Best Green Smoothie Recipe
This green smoothie is a simple, healthy, and nutrient-dense recipe that will fuel your mornings! From apples to spinach and bananas, these wholesome ingredients are a great way to sneak more fruits and veggies into your everyday routine – just drink them up!
I’ve been making green smoothies for as long as I can remember. And while I’ve made many variations over the years, the recipe I’m sharing with you today is my go-to recipe. Think of it as an everyday green smoothie recipe you can return to repeatedly.
Why do I love this version? It’s well-rounded with nutrients, perfectly filling, and tastes so good to the point where you’ll get excited to get out of bed in the morning to blend it up!
Green Smoothie Ingredients
While the ingredient list is extremely flexible, this is my favorite combination of fruits, veggies, and healthy fats. It’s simple yet so delicious.
- Milk: My favorite nut milks for a creamy smoothie are cashew milk, oat milk, or almond milk. But feel free to use whichever dairy or dairy-free milk you prefer!
- Vegetables: Spinach is such an easy leafy green superfood to incorporate into green smoothies. Plus, those big containers of baby spinach are very budget-friendly.
- Fruits: You’ll need an apple, avocado, and banana. But see my tips below for switching it up!
Find the printable recipe with measurements below.
How To Make a Healthy Green Smoothie
Add all the ingredients to a high-powered blender and blend until it’s perfectly smooth and creamy. This should only take about 30 seconds!
Tips for a Healthy Smoothie
If you haven’t read my post on how to make the healthiest green smoothie, make sure to do that. But here’s a few quick tips:
- Switch up the greens: A few leafy greens that blend well are kale, spinach, or chard. But, feel free to switch it up with celery, mustard greens, or romaine.
- Stick with a healthy liquid base: Since you’ll already be adding fruit into your smoothie, it’s best to not add any additional sugars with fruit juice. Instead, opt for water or milk (dairy or dairy-free, your choice!).
- Mix up your fruits: For most people, a 2:1 ratio between fruits and vegetables is a good rule of thumb. Some of my favorite fruits to slice and freeze are apples, bananas, strawberries, mangos, or pineapple.
- Don’t forget about healthy fats: If you didn’t know, healthy fats help absorb all the nutrients from the veggies and fruits – so this is crucial! You can do this simply by adding coconut oil, nuts, seeds, or 1/4 of an avocado.
- If you like your smoothies a bit thicker: add another 1/4 slice of avocado. If you like your smoothies a bit thinner or you’d like to save a few calories, you can substitute the milk with water.
- Boost with superfoods: While the 4 steps above make a perfectly good green smoothie, it doesn’t hurt to add additional superfoods or mix-ins, like I do on my post-workout green smoothie recipe. You can add spices such as cinnamon or ginger and superfoods like maca powder or bee pollen.
Green Smoothie Recipe Video
This is an easy smoothie recipe (especially in a Vitamix) and only takes a minute. Watch the video below to see how quickly it comes together!
More Healthy Smoothie Recipes
When you come across fresh, seasonal ingredients, here are a few smoothie ideas to make the most of them! And if you happen to be looking for a juice instead — you’ll love this nutrient-packed green juice.
- Apple Carrot Beet Smoothie
- Blueberry Smoothie
- Strawberry Banana Smoothie
- Mango Smoothie
- Strawberry Acai Smoothie
- Peach Breakfast Smoothie
- Low Sugar Smoothies
I hope this green smoothie recipe makes it into your weekly rotation! Once you give it a taste, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it in the comment box below.
Best Green Smoothie Recipe (5 Ingredients)
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup milk (dairy or dairy-free)
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 apple
- ¼ avocado
- plus optional add-ins
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend on high for 30 seconds, or until creamy.
Lisa’s Tips
- Remember to freeze your bananas ahead of time! I cut my bananas in half and then store them in a Stasher bag in the freezer.
Nutrition
Recipe originally posted Jan 2020, but updated to include new information.
I tried your green smoothie today. I love it. Mostly I’ve been satisfied with all your recipes. I’ve done the honey chicken thighs and I love the Greek chicken. So my question to you is do you say there’s two servings how do you save the other serving for a next day or so? Because one serving is enough for me. Love what you’re doing thank you.
You can enjoy the second serving the following day. Just make sure to give it a good shake or stir.
Lisa, I love your recipes. Many thanks for your work. This is very valuable!
