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For this island tropical smoothie recipe, I’ve included an array of tropical fruits and coconut water blended with a big handful of spinach. Can you imagine how awesome it would be to have a frosty glass of this island green smoothie poolside? And maybe a paper umbrella… Def a paper umbrella.
Our senses of smell and taste have the magical power to transport us directly back to any memory. It’s amazing. This tropical smoothie recipe does that for me. I love traveling to tropical places and spending plenty of time at the beach. I’m a California girl living in Florida, yet I’ll never tire of the ocean!
Take a mini-vacay to the beach with this delicious island green tropical smoothie recipe!
Table of Contents
How to Make an Island Green Smoothie
I’ve mentioned before that I don’t typically limit my fruit intake. I enjoy fruit when I’m in the mood as part of a well-rounded, healthy diet.
I know that’s not always the case for everyone. Those who need to watch their blood sugar should consult with a medical professional before blending.
In any case, I love using fruit to sweeten my smoothies – no processed sugar needed! Fruits like banana and pineapple are naturally sweet and really add a tropical punch to this smoothie. Read on to see just why they’re better for you than refined sugars.
Tropical Smoothie Ingredients
If you’re new to green smoothies, your tastebuds will go through a little adjustment phase as they recalibrate towards the natural sweetness of fruit and other flavors. Some smoothies will taste sweeter than others. If you’re someone who has a sweet tooth, start by blending smoothies made with tropical fruits. Look no further than the tropical beverage below to satisfy the sweetest of sweet teeth!
Tropical fruit adds the most sweetness to smoothies due to their higher sugar content. Lower sugar fruits include berries, bananas, stone fruits, apples, and pears. They are also sweet, but not as sweet as tropical fruit.
As your tastebuds adjust and when you’re ready, start blending other fruits. You’ll find that all fruit starts to taste sweeter and more flavorful now that sugar isn’t masking the other flavors. Before you know it, you’ll find yourself craving a daily dose of leafy green goodness.
Fruit Sugar vs. Refined Sugar
While it’s true that refined or processed sugars digest quickly and totally cause those icky blood sugar spikes, the sugar we ingest with fruit is completely different.
Fruit isn’t just full of sugar. With the natural sugar in fruit comes plenty of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytonutrients, etc., etc., not to mention dietary fiber.
Fiber is our friend.
Dietary fiber helps prevents blood sugar spikes by slowing things down as they move down the line so your body can absorb the nutrients at an even keel. You will stay full for longer and that same dietary fiber will help with keeping you, ahem – regular.
Give your body a natural reset through whole food
Brace yourself. I’m going to say a word that scares some who are new to plant based eating – detox.
If you’re looking for an easy way to detox daily, then the island green tropical smoothie recipe below is a great one to get blending.
Four times each year, I promise myself I’ll hit the reset button on my eating habits. I consciously make the choice to eat in ways, for short periods of time, that give my body the best of what plants have to offer. Part of that involves green smoothies of course! The nutrient + fiber rich greens do wonders to cleanse my body in a gentle, yet effective way.
If you’re ready to hit that reset button along with me, check out one of my Seasonal Cleanses. They are purely food based, no fancy-fancy pills or powders. You can cook and blend along with me, seeing results that I enjoy too – like better sleep, better skin and better energy.
FAQs
With a good dose of dietary fiber and a whopping 168 mg of Vitamin C, we sure think so! Yet, I know some rawkstars might need a bit less fruit sugar when blending. If that’s you, be sure to check out our Low Sugar Fruits for Smoothies.
Great question! Depending on the greens you use in your smoothies, you can end up taking in higher amounts of oxalates, which in turn may cause kidney stones. While this doesn’t happen often, if it’s something you’re concerned about we def recommend staying hydrated with good water and rotating your greens. Changing up your greens on the regular helps to keep from building up any one particular nutrient in your body and ensures you get a wide variety of all those oh-so-good for you vitamins, minerals and more.
Most of us don’t take in healthy fruits and veggie as often as we should. Using smoothies are an amazing way to up the intake of the good stuff. When I blend, I’m keeping all the fiber in with my veg + fruit, which helps clear out anything bad my body is holding onto. It’s a great way to detox gently.
