Article Cover Photo: © galitskaya via canva.com
In today’s hectic world, finding time to spend in the kitchen is a struggle. For the most part, early mornings have become synonymous with skipped breakfasts, and generally, our days seem to whizz by in a haze of work commitments and quick lunches. But a busy life doesn’t necessarily mean you have to forgo a healthy lifestyle. In following our simple green smoothie recipes that take just minutes to prepare, you’ll be ensuring that your body gets the essential nutrients it needs for you to feel more energised.
“My body is my temple”. Let’s take this saying to heart and remember that honouring and respecting our body is a necessity for our overall well being. Remember that making sure our body is properly nourished with high-quality, power food is one way to ensure we are living our best and most luxurious life.
Our simple green smoothie recipes are so easy to follow and include easy-to-find, fresh ingredients – perfect for beginners! They are also an ideal way to include those recommended 5-a-day into your daily diet and a simple step towards improving your over-all daily wellness. All of our simple green smoothies are naturally vegan and gluten free and make for an ideal healthy breakfast, mid-day power boost or a guilt-free delicious treat.
This article contains affiliate links
Before we get to our simple green smoothie recipes, we’ll address a couple of frequently asked questions about green smoothies and what you need to make them at home.
What Exactly is a Green Smoothie Anyway?
A green smoothie is called “green” because it is made from a base of leafy green vegetables or fresh green herbs – basically a smoothie with greens! These nutritious greens are then blended into a suitable combination of fresh fruit, freshly squeezed juices and your preferred type of plant-based milk. The result is a nourishing, yet delicious, “green” drink that’s high in key nutrients, low in processed sugars and yet still tasty!
What You Need to Make Smoothies at Home
You won’t require a lot of equipment to make these simple, green smoothie recipes. Just a few components, many of which are standard kitchen staples including:
- A sharp chopping knife
- A chopping board
- A blender (if you have yet to purchase a blender or food processor for your kitchen, we highly recommend investing in a Magimix!)
If you want to go all out or are making smoothies as part of a nice brunch with friends, here are some additional extras to consider:
- Measuring cups for accurately measured ingredients (not entirely necessary if just making a smoothie for one or two, but if making smoothies for a large amount of people it might be helpful to measure!)
- A fancy glass or to-go smoothie cup from which to enjoy your smoothies
- Metal straws and small wooden spoons are some optional items you may want to add to make your smoothie look extra bougie!
6 Smoothie Blending Tips
- Measure out your ingredients: Not essential, but if you are able to measure your ingredients, you’re more likely to get it right without having to make additional tweaks
- Blend in stages: Don’t put everything in the blender all at once. Blend in increments for a smooth, well-blended mixture
- Follow this blending order: start with the liquids, then add soft fruit and veg and end with the hard, frozen fruit or ice-cubes. You don’t want to add the hard fruit or ice at the beginning for risk of damaging the blade of the blender
- Freeze fresh fruit: If you enjoy your smoothies ice-cold, instead of using ice cubes freeze some fresh fruit overnight and add them to the blender straight from the freezer
- Control the thickness of your smoothie: Add more liquid for a thinner mixture and more frozen fruit for a thicker blend
- Make it creamy: Include ripe avocado or banana for an ultra-creamy consistency
4 Simple Green Smoothie Recipes
Matcha Banana Smoothie
This easy matcha banana smoothie is packed full of antioxidants and essential vitamins. The leafy, green spinach provides a low-fat source of iron which blends well with the natural sweetness of the creamy banana. The almond milk and almond butter add richness to the smoothie and, together with the chia seeds, provide a deliciously nutty source of high quality protein. The matcha powder, essential in Japanese tea ceremonies, offers a megadose of antioxidants and includes vitamins like vitamin A, B, C, E and K.
Ingredients:
- 3 cups fresh spinach
- 1 cup or mug almond milk
- 1 tbsp. almond butter
- 1 banana (freeze banana ahead of time if not using ice)
- 1 tbsp. chia seeds
- 1 heaped tbsp. matcha powder
- honey (optional for extra sweetness)
- ice cubes
Instructions:
- Measure out roughly three cups of spinach, or 3 handfuls if working without measuring cups, and place in blender
- Toss in the sliced banana, almond milk and almond butter with the spinach and blend together in your smoothie maker until the mixture becomes smooth
- Blend in the chia seeds and matcha tea powder
- Add in some ice cubes and continue to blend until you get a smooth and creamy smoothie
- Pour into a glass and serve instantly
Top tip! You may not always have frozen banana to hand at the time you feel like making this smoothie, but if it becomes a regular favourite, you may want to consider keeping some frozen banana slices in your freezer. Freezing the banana will prevent your smoothie from getting watered down with ice-cubes and result in a more intense flavour that’s equally as chilled!
