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This insanely tasty tropical kale smoothie recipe was originally created for my #1 best-selling recipe book, Simple Green Smoothies. Over the years, I’ve craved it more and more, and even started growing my own kale to use in smoothies.
This smoothie tastes like sunshine, and will cause you to fall in love with green smoothies.
I’m sure you’ve noticed kale’s rise to fame over the last decade. It went from an unidentified leafy green to the top dog of the produce section overnight. Kale comes from the cruciferous family (along with cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, and more). Kale is a supercharged superfood, because it is loaded with vitamins A, B6, C, and K, calcium, potassium, copper and manganese.
People typically identify kale by it’s sharp taste, and tougher texture, yet if this is you, then I’m gonna ask you to give it another try.
Kale Smoothie Ingredients
This recipe takes me back to my California roots through its tropical ingredient list:
- Orange: 92% DV of Vitamin C
- Pineapple: 761% DV of Vitamin C
- Mango: Vitamin C… and a natural sweetener.
- Chia seeds: The omega 3s and 6s in the chia seeds, as well as the protein boost, help turn that natural sugar into energy as your body processes it.
- Kale: This Top Superfoods List is a great way to boost your fiber intake + help your body process the natural sugar found in the fruit ingredients.
Easy Ingredient Swaps
If you want to turn this smoothie into a great pre or post workout beverage, then swap the water with coconut water, aka nature’s gatorade. Add even more superfood goodness by swapping the chia seeds with a plant-based protein powder, like my homemade protein powder recipe.
Tips for Blending a Kale Smoothie
While this kale smoothie recipe uses Lacinato kale, any kale will work. I highly recommend removing the stems of the kale before blending to eliminate as much bitterness as possible. You can compost the stems or even feed them to the backyard chickens. To tenderize kale leaves, wash them in water, then gently massage the leaves with your fingers.
When blending kale, tear it up into smaller pieces before tossing in the blender. Blend with just the liquid + kale first, until no chunks remain. Then add the remaining ingredients and blend again. This 2 blend method helps the kale break down quicker, especially if you’re using a non high-powered blender.
Kale Smoothie FAQs
Smoothies can be great for you, if you focus on using whole food ingredients. Ditch the added sugar and processed foods and use real whole food. Fresh or frozen kale can be used (both have great nutrition!). Just make sure to swap up your leafy greens to ensure your body gets well rounded nutrients.
Yes! Just make sure to wash it well and massage with your fingers before adding it to the blender. Also, de-stem the kale to ensure those tough stems don’t end up as chunks in your smoothie.
I love the mild flavor of Lacinato kale, yet curly kale is typically the easiest to find at the grocery store. I would stay away from Tuscan kale as it is a bit spicier. If the first kind of kale you try isn’t your fav, look for another kind!
More Kale Smoothies
Whether this is a new ingredient for you or a staple in your fridge, here are some more great smoothies that use kale:
- kale mango smoothie
- kale banana smoothie
- pineapple kale smoothie
- kiwi smoothie
- coconut oil smoothie
- fruit and vegetable smoothie
- ginger pineapple smoothie
- cherry smoothie
Really, swap out the leafy green in any green smoothie with kale. It might just become your go-to smoothie ingredient too! Let me know your thoughts about this smoothie by leaving a rating + review below once you blend it.
Kale Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup kale
- ½ cup water
- 1 orange peeled
- ½ cup pineapple frozen
- ½ cup mango frozen
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
Instructions
- Blend kale, orange and water until smooth.
- Add remaining fruit and blend again.
Notes
- Use at least 1 frozen fruit for a refreshingly cold smoothie.
- Swap kale with the leafy green or your choice.
- Swap in coconut water if you need natural electrolytes.
- Depending on how big and juicy your orange is, start with a little less water and gradually add more as needed to easily blend.
This smoothie was amazing. I’m not a fan of kale, so I subbed half spinach and the rest of my greens consisted of green butter and red leaf lettuce.
This one is another easy traditional flavor smoothie. Refreshing and tasty.
This smoothie is delicious as we use a sweet variety of kale!! All your recipes are good!!
Silly me didn’t put a star rating on the past two smoothies. I would have rated them 5 stars. So if you can correct my comments for both of those I would appreciate it.
I really like eating kale and didn’t mind putting it in my smoothie today. I add kale to my stir fry dishes, soups and fried rice all the time. We even grow it in our garden. I ended up adding 1/2 a banana to the kale smoothie today to add a little sweetness to it because the original recipe ended up a little sour. This smoothie ended up a little thicker and loved the consistency.
I found this to be refreshing. I used a power blend of greens instead of kale and I also substituted flax seeds for chia seeds.
This was a refreshing smoothie. I did swap out the kale for a power blend of greens and I used flax seed instead of chia seeds.
Smoothie was really good, I used spinach since I cannot stand kale. Tried kale over the year and just cannot get used to texture. The smoothie was thick, tasty and very smooth.
I don’t mind kale, & yes I already blend it with spinach
I have been growing kale & spinach in my veggie patch 4 easy access every morning
Kale can have a bitter taste but when u blend it with everything else plus some ginger or mini it is quite nice
I enjoyed this smoothie this morning
Absolutely delicious. Used spinach instead of kale (still working on acquiring the taste for kale). Added clementines, pineapple, mango, passion fruit, a small banana Jane chia seeds. Nice and refreshing drink
I think the orange and pineapple do a good job of mellowing the bite of the kale. I used hemp hearts instead of chia. This was a nice refreshing smoothie after a walk with my dogs!
Kale goes excellent with the tropical fruits. Loved it and plan to make it again.
I love pineapple and orange together. I did. use baby kale because the older kale is hard on my stomach. The chia seeds were okay but I really like the greens and the fruit blends the best. I am not saying these was a bad mix, I am just saying I prefer the fruit / veggies mixes more. I also. liked. the coconut water. in the mix. Over all it was a nice surprise.
The first time I had kale was last year. I put it my smoothies and had salad recipe for it. I thought I never would get through all the kale. Kale is okay.
Yum! I added 1 Tbsp hemp hearts for a phosphorus boost, but followed the recipe otherwise. I packed the cup with kale, which I like, but had never eaten raw before. I used 2 very small homegrown navel oranges, which are extremely sweet and juicy. The smoothie was a little tart, but not objectionably so, which I suspect was from the frozen pineapple. Overall, it tasted quite tropical. I look forward to enjoying this on a hot summer day!
I just found out that I do not like kale in my smoothies
This is exactly as described – like the “warm Californian sunshine” (I’m in Southern California)
A simple and tasty recipe. I found the mango stood out for me and I loved it!!