More Island Tropical Smoothie Recipes
So now do I have you feeling all the tropical island feels??? If you’re ready for more vacation-worthy smoothies, be sure to give these a blend:
- Vegan tropical smoothie
- Tropical smoothie bowl
- Healthy margarita smoothie
- Piña colada smoothie
- Dragon fruit smoothie bowl
- Perfect pineapple smoothie
Where would you like to be sipping these tropical smoothies: beach or poolside? Drop a comment below to let us know!
Island Green Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup spinach
- ½ cup coconut water unsweetened
- 1 orange peeled
- ½ cup pineapple
- ½ cup mango
- ½ banana
- 1 serving homemade protein powder optional
Instructions
- BLEND spinach, coconut water, and orange together until smooth.
- ADD remaining fruit and blend again.
Equipment
Notes
- Use at least one frozen fruit to make the smoothie cold or serve over ice.
- May swap out coconut water with regular water, if preferred.
- To reduce sweetness, substitute avocado for banana.
- Swap out spinach for the leafy greens of your choice.
Back for Day 2!! I’m reporting on behalf of my hubby, who is the one participating in the challenge through me, haha. Anywho, he LOVED this smoothie! This time I didn’t freeze the banana nor the greens ahead of time (I did yesterday, froze all except the liquid). The texture was smoother and not as brain-freeze-inducing as yesterdays. I also only added the exact water with no additional milk or other liquid. My guess is the fresh (and gigantic, lol) orange helped keep it thinner and easier to drink than yesterday’s; I also used lettuce as that’s what I had on hand from our CSA this week. Both delicious, I’m mainly toying with the texture/drinkability experience to make sure it’s something sustainable for him to be able to enjoy in his short lunch break! Thank you for this awesome challenge!
So glad you hear you both like this one, Kris!
Very tasty tropical smoothie. I like the tang of the orange and sweetness.
The orange def gives this one some tang, Evee!
Totally refreshing- first time putting navel oranges in my smoothie – great recipe!
Thanks (I also added ground flaxseed)
The oranges really make this one special!
Delicious! Used water instead of coconut water ( mine was expired).
I bet it turned out just as good, Dorothy!
Love how thick and creamy this recipe is and the flavor is definitely tropical. I’m sure I will make it again.
Love that this one made you feel tropical, Terry!
Ok THIS was delicious! I think the coconut water and the mandarins ( couldn’t find any good looking oranges when I shopped) took the flavor up a notch!
Delicious!
All 5 of us give it a .
Waiting for my hemp protein powder (made sure only ingredient was hemp)to deliver to make Jen’s homemade protein powder!
Looking forward to day 3!
I bet mandarins worked just as good, maybe better, Leeanna!
Oh wow, am I in the Caribbean or Hawaii? I think this is my new fav.
To note, my banana was really green, but it worked just fine in this one.
A tropical vacation for a fraction of the cost, Alane!
Not sure coconut water enhanced taste. Next time, will use regular water as I didn’t detect any coconut taste as I had expected. Orange taste comes through. Made with banana & wasn’t too sweet.
Regular water works too, Lee Ann!
I like the orange in this one.
The orange def makes this one special, Debbie!
This smoothie was very good too. It ever so slightly edged out day one for me. Can’t wait for day 3.
Hi Gail! Thrilled that you liked this one, can’t wait to see how you like day 3!
Tastes like paradise!
Def gives me “island vibes”, Kristen!
This smoothie was creamy and had alot of ingredients. Because I use a Blendjet I had to cut the ingredients in half which did not take away from its citrus flavors. Again another appetite pleasing drink.
Glad you liked this one, Boyd!
Delicious with great creamy texture! Added plain pea protein powder and spirulina.
Awesome additions, Mireielle!
Loved the taste but too much sugar. That’s why 4 stars instead of 5. Making as recipe is to accurately rate. When done with challenge I will use less fruit and more spinach. I added collagen powder.
Less fruit and more spinach is a great way to cut down on the natural sugars in this one, Pam!
Delicious! Added some SGS homemade protein powder for an extra boost! 🙂
Thanks for using our homemade protein powder recipe, Elisabeth!
Light, filling delicious. A perfect afternoon drink. I added protein powder yesterday and didn’t feel hungry until dinner. So I followed suit today. Day 2 in the books!
Protein powder really makes this one supercharged, Zelda!