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My favorite green smoothie recipe is really a tropical energy drink in disguise. With over 1,300 5-star reviews, it’s time for you to see why blending spinach into a smoothie is a tasty morning habit.
I know a green smoothie doesn’t sound (or look) very appealing at first sight, but it can be beyond delicious. I’ve blended this recipe in kindergarten classrooms (and the kids ask for seconds)! I’ve made it for my teenage daughter’s volleyball friends and they chug it down. I drink this green smoothie recipe almost every morning to boost my energy levels and nourish my body.
Table of contents
Benefits of a Green Smoothie
Drinking this green smoothie is what gave me the body and energy levels to do some incredible things in my late 30’s after having two kids. I’ve run 47 miles of the Grand Canyon, rode a motorcycle across Morocco in a 7-day race, hiked Angel’s Landing and created a backyard garden for my kids.
This simple green smoothie is great for beginners because it’s naturally sweetened with fruit (no added sugars) and loaded with greens and protein. Some of the benefits I’ve noticed when I drink a green smoothie every day are:
- More energy from the natural fruit sugars
- Don’t get sick (my immune system is strong thanks to all the nutrients)
- My digestive system is happy with all the fiber and hydration from a green smoothie
This daily habit has kept my kids healthy when we didn’t have health insurance, energized us in between school and sports and nourished us so we rarely get sick. And when we do, we can usually bounce back with some of my own natural remedies.
My kids started drinking green smoothies when they were 2 years old. Now, they’re teenagers and still drink them. Here’s some photos of them over the years (they have no clue I put these on here!).
When I created this green smoothie recipe, it changed my family’s life in more ways than I ever imagined. It was love at first sip for me, my two kids and 1 million others, who were intimidated by spinach (just like me!). Since them, I’ve published a best-selling green smoothie cookbook and shared my recipes live on The Doctors TV Show…twice!
Best Green Smoothie Ingredients
Everything you need to make a green smoothie is found in a garden, farmer’s market or the produce section of your grocery store. The closer we eat to nature, the better we feel. This smoothie recipe is a great way to start eating healthier foods. Here’s the ingredients we’ll be blending:
- 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.
- Frozen 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.
- Frozen mango: You’ll find this 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.
- 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 that I keep on my countertop.
Fresh VS frozen fruit
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 Blend a Green Smoothie
The only equipment you need to make a green smoothie 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. Once you have a blender, you can successfully make the best green smoothie recipe following the steps below.
Blend spinach with liquid base
Blend 1 cup of spinach (or another leafy greens of your choice) in a blender with 1 cup of liquid. Adding spinach to your smoothie boosts the phytonutrients and fiber, which then slows down the absorption of sugars into your body. Blend until all leafy chunks are gone.
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’ll taste nasty if you wing it right out of the gate.
Add frozen fruit to blender
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 be a smoothie bowl, use more frozen fruit. You can freeze your favorite fruits like ripe bananas, grapes, pineapple or berries.
How to sweeten a smoothie
If the smoothie isn’t as sweet as you would like, add in some natural sweeteners like bananas, mango, oranges, honey or pitted dates.
Scoop in the superfoods
Once the smoothie is nice and creamy, you can add in superfoods. Chia seeds, hemp hearts and flax seed are all great choices. You can turn any smoothie recipe into a meal replacement by adding a serving of homemade protein powder to any smoothie recipe.
Blend smoothie on high speed
In order to break down the cell walls of the plants, you need to blend on high speed. You shouldn’t have any leafy chunks in your smoothie if your blender is powerful enough.
Drink green smoothie 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 smoothe 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.
Green Smoothie Recipe Variations
It’s easy to swap ingredients based on what you have on hand. If you’d like more green smoothie recipes, check out these popular ones below:
- My son is obsessed with this mango orange smoothie recipe.
- Try this tropical pina colada smoothie to head to the beach asap.
- Want to boost your metabolism? Then this is a great fat burning green smoothie recipe.
- This kale smoothie will surprise even your taste buds.
Best Green Smoothie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup spinach
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup pineapple frozen
- ½ cup mango frozen
- 1 banana
- 1 serving homemade protein powder optional
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.
- Store: In the fridge with a lid until ready to drink.
Equipment
Video
Notes
- 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).
Nutrition
Common Questions
You won’t be able to taste the spinach if you use the proper ratio of fruit to spinach. This green smoothie 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.
Can I add coconut oil to the green smoothie for each day? Looking forward to starting, Thanks!
We wouldn’t recommend doing it EVERY day, but a few times a week is nice 🙂
wow, its interesting to see that you don’t need protein powder for all smoothies, I have been using that for mostly all of my smoothies, and I am getting a bit bored with the flavor concepts so this will be a nice change
I can’t wait to try my first green smoothie, my mom told me about the site,and I am just starting out with making smoothies and I have created a few of my own as well as followed some recipes…. haven’t tried with a whole lot of veggies, just really spinach, and romaine lettuce and celery.. interested in buying a few new veggies to try.
Signed up for the July challenge and made my first smoothie tonight! Sooo yummy 🙂 I’m so pumped to try new recipes this month!
