This bright green smoothie is fresh, fruity, and perfect for a quick breakfast. Pineapple, banana, and vanilla yogurt blend with mild baby spinach for a naturally sweet and refreshing drink.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: It’s naturally sweet from pineapple and banana, with a burst of green nutrients you can’t even taste.
- Recommended Tools: A high-speed blender makes the best smoothies, but any blender will work; just make smaller batches. You may need to add a bit more liquid as you blend.
- Swaps: Dairy-free or plant-based milk or yogurt both work well for a vegan option. Frozen spinach can be used, but only use a cube or two.
- Serving Suggestions: Make a green smoothie for breakfast, a post-workout snack, or freeze all the ingredients into zippered bags and enjoy a smoothie any time.
- Yield: This recipe makes enough for four small servings, or two large smoothies.
Smoothie Staples
- Milk: Use whole or skim milk, or try coconut milk for a delicious twist.
- Yogurt: Vanilla yogurt adds creaminess and sweetness. Use Greek yogurt for a thick, protein-rich shake.
- Baby Spinach: With its mild flavor, spinach blends into this smoothie for hidden greens and a light, fresh taste you’ll love. Sub fresh or frozen kale if you like it.
- Frozen Fruit: Frozen fruit creates a cold, creamy frozen treat with icy sweetness. Try using frozen banana, or swap pineapple with mango for a similar tropical flavor.
Variations
- No milk? Use orange juice instead!
- Add in other types of frozen fruit like peaches, strawberries, cherries, or mangos.
- Protein powder is added to lots of smoothie recipes for good reason. It makes it into a protein-rich drink that’s full of good calories and energy to power you up.
- Try making a smoothie bowl topped with add-ins like blueberries, hemp hearts, chia seeds, or other nuts and seeds.
How to Make a Green Smoothie
- Add spinach, yogurt, and milk and blend until smooth.
- Add remaining ingredients and blend until thick and creamy.
- Serve immediately or pour into mason jars for later.
Make Ahead Magic
- Freeze extras as smoothie cubes for quick future blends. Just add milk and re-blend!
- Pour smoothies into popsicle moulds, then freeze for a sweet and nutritious treat.
- Freeze full jars with at least an inch of space on top for expansion, for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and shake well.
- For the best texture, color, and flavor, enjoy smoothies immediately after blending.
Quick Breakfast Options
Did you make this Green Smoothie recipe? Leave a rating and comment below.
Green Smoothie Recipe
This easy Green Smoothie recipe is a great way to get your daily dose of vitamins and minerals.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1½ cups baby spinach or kale
- ⅔ cup milk or orange juice
- 1 cup vanilla yogurt
- 2 cups frozen pineapple
- 1 banana
- honey optional
Instructions
- Blend spinach, milk, and vanilla yogurt until smooth.
- Add pineapple, banana, and a drizzle of honey if using, and blend until thickened and creamy.
- If the mixture is too thick, add milk as needed.
Notes
- Add a drizzle of honey for some added sweetness.
- Milk can be replaced with a non-dairy milk.
- For a thicker smoothie, use a frozen banana or add a handful of ice cubes.
- Make an extra batch and freeze it in an ice cube tray.
- Short on time or ingredients? Just pop a cube or two into the blender with some milk, and it’s smoothie time with no peeling, cutting, or chopping!
- No fresh spinach on hand? Use frozen instead.
- 1 cup of fresh spinach is a small amount of frozen since it is so densely packed.
- Use no more than ¼ cup or approximately 1-2 cubes of frozen spinach with this recipe.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 293kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 132mg | Potassium: 907mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 44g | Vitamin A: 2428IU | Vitamin C: 91mg | Calcium: 356mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
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So Delicious!
So happy to hear you love this smoothie Alex!
So I’m enjoying a smoothie this morning with a cup of raspberries, some blueberries, and a whole lotta spinach and carrots. And it is pretty good! (added ice)
LOOKS SO GOOD NOT SURE HOW TO SAVE THE RECIPE. IF YOU COULD E-MAIL IT TO ME: cuddleyvt57@yahoo.co
My son and I are allergic to bananas. Are they really necessary?
This recipe is fantastic! I tried it for the very first time tonight and used fresh peaches, bananas, and raspberries. I also substituted apple sauce for water. It makes it a little more thicker, but still delish! Thanks for sharing!
An alternative that Dr. Oz suggested (and that I was already making except for the spinach .. added that and LOVED it!) is the banana, spinach, ice, water, scoop of PROTEIN powder and a small spoonful of natural peanut butter. I use chocolate protein powder and this is delish! Yes, the green is a bit much but you don’t taste it at all and it is soo good! You can also use plain greek yogurt in place of the water/protein to get the fluid/protein combo. I’ve made these for years sans the spinach (who knew it wouldn’t taste!) and have put just about any type of fruit/berry in it. Love the idea of grapes! Blueberries are wonderful but have a lot of little seeds, same with raspberries which lend a LOT of flavor but the seeds do get in the way as I always drink my smoothies with a straw due to sensative teeth. I have found that the banana is what “smoothes” it all out no matter what you ad AND it gives the sweetness you are looking for. Best part? You know those bananas that get too ripe and you always end up throwing away if you don’t feel like making banana bread? Freeze them! 20 seconds or less in the microwave and they are peelable and ready for the blender! Hope you all try them and find them as tasty and enjoyable as I do! Try it, you’ll like it!
Catherine, I just bought some protein powder and I’m going to try it out!! I bought vanilla flavor but I hope it will still be okay 😉 Thanks for the tips, they are wonderful!! What a gem of knowledge you are!!!
~JB
Are you using fresh spinach or frozen
I use fresh spinach. I am not sure if you can use frozen. I was wondering about that, I’ll look it up and let you know if I find anything out!!
~JB
Thanks so much for the recipe. I’ve started making them for me and my family and they really are good.
thanks!
We *love* green smoothies in our house…especially my 2 1/2 yr old! My almost 9 year old is the least fond of them, but will still drink his 8 oz more often than not. My 2 1/2 yr old will drink 20-24 oz if I let him! DH and I usually have 32 oz. If you’re just getting into them…the best greens to go for besides Spinach (which has next to NO taste!) are kale and napa cabbage (it’s a green, sort of oval shaped cabbage that most produce sections have). Collard greens are good too, but you’ll want to use less of them…they have a slight bite to them that makes the “green” taste come out more. Grapes are another great add to smoothies in place of bananas. We buy 40-50 pounds of red, black, and green grapes when they’re on sale in the summer and then freeze them for use in the winter. The kids think it’s like eating grape ice cream or mini popsicles! 🙂
LOL, the top warns us NEVER to eat banannas! All food is good when consumed in healthy moderation and balanced with physical activity.