Continuing the theme of my post-vacation shape up, I went home and drank my veggies for lunch in the form of a…
Green Monster Spinach Smoothie!
Green Monster Spinach Smoothies are one of my top secret diet weapons, because although they’re packed with baby spinach, which make my skin, hair, nails, and overall self feel totally great, they do not taste healthy at all. I repeat, they do not taste healthy at all.
PLUS!
- Spinach is fat free, cholesterol free, low in calories, and very low in sodium
- Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin A, C, K, iron, fiber, folate, and lutein
- Leutin is an antioxidant that promotes good eye health, and may help prevent cancer of the liver, ovaries, colon and prostate, and even dementia.
- Dole lab tests found spinach juice has twice the chlorophyl, eight times the calcium, six times the magnesium, 10 times the potassium, 15 times the vitamin C and 43 times the vitamin A of wheatgrass juice!
Are you convinced yet? Well channel your inner Popeye and get to blending already!
First add 1 sliced frozen banana, and 1 Tablespoon peanut butter in a blender. Tip: PEEL and SLICE your bananas before you freeze them, or you’ll be sorry!
Next add bulking agents for staying power, like protein-packed vanilla Greek yogurt, and creamy unsweetened vanilla almond milk. You could use any kind of milk you want – cow’s, rice, soy, etc.
PS I started calling cow’s milk, well, cow’s milk, after I stopped drinking it last year in favor of Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze, and it freaks. Ben. out. So hysterical. I terrorize because I love.
Fill the blender the rest of the way up with baby spinach. I reckon I fit about 4 cups in there today!
Start the blender on “high blend” until everything’s mixed up, then switch it over to “liquify” to get the Green Monster velvety smooth.
Pure green gold!
Green Monster Spinach Smoothie
Serves 1
Ingredients:
1 frozen sliced banana
1 Tablespoon peanut butter
1/2 cup 0% Vanilla Chobani Greek yogurt
1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze (or other kind of milk)
4 cups baby spinach (or more, or less)
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Nutritional stats:
350 calories, 10g fiber, 21g protein
I almost feel guilty enjoying one of these babies, as it tastes like a sweet, indulgent ice cream shake. It’s perfect for breakfast, lunch or even a snack.
Try throwing in different kinds of greens, protein powder, and any frozen fruit or berry combo under the sun. The sky’s the limit with this ultra-healthy, not-healthy-tasting Green Monster Spinach Smoothie!
*Sources: Dole, WH Foods, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
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I found the original recipe lacked something. So, I added another frozen banana, and some vanilla, and now it tastes nicer. The flavours come together better, and it’s smoother/creamier. Definitely a keeper. I’m interested to try the one with avocado too. Thanks for the great idea!
Lots of sugar though girls, so be careful, definitely not a drink if you have diabetes or are watching your sugar intake.
where is the sugar coming from? how can we reduce?
It looks like some of the sugar is from the vanilla greek yogurt. If you subbed it out for plain yogurt you’d cut the sugars down. http://www.chobani.com/products/c/nonfat/ the vanilla has 13g and the plain has 7g.
Some of the sugar in Chobani is naturally occurring sugar called lactose as well!
a way to tell the difference between the good and bad sugars in yogurt is to subtract the amount of sugar in the regular version from the amount of sugar in the vanilla flavor. So if the vanilla flavor has 13 g sugar and the regular (plain) flavor has 7, then the vanilla flavor has 6 g of added (unhealthy) sugar. This sounds like a great recipe! I try to watch my unnatural sugar intake, so I’d like to try this with plain yogurt and natural PB (meaning, not a brand like Jiff thats full of added syrups and oils, instead using a brand like Sun Harvest where the ingredients are peanuts and salt) thanks!
Not really too much sugar. The banana is the only significant “sugar” and diabetics can eat fruit. I have all the ingredients in my fridge and just checked the sugar grams (even though, as a type 1 diabetic, I look at total carbs and not sugars) and the almond milk has 1g, peanut butter has 3g, and a 1/2 cup of greek yogurt has about 4g. Not bad at all.
Can you make this smoothie without the greek yogurt? I have issues with dairy and would be interested in trying the recipe without a dairy product.
Yep, you don’t have to add Greek yogurt!
You mention protein powder at the end. What would you suggest, chocolate, vanilla, or something else?
I personally like vanilla whey protein powder.
