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Green Smoothie Recipe

This sweet and refreshing, healthy Green Smoothie recipe is about to be the star of your morning routine. It’s nutrient-packed with nutritious ingredients like spinach and chia seeds, but you can’t even taste the veggies because it’s blended with coconut milk, creamy banana, fresh oranges, and tropical pineapple which add natural sweetness.

Our favorite Green Smoothie in glass with a straw.

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With two busy kids, we are often looking for ways to have a quick, yet healthy, breakfast (sometimes even on the go!). Some of our favorites include Overnight Oats, Steel Cut Oats, and our Smoothie Bowl recipe. If you are a fan of easy-to-make breakfasts without added sugar, that are actually filling, you have got to try my husband Vadim’s Green Smoothies!

Green Smoothie Recipe

My husband, Vadim, is the smoothie master. He introduced me to this green smoothie. There are plenty of recipes for green smoothies, but this is our favorite. I tried his creation and immediately asked him to write down the recipe because it was love at first sip. This green power smoothie is so simple to make, which is perfect for an early morning drink, or lunch on the run. Even better, it’s make-ahead friendly, and you can take a portion out of the freezer and thaw it as needed.

Why This Smoothie Recipe Works

  • Easy – just 6 ingredients, toss them in the blender, and voila. No sugar added!
  • Feel Good – an easy way to boost your vitamins and nutrients while filling you up, even in a hurry. This sweet treat has 2 servings of vegetables and 3 servings of fruit blended in.
  • Picky-eater approved – it might be green, but it doesn’t taste green. WIN!

Ingredients

These green smoothies are seriously so simple to make. If you have a high-powered blender, you don’t need to fuss too much with chopping fruit and it’s done in less than a minute.

  • Coconut Milk – You can use any milk (I prefer plant-based for smoothies), or even water, but using coconut milk adds a smooth and creamy texture and a hint of sweet coconut flavor.
  • Banana – Adds sweetness without an overpowering flavor, when blended it makes the smoothie extra creamy and smooth.
  • Orange – The natural sweetness balances the spinach flavor while adding vitamin C.
  • Spinach – Greens are an easy way to pack your smoothie with nutrition, and coupled with the right fruit, you cannot even taste it.
  • Pineapple – I use frozen chunks of pineapple so there is no need to add ice cubes, which melt and water down your drink. The tropical flavor is delicious and pineapple has great nutritional benefits as well.
  • Chia Seeds (Optional) – They don’t really have a taste but do add texture, thickness and fiber.
Ingredients for green smoothies, cocounut milk, banana, orange, spinach, frozen pineapple, and chia seeds

Substitutions

Milk: You can use any liquid – almond milk or oat milk for creaminess, coconut water or orange juice for a tropical taste.

Fruit: The natural sweetness of fruit balances out leafy greens so you don’t need to add any extra sugar. Try peaches, peeled apple slices, a slice of avocado, raspberries, blueberries, or mango.

Leafy greens: I find spinach to be the easiest green vegetable to disguise, but kale or swiss chard are great leafy greens to use in a healthy green smoothie.

Vegetables: Cauliflower, carrots, and cucumber are all veggies that have a mild flavor and are perfect to use in a simple green smoothie recipe.

Protein: Adding one tablespoon of nuts or nut butter, such as peanut butter or almond butter, helps to thicken your smoothie and add a creamy texture. You can also add protein powder, hemp hearts, or peanut butter powder.

How to Make Green Smoothies

  • Load Your Blender – Peel your fruit and place everything into a blender in the order listed, starting with the liquid and ending with the frozen fruit and chia seeds (if using).
  • Blend – Push the button and blend until smooth. That’s it. It really is that simple. Pour your green smoothies into two glasses (or that new Stanley cup you just got) and enjoy.
Blending Green smoothie ingredients in a blender with  banana, orange, chia seeds, spinach, frozen pineapple, and coconut milk

Layering Guide for Blending Smoothies

The order you add your ingredients to your blender matters! If you’re new to blending smoothies, the best advice I can give you is to layer your smoothie correctly in the blender jar. This will prevent the blender from getting stuck. Start with your liquids and end with your frozen ingredients since the frozen ingredients act as a weight to push the rest of the ingredients down. Add ingredients in this order:

