Green Smoothie Recipe

Our Green Smoothie is the best way to start your day and leaves you feeling good inside and out. This smoothie gets its vibrant green color from spinach, which is packed with chlorophyll. Using frozen mango and pineapple keeps this smoothie chilled without using ice, and adds beta carotene and vitamin C—great for skin health. Potassium-rich bananas add thickness, and chia seeds add omega-3s. It’s all blended together with smooth, creamy almond milk. Keep reading for our expert tips on how to layer this in your blender for the best results, delicious ingredient substitutions and more. 

Tips from the EatingWell Test Kitchen

These are the key tips we learned while developing and testing this recipe in our Test Kitchen to make sure it works, tastes great and is good for you too! 

• We appreciate the convenience of using prewashed, prepackaged baby spinach for this smoothie. However, you can also use frozen baby spinach leaves as an alternative. When using 100% frozen produce, be sure to add extra liquid when blending to avoid a smoothie that is too thick.
• Extra-ripe bananas provide excellent sweetness. Whenever you have overly ripe bananas, peel them, break them into two or three pieces, and freeze them in freezer-safe bags so you always have them on hand.
• We add the liquid to the blender before most of the other ingredients. This way, the liquid settles at the bottom, helping to pull the other ingredients downward and ensuring a well-blended smoothie. Keeping the frozen items at the top helps prevent them from getting stuck under the blades.

Nutrition Notes

• Spinach is a tender green with numerous health benefits. It is a source of folate, which is important for heart health, but also important to prevent neural tube defects during pregnancy. Spinach is a source of plant-based iron, called non-heme iron, which is absorbed better when you pair it with a vitamin C source, like pineapple. 
• Pineapple is rich in vitamin C, which is necessary for optimal immune function and great for skin health. It also contains an enzyme called bromelain, which has been shown to lower inflammation and may help relieve bloating. 
• Bananas are a staple fruit that is inexpensive and accessible. Bananas are touted for their potassium content, which is useful in helping to remove excess sodium from the body; this can help maintain good blood pressure. The starches in bananas convert to sugar as they ripen, so using a ripe banana can help you reduce the need for added sugar in your dishes. 
• Chia seeds help thicken this smoothie. When chia seeds are exposed to liquid, they expand to a gel-like substance. This expansion can help keep you full. They also contain fiber and protein to aid in satiety.