I make spinach smoothies all of the time with coconut milk. And you can add frozen tropical fruit, too, to make it even tastier. And flax seed meal. All yum and healthy! My kids love these, too.
So YUM! I found this from a pin on Pinterest, was very intrigued cause its was a beautiful green color! never really made my own smoothies before, guess ya could say I’m a smoothie newbie! But this is fantastic! i threw in a very blueberries my girls didn’t eat and it’s still green and yummy, thanks for the recipe!
hi we all love this shake…including my 6yr old son and 2yr old daughter…
im trying to eat healthy and loose weight, is this an everyday drink or a sometimes drink??
This is an everyday drink. Have had a similar smoothie every day for a year and I’ve never felt better or been in better shape.
You can definitely eat it everyday if you want!
YUM! Taste like bananas and peanut butter. Can’t even taste the spinach!
[...] Source: Adapted from Iowa Girl Eats. [...]
I betcha you could add agave nectar instead of another banana…more sweet w/out the impact on our yblood sugar. I will pin this for near future reference!
I just made a version of this with an avocado, frozen banana, unsweetened coconut milk, soaked almonds ans spinach. Sweetened only with the banana, it’s surprisingly tasty, and you avoid the pre sweetened almond milk and such! Thanks for posting
Oh, and I called it the green dragon smoothie for my kids in honor of the Chinese New Year!
I just made this and so surprised by taste. Never would have thought to add that much spinach and only taste the peanut butter and banana!
The only thing I did differently was add plain greek yogurt and added a little vanilla extract to get the flavor and cinnamon since it helps with regulating blood sugar. Also, I only buy unsweetened almond milk so that’s what I used. I am trying to stay away from extra sugar.
My company started the Live Healthy Iowa 100 day challenge today & I was telling everyone about your Green Monster Smoothie. I have been wanting to try this, but I’m reluctant because I cannot stand the sourness of Greek yogurt. Is this part of the ‘flavor’ of the smoothie or do the sweet flavors disguise it? I don’t think making one of these with ‘regular’ yogurt would prove as beneficial as it doesn’t have the high protein content. Thanks!
I made this tonight for the first time. I didn’t use vanilla yogurt, just plain and just plain coconut milk, it was a little bland and too “spinachy” so I just tossed in a little fresh lime juice and Holy canoly this was awesome! I couldn’t believe eating spinach could ever taste so good. Totally filled me up. Thanks again for the recipe I shared it with all my friends.
OMG I made these last night to have ready this morning! They are amazing!!!! Hubby thought I was crazy! Then when I got in bed he came in and said…..did you make any extra for me to have!!!! YAY thanks so much!!!! Only thing I changed was used 2% milk!
i’ve made this 2x. i’ve tried adding some strawberries to hide the flavor of the banana, didn’t work. i like the health benefits that comes from the banana, but is there anything to add to this smoothie to make it taste LESS banana-y. other that that, it’s pretty good.
You can just sub in other frozen fruits for the banana.
Just made this and am loving it- thanks so much! I made it exactly as said and it is perfect. LOVE!!!!
I just found your blog via Pinterest and I love it. I made the Green Monster Smoothie this morning and it was great. Thanks for sharing the great recipe!
I made this smoothie this morning for breakfast. It was great, but all the fiber made my stomach hurt. Has anyone else been affected in this way.
Yes! I drank one of these and was sick all day. I was wondering if it did that to anyone else. I think maybe your body has to get used to it (if you don’t eat a lot of fiber usually like me…) maybe start off w/ less spinach and gradually add more and more
I make this smoothie too but instead of peanut butter I use almond butter. Also, instead of greek yogurt, try chocolate protein powder. Seriously good!! Sprinkle a tiny bit of instant coffee if you like that “hint of coffee” taste (which I do!). =)
Found you on Pinterest and this is amazing! I discovered the third time making it that I was out of frozen bananas, so I threw a regular one in and…still delicious, but you need to pour over ice lol. Also…I take a little of the “healthy” out of it by using Nutella instead of peanut butter
This looks amazing, but I can’t eat peanut butter (or any kind of nut butter)
Do you have any suggestions for a low-fat but equally sweet substitute?
You can just leave it out!
My daughter is allergic to nuts, so we buy Sun- butter at Target (made from sunflowers).