  1. Liquids (water, milk, juice, yogurt)
  2. Powders and sweeteners (protein powder, cocoa powder, honey, agave)
  3. Leafy greens and soft fruit (banana, berries, avocado)
  4. Creamy ingredients like yogurt and nut butter
  5. Hard fruits or veggies (apples, carrots, beets)
  6. Nuts, Seeds, dried fruit
  7. Frozen fruit or ice

Pro Tips for Blending:

To ensure ingredients blend into a smooth and consistent texture, cut your fruits and vegetables into smaller pieces. Start gradually and blend increase to higher speeds to avoid overloading the blender motor.

Should I Use Fresh or Frozen Ingredients?

Use at least one frozen ingredient in your smoothies to keep the texture creamy and chilled without using ice (which waters down the flavor). I keep a giant Costco-sized bag of frozen pineapple in our freezer. It’s super affordable and great to have on hand for smoothies. During the summer and fall when pineapples and bananas are in season, buy them, chop them up, and flash-freeze them on a baking sheet until firm. Then you can bag fruit and use it throughout the coming months.

Frozen spinach is pre-washed, pre-chopped, and retains its nutritional value so keep a bag on hand in the freezer and you’ll always have your ingredients ready for any time you have a hankering for the best green smoothies. Like the frozen pineapple, frozen spinach will chill the drink which I love. Just be sure to reduce the fresh spinach measurement by half.

Two green smoothies in glasses with straws. Orange halves resting on the counter next to the glasses.

Make-Ahead

This recipe makes two portions. Make a batch to share or store half for later.

  • To Refrigerate: Pour your prepared smoothie into an airtight container and promptly refrigerator for 24 hours. Give it a good shake or stir before you drink it to redistribute the ingredients.
  • Freezing: Make a batch of green smoothies for the week, or month. Divide the blended smoothies into individual serving portions. You can use ice cube trays, silicone molds, or small freezer bags. If freezing in bags, remove as much air as possible and lay flat on a tray to freeze. This makes them easy to stack and store neatly in your freezer.
  • To Thaw: Refrigerate frozen portions overnight, or in a hurry, blend the frozen Green Smoothie, adding more liquid if necessary to obtain the desired consistency. You could also put the frozen portion into a blender ball cup and bring it on the go, to the office, or in the car while running around town, and it will be thawed and ready for you.
Two green smoothies in glasses with straws. Orange halves resting on the counter next to the glasses.

If your blender has been tucked away in a corner collecting dust, it’s time to put it to good use with this breakfast smoothie. Cheers to mornings that start with a sip of sweet, vitamin-packed, green goodness.

More Easy Smoothie Recipes

If you love our recipe for Green Smoothies, then you won’t want to miss our other delicious smoothie recipes.

Green Smoothie Recipe

5 from 32 votes
Author: Natasha Kravchuk
Green smoothie poured into glass cup
This classic Green Smoothie is a nutritious powerhouse loaded with fresh spinach, banana, orange, and pineapple. It is customizable but make sure to have at least one frozen fruit in this smoothie to make it chilled and thicken it up a little. The ingredients are so simple and good for you. It's refreshing and will give you a nice boost of energy.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients 

Servings: 2 servings
  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk, or your milk of choice
  • 1 banana, peeled
  • 1 orange, peeled
  • 2 cups fresh spinach
  • 1 1/2 cups frozen pineapple
  • 2 tsp chia seeds, optional

Instructions

  • Place everything in a blender in the order listed, starting with the liquid and ending with the frozen fruit and chia seeds (if using).
  • Blend until smooth and transfer into two tall glasses.

