Step aside salad. You’re no longer the only way to get dark leafy greens into my diet. I’m sharing a leafy green list of greatness with you as well as how to use greens in a smoothie like the best green smoothie (or salad or soup or anything) as well as why it’s good to rotate your greens and try something like a kale banana smoothie every so often. Ready, set, go green!
Table of Contents
What are Leafy Greens?
Leafy greens are super important for a healthy diet. They’re nutrient-dense, green veggies that provide tons of vitamins and minerals. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, a daily serving of leafy greens can lead to slower age-related cognitive decline.
Greens can be found as the tops of other plants (here’s looking at you, carrot tops and beet greens), or as plants in their own right. They come in all shapes, sizes, textures, shades and seasons. They aren’t even all in the same plant family.
If your taste buds have ever balked at something dark green and leafy, never fear! I’ve got some great new options for you to blend.
The Ultimate Dark Leafy Greens List
I often talk about rotating your greens. This is because greens come from all different plant families, each offering different health benefits. Yet if spinach is your jam, no worries! Your body will tell you when it’s time for a leafy green change-up. Read on to learn about some different types of greens, as well as my favorite options in each family.
Crucifers
Kale
Having a health issue? Kale can help with that. Seriously, kale is at the top of the superfood chain. With 684% of the recommended daily value of vitamin K, 206% of the RDV of vitamin A and 134% of the RDV of vitamin C, this dark leafy green packs a health punch. Kale has the highest level of antioxidants when consumed raw, yet does retain some health benefits when cooked. Try kale in this simple kale smoothie.
Collard
Like their other cruciferous family members, collard greens are great cancer fighters. They are also pretty good at helping your body digest foods properly with all the fiber inside. They are most popular steamed, but adding them raw to your smoothies will provide greater health benefits. Try some alkaline recipes to experiment with collards.
Cabbage
Cabbage is yet another example of a cruciferous cancer-fighting leafy green. This veggie can actually be purple, red, white or green, but is definitely still considered a leafy green. I love using cabbage as a plant-based taco shell, blended in a cabbage smoothie or roasted cabbage with light seasoning. Loaded with fiber, folate, vitamin B6 and antioxidants which help fight inflammation.
Bok Choy
This unique green vegetable is typically grown and harvested in China. Full of vitamins A and C, bok choy ranks high for nutrient density as well. All parts of the plant can be used: shredded in a salad, my vegetarian ramen, cooked in soup or blended in a smoothie.
Arugula
More than just a garnish, this leafy green has a peppery taste and a full nutrient profile. One cup contains 27.7% of the RDV of vitamin K. It has a stronger flavor than other cruciferous greens on my list, yet is fun in lemon arugula salad or strawberry arugula salad, homemade arugula pesto, or as a pizza topping on my incredibly delicious plant-based pizza recipe.
Amaranth
Spinach
It’s hard to beat spinach when talking about nutrient-packed greens. Just one leaf contains a sampling of more than 20 different nutrients. The list of benefits is nearly as long as the number of nutrients:
- cancer-fighting
- blood pressure lowering
- bone strengthening
- cardiovascular helping
- brain boosting
- skin smoothing
- vision improving
- inflammation reducing
- energy increasing
Beet Greens
I recommend branching out and trying beet greens for your next smoothie! They include a wide variety of nutrients, and can easily be substituted in any recipe with spinach, kale or chard. Our friends at Epicurious will kick-start your love for dark leafy beet greens with some of their favorite recipes.
Chard
Looking to put a pep in your leafy green step? Chard is a colorful, dark leaf known for its ability to regulate the body’s blood sugar. Translation? If diabetes or maintaining blood sugar levels is a concern, add this veggie to your regular rotation. Perfect for the afternoon smoothie pick-me-up!
Asteraceae
Romaine Lettuce
Romaine lettuce is good for the heart and low in calories. The vitamin C and beta-carotene content help to lower cholesterol and prevent build-up on artery walls, which reduces the risk of a heart attack.
Not a fan of lettuce salads? Then use romaine as a food wrap like I do in these Thai lettuce wraps or blend it into this gazpacho soup recipe.
Apiaceae
Carrot Tops
Who knew those frilly greens on the tops of carrots could come in handy? #NoFoodWaste. Filled with chlorophyll, which can fight against tumor growth and acts as a cleansing agent, carrot tops are the perfect addition to smoothies like this carrot top smoothie.
If you really want to boost your next smoothie, toss in the carrot and its top.
How Often Should You Rotate Greens?
Most of the smoothie and meal recipes I create use kale or spinach. That’s because these are the most easily found and affordable leafy greens available at the grocery store. Plus, they are in different leafy green families, so it makes rotating my greens easy-peasy.
Alkaloid Build Up
Why is it important to rotate through this leafy green list? All greens have small amounts of toxins. If you only consume greens from one family, your body may start to experience alkaloid build up. This is very rare and easy to avoid. Just try a different leafy green every once in a while.
I recommend rotating your greens once a week. This way, your body doesn’t get too much of a good thing in one leafy green family, and you get the chance to reward your body with new nutrients from a different green family.