I have a question: is there a video on how to freeze vegetables and fruits correctly?
Hi Tatiana – I don’t have a specific video for that, but I do have a few posts written about frozen zucchini and cauliflower on my website!
Recipes show there are two servings in it. However the nutritional displayed information… Is it per the two servings?
The nutritional information will always be for one serving!
Been checking best Tips of veggie smoothie, as am busy with my health and tips of the best foods to eat before workout and gym lifting.
Now I got help how to be healthy when exercising and weight loss
I tried making Green Smoothie, and it came out zesty and delicious! Just tweaked the recipe a bit. I was adding some B12 drops in addition to products for fighting my deficit. I use Wellabs B12 drops. I add 2 pipettes to my lunch Green Smoothie glass and drink this fresh beverage. I noticed that my bloat was absent, and my skin improved.
I just started reading your downshiftology and I
Am amazed at how much there is to learn to be healthy.!!! You make it look easy so I am going to try everything !!! Can you freeze avocados? Thanks
I find that the texture isn’t as good after frozen, so it’s best to use fresh avocados!
The Green Smoothie was very good and quick to make. The simple blend is very smooth drinking. I used Swiss Chard instead of Spinach, because I have plenty in the garden and I added a little cinnamon.
I’ve been looking for a green smoothie recipe that didn’t taste so loaded with sweetness that it was essentially pointless to drink while also not tasting like I’m drinking blended grass. THIS. IS. IT.
Excited to try this recipe in the morning! But I’m wondering if using skim milk would make the smoothie too thin? Or should I go with almond milk instead?
You can use either or. But for a creamier consistency, almond milk might be better!
How does this have 164 calories? 105 per banana, 60 for avocado, but 100 plus apple, so that’s over 250… then there’s the milk. Same thing with the sugar. Banana has ~14, an apple ~19. I just want people to know what they’re consuming.
Hi Cat – this recipe has two servings, so the nutrition info is accurate.
Can I substitute Kale for the spinach?
Absolutely!
Can I use frozen spinach instead of fresh? Is there a major difference in flavor and/or nutrient content? By the way, thank you for all your healthy tips and recipes!
Yes, you can use frozen spinach if that’s what you have on hand!
Delicious!! I used 2-3 frozen bananas and a whole avocado, and used frozen pineapple, mango, and coconut instead of apples. Amazing!!
What can I do to substitute the apple for someone who is allergic to apples? Thanks
You can add a pear!
I recently discovered your YouTube channel and I LOVE it! Tried this smoothie this morning and it was so delicious… followed your recipe to the letter and it came out perfectly. I appreciated that it wasn’t too sweet, and it was very filling. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes 💕
Welcome to the Downshiftology community Nancy! Glad you enjoyed this smoothie recipe and I’m excited to see what you make next :)
Hello there I’m allergic to Bananas and apple what can i put instead of this :)).
You can use sub it with frozen berries, yogurt, or some chia seeds.
This looks delicious, but I was wondering if you had any suggestions for food substitutions. I am allergic to both avocado and banana.
Hi Barb – you can add another fruit of choice for the banana (maybe a pear?) and try a tablespoon or two of almond butter for the avocado. Enjoy!
This smoothie is giving me life right now. I’ve been drinking smoothies for a full week (and counting) post tooth extraction and as someone who eats green salads almost daily I was really missing my veggies. This smoothie is packed with nutrients and actually tastes good. I’ve already made it twice and will be keeping it in my rotation even when I’m back to solid foods.
Love this smoothie, but would like to sub the avocado with chia seeds. Avocados are very expensive right now. How much chia do I add?
You will lose some of the thickness of the smoothie without avocado. But you can sub it with a bit more banana and a tablespoon of chia seeds.
Is that leaf spinach or canned spinach?
This recipe uses spinach leaves!
Delicious! We added cinnamon, flax oil and almond butter… definitely a repeat!
This smoothie is just DELICIOUS. It’s got the perfect thickness and flavour; I think the apple made it really refreshing. Thanks for the great recipe!
Glad you enjoyed this green smoothie Valerie!
This was really delicious, I’m so glad I tried it!! Definitely going into my rotation!
Not a comment, but rather a question. Can you use other greens instead of just spinach, like say a Spring Mix?
Yes! You can use kale or other leafy greens you like.