Nutrition Per Serving

206kcal Calories44g Carbs3g Protein4g Fat2g Saturated Fat1g Polyunsaturated Fat0.1g Monounsaturated Fat0.01g Trans Fat26mg Sodium649mg Potassium7g Fiber29g Sugar3072IU Vitamin A108mg Vitamin C149mg Calcium2mg Iron
Nutrition Facts
Green Smoothie Recipe
Amount per Serving
Calories
206
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
4
g
6
%
Saturated Fat
 
2
g
13
%
Trans Fat
 
0.01
g
Polyunsaturated Fat
 
1
g
Monounsaturated Fat
 
0.1
g
Sodium
 
26
mg
1
%
Potassium
 
649
mg
19
%
Carbohydrates
 
44
g
15
%
Fiber
 
7
g
29
%
Sugar
 
29
g
32
%
Protein
 
3
g
6
%
Vitamin A
 
3072
IU
61
%
Vitamin C
 
108
mg
131
%
Calcium
 
149
mg
15
%
Iron
 
2
mg
11
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Course: Beverage
Cuisine: American
Keyword: green smoothie
Skill Level: Easy
Cost to Make: $
Calories: 206
Natasha's Kitchen Cookbook

Natasha Kravchuk

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Natasha, the creator behind Natasha's Kitchen (established in 2009), and I share family-friendly, authentic recipes. I am a New York Times Best-Selling cookbook author and a trusted video personality in the culinary world. My husband, Vadim, and I run this blog together, ensuring every recipe we share is thoroughly tested and approved. Our mission is to provide you with delicious, reliable recipes you can count on. Thanks for stopping by! I am so happy you are here.

Read more posts by Natasha

5 from 32 votes (13 ratings without comment)

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Recipe Rating




Comments

  • Kathleen
    September 24, 2024

    Added flax and hemp seeds to recipe. Was more thick than I usually like but very, very delicious!

    Reply

  • Renee
    January 29, 2024

    Natasha this is one of the – no it is the best smoothie recipe! I cannot emphasize how picky my son is…he devoured it and wanted a second serving. Hubs and daughter loved loved loved it too. Making the second batch now. Thank you for always coming through. Your recipes never fail

    Reply

    • Natasha's Kitchen
      January 29, 2024

      Aaaw, thank you so much for your awesome feedback! We’re so glad that you loved our Green Smoothie recipe a lot.

      Reply

  • Olena P Smith
    January 18, 2024

    My husband does most of the grocery shopping these days and he was shocked when I asked him to get a bag of baby spinach! He knows I detest spinach either raw or cooked, but I decided to trust you on this one – now I’m the one who’s shocked…it’s delicious!
    I used almond milk and ground flax seeds that I had, everything else was the same as yours. SO GOOD!

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      January 18, 2024

      Hi Olena! Thank you so much for the feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe.

      Reply

  • Chris
    January 10, 2024

    Tropical Green Smoothie is my new morning ritual! It’s refreshing, fruity, and gives me that healthy boost. Love it!

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      January 10, 2024

      So glad you’re loving it, Chris! Thank you for sharing.

      Reply

  • Lakesha Reed
    January 10, 2024

    I don’t like coconut milk so what other unsweetened milk would you suggest?

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      January 10, 2024

      Hi Lakesha! See my note above in the blog post under “ingredients.” You can use any milk of your choice.

      Reply

  • Melissa
    January 10, 2024

    This was not only delicious, but I love that it’s healthy too. 10/10!

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      January 10, 2024

      So glad you loved it, Melissa!

      Reply

  • Brooke
    January 4, 2024

    I am the pickiest eater I know. I am very sensitive to textures and all things green. I made these tonight and both my daughter and I were very pleased. I even had seconds! You cannot taste the spinach at all! Just a smooth, fruity taste. I love knowing that I was drinking a healthy treat, especially after the holiday season with way too much sugar. These were so easy to make- I didn’t even bother to cut the fruit. I just tossed everything into my Vitamix and it came out creamy and smooth. I used hemp hearts instead of chia seeds and it was perfect!

    Reply

    • Natasha's Kitchen
      January 5, 2024

      Hi Brooke, thanks so much for sharing your experience trying our Green Smoothie recipe. I’m glad that you enjoyed it!

