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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!
I love green smoothies and enjoy using a variety of recipes. I am wondering which has the most nutritional benefit: using full serving amounts of only a few different fruits and veggies per day or using smaller amounts but including a greater variety of fruits and veggies each day. Also, is it better to eat a large smoothie all at once or to divide it in half and have half for breakfast and half for lunch or dinner? When consuming a large amount of nutrients at one meal, does the body utilize all of those nutrients?
Hey Carol.
Thanks for the questions. I don’t see why your body wouldn’t intake all the nutrients once consumed. Do you have an article stating otherwise?
Hi,
How often can i have my green smoothie in a day? Does having too much smoothie cause any side effects like kidney stones etc? I am currently having smoothies for my breakfast and dinner but not sure if i should continue with the same or limit my intake. Can you please advice. Thanks!
Hey Tara.
Thank for reaching out to us. Since we are not doctors or nutritionists, we suggest that any member of community with health concerns to speak to their healthcare provider to confirm that green smoothies are best for you body.
Am looking forward to adding green smoothies to my current berry and protein regimen.
?… Thoughts about adding organic plant protein to green smoothies….
Or is it best( digestion-wise) to keep a 60 min. Separation…..
Thanks!
Hey Leigh.
Thanks for reaching out. Here are our tips on adding proteins: https://simplegreensmoothies.com/plant-based-protein-powder
I am starting tomorrow but my challenge is cant I blend everything and drink straightaway . This ice cube of thing is what I don’t understand must I add d ice cube of use frozen fruits and veggies.
Hi Rita.
We enjoying using 1 frozen ingredient rather than adding ice cubes. 🙂 Hope that helps.
A few weeks ago, I started drinking green smoothies. To my great surprise and delight, my 2 and 4 year-old hopped on board and started asking for green smoothies too! A week or so later, they started getting crystals in their urine, which caused a great deal of inflammation. After doing some research, it looks like they may be reacting to the oxalates in the spinach (they don’t seem to have problems with the kale smoothies). Have you come across other people with this problem before?
Sarah-
I’m not a nutritionist or medical professional, but spinach has high levels of calcium as well as oxalates; when my sister took too much calcium via supplementation, she began getting kidney stones, so calcium seems to play a part in the equation.
Glad to hear your kids don’t have the same problem with kale, though some varieties of kale do have high oxalate levels. Dino kale is pretty low! Personally, I really like Romaine, which is low in oxalates. Good luck!!
Hi Sarah.
Thank for reaching out to us. Since we are not doctors or nutritionists, we suggest that any member of community with health concerns to speak to their healthcare provider to confirm that green smoothies are best for you and your family. Best wishes.
Hi I’ve just started following your website. I have poor circulation and suffer from Chilblains in the winter. I was wondering if you knew of a green veg that helped with circulation.
Thank you
Hey Katie.
There’s an article from the Mayo Clinic about circulation and cholesterol that you might find helpful. Just search Mayo Clinic + circulation + cholesterol. 🙂
Hi I have been making green smoothies now for 3 weeks,love them yesterday i whizzed left over salad greens carrot yellow tomato and cinnamon having a wee taste( not so good) decided to throw in a banana it was okay but won’t do that again. Have had some gorgeous draw smoothies. Finding out quite a bit about raw veges thank so much for teaching me to be adventurous with raw veges .Have a good day
Hey Janice. Sometimes they are just okay and sometimes they totally rawk! Either way, good job on being adventurous.
Hi, I was diagnosed with Crohns in 2000, I started making smoothies everyday in about 2012, to help control my illness. I now have full energy everyday and no symptoms of my illness 🙂
That’s amazing! Thanks for sharing your testimony! Cheers!
Hi I’m from Malaysia and I never thought I can drink green smoothies in my whole life before this. Now I’m on week 2 and I kind of like it. Just a problem, we can’t really get spinach here sometimes. I started off with spinach and the other day I bought “Japanese Spinach” for week 2. I wonder if they are they same? But they don’t taste or look the same to me. I’m pretty confused!
Hey Janice.
Thanks for reaching out. Feel free to use any leafy green you can find in your stores. We love all different types of leafy greens, sounds like you are doing a great job. 🙂
I wonder if it was komatsuna/mustard spinach? It’s more closely related to kale and broccoli, so I think it would be a crucifer. Or maybe it was Akarenso or one of the other varieties of Japanese heat-resistant spinach. (They have purple stems and look kind of like a dandelion IMO.)
