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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.
Thanks a million for the suggestion. How powerful does the blender have to be?!?! I’m afraid I’ll have to purchase a heavy duty one to reap the benefits.
You definitely don’t need to purchase heavy duty! Some of the more affordable blenders we like are:
Ninja Professional
KitchenAid Artisan Blender
NutriBullet or Magic Bullet
Oster 12-Speed
Great! I have the Oster!
My Oster 14-speed works really well. I also have a Hamilton Beach juicer that I use to juice veggies that I like to add in to my smoothies such as cucumber, carrots or fruits like apples and pears. Yum!
hello i have just started this challenge and so far so good, its soo good 😀
i was just wondering as am still in school is there any way i could take it to schol as in if i put it in a flask will it still be cold and taste okay and how long will be it be okay for, what do you recommeded i do if i want to drink it at school
Hi Asiyah! Its so great to hear that you are eating healthy at a young age 😀 We usually put our blended smoothies in a mason jar with an air tight lid, and we put them in a refrigerator. They should keep for about 1-2 days like that. If you don’t have access to a fridge then you can put an icepack in your lunch bag, and it will keep your smoothie cool. Hope this helps! Rawk on!
Just put it in a thermos. You’ll have a nice cold smoothie whenever you are ready.
I used water today and it actually tasted pretty good. I put less banana but it still tasted mostly like bananas. I tasted the banana, mango & spinach but not the pineapple, so going to add more pineapple next time. Not sure about the OJ since it tastes good with water. Not sure how OJ and Spinach would taste together. lol
I’m going to start the green smoothie! Wish me “beginner’s luck”. I may have missed reading all of the earlier posts, so sorry if it’s a stupid question (it’s been a long week!). When should I be drinking the green smoothie and how often?
Hi Lori! So happy that you are starting 🙂 We have loved how green smoothies have improved our health. We usually either drink one for breakfast or as a snack later on instead of potato chips or something less healthy. We suggest starting there! Some people after a little bit get crazy and substitute it as a meal.
I bought all the ingredients so going to try it beginning tomorrow morning. I have some fresh squeezed OJ I thought about putting that in instead of water.
Kimberly! Fresh squeezed is always a phrase we love to hear 🙂 Go for it and see how it tastes!
Hello again ladies! Thanks for the suggestion in using bananas instead of mango. I LOVE bananas. Is there anything besides the water that I can substitue for the coconut water?
Hi Lori! What about green tea, or a combination of water and natural fruit juice? Check out this article:
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/dairy-free-smoothies
Thank you for tip #1 – how to get the greens smooth in a regular blender!! I actually found your website because of your vitamix giveaway because I was tired of chunky greens in my smoothies. But I just tried the technique of blending the greens with the liquid first–worked like a charm! Now I don’t need a vitamix 😉 Thanks!
Oh, the answer to my question. Thanks Grace!
and…where do i get a canning jar lid and straw like that?! the smoothies must taste better out of them. 🙂
Check out this page 😉
This is my first ever green smoothie. I added 1/2 cup strawberries instead of 1/2 cup of mango. It was very good. The fruits masked the flavor of the spinach. Loved it!
Hi Simple Green Smoothies,
Is there a fruit that I can substitute for the mango?
Hi Lori!
What about papaya? Banana? Avocado, maybe? Those are all things we like in smoothies that make them smooth and tasty 🙂
Just made this smoothie today! Great recipe for a simple and delicious green smoothie!
I’m about to start drinking green smoothies 🙂
I got a cheap blender, but hey – it’s better than nothing, right?
My question is : Can I use less fruit (and maybe even more vegetables) so that it’s not so packed with sugar? I’m doing Insanity and trying to stay fit, and I don’t want to eat that many fruit.
Will it still be edible, or will it taste like cr*p ? 🙂
Hi Szymon! This is a great question. You can absolutely use more veggies than fruits! It all depends on which veggies you use as to whether it tastes good or not, but there are lots of people that do veggie smoothies. If you find some good recipes then send ’em our way!
DO I drink this all day once a day or what please explain trying to lose some ponds and eat healthier
Hi Nellie! Thanks for your question 🙂 We recommend drinking one smoothie a day. You can drink it for breakfast or as a snack. Some people are a little ambitious and replace their lunch or dinner with their smoothie, and some people even drink two green smoothies a day. It is up to you and what your body/lifestyle can handle. Hope this helps!
Do you have to use fresh spinach? I love the whole leaf frozen kind by Trader Joe’s.
Hi Alicia! We like to say that fresh is best, but many times we take our fresh leafy greens and freeze them to store them for longer. So, the whole leaf frozen spinach bags should work 🙂
Hello, I have a 5 months old baby going on 6 and I am still breast feeding and really want to loose weight, do you think i could do this and would cause no harm?
Hi Tobi! We think that drinking these smoothies shouldn’t cause harm–breastfeeding or not. They are all filled with normal, natural fruits/veggies, and healthy liquids. If you use them as breakfast and have an active lifestyle, while eating healthy for other meals then you have a good chance of losing some weight. Some people drink green smoothies as a full meal replacement, and they also talk about weight loss. Hope this helps!
Thanks very much. Will start tomorrow and keep you updated.
just tried this. it was so delicious!!!