Green Smoothie

My favorite green smoothie recipe! This healthy, delicious drink is easy to make in the blender, and it's packed with leafy greens and fresh fruit.

Green smoothie

New year, new green smoothie recipe! Ok, well actually, this recipe is not new new, but it’s new to the blog. Behind the scenes, it’s my favorite green smoothie recipe, the one that I make whenever I want to pack a bunch of fruits and vegetables into a single meal and have them taste like dessert. It’s thick and frosty, lightly sweet, and brimming with fresh produce like citrus, spinach, and banana. If you’re looking for a new healthy breakfast or snack to add to your rotation, I can’t recommend it enough.

Green smoothie recipe ingredients

Green Smoothie Recipe Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this green smoothie recipe:

  • Leafy greens, of course! I love using baby spinach here because you can barely taste it, though kale works great too. Freeze the greens ahead of time (or buy frozen greens) to give your smoothie the best frosty texture.
  • Half a frozen banana – It sweetens the smoothie and makes it thick and creamy. Tip: Wait to put bananas in the freezer until they’re ripe and spotty! Ripe bananas will add much more sweetness to a smoothie than unripe ones will.
  • Almond butter and chia seeds – They add healthy fats and make the smoothie even creamier.
  • Frozen orange segments – They add delicious natural sweetness (and tons of vitamin C!) to this vibrant spinach smoothie. I like to buy a bunch of fresh mandarins or clementines, peel them, and freeze them to have on hand.
  • Unsweetened almond milk – To get the blender moving! Use store-bought, or make your own.
  • And ice cubes – To perfect the green smoothie’s frosty texture.

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

Frozen banana, spinach, chia seeds, almond butter, and orange segments in a blender

Green Smoothie Recipe Variations

Though I love this green smoothie recipe as written, there are all sorts of ways to change it up! Feel free to adjust it to suit your tastes or use what you have on hand. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

  • Change up the veg. Spinach and kale might be the most popular veggies to put in a smoothie, but they’re not the only options! Try replacing them with half the amount of Swiss chard, collard greens, or even frozen broccoli, adding more to taste. Cucumber would be a great addition too!
  • Have fun with the fruit. When it’s not citrus season, I love to make this green smoothie recipe with frozen mango or pineapple. Your favorite frozen berries would also be delicious.
  • Use another liquid base. Instead of almond milk, blend this smoothie with a splash of coconut milk, oat milk, or even orange juice.
  • Swap the seeds. Use hemp hearts instead of chia.
  • Add a protein boost. Blend in a scoop of protein powder or Greek yogurt.
  • Make it sweeter. If your smoothie tastes less sweet than you would like, blend in a little honey, maple syrup, or one of your favorite natural sweeteners. Or add more frozen fruit!

Let me know what variations you try!

Green smoothie recipe

More Favorite Smoothie Recipes

If you love this green smoothie recipe, try one of these plant-based smoothie recipes next:

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Green Smoothie

rate this recipe:
5 from 18 votes
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Serves 1
Our best green smoothie recipe! It's creamy, frosty, and refreshing. Adjust the amount of fruit to taste depending on how sweet you want your smoothie to be.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup frozen spinach or kale
  • ½ frozen banana
  • ½ tablespoon almond butter
  • 1 to 2 cups peeled and frozen orange segments, or frozen pineapple or mango chunks
  • ½ teaspoon chia seeds, optional
  • 1 cup almond milk, plus more as needed to blend
  • Handful of ice

Instructions

  • In a blender, place the spinach, banana, almond butter, 1 cup frozen fruit, and chia seeds, if using. Add the almond milk and blend until smooth, adding more almond milk as needed to blend. Add the ice and blend again.
  • Taste and add more frozen fruit if you’d like your smoothie to be sweeter. Blend until smooth, adding more almond milk as needed.

21 comments

5 from 18 votes (12 ratings without comment)

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Rate this recipe (after making it)




  1. Sarah
    09.18.2024

    In looking over this beautiful recipe that I want to try, it came to me that if something needed to be a little sweeter, do you think ice cubes made from coconut water would help?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      09.18.2024

      yep, that would be delicious here!

  2. dede
    08.27.2024

    5 stars
    super yummy!! my new go to ..next time i’m adding 1/2 avocado,thanks for recipe!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      08.28.2024

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it!

  3. Sara
    11.04.2023

    5 stars
    I have made this for breakfast almost every day for the past 6 months. It is so delicious and provides me with the nutrients to power through my day. I will switch up the ingredients from time to time and it always comes out great. Really cannot thank you enough for this amazing recipe!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      11.06.2023

      I’m glad you enjoyed this one too!

  4. Gigi H
    03.13.2023

    5 stars
    This a really good. I don’t freeze the spinach but i used 1/2 cup frozen mango and 1/2 cup frozen pineapple and add 1 scoop of plant based vanilla protein powder. So good I’ve made it quite a few times already!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      03.15.2023

      I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed it!

  5. Dawn
    03.11.2023

    All of your smoothies have banana, I’m allergic. Is there another option?

  6. twyla
    02.20.2023

    hello, if I’m allergic to nuts, what can I substitute the almond butter with?

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      02.23.2023

      Hi, you have a few options. 1) You could skip it. The smoothie is still great without! 2) You could replace it with sunbutter or tahini. 3) You could increase the chia seeds to 1 tablespoon or add 1 tablespoon of hemp seeds. Hope this helps!

  7. Dorothy
    01.06.2023

    5 stars
    I enjoyed these smoothie recipes. Thanks very much ?

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      01.13.2023

      So glad you enjoyed it!

  8. The Recipe Hoarder
    01.06.2023

    5 stars
    So easy to make, but so delicious! I tried it this weekend with coconut milk since I didn’t have any almond milk left, otherwise I used the amounts and types of ingredients as listed here. Such a flavorful and healthy treat!

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      01.13.2023

      Oooh I bet coconut milk was delicious! So glad you loved it.

  9. Jan G.
    01.06.2023

    5 stars
    I never met a green smoothie that I like until THIS one! I used frozen chopped kale, chia seeds, and some frozen clementine segments I had in the freezer. I used 1 whole frozen banana because that’s how I freeze them, and I added a splash of vanilla extract. It’s delicious and will be on my regular breakfast rotation now! Thanks for another healthy and delicious recipe, Jeanine!

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      01.06.2023

      Hi Jan, I’m so glad you love the smoothie!

  10. Karen
    01.05.2023

    Re: Frozen spinach. Is this purchased frozen? As this is quite dense so I want to make sure I am using the right amount.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      01.05.2023

      Hi Karen – yep, I buy it frozen.

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.