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My favorite green smoothie recipe is really a simple and healthy alternative to a tropical energy drink. I’ve made this smoothie almost every morning to boost my energy levels and nourish my body for the past 12 years. With over 1,900 5-star reviews, I can’t wait for you to blend it and vote (by leaving a review) to let me know if you think it’s the best green smoothie.
Health Benefits of a Green Smoothie
Green smoothies are a delicious and convenient way to improve your health. Packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber, a green smoothie offers a wide range of benefits. Here’s a few of the benefits I’ve experienced:
- More energy from the natural fruit sugars blended so it’s easily absorbed
- I rarely get sick (my immune system is stronger thanks to the vitamins in the ingredients)
- My digestive system is happy with all the fiber and hydration
- My skin is glowing. Adding spinach to a smoothie boosts the phytonutrients and fiber, which then slows down the absorption of sugars into your body and makes it officially a “green smoothie”.
- My kids are growing strong and healthy (they’ve been drinking green smoothies since they were little as you can see from the photos below).
I’m in my early 40’s and have two teenagers— so life has worn me down a bit. 😜 Green smoothies keep me energized and fueled so I can still go after my bucket list adventures, like:
- Run 47 miles across the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim (I’ve done this 5 times now)
- Complete a 7-day motorcycle adventure race in Morocco (I slept in floors in random houses each night)
- Hike Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park with my family (that was intense!)
- Complete a 4-day backpacking trip with my son in the Rocky Mountains last summer (my toenail still hasn’t grown all the way back)
I don’t share my adventures to brag. I share them to help you see what is possible when you nourish your body with fruits, vegetables and the best green smoothie recipe that we’ll get into now.
Best Green Smoothie Recipe Ingredients
Everything you need to make this 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. Here’s the ingredients you’ll need:
- 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 of drinking green smoothies.
- 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.
- 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!
- 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 to filter my water.
Should I use Fresh or frozen fruit in a Green smoothie?
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.
How to Make a Green Smoothie
The only equipment you need to make this green smoothie recipe 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. Check out my list of the top 10 best blenders for smoothies. Once you have a high-speed blender, you can successfully make the best green smoothie recipe by following the steps below.
- Blend 1 cup of spinach (or other leafy greens of your choice) in a blender with 1 cup of liquid. Blend until all leafy chunks are gone. You can follow my leafy greens guide for help.
- 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 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. 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 smoothie 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.
Beginner 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 won’t taste as great if you wing it right out of the gate.
Best Green Smoothie Recipe 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: If you are wondering how to make a smoothie sweeter without processed sugar, explore my list of the best natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, bananas, or dates.
- 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.
- Collagen: Unflavored collaged is a simple way to add additional protein and support your gut health.
- Banana swaps: Don’t care for bananas? You can substitute it with a quarter of an avocado.
- Mango swaps: If you don’t have any mango, a full cup of frozen pineapple or peaches will work.
Common Questions
You won’t be able to taste the spinach if you use the proper ratio of fruit to spinach. This green smoothie recipe tastes like a mango pineapple smoothie with a hint of banana flavor.
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.
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.
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 aren’t inherently fattening. They’re packed with nutrients and fiber. A basic blend of spinach, mango, pineapple, banana, and water has about 203 calories per serving. To keep them light, avoid added sugars and high-calorie extras like sweeteners or full-fat dairy. Stick to whole fruits, veggies, and water for a healthy, balanced drink.
6 More Green Smoothie Recipes
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.
- Try this vitamin-C packed Blueberry Spinach Smoothie to recharge the body.
- Boost your metabolism with these Fat-Burning Smoothies For Weight Loss.
- 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.
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.
Equipment
Video
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.
Started my 30-day challenge on Monday. I have more energy than I have had in months and months. The smoothies taste great (even though everyone looks at me funny when I am drinking this electric-green smoothie). I am really excited to see where this challenge takes me and my body.
What is the serving size for each smoothie?
16 ounces 🙂
Uh-oh. I’ve been having the whole blender full each day!! Is there a limit?
As much as I was enjoying drinking my green smoothies and they are great! I think I’m going to have to stop drinking them because they cause me a severe stomach ache that lasts about 1-1 1/2 hours after I drink it. I’ve been drinking them for about two weeks now around 16 ozs but no more than that. But it’s almost every single time and it’s not getting any better. I guess my stomach is just too sensitive to it. 🙁 I’ll just have to eat fruits in the morning and then maybe have a spinach salad for lunch.
This can be a common symptom if your body is not used to drinking or eating lots of fiber. Green smoothies are high in fiber which is great for digestion, but the high fiber can shock your body. Make sure you drink lots of water to help flush things out. I hope this helps 🙁 We don’t want your body to be angry with you!