When you say frozen do you mean we can use bags of frozen fruit from the store, or do you mean I should buy the fruit, cut it up and freeze it? I signed up for the July challenge and hoping I can find fresh fruit but would be great if frozen would work.
Either way works, Lauren 🙂
I’ve been having 2 or more a day. I hope that’s okay. I would think it would be. I’m down 10lbs in my first month. This is a lifestyle change for me. After learning how the animals we eat are treated, I can’t bear the thought of ever eating meat again. Yes, I have to lose another 40 lbs., but my direction in life has changed to getting my body healthy, and to advocate for those who cannot speak, but can absolutely feel emotion. I now know unequivocally, that I can get all the nutrition -and more- that my body needs without giving one more cent to the meat industry.
Thank you.
Sounds like you are on the right track, Rebecca!
I just began my journey to a healthier me a week ago. So far so good! I made my first ever green smoothie 2 days ago, and I’m already obsessed. It’s so helpful to have such an easy way to down so much healthy food! This site is so super helpful to me, and it’s so inspiring to see everyone else’s favorite recipes, too. Makes it all feel more “doable” long-term for me. So thanks!!!
Hello ladies, I just started my smoothies and I m loving it, very good and gives me something to focus on regarding my health. I m placing one meal with smoothies and even cutting back on my meat and bread intake. So I m on my way to a healthier me!!
Good morning Simple Green Smoothies,
I drink a greenie every morning. During the 30 day challenge am i supposed to replace each meal with a greenie? Not sure I understand the tactics of the
Challenge. Help.
My daily greenie includes: 2C kale, 2 celery, parsley, one green apple, 1/2 cuke, and either 1/2 c of pineapple, mango, or banana.
Hi Susan!
The challenge is all about drinking ONE green smoothie per day for 30 days. If you do that, then you can consider yourself a rawkstar 🙂 You can replace your breakfast with a smoothie, add one for a snack, or even replace a different meal. It is totally up to you when you would like to drink your smoothie!
Can I replace unsweetened almond milk for the water?
Yep 🙂 You can always switch up the liquids if you would like!
I am a big fan of green smoothies, been drinking them for breakfast for over a year. I love experimenting with different fruits and veggies. Baby spinach is my favorite greens to add. When going ‘off the wagon’, binging on the wrong things, I replace dinner with a smoothie a day for 3 days to get back on track.
Thank you so much for actually including a shopping list for a week! You have no idea of helpful that is to me. It has been a bit overwhelming getting on with green smoothies without feeling like I have to go buy everything in stock. This is a great starter recipe.
Hello All!!! Thank you for all of your wonderful information for those of us who are newbies!!! I never was good at starting anything out slow!!! I’ve spent the last couple of days reading up on this, so I’ve had some ideas swimming around in my head….Today I may my very first green smoothie!!! Yowzer is it ever DE~LISH!!! So I wanted to share my concoction!!!
I’m soooo pleased with the outcome of my very first ever attempt at green smoothies!!! This is DELISH!!!
Kale 3 “stalks” chopped, stems and all
Baby Spinach approx a cup (I measured by the handful then added about another dozen leaves)
Parsley just a small bunch, probably about 6 “stalks” chopped
Celery 1 large stalk, leaves and all, chopped
Avocado 1/2 (would probably be better with a whole one, but I already had this one cut, I ate the other half for lunch lol)
Carrot 1 Large-grated
Banana- 2 (1 frozen)
Strawberries about 4 total berries (frozen chunks are hard to determine how many berries lol)
Coconut milk, approx 2 cups (started with 1 cup to break down the greens then added a little at a time until I reached desired consistency)
DE (Diatomaceous Earth) 1/4 c.
Honey approx 3 TBSP to slightly sweeten, use to taste.
I blended all greens (except avocado) with 1 cup coconut milk first, then added carrots, blended, then added banana, avocado and strawberries, blended till smooth, then added DE…blended and found needed more coconut milk as it got too thick, added milk until desired consistency, then blended in honey until desired level of sweetness…mostly to remove any hint of bitterness.
Yields approx 2 Qts. or one entire blenderful
May ALL things GOOD come to YOU in ABUNDANCE!!
Sounds great, Lorrie!
Wow, love the recipe. Will have to try that myself sometime
hello
how many ounce of green smoothie do i need to drink per meal?
We recommend 16 oz 🙂
I was looking for something to lose weight with that was healthy and natural. I am over weight and have a young one who i would love to play with more, but i need more energy! I’m taking a step and giving it a shot and i’m very excited (shouldn’t be too hard since smoothies are yummy!! I have heard nothing but good things.
Jessie–Thank you for sharing with us! You can do it 🙂 It may not be a walk in the park, but we are here for encouragement if you ever need it!
It says 2 serves for 5 day does that mean it makes 10 drinks and thats all u have each day is to drinks? We are starting this Sunday PLEASE HELP US
Hi John and Wendy! If you buy everything on the shopping list above with the correct quantities, then you can make 2 servings (16oz in each serving) of Beginner’s Luck smoothie on 5 different days. We do not suggest just drinking 16oz of green smoothie a day and not eating anything else. We want you to add a green smoothie each day to your food intake–eat normal the rest of the day. Hope this helps!