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Enjoy this tropical immune boosting smoothie recipe that’s packed with vitamin C, healing herbs and essential vitamins and minerals that support your immune system daily. Getting sick is no fun at all. It can mean missing work or activities. Get tips to boost your immune system quickly using whole foods and learn some health benefits of the ingredients we’re blending in this smoothie.
Health Benefits of Immune-Boosting Smoothie
This immune-boosting smoothie recipe isn’t just delicious—it’s a powerhouse of nutrients designed to support your body’s natural defenses. Each ingredient is chosen for its unique health benefits, making this drink as functional as it is refreshing.
- The leafy greens, including spinach and parsley, are loaded with vitamins A, C, and K, plus antioxidants that protect your cells and support overall immune function. Parsley also acts as a natural diuretic, helping flush out toxins and excess fluids.
- The hydrating ingredients, cucumber and celery, are rich in water content, fiber, and vitamin K. These veggies help reduce inflammation, support digestion, and keep your body refreshed and nourished.
- The ginger root and lemon team up to provide a powerful dose of immune-boosting compounds. Gingerol in ginger fights inflammation and soothes symptoms of colds, while vitamin C from the lemon enhances immune defense and provides antioxidants. I like to use a whole lemon, not just the juice. This get some extra fiber, which is so good for our gut health. Before you toss the peel, think about making my Candied Lemon Peel for a sweet treat..
- The mango adds a natural sweetness to the smoothie while delivering an additional boost of vitamin C and antioxidants. Its tropical flavor makes the drink as enjoyable as it is nutritious.
Immune-Boosting Smoothie Ingredients
A vibrant, refreshing immune-boosting smoothie with ingredients uniquely chosen for their nutrient-dense magic? Sign me up! Here’s what I’m blending to keep my body strong (and why):
- Spinach: Choose fresh, bright green spinach leaves for the best flavor and nutrition. It adds a mild, slightly earthy taste that pairs perfectly with the sweeter fruits in this smoothie.
- Celery: Look for firm, pale green stalks with no wilting. Its subtle, refreshing flavor balances the boldness of ginger and parsley.
- Fresh Parsley: Select vibrant green, fragrant bunches for the best flavor. Its herbaceous and slightly peppery flavor adds complexity to the smoothie.
- Cucumber: For the best flavor, pick cucumbers that are firm and dark green, with no soft spots. Its cool, clean taste enhances the smoothie’s refreshing quality.
- Ginger root: Look for firm, smooth ginger with thin skin for the freshest flavor. It brings a warm, slightly spicy kick to the recipe—just a little goes a long way!
- Mango: Look for ripe mangoes that yield slightly to pressure and have a sweet aroma. Mango provides natural sweetness and a luscious tropical flavor to the smoothie.
- Lemon: Use a whole (peeled) lemon for vibrant flavor with a hint of natural zestiness. Look for lemons that are firm and heavy for their size, with a bright yellow color.
How to Make Immune-Boosting Smoothie
I know this immune-boosting smoothie recipe may have some ingredients you aren’t used to blending, but don’t be afraid to give it a try! Let new flavor combinations surprise your senses and support your body in the best way possible.
- Toss the spinach, celery, and parsley leaves into the blender, followed by the liquid, for a vibrant green mixture.
- Scrape down the sides if needed to blend all leafy chunks. Blending the greens first helps break them down well.
- Add the remaining ingredients and blend again until smooth. For the best results, remove any seeds from the lemon and peel or chop the fresh ginger before blending.
Use Fresh Herbs for Better Nutrition
Use fresh parsley and ginger root for this recipe. Dried herbs don’t have the same nutritional power that fresh ones do, and you want the most bang for your blend to boost that immune system quickly.