I’m try the green smoothies for the first time on tomorrow. My only question is I see that all smoothies require water. Can I use bottle water or what.
You can use bottled water, tap water, filtered water, coconut water, etc. 🙂
Well, the Green Smooothie was delicious the next day too! I even got my dad to drink it!! He loves it. I can’t believe you can’t taste the spinach. I think I’ll try strawberries next!! Thanks!
I finally got the chance to drink my first green smoothie. It was good, but I expected a better tasting one. I didn’t have the mango, so I added an orange, an extra banana and some blueberries too (just to make it more purple). Did I use too much fruit? Should I be varying the types of fruit I put into a green smoothie? And how often? Or should I use the same ingredients?
Hi Lori! Not sure if you used too much fruit–it depends on how much you used of each fruit 🙂 Personally, we think that you can use too many types of fruits in a smoothie and the taste will not be as good. We try to stick to combinations that we know are yummy and that we love, but are also good for our health. Varying fruits is a good idea, because you want to give your body access to a variety of nutrients. Different fruits have different nutrients that your body craves. You can check out our recipe page for inspiration:
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/recipes
Hi, I was reading some comments on when you should drink the green smoothies and I know you said you would make one for breakfast or in place of a snack..now if i were to make the smoothie as a snack am I still using the same amount of fruit veggies? I normally drink the smoothies to replace a meal.
Hi Marsha! The best answer we can give is that it is totally up to you how much you make and when you drink it. If you are used to replacing meals with a full smoothie, then maybe you would only want half of a smoothie for a snack. We also encourage eating a small helping of almonds or a hard boiled egg as a snack 🙂
Hello I’m starting this beginners smoothie today and just wanted to know is this all I’m suppose to be drinking through out the day or do I replace it with a meal
Hi Samara So glad you found us! We usually do a one of two things: 1) Drinking a green smoothie for breakfast, or 2) Drinking a green smoothie as a snack. You can feel free to substitute your lunch or dinner with a green smoothie, too
I don’t know why, but everyday I drink my green smoothie my stomach hurts later in the day. But I LOVE my green smoothies and will continue to drink them. They actually do make me feel better! I figure maybe it’s my system getting use to all the nutrients and such that’s causing it. Because I know I have eaten all the ingredients individually and never had a problem. If I could afford to, I would drink them twice a day, that’s how much I love them!
Hi Kimberly! We have heard this from many people, and it usually happens toward the beginning of the green smoothie experience. How many ounces are you drinking? If you are drinking a lot more than 16 OZ at one time then that may be a reason why your stomach hurts. Otherwise, we have found that it is usually the increased nutrients–especially fiber in the green smoothies!
I’ve got a simple Hamilton Beach Blender that we paid twenty something for and it works great!
Just tried my first green smoothie with this recipe and I LOVE IT!
substituted pineapple for strawberry’s and tastes great!
Yes, I could take out either the banana or the pineapple. On Fitness Pal one Beginner’s Green Smoothie shows like 27 grams of sugar while another Generic Green Smoothie says only 19 grams, so it depends on which green smoothie you choose. Not sure which one is correct, so I just chose the latter one instead. It has less sugar, less fat and less calories.
Another thing to keep in mind is that these calories are definitely not empty calories. They are packed with nutrients that do so many good things for your body! Hope this helps 🙂
Had the wind sucked out of my sails. When using Fitness Pal to log my calories & etc., unfortunately, just the smoothie alone makes me go over my sugar intake for the day. Not good. The sugar intake for the day is 27 and the Green Smoothie alone has 42 grams of sugar. And the calories are kinda high for a smoothie 226 how can this be good for you???
Hi Kimberly. Sorry the sugar levels are high for you— but feel free to use the measurements as a starting point and tweak so it can work for your daily need. For example, cut back on the fruits (maybe remove the bananas) and you will easily reduce your grams of sugar.
Also, please note that these smoothies make two servings.
I just have a basic Hamilton Beach blender about $20-$25 and it works just fine. I imagine you could replace any of the fruits or add fruits with whatever fruit you love. I’m just on my second day. I’ve been replacing my lunch with the smoothie. I figure I’ll switch it up between breakfast and lunch.
Sorry for all the questions. Can I use frozen blueberries in the green smoothie?? What do I take out?? Or can I just add to the mixture?
Don’t apologize 🙂 You can definitely add frozen blueberries. Our recipes serve as inspiration for you to go on and blend bigger and better things!
Thanks!! I would rather it look purply-blue than green 😉
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!