Green Smoothie

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This simple green smoothie is my best green smoothie recipe and it’s a great way to get some health and goodness into your body. Vegan and packed full of healthy ingredients, it’s filling enough for breakfast or great as an afternoon pick me up. This is the only green shake you are going to need!

If you haven’t started drinking smoothies yet, this is a great beginner recipe! It includes almond milk, spinach, pineapple, avocado and chia seeds. Below I’ll show you how to make a green smoothie, even if you don’t have these exact ingredients.

How to make a green smoothie

1. Select base green vegetable

My recommendation is to start with a leafy green like spinach, kale, collard greens or lettuce. Lettuce is the most mild, while kale has the most pronounced flavor.

2. Select a liquid of choice

Then pick a liquid to use like almond milk, regular milk, water or even coconut water. Milk will give it more of a milkshake/smoothie consistency, while water will give it more of a juice consistency.

3. Select fruit to balance the greens

Finally pick a fruit to balance out the flavor of the leafy green. For a green smoothie, I recommend using pineapple, banana, mango, pear, kiwi, avocado, green apples, or any combination of these, or other yellow and green fruits. I love using frozen fruit when possible to get a smooth and creamy texture.

Those are the three essential ingredient types for making a green smoothie. Then you can add more flavor, more sweetness, more texture, or more nutritional value with all kinds of added ingredients. This includes seeds, protein powders, natural sweeteners, nuts or nut butters, oils or spices.

Place all in ingredients in a blender and blend until it’s smooth with no chunks of leafy greens or fruits.

Don’t forget to taste it! Here, you can decide if your green smoothie needs a sweetener, if it’s too thick or not cold enough or if it needs any extra ingredients. Some common adjustments I make are adding honey if the fruit wasn’t ripe enough, adding lemon juice to cut the bitterness of some greens, or adding cinnamon to give it a warm flavor.

Then make sure to drink this green smoothie right after you blend it for the best consistency! It’s the worst when a smoothie settles in the fridge and separates into parts. But if that happens just shake it up or mix it before drinking. If you have any left over, you can keep it in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

Green smoothie health benefits

While all green smoothies are nutritional powerhouses and full of amazing benefits, this one is especially great for your skin, thanks to these three ingredients. These foods help to nourish your skin and give that healthy glow. So I love including these “skin foods” in my daily smoothie!

• Spinach:  It has high levels of folate, which helps to maintain and repair DNA – great for renewing skin!
• Avocado: It’s full of monounsaturated fatty acids, which are the good fats that help keep your skin moist and hydrated.
• Almond Milk: Almonds are most often associated with skin care, and that’s because they’re loaded with vitamin E. If you use good almond milk that’s made mostly from almonds and water, you’re reaping the benefits of vitamin E. It’s great for repairing skin and defending against sun damage.

Tips to make green smoothies

1. Blend the leafy greens with the liquid first. The purpose of this is to avoid having chunks of unblended vegetables or fruit while sipping the smoothie. And then add the fruits, chia seeds or any other boosters. If you have a high-speed strong blender like the Vitamix or Ninja, you can throw everything in the blender at once though.
2. Freeze the fruits. This gives the smoothie an extra smooth and creamy consistency. Any time you have extra ripe fruit, it’s a great idea to freeze them in freezer-safe bags. That way they’re ready to go when you want a smoothie. It also gives an extra cold and creamy texture to the smoothie that you won’t get from adding ice cubes necessarily.
3. Use ripe fruit. That’s the best way to avoid adding sugar. It’s nature’s natural raw sugar essentially, so make sure the fruit is ripe and you shouldn’t need to add any sweeteners to the smoothie. This way you’ll save on calories and carbs.

Frequently asked questions

I love enjoying a green smoothie at least once a week. It’s such a feel good recipe that tastes good and is good for your skin and body! I hope you start to incorporate more green smoothies into your morning routines or as a snack.

They’re not only a great way to sneak in vegetables, but they help improve digestion, increase your energy, and give you a healthy glow.

For more healthy smoothies:

• Strawberry Banana Smoothie
• Date Smoothie
• Blueberry Banana Smoothie
• Tahini Milkshake
• Breakfast Coffee Smoothie
• Aloe Vera Smoothie
• FeelGood Smoothie Bowls
• Fruit Ice Cubes (to add to your smoothies)
• More Smoothie Recipes from Bless This Mess

If you’ve tried this healthy-ish feel good Green Smoothie recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I hope you’ve learned how to make a green smoothie and can share yours with me. I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!