      Reply

  • Gina
    May 26, 2023

    Great recipe! Thank you very much. I was surprised that the calories were so high though, given the ingredients. I put it into myfitnesspal.com and came up with very different numbers (per serving). 193 calories, 4g fat, 40g carbs, 7g fiber, 26g sugar, 3g protien.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      May 30, 2023

      Hi Gina, you are absolutely right. I think the calculator was pulling nutrition facts from the canned coconut which has quite a bit more calories rather than the lighter carton coconut milk in the refrigerator section. I updated the nutrition label which is now more accurate. I appreciate the heads up!

      Reply

  • Suzanne
    February 14, 2022

    Hi from Malta 🙂 I am seeing the nutrition chart of the 3 smoothies. Why the spinach one is so high in fats please ?
    Thanks so much dear Natasha

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      February 14, 2022

      Hi Suzanne, it depends on the ingredients for each. For example, a banana or orange added will increase the calorie count. I hope you try these soon!

      Reply

  • Tomekia
    August 7, 2019

    I love green smoothies but never thought to add pineapple, it is a delicious addition! I can’t eat raw oranges so I used orange juice instead of the coconut milk and the orange, it was still amazing! My 3 year old loved it and finished half the recipe and wanted more, he just consumed 4 servings of fruits and veggies for a snack!

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      August 7, 2019

      That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review Tomekia!

      Reply

  • Z
    January 13, 2019

    Hi
    For your green smoothie can we sub coconut milk for regular milk or even water?
    🙂
    Thanks

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      January 14, 2019

      Hi Z, I’d probably go with either water, almond milk, coconut milk or orange juice. I guess I’m not a fan of milk in smoothies. The texture gets weird sometimes if you don’t drink it right away.

      Reply

  • Len
    January 10, 2019

    Natasha, I have been watching your video’s and I need to know ****Where did you take the course in veggie chopping. You are great at it!!!

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      January 11, 2019

      Thank you for that wonderful compliment, Len!

      Reply

  • Visit This Website
    August 27, 2018

    Merely wanna input that you have a very decent site, I love the style it actually stands out.

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      August 27, 2018

      Thank you!

      Reply

  • YanaP
    May 14, 2018

    Sooo GOOD, made it all week long… everyDAY. Thank You!

    Reply

    • Natasha's Kitchen
      May 14, 2018

      My pleasure! I’m happy to hear how much you love the recipe Yana! Thanks for sharing your awesome review!

      Reply

  • Sharon
    February 18, 2018

    I wanted to know if an6 of these could mayb3 be made th3 night before. My husband would like to start drinking smoothies but he leaves pretty early in the mornings
    Thanks

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 18, 2018

      Hi Sharon, we always make and enjoy these right away since refrigerating smoothies can result in separation and they just aren’t as appealing on day 2. You might consider putting everything in the blender the night before then adding the liquid the next day and whirling it up in the morning.

      Reply

  • janine
    January 26, 2018

    Do you mean the coconut milk in a can or the kind in a milk container?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 26, 2018

      Hi Janine, we use the one in the milk container 🙂

      Reply

  • Lena
    January 17, 2018

    Hello! Where do you buy this organic coconut milk? Would Costco have it? thanks!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 17, 2018

      Hi Lena, I’m not sure if Costco has it – possibly? We purchased it at Fred Meyer (a Kroger store)

      Reply

  • Ana
    January 2, 2018

    Is that green smoothie is good for people with pre diabetic?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 2, 2018

      Hi Ana, there is no added sugar here which is always good, but you will be getting carbs/sugars from the fresh fruit so do keep that in mind.

      Reply

  • Saniya Ellis
    July 3, 2017

    We just made this delicious smoothe! What a great drink to start your day with! Fresh and refreshing, texture just right! Thank you for sharing this recipe!

    Reply

    • Natasha's Kitchen
      July 3, 2017

      You’re welcome Saniya! I’m glad you love the smoothie! Thanks for sharing your wonderful review!

      Reply

  • Katie
    February 22, 2017

    Absolutely delicious! I normally don’t like greens in my smoothies but in this one you can’t even taste the spinach. Hubby enjoyed it too 🙂

    Reply

    • Natasha's Kitchen
      February 22, 2017

      That’s great Katie! Thank for sharing 🙂

      Reply

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