If you figure out what it was I’m very curious! Did they taste good?
Today at a Chinese market I bought a bag of sweet potato leaves. I figured that it might be fun to try something different. Has any one else ever tried sweet potato leaves?
Hey Martha. I have not. If you blend it, let us know how it goes. 🙂
Hi! I’m just starting out with green smoothies and I bought a bag of mixed greens: kale, spinach and chard. Is it ok to use just a handful of the mixed greens in the recipes?
Totally. That will work great!
Hi Vanessa!!
Great question. We most often use kale and spinach because they’re the greens that are readily available and most everyone around the world can find them.
But absolutely feel free to sub in any greens you like!! 🙂
And yes! We love blending our greens with a bit of water and freezing them in ice cube trays. But we also have tossed the whole bag into the freezer and take out what we need. 🙂
Thanks for your reply, one more question on this…
I think its fair to say that all greens are not equal in taste. Most are stronger and more bitter than Spinach and Kale. For example 2 cups of cilantro, arugula, parsley or celery leaves would have a much stronger taste than 2 cups of Spinach or Swiss Chard. So I dont imagine we can just swap the 2 cups of greens equally in any of the smoothies. Supposedly we would have to use less of some greens, or choose specific recipes that are sweeter to balance/ hide the bitter taste of the stronger greens.
Yes, we can experiment, I know, but some recipe examples and guidance would be ideal for those of us on the challenge who don’t have the time to experiment. Personally I’ve wasted some fruit & veg already not getting the combos right!
Hey Vanessa.
I would suggest 1/2 cup of herbs and 1 & 1/2 cups of mild leafy greens to start off with and then gradually work your way up.
https://simplegreensmoothies.com/fresh-herbs
I’m on the 30 day challenge at the moment and have noticed that up to week four you only rotate recipes between Spinach and Kale, why not all green groups?
Also fresh leafy greens wilt within a few days and Ive seen videos on youtube that suggest freezing by either storing leaves as is in a ziplock bag, or blending with a bit of water then freezing in ice cube trays. Do you have any recommendations for this? If as icecubes how many ice cubes do you then add to the smoothie? Its a shame to buy a bag or bunch and have to toss half of it. Thanks!
Vanessa,
We love freezing our leafy greens! Stocking the freezer full of leafy green cubes is a great way to get quick and creative with smoothie recipes (while keeping the greens from going bad!). You can read more about it here: https://simplegreensmoothies.com/how-to-freeze-spinach
Hi, I’ve just started drinking gren smoothies and know very little. I tried a recipi that said 1 cup of kale, but I’ve reduced it to 1/2 cup – should I go back to one cup. I just add 1% mil, banana and some fresh pinapple. I love it. Im using it to reduce my sweet tooth and cookie intake. I have Mutiple Myeloma cancer and the steriod medication is are making me put on weight. My question is how many big glasses a day is too much. Today I had 3 big glasses – 2 before dinner to curb that 4:00-5:00 sweet tooth binge and one at 9:30pm. Is that too much. should I be drinking it only in the am??? I also drink 5-6 bottle of water a day and that’s it for my liquid intake. No soda’s no alcohol and no tea of coffee.
Hi Lindy! We recommend one to two 16-ounce smoothies per day. If you’re looking to replace a meal with a smoothie, we advise adding a healthy fat + a protein to your smoothie. You can read more about that here: https://simplegreensmoothies.com/meal-replacement-smoothie
Hi, I’ve done smoothies with kale before but find that they make my lips tingle and feel tender. Could this be a reaction to the toxins in the kale? My green of choice is spinach because it’s easily available here and I’ve not noticed any reactions.
Thanks.
Hmm, Neeca. If you find the kale isn’t working out for you, try other greens like bok choy, parsley, spinach, celery, etc. 🙂
I found out I cannot tolerate smoothies mixed with fruit and vegetable. My body feels better when I don’t mix vegetable and fruits. Can you suggest smoothies with only fruits and just vegetables?
Do you give in you provide with an exercise program on the 21 days or 30 days challenge?
Hi Soledad!
Thanks so much for the question. We don’t currently have just fruit smoothies or just veggie ones but feel free to play with some of your favorite fruits (pineapple, mango – strawberry, banana – or greens like kale and carrots, tomatoes, etc.) Just do what works for you and what your body tolerates. 🙂