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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.
I used frozen pineapple and mango which made this smoothie cool and creamy. I didn’t have any kale so used spinach instead. Added chia seeds and hemp hearts for a little protein boost. And as usual, I rinsed out the container with water afterward and added that to thin out my smoothies because I prefer them a bit thinner.
Good combination of flavor which I feel most everyone would enjoy.
This smoothie was refreshing, but I needed to add at least 1/2 cup of extra liquid so it could blend smoothly.
The tropical kale smoothie was good. I used 1/2 of an orange because of its size and found it to be just enough citrus flavor for the smoothie. I’ve noticed that I can taste kale in my smoothies but I usually cannot taste spinach. It’s a flavor that I can definitely get used to! Since I can’t take vitamin supplements, I can benefit from using this leafy green in my smoothies.
I sub lettuce for kale. This was super delicious. A meal in a glass.
Yum! Used kale grown in community garden for this one!
This is a very light and refreshing smoothie. I absolutely love it.
I really prefer spinach to kale, so I made this with spinach. I didn’t see the chia seeds in the 10-Day Challenge Guide recipe for this smoothie. I didn’t know about a post workout use of coconut water, until I read the possible variations when I went to post my review. It was pretty good anyway. I will try it again with chia seeds and coconut water.
I think this is one of my favorite recipes! It’s so bright green and still filled me up. I added protein powder and chia seed.
Was a tasty but I found the flavour to be fairly mild when made into a breakfast smoothie with Greek yogurt, oats, matcha, and the magic trio (hemp hearts, chia seeds, flax seeds).
Good & smooth. Milder in flavor than some of the other smoothies. The flavor of the orange and pineapple really came through
This smoothie was really delicious. Mention tropical, and I’m hooked. Added my usual hemp protein and some coconut oil.
This is a delicious smoothie
Very refreshing….I love the mango & orange!!
The kale leaves were too tough for my blender and made the smoothie fibrous and gritty. I would replace this with parsley, or maybe baby kale if available.
Delicious tropical flavors.