Basically, by rotating greens on a regular basis, you avoid building up the toxins from one green. And, this gives you a reason to try that new fun green you’re always eyeing at the farmer’s market.
While our green smoothies are super easy to swap out one green for another, I’ve also got a meal planner full of plant-based recipes. Rawk the Year makes finding new recipes a breeze, and helps you incorporate the whole rainbow into your week. This meal planner also equips you with the kitchen skills to change up your veggies with ease!
Freezing Your Leafy Greens
Ever wonder how to use up all that beautiful produce you just bought, before it starts to wilt? Even though I make green smoothies daily, I still find that my greens never stay fresh as long as I need.
To lengthen the shelf life of those leafy greens and make rotating your greens as easy as opening your freezer, I came up with a way to freeze your greens. This way, you can have your greens and eat them too! Since I typically buy spinach and kale at Costco, I found that freezing them in ice cube trays and then storing them in freezer containers is the perfect solution to maximizing the freshness.
Bonus: Frozen greens can help keep that smoothie cool.
Leafy Greens FAQs
You’ve probably heard of spinach, kale and lettuce, but leafy greens also include carrot tops, beet greens, swiss chard, arugula and more! They can grow all on their own, or be found on the tops of other plants (like broccoli, beets and carrots).
All leafy greens are incredibly nutritious and great to mix into your diet. Kale and spinach are probably the most nutrient-dense, yet you need a variety of greens (and other fruits and vegetables) for the best health. Don’t be afraid to give a new one a try next time you’re at the store. You might be surprised by mustard greens, bok choy and more!
Greens don’t just take place in salads or garnishes for burgers. You can use them in green smoothies, all kinds of pesto, filling for stuffed mushrooms or potatoes. Pretty much anything you want! Next time you are grocery shopping, grab a new-to-you leafy green and get adventurous with how you prepare it.
The Ultimate Green Smoothie App
Our amazing app, Daily Blends Smoothie app., has hundreds of recipes ready for you to work your way through the leafy greens list! You can sort by the ingredients you have on hand or the type of smoothie you want to try. It’s a great app to try a new recipe and catalog your favorites.
What are your favorite leafy greens? Drop a comment below and let me know if this list has inspired you to try a new ingredient, or if you’ve got a new green for me to try!
So, if we are supposed to rotate our greens, why, in your 30-day green smoothie challenge, have the first 3 weeks been exclusively kale and spinach? Why haven’t you given us recipes with romaine or bok choy, etc.?
Hi KC!
Great question! Kale and spinach are in different “families” when it comes to leafy greens. Switching back and forth between the two is adequate rotation, but we also use just these two for this challenge because there are lots of new people joining us. We want to ease them into green smoothies, and keep it simple. Feel free to rotate as widely as you’d like!
I can’t have lettuce (I can’t digest it and I get sick). I don’t think I’ve ever had kale before but spinach doesn’t bother me. Is Kale something that I could have an issue with if I have an issue with lettuce?
Not sure, Brittany… Try just a small dose of it before putting large amounts in a smoothie!
I have an issue with lettuce too (so does my brother and mum) but all Crucifers are fine with us 🙂
I use nutribullet and use handful spinach, Apple, cucumber, blueberries, frozen fruit with no added sugar, celery. I also use maca powder and spirilina. Can I use a protein powder and what protein powder do you suggest?
Check out this page, Helen!
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/plant-based-protein-powder
Just a quick question…after doing the green smoothie today I am feeling a little gassy and bloated. Does this go away in time or is there certain Veggies and fruits to watch out for?
Totally normal, Tamela. Just make sure you’re swapping greens often 🙂
Hey! I just started drinking green smoothies a few days ago and I love them so far and already feel more energized! Question — I started freezing my spinach as well, just to keep it longer and add more chill to the smoothie. Is there any reason not to do this? Thanks!
We love freezing our greens. No sense in spoiling them!
Do you have any suggestions for low calorie, good tasting smoothies!
Hi Cheryl!
Not sure about low calorie… We aren’t big fans of calorie counting. We’d rather focus on all the positive nutrients we’re adding to our bodies 🙂
I was wondering about Turnip greens? Is there a reason you left them out of your greens?
Not really 🙂 There are so many fantastic greens that we didn’t add, but we couldn’t list everything. Turnip greens are great!
what family would turnip greens be in? What is your source for finding ‘family’ and nutrient information. I would really like to have that kind of resource.
I am really happy to know about ‘beet greens’ having tryptophan, my husband has a very hard time sleeping. He wakes up several times a night. About a year ago I was going crazy trying to find a source of tryptophan I finally gave up. Do you have any other sources besides turkey. this is the first time I’ve been to your website, you have great information. Thanks so much.
This reply is to Sheri (for some reason the respond button isn’t showing on your post)
Turnip greens are in the Cruciferous family. To find out what family a veg is in, you have to look up it’s Latin species name, then the genus and it’s other classifications. Amazingly, kale, collard greens, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, calabrese, kohlrabi and turnips are different varieties of exactly the same species, Brassica oleracea. They’ve just been bred to have different shaped leaves, different shaped stems, edible unopened flower buds (that’s what you’re eating when you eat broccoli or cauliflower) or big edible roots.
