recommend to add a bit of protein (15-20g) to this shake without ruining the flavour? Thanks 🙂
Hey Mason,
I love that you can add on the spinach without even noticing. Sometimes I do that with my kids 🙂
A great source of extra protein would be adding 4 tbs of chia seeds.
If you want to see other options check out our meal replacement suggestions here:
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/meal-replacement-smoothie
Thanks 🙂
The chia seeds change the texture but it’s still delicious
Omg this is soooo delicious! the whole family loves it. Definitely my favorite.
Hey Angelic! Thank you for letting us know how much you love our Beginners Luck Recipe!!
Cheers!!
I never knew I can love drinking green smoothies, this has became my morning routine making these yummy smoothies. Thank you so much for these delicious recipes.
Hey Angela,
It really is surprising that a drink this healthy can taste this good. Yum!!!!
Love this recipe. It’s so easy to make for someone like me who can hardly walk because of arthritis in my knees & tastes so delicious.
This is one of my favourites & my go to recipe.
Hey Sally,
Thank you for sharing with us how much you love this recipe!!
Luv this recipe so tasty and fresh. Easy to make and prep too.
Hey Mary,
You are so right!! Super tasty, fresh, and easy! Sounds like paradise to me 🙂
This smoothie ease your fear of blended raw spinach and fruits it’s easy and delicious.
Hey Windy,
It really is so easy and delicious!! SO happy you agree 🙂
Cheers!
Great smoothly to start with…great tasting.
Thanks Shery!!
It really is super delicious =P
Delicious tropical goodness! If you’re new to green smoothies, try this first. You won’t be disappointed! In fact, I can almost guarantee this is your gateway to the green smoothie lifestyle.
Hey Gisele,
You are so right! It is the gateway to your green smoothie journey. Love how you said that 🙂
This is good one to start with your kids!! We actually made it again today!!
It really is, Bonnie!! My kids are obsessed with this recipe too.
This smoothie is easy to make and tastes great. This is my go to recipe when i’m in a hurry.
That is so great that this is your go to smoothie.
Cheers!