5 Tips to Boost Your Immune System
When I prioritize my health before illness hits, I find I have a better chance of being less sick or not sick at all, even during the hardest months of the year. Here’s how I choose to give my body a fighting chance during cold and flu season:
- Daily green smoothies: No matter what the day brings, I know I’m starting it the right way with one of the best immune-boosting smoothies below. (If you want a warmer option for winter, try a warm smoothie)
- Immune system boosting foods: Fill your grocery cart with berries, leafy greens, nuts, seeds, fresh spices, citrus fruit, red bell peppers, fresh herbs to support your immune system this winter.
- Sleep: Take advantage of the shorter sunlight hours and give yourself the gift of sleep. If quality sleep is hard to come by then try a few sleep tips.
- Exercise: When life gets busy, exercise is harder to come by. Setting aside 30 minutes during my lunch break to move (walk, run or yoga) helps make it easier to move my body.
- Natural remedies: At the start of each school year, I make sure I’ve got the following on hand to help the whole family: fire cider, elderberry syrup, homemade vapor rub, and ginger lemon honey tea. These support us in sickness and in health!
Common Questions
Many factors contribute to a healthy immune system: eating a diet rich in whole food, and plant-based ingredients, quality sleep, exercise and keeping stress under control. If this sounds like a lot to tackle all at once, I totally get it! Focus on adding more plants to your meals right now, and see if that can help you feel energized and maybe even a little less stressed.
Whole food plants packed with vitamin C. Seriously, skip the supplements and focus on adding fruits and vegetables like citrus fruits, strawberries, dark leafy greens, tomatoes, cauliflower and more.
While you can’t actually ‘change’ your immune system, you CAN do a lot to support it… or not. Focusing on a plant-rich diet, quality sleep and daily exercise (even light!) can help your immune system perform at its best.
More Immune-Boosting Recipes
Try these incredible recipes to boost immune system, all uniquely created to help support your body in various ways:
- Elderberry Smoothie: Another great immune-support smoothie using elderberry syrup, one of my favorite natural remedies.
- Vitamin C Smoothie Cubes: Pop a few of these vibrant cubes into your next smoothie, or turn them into their own smoothie for a bright vitamin C boost.
- Antioxidant Smoothie Cubes: Harness the power of multiple fruits and veggies with these gorgeous smoothie cubes, full of antioxidants.
- Alkaline Smoothie: Improve hydration on a cellular level with this refreshing beverage.
If you make this immune-boosting smoothie recipe, I’d love to hear how it turned out in the comment box below. Your feedback helps me and all the readers in this community. And if you’re interested in more plant-based recipes (and exclusive content), sign up for my free weekly newsletter.
Immune-Boosting Smoothie
Ingredients
- ¾ cups spinach
- ½ stalk celery
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves only
- 1 cup water
- ½ cucumber peeled
- ¼ inch ginger root peeled and diced
- 1 ½ cups mango frozen
- ½ lemon peeled and seeded
- 1 serving homemade protein powder optional
Instructions
- Blend spinach, celery, parsley and water until smooth.
- Add the remaining ingredients and blend again.
Equipment
Video
Notes
- Use frozen mango to make a refreshingly cool smoothie.
- Boost this smoothie with one serving of plant-based protein powder to help your body more easily process the natural fruit sugars.
- The stems of parsley are bitter and harder to blend smoothly. Use just leaves to make blending easier.
- Swap spinach with the leafy green of your choice.
This is tasty and full of good things. I am going to make this everyday for a year and see if I can lessen the time sick. I find it’s easiest to take an hour before dinner as opposed to morning.
Great idea, Helen!
This was very good!
Woo hoo! Love to hear that you loved this one, Tanika!
Would you share your homemade protein powder recipe please. Thank you
Hi Gladisa! You can find the recipe for homemade protein powder at the blue link!
I see alot of carbs in the smoothies and I’m worried about sugar content too. I’m trying to lose weight but also eat healthy. I have an autoimmune disease so boosting my system is needed. Any advice?
Hi Missy! I have the #1 fat-burning smoothie for weight loss and a few other smoothie recommendations on there, as well. Also, if you scroll to the bottom of any of the recipes you can see the nutrition info. This makes it easier if you are monitoring your sugar and carbs!