From the highest to the lowest, apricots, raisins, lychees, avocados, prunes, persimmons, all sapote varieties, guavas, figs, kiwi, plantains, peaches, elderberries, apples, dates, grapes, bananas, cherries, oranges, grapefuit, plums and starfruit are all fruit sources of tryptophan.
Vegetable sources: soya beans and stuff made from them, peppers, chives, shallots, onions, leeks (the last four are the Allium family – see if you can guess other members!) – tomatoes, potatoes, butter beans, cow peas, haricot beans, mung beans, broadbeans, kidney beans – all beans basically, turnip greens, mushrooms, parsley, broccoli, laver (Atlantic nori), Brussel sprouts, pumpkin leaves, beet greens, cauliflower, kale and all other Brassica oleracea varients, spinach and sweet potatoes.
All the vegetable sources are much higher than the fruit sources, especially the beans and the alliums. If he’s a raw foodie, he could try eating sprouted beans 😀
May one use the baby greens or is the mature green preferable?
You can use either, Rachel 🙂
Hi there,
You talk about rotating, but for the last seven months I have been using most of the leafy greens you mention, every day in my lunchtime “Green Goo” as I call it. This has been a Juice rather than a Smoothie, but lately I have been combining the two, by liquidizing the spinach to get the full affect of its awesomeness, and then adding it to the Juice of the other items. One question…our local farmer is growing Rape – the leaves of which are from the cabbage family. Would they be ok to put in my daily Green Goo?
HI Kaz, We’re totally not sure about the juicing parts as neither Jen or myself (Jadah) juice. We do rotate our greens regularly so you might want to try doing that as well. 🙂
Rape leaves will be edible, but only before the plant has started trying to flower – after that they will very bitter
What part of romaine can be used? I used chopped romaine from a bag today and had to strain the smoothie to make it drinkable. I’m wondering if that is because there was not enough leaf and too much towards the bottom of the romaine.
Hi Andrea!
It really comes down to personal preference and blender type. Some blenders may have a harder time blending the stalk, and that’s ok! This just means that you should use more of the leaves and less of the stalk. Also, if you don’t like the bitter taste of the stalk, then you should use less of it 🙂 Hope this helps!
How many cups of leafy greens should one consume daily?? How much is too much on a daily bases? I drink a whole blender full a day with Spinach and Kale and like, 15 different fruits….plus herbs and spices
Hi!
It really varies for each person. We are content with drinking one green smoothie a day, which is about 1 cup of leafy greens. Some people would do well to drink 2 or 3 a day, too.
Do you peel mangos? What other fruits do you peel or not peel?
Yes, we peel mangoes 🙂
Just wanted to comment that I developed some seriously large kidney stones from high oxalate foods. I was juicing quite a bit before that. My urologist did blood work and urine and stone analysis. We discovered that the juicing is likely causing the stones to develop. Anything with an oxalate level over 50mg. should be strictly limited: Collards-74mg, Spinach-600mg, Beet root-675, Swiss Chard-645. anything under 50mg. should be limited to 4 oz per day. Celery- 20mg, Kale-13 mg. I still want to juice and was looking for alternative greens to juice. Thanks for the ideas, I will try arugala, cabbage, bok choy, romaine lettuce, cilantro and carrot tops.
Hi Andrea! Thanks for sharing this with us! One thing to keep in mind is that we focus primarily on blending, and not juicing. Blending requires you to use a smaller amount of leafy greens than juicing does because you use the whole leaf. This helps to reduce the oxalate levels 🙂 Again, thank you for sharing your story!
Oxalates do not cause kidney stones. The only thing that has been found to cause kidney stones is meat. No study has ever shown oxalates to cause kidney stones, much to the meat industry’s chagrin. In fact, fruits and vegetables create urinary citrates which have been proven to reduce the risk of kidney stones, with vegetables having an even stronger effect than fruit. If you have kidney stones it’s either a) because you eat meat, or b) because you’ve only recently given up eating meat. He’s trying to convince you to stop eating vegetables because without out them you’re more likely to develop stone again, thus more money for him. Also, doing stone analysis sound like quackery – all stones are made out of calcium oxalate.
On Nov. 4, 2013 you commented that you could replace plain water with green tea in a smoothie. Is it OK to use a cup of plain water and just use a 1/2 to 1 tsp. of dried green tea in the smoothie? Will you receive the same “goodness” of a cup of green tea, that has not been hydrated in hot water?
Sounds like it could work to me!
Great article on the greens. Any recommendation on what types of fruits to mix with the non spinach options? What can I blend with cilantro? arugula? or beet greens? Thank you for this site. =)
Citrus-y fruits work really well with cilantro! We don’t use arugula much…. But beet greens work well with lots of root veggies 🙂
I am trying to start adding a green smoothie to my daily diet. However, I’m allergic to coconut and so many of the recipes are enhanced with some form of coconut. Is there a viable alternative that’s affordable and easy to find?
Hi Danielle:
Coconut milk? Almond milk works great.
Coconut water? What about regular water or green tea as a replacement?
Coconut oil? Try using a similar portion of avocado.
Hope this helps!