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If you’re new to smoothies—or new to adding greens—this vegan tropical smoothie is a great place to start. It’s light, fruity, and refreshing, with just a handful of easy-to-find ingredients. The tropical flavors from pineapple, banana, and orange shine through, while the spinach blends in seamlessly (promise—you won’t taste it).
This is the kind of smoothie that builds confidence. No fancy powders, no complicated steps—just whole foods that come together into a smooth, bright blend you’ll actually want to make again.
Table of Contents
Why This Vegan Smoothie Is Perfect for Beginners
This recipe keeps things simple and forgiving. Spinach has a mild flavor that disappears when blended, making it ideal for first-time green smoothie drinkers. Frozen pineapple adds natural sweetness and chill, while banana creates a creamy texture without dairy. With water as the base, the flavors stay clean and light, letting the fruit do the work.
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Ingredients You’ll Need
You only need five ingredients to make this smoothie:
- Spinach: This leafy green vegetable adds fiber and nutrients without changing the flavor.
- Water: A neutral base that keeps the smoothie light and refreshing, yet can be swapped with non-dairy milk.
- Orange: Brings brightness and natural sweetness.
- Frozen pineapple: Adds tropical flavor and a cold, creamy texture. You can alway cut pineapple and freeze it yourself.
- Banana: Smooths everything out and balances the citrus. You can alway freeze bananas to have on hand at all times for smoothies.
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How to Make Vegan Tropical Smoothie
- Start by adding the spinach and water to your blender. Blend until completely smooth—this helps prevent leafy bits. Next, add the orange, frozen pineapple, and banana. Blend again until creamy and fully combined.
- If the smoothie is too thick, add a splash of water. If it’s too thin, add a few extra pineapple chunks.
- Pour into a glass and enjoy right away.
Recipe Tips
- Always blend greens with liquid first for the smoothest texture. You can learn all about that in my how to make a smoothie guide.
- If you’re using one of my recommended blenders for smoothies, keep as much of the white-pith around the orange as possible because that pith contains more Vitamin C than the rest of the orange.
- Using at least one frozen fruit will give you a refreshingly cold vegan tropical smoothie. I don’t recommend freezing the orange for this smoothie since it acts as part of the liquid as well. If you do freeze the orange, then just add a bit more water to break down the ingredients.
More Tropical Smoothie Recipes
Tropical smoothies are delicious and easy to make. Here are some other popular recipes I’ve created over the years that you might enjoy:
If you make this vegan tropical smoothie recipe, I’d love to hear how it turned out in the comment box below. Your feedback helps me and all the readers in this community. And if you’re interested in more plant-based recipes (and exclusive content), sign up for my weekly recipe newsletter.
Vegan Tropical Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup spinach
- ½ cup water
- ½ orange peeled
- ½ cup pineapple frozen
- ½ banana
- 1 serving homemade protein powder optional
Instructions
- Blend spinach orange, and water until smooth.
- Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
Helpful Tools
Notes
- Use at least one frozen fruit for a refreshingly cold smoothie
- Use coconut water instead of regular water for an electrolyte boost
- This recipe uses less water than my other smoothie recipes because the orange acts like fruit AND liquid. If your orange is extra watery, don’t be afraid to lessen the amount of water to start.
- Feel free to swap spinach with other leafy green vegetables you have on hand (kale works great in this recipe too!)
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review for a chance to win signed copies of my cookbooks!Lots of smoothies ordered at restaurants contain dairy in the smoothie mix, protein powder, or boosters. If you want a true vegan smoothie, stick to a plant based milk (or water), real fruit, and leafy greens. Use vegan protein powder and dairy free yogurt to boost.
I recommend blending your smoothies in two steps. First, blend the leafy greens and liquid. Once there are no leafy bits remaining, then add in the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Thaw frozen ingredients slightly to make them easy to blend.
For the smoothest smoothies, look for a blender with a strong motor and good blade design. High-speed blenders are great for frozen fruit and greens, while personal blenders work well for quick, single-serve smoothies. Mid-range countertop blenders can be a solid option if you blend regularly. For a full breakdown and specific model recommendations, check out my in-depth article on the best blenders for smoothies.
The flavor was good but it was a bit frothy. I may have added to much water though. I probably had closer to a cup rather than 3/4 cups. It had a very refreshing flavor.
Another great smoothie.
This smoothie is always a winner! Love the fruity flavor and the feeling of being on a beach.
Smells really delicious and fruity. But taste wise was just okay for me. Might be because I did not have orange so used a peach. And did not have spinach so I used lettuce.
This is definitely one of my favorites! Love the citrusy smoothness.
Yummy yummy…I used coconut milk instead + added zucchini, coconut flakes, vanilla & lime & subbed mango for pineapple. The pineapple would have been so yum though.
Today I used mostly frozen ingredients and added avocado, cilantro and ginger. This smoothie was cold and creamy!
You had me a Tropical! My favorite smoothie so far.
Same, Sherri! Such a good one. 🙂
Tropically refreshing!
I add to sub the pineapple for strawberries because that’s what had. But It was still really good
Love this tropical drink!
I thought the touch of orange zest along with a pinch of cinnamon was good. Always like pineapple in a smoothie. Tasted really good.
I love green smoothies with tropical fruits! Today I added maca powder and chia gel made with pineapple juice. I also added a pinch of cinnamon because I read somewhere that cinnamon tastes good with pineapple. I didn’t love it with the cinnamon but my husband did. Overall though, I love this smoothie/combo of fruits.
Vegan Tropical –
I absolutely love this – it is so yummy. so far this and ther first one Peach Banana are my favorites.
I plan on making the spiced almond milk tonight and strawberry chia pudding – stay tuned for comment
Hey Sher! I love this one, also! And def let us know what you think of the spiced almond milk and chia pudding. 🙂
I Boosted this for a meal replacement. I added oats, almond butter, and plant based protein powder. Replaced pineapple with orange. This actually tasted quite good!
Tasty and super simple!
Wow this smoothie made me happy. It is like it jump started my morning! Idk if it has to do with the oranges but man, it made me feel good and awake!
I am just loving this spring 10day challenge, so far every recipe has been 5 stars, seriously. For today’s recipe, Vegan Tropical, I was actually out of spinach and kale, but I remember that I had leftover smoothie cubes from the Key Lime pops so threw that in to the blend and what a delight it was. I feel like I should be sipping my smoothie by the beach. Tip for others trying this recipe, I always prep my smoothies in advance, in other words I ration and freeze the fruit, however I don’t freeze my greens or citrus. I’ve learned from previous experience that the citrus is part of the liquid content, thus if I use frozen citrus my smoothies are way to thick and require added liquid. Enjoy, I did.
Dora, I think Key Lime pops as smoothie cubes in this recipe would be amazing! Make it with coconut water and you can say you “put the lime in the coconut” haha! 😉 And thanks for posting the tip on not freezing citrus. I’ve found the same thing and even when I prep my oranges, I keep them in the fridge, not the freezer.
Been a while since I used pineapple in my smoothie. Forgot how awesome it is! What a delicious mood boosting smoothie. I used a lot of frozen ingredients and reduced the water to make it into a smoothie bowl and topped it with granola and large flake coconut for extra tropical flare.
This one is w winner for us.
So fresh and so full of vitamin C.
Added – 4 leaves of basil, and a tsp. of chia seeds.