Any tips for combating celery “stringy-ness” in smoothies?
Our number one tip for getting the right smoothie consistency is def to blend your liquid and greens only first. That really gives a chance for your blender to get the greens as smooth as possible. Afterward, add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. You’re next smoothie is gonna be so yummy Chrystal!!! 🙂
This recipe looked and smelled terrible, but it tasted SO GOOD!!! So glad I decided to try it.
I like mine a little spicy, so I added a 1/2 inch of ginger. I highly recommend if you’re a ginger lover like me. 🙂
This one is one of my faves, Micha! And I’m also a big fan of ginger.
Thank you for sharing this smoothie. Tried it and loved the taste and also knowing that it is good for me. I will definitely start my morning with this immune booster smoothie since my students are coming back into the classroom next week. I have to protect myself and keep my immune system strong and I feel this smoothie will help me stay healthy.
You’re welcome, Wilma! We ❤️ the teachers! Stay safe + healthy. 🙂
Is there any substitute to celery? Thank you!
You can use cucumber or just leave the celery out.
Just what my husband and I needed right now…another tasty and refreshing smoothie.
So glad you enjoyed it, Dieta! 🙂
I wash and freeze my ginger.
When a recipe calls for it, I pull it out and run it over my zester, peel and all.
Then pop the remaining root back into container and in freezer for next time.
Can’t wait to try this smoothie
Kimmi, that’s a great way to store and use ginger! Let us know what you think of this smoothie once you give it a try!
I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this smoothie after looking over the ingredients but, wow!, was I surprised! It is now one of my go-to smoothies! Thank you for an excellent recipe!
Hi Debbie,
Wahoo!! Love hearing that – thanks for sharing! 🙂
Hello Rawkstar,
My questions is how do you know when you have the right texture when making smoothies. I always feel like I am over doing them and they get to soft and mushy. I really want to start doing more smoothies for the week do you have more receipts.
Hi Maria,
When blending green smoothies we suggest blending your leafy greens + liquid base first, until your greens resemble a juice consistency. Then add your fruit + veggies. Make sure one of your ingredients are frozen to ensure everything is creamy + chilled to perfection.
Hope that helps!
Want more green smoothie recipes? Make sure + check out the recipes tab on our website, + also check out our brand new mobile app, Daily Blends! It’s packed with 200+ recipes, smoothie challenges, + tons of resources.
Check it out here…
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/app
Do you have to peel the ginger root?
Hi Frances,
My favorite way to peel ginger root is to use the edge of a spoon. Simply run your spoon along the root to remove the exterior. Also, a veggie peeler works too!
For this and all other smoothies, are you supposed to peal the kiwi and mango and all other fruits??
Hi Nick,
Great questions! The peels of fruits offer some major nutrients and are a great option to include in your green smoothie. Here are just a few tips on blending kiwi and mango…
While kiwi peels are high in vitamin C, fiber, and cancer-fighting antioxidants, as well as, anti-inflammatory and anti-allergenic properties, it can be tart. So we suggest starting with a small amount.
When blending the mango skin we suggest selecting your fruit when the fruit is ripe and the skin is at its thinnest. While the mango skin is packed with nutrients, those sensitive to poison ivy or poison oak should avoid eating the skin due to a potential allergic reaction known as “mango itch”.
Hope this helps!
I have been feeling under the weather and my daughter has shared pink eye with me So come Monday morning I am looking to boost immunity and detox some of my symptoms! I was missing cucumber but this recipe still tastes very fresh and the texture is light and creamy. I will make it again tomorrow with cucumber. I hope I can shake some of these bugs in my system!
Hi Leana,
Oh no! Pink eye added to already being sick does not sound good! We hope you get to feeling better ASAP! Here are a few other ways to boost your immunity and kick this bug to the curb!
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/immune-system-booster
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/ginger-lemon-honey-tea
Sending you plenty of healing vibes + hope you feel better soon!