Avocado Kiwi Smoothie
This smoothie is made with a ripe avocado, which gives it a smooth and creamy taste without overpowering the fruity taste of the kiwi and mango. You’ll get protein and potassium from the avocado, and the combination of both kale and spinach makes this green smoothie a fountain of nutrition. Bursting with healthy ingredients and coupled with the tropical flavours of both mango and kiwi, we know this will become a much-loved favourite of our readers!
Ingredients:
- 1 ripe avocado (pitted and cubed)
- 2 fresh kiwi (skinned and sliced)
- 1/2 cup finely chopped kale
- 1/2 cup raw spinach
- 1 cup fresh/frozen mango cubes
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tbsp. flax seeds
- ice (optional)
Instructions:
- Pack the spinach and kale into measuring cups and measure out the required amount
- Add the almond milk to the leafy greens and blend well until it turns into an even, green liquid
- Toss in the kiwi and (frozen) mango cubes
- Blend in the flax seed and wait until your smoothie is chunk-free
- Pour into a glass and serve instantly
As with the previous recipe, consider purchasing frozen mango or fresh-freeze mango if this becomes a much-loved staple in your home.
Apple Spinach Smoothie
This apple spinach smoothie is a mouth-watering, flu-fighting, nutrient-rich powerhouse! Spinach, apples, pineapple and lime are all a great source of vitamin C, whilst the lime juice and fresh ginger provide our body with the antioxidants required to help keep colds and flu at bay. Whilst it sure does have a lot of green, you definitely won’t have to sacrifice taste with this smoothie! The ingredients balance out so well that you won’t even realise you’re drinking spinach!
Ingredients:
- 3 cups fresh spinach
- 2 Granny Smith apples (cored and cubed)
- 2 cups fresh pineapple juice
- 1 freshly squeezed fresh lime
- 1 tbsp. freshly-minced ginger
- ice
Instructions:
- Measure out three cups or handfuls of spinach
- Juice pineapple in a juicer to avoid buying ready-made pineapple juice that typically includes added sugar
- Place the pineapple juice, fresh lime and spinach in the smoothie maker, followed by the Granny Smith apple cubes and ginger
- Add ice and blend from 30 seconds to 2 minutes, until your smoothie is evenly smooth
- Pour into a glass and serve instantly
Avocado Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie
You’ll be very surprised this smoothie is “green”. Both spinach and avocado have a mild taste but are brimming with just the right nutrients you want in your green smoothie. The combination of frozen banana, peanut butter and honey will make you feel like you’re drinking an ice-cream milkshake! The sweetness of the banana and honey blend brilliantly with the mildness of the vegetable and that last splash of oat milk nicely compliments the nutty overtones of the creamy peanut butter. This simple green smoothie feels like a delicious treat for your taste buds and a luxurious treat for your body.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups spinach
- 1 ripe avocado (pitted and cubed)
- 1 fresh/frozen banana
- 3 tbsp. smooth peanut butter
- 2 tsp. honey
- 1 ½ cups oat milk
Instructions:
- Place the leafy spinach into your measuring cups and accurately measure out the amount you need
- Add the oat milk, honey and avocado to the spinach. Place them in your smoothie maker and blend together until smooth
- Toss in the frozen banana and peanut butter
- Blend for around 30 seconds to 2 minutes until your smoothie has an evenly creamy texture
- Pour into a glass and serve instantly
Don’t forget to pin this article if you found it helpful, and follow Dukes Avenue on Pinterest for more!
Christine is a woman with an eclectic range of artistic tastes. As a professional soprano with a Bachelor's Degree in Music, she carries over 15 years of experience in the classical music scene, both locally and abroad. Her passion for music is equalled by her love for literature and, more recently, Christine graduated for a second time with a BA in English.
