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Get in your greens with this refreshing fruit and vegetable smoothie. Bright and citrusy, this smoothie is packed with superfood kale and spinach for a nutritious start to your morning. With warming ginger and zingy lemon, this green smoothie is big on flavor and has the perfect balance of nutrition and hydration. Make this fruit and veggie smoothie part of your morning routine for a tasty start to your day.
Adding Veggies to Your Smoothie
While leafy greens are a great start to vegetables in your smoothie, are there other ways to add in veggies that won’t have you doing the ‘plug the nose and gulp’ routine? Yes! There are tons of great veggies that add nutrition to smoothies, without altering the taste.
In this fruit and vegetable smoothie, I added cucumber and celery. Celery is loaded with fiber and antioxidants, as well as nutrients that help lower blood pressure. Cucumber, which is actually a fruit that most people refer to as a veggie, contains fiber, vitamin K, vitamin C, and potassium. Both green ingredients are bright, crunchy, and pair nicely with the lemon and ginger for a happy wakeup call.
The power of leafy greens
Typically I choose 1 leafy green to add to my smoothie, yet 1 just wasn’t good enough for this fun fruit and veggie smoothie recipe! Kale and spinach come from different plant families, so when I talk about rotating your greens, these are the most common choices.
The combined forces of these 2 Top Superfoods List provide incredible antioxidant, cancer fighting, immunity boosting power. If smoothies were super heroes, then this fruit and veggie smoothie would be #TheCancerCrusher.
Fresh Ingredients
It can be hard to find and afford fresh smoothie ingredients. I often encourage smoothie lovers to buy in bulk, in season, and local to get the best bang for their buck. When I started drinking green smoothies, I was on WIC to help get smoothie ingredients. Because we didn’t have health insurance or steady income, and I used smoothies as my kids’ pharmacy (and they worked!). I discovered we could eat fresh produce on a budget, and that doing so helped us stay healthy.
For this fruit and vegetable smoothie, I encourage you to use fresh lemons and fresh ginger. Costco recently started selling fresh ginger for a GREAT price, so I started grabbing a box each month. They also have giant bags of lemons.
Jarred lemon juice often has preservatives and other chemicals, which is why I use fresh lemon juice.
Veggie Smoothies That Actually Taste Good
It’s no surprise that eating more vegetables lowers your risk of chronic disease. Adding veggies into your smoothies is just one more tasty way to increase your overall daily nutrient content. Here are some more smoothie recipes that utilize vegetables, like the fruit and vegetable smoothie recipe below, without compromising on taste:
- Smoothie to Fight Bloating
- Strawberry Carrot Smoothie
- Creamy Smoothie Bowl with Cauliflower
- Sweet Potato Smoothie
- Apple Celery Smoothie
- Red Velvet Green Smoothie
- Savory Tomato Smoothie
Easy veggies to add to smoothies
You’d be surprised how easy it is to add vegetables to smoothies. Cauliflower is one of my fav additions, because it’s creamy, and virtually tasteless. Go for the frozen kind with this ingredient, as that kills the taste. Beets not only add a fun color, but also folate and vitamin C. Carrots are slightly sweet, and pair well with a variety of fruits in smoothies.
I typically buy all 3 of the above veggies fresh, then dice them up and freeze them. That way I can easily scoop them into my next smoothie.
Boosting Your Smoothie
While this smoothie is a powerful mix of nutrients, adding in protein + healthy fats will make it the ultimate meal replacement. Because I don’t want to ruin the hard work my fruits and veggies are doing in my smoothies, I don’t use protein powder with chemicals.
Instead, I use a completely plant-based, organic protein powder recipe that adds 10 grams of protein and 4 grams of healthy fat. Adding 1 serving of this powder to my fruit and vegetable smoothie brings it up to 12 grams of protein, which will help you stay full longer, and allow your body to slowly process the energy you just drank in, so no sugar crash 2 hours later.
Do you want to blend this smoothie? Let me know in the comments section how your blend went, and what you added to this smoothie to make it work for you!
Fruit and Vegetable Smoothie
Ingredients
- ½ cup spinach
- ½ cup kale
- 1 apple green
- ½ cucumber peeled
- 1 lemon
- 1 celery stalk
- 1 inch ginger root
- 1 cup water
- 1 serving homemade protein powder optional
Instructions
- Blend spinach, kale, and water until no leafy chunks remain.
- Add remaining ingredients, blending until smooth.
Equipment
Notes
- I like to lightly peel the lemon before adding it, to get in the white pith.
- I leave the cucumber unpeeled as well.
- Swap green apple for the apple of your choice.
Like the zingy taste on the lemons & ginger, I feel that it is really helping my gut health
I had some leftover tofu, which I froze, have in any recipes for smoothies
Great idea with the frozen tofu, Maria!
Please more green!!! This one was super great
Just wondering, does the whole lemon – peel, pith and all go into the smoothie or just the juice?
Everything BUT the peel (yet if you have an organic lemon you can blend the peel too— yet it’s a bit to zesty for me). I like to use a vegetable peeler to get the peel off and leave as much of the pith as possible.
Have you tried making this with an added frozen banana? If so, how does it effect the taste? Also, is an apple such as Fuji or Honeycrisp ok to use in place of a green apple?
Rhonda, yes I add banana to just about every smoothie. I like the texture more because it comes out more like a shake, creamy & rich. We usually use green apples in the recipes because they have less sugar and carbs, and more fiber, protein, potassium, iron, and vitamin K. However, it’s only slightly different so go with the one you prefer.
This recipe is fully plant-powered!!
Ginger is seriously the best! I’m in love.
I wasn’t sure about the cucumber but it was really refreshing! Great recipe!
This will be so yummy , but please can kale be substitute with lettuce.
So glad you asked! Rawkin lettuce in a smoothie doesn’t generally go too well. The best swaps for kale would be spinach, Swiss chard or even collard greens.
This was such a good new breakfast. For the first time I feel energized and ready to go naturally. Thank you so much!
Nillie
This was a stretch for me, since I don’t like cucumber in smoothies. Yet I did it, and the lemon helped balance the taste!