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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.
Fresh is always best, but freezing is a close second 🙂
tried my first green smoothie, can’t believe it tastes so good and has filled me up! looking forward to the October challenge 🙂
Hello everyone,
This week was my first time hearing about green smoothies. I am so excited to begin. Thanks for all the recipes. I am on my way !!
One cup should equal 8 ounces.
Wondering what “cup” do I need to quantify all the ingredients? Or how is the “cup” equal to certain weight measurement, like in gram? Thanks!
The cup is an actual unit of measurment. You can easily google the conversions, but, a cup is equal to 128 g or 4.5 oz
What is the calorie intake for this smoothie?
Hi Dric. Thanks for the question! 🙂
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.
Blessings!!! im 27yrs old and over weight im ready to take my health and youth back and make the rest of my years the best years, im having trouble getting a grocery list for my first 10 days, can you please direct me to any leads that would help put a juicing grocery toghether?? thank you very much, im excited about my new life style my new journey,, thank you both for all you do..
You should check this out, Sergio 🙂
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/shop
What is a good substitute for pineapples I am allergic to them
Sorry duplicate 🙂
No worries, Karen! 🙂
You can pretty much swap in any fruits that you can have. Kiwis, peaches, oranges would work here but you can add additional mango, too! Let us know what you swap in for the pineapple!!! 🙂
I peel then wrap bananas in wax paper sheets then store them in the freezer in a gallon zip lock bag. When I need one I just take one out at add it to my blender with the rest of the ingredients. It helps to make my smoothie colder.
Does the wax paper help it freeze better, or just makes it easier to handle?
I know this isn’t my comment, but I do the same, except I freeze the bananas flat on parchment paper first then stick them in a Ziploc bag. They freeze individually so easier to handle and I think they freeze better that way too… easier to pull apart.
I am allergic to pineapples what is a good substitute
Anything that is sweet and juicy 🙂 Mango? You pick!
Thanks for the recipe, I am eagerly awaiting delivery of my VitaMix! In the meantime, can you help me with this info? I read somewhere online that you should add nuts to green leafy foods, salads, and green smoothies, as they help your body assimilate the good stuff in the greens; and I just read today in a well-respected book that you should Never put nuts in smoothies (but doesn’t say why not)…which is it?
Hi Betsy!
We love adding nuts to our green smoothies 🙂 We don’t do it all the time, just because we like having variety. But we especially love soaking almonds overnight, and then blending them in our smoothie!
Hi I’m Brianna im New to this site I’ve heard about the green smoothie challenge and im super excited to start. I’m 18 and 115 pounds so I’m not looking to lose weight at all. I have a really bad eating habit that I don’t even eat fruit or veggies. I’m looking to detox or fast on just this smoothie so can I just drink the smoothie or do I eat other meals with the smoothie? I hope this is not a dumb question.
Hi Brianna!
This is not a dumb question at all, and we are so glad that you are caring about your health at the age of 18!! We both wish we cared when we were that age….
The goal of doing a 30 day challenge is to drink one green smoothie a day–either for breakfast/lunch/dinner, or as a snack. We highly recommend eating normal/healthy the rest of the day, and not JUST drinking green smoothies. Some people do have more than one green smoothie a day, but we recommend just starting with one 16 ounce serving of green goodness 🙂 Let us know if you have any more questions!
I have some questions
1. Am i suppose to drink the smoothie immediately, I mean to chug it?
2. I saw somewhere that you don’t suppose to mix a banana with pineapple because banana is sweet fruit and pineapple is an acid fruit, any idea about it?
1. You do not have to chug it 🙂 Just drink it normally.
2. Short answer? We believe it is fine to mix 🙂
Hope this helps!
I am new to this site and so far I’m loving it. I juice on the regular and looking forward to incorporating some blending. I haven’t located any recipes using Kale, can the spinach be substituted for the Kale? Or can I juice the Kale and add it to my smoothie to not have the pulp?
Thanks!
Greens can be used interchangeably 🙂 Feel free to use kale in any smoothie! So glad to have you here!
I may have missed this somewhere…but what kind of spinach do you use? Baby spinach? Thanks 🙂
Any kind of spinach 🙂
Hey! I am new to the green smoothies website. I just joined tonight…a little late. I have tried a green smoothie before, something I found on pinterest. I was wondering if it was okay to add protein powder to the different recipes? Also, would greek yogurt be okay to add? Thank you!!
Both are fine 🙂 You should check out this article:
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/superfoods-list