Oh my. I just tried this drink this morning, and it is so good. If anyone knows me, they know I’m not big on green stuff so I honestly thought I would hate this. You cannot taste the spinach at all. I didn’t add as much to mine the first go around, but I will add a little more next time. I did add a sprinkle of Splenda, and it turned out great. Not as green or as thick looking as the one pictured, but still delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Random question – where did you get your Dole travel cup?
I got it at the Dole Healthy Lifestyle Blogger Summit! http://iowagirleats.com/2011/11/03/no-coast-to-west-coast/
Do you happen to know how many carbs are in this?
OH my gosh can’t wait to try this!! would you happen to know the fat and carbs? Im doing weight watchers so just wondering. thanks for posting this!
libbybonjour@gmail.com
I agree…spinach smoothie is my diet secret weapon. I have this for breakfast and stay full all morning. My version: 1/2 banana, 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1/3 cup rolled oats, 2 T. vanilla Carnation instant breakfast, handful of other fresh or frozen fruit (strawberries, blueberries, mango all work well), handful of ice, two big handfuls of spinach. Only 250 – 300 calories depending on the fruit you use. I recently swapped out the instant breakfast for Jillian Michaels protein powder…more protein, less sugar, same calories. Sometimes I add ground flax seed, but that makes it a little bitter.
Can this smoothie be made in advance and frozen?
It can. I’ve made it the night before, then hacked away at it in the morning. More like frozen treat than a smoothie!
How much weight can you lose? Has anyone lost weight?
I love these!!! They are so easy and before I work out I add 1/4 c oatmeal to it as well. Thanks so much for posting this!
Like others have said, the recipe for “green” smoothies is really flexible. I usually just throw stuff in rather than measure. My kids don’t like it when it is green so I usually use strawberries, blueberries, spinach, a bit of yogurt (not Greek) and a touch of milk. It turns out purple. If I have protein powder or flax meal I add that as well. If you don’t follow the recipe exactly it is not the end of the world. Don’t like Greek yogurt? Use regular. Can’t have peanuts? Leave it out. Don’t like bananas? Try a different fruit.
Depending on the size of the smoothie the calories could be a bit high but the amount of nutrients is also very high. If you are doing WW it would be low in points, but I would figure it out based on your actual ingredients (amount of milk and yogurt, peanut butter, etc). I usually make a batch and then freeze it in 8 oz Ball freezer containers (they are plastic). This works very well.
I like the sound of the original recipe here and am going to try that tomorrow. I wouldn’t have thought to put peanut butter in. Thanks for the recipe!
Spinach is great, but if you are looking for a good source of iron, protein, calcium and beta-carotene, look at Spirulina. It’s blue-green algae, tastes like nothing, and is basically the real version of lembas bread. It’s one of the healthiest food supplements in the world.
baby spinach
1/2 banana
1/2 cup frozen pineapple
1/2 cup frozen mango
1 1/2 cups filtered water
yummy!
I make my green smoothie with 1 frozen banana, 1 pear, 2 handfuls of baby spinach, 1 to 1 1/2 cups vanilla almond milk and if you need it sweeter just a tsp of honey. I love to blend this and drink it for lunch. The frozen banana is so much smoother than using ice. also aprox 4 WW points.
How much fat and carbs is this? I would like to calculate WW points + this is. Thanks.
Hi, this was soo good! I used low fat vanilla yogurt instead of greek yogurt. And I used a green banana instead of a ripe one because I read that green bananas make you feel fuller and help you burn more fat because they contain resistant starch.
You have a lot of comments, but just in case you didn’t get this one, check out the Green Smoothie Revolution – greensmoothierevolution.com. There are more recipes in the book than online.
I do not like bananas. Has anyone very tried something else that makes this just as yummy and not spinach tasting….Thanks!!!
You can use any kind of frozen fruit in place of the banana!
Just wondering if you have ever tried using frozen spinach?
I have tried adding a jar of baby food to the original recipe it adds extra veges. Tastes great….carrots, pumpkin,squash(peas were really bad), any of the fruits.
).
Have lost 10lbs and feel great since I started drinking these green monsters (and modified the rest of my eating habits and exercising
What if you dont like peanut butter…any suggestions?!?
Do you know how many carbs are in this?
Ok – I tried this with frozen strawberries and raspberries, a fresh banana, cows milk and 2 cups of spinach. The taste was very blank and didn’t taste like anything not even the fruit. I added ice and agave nectar and still nothing. What did I do wrong?
Thank you so much for this! My husband and I tried it this morning and we both love it. It is very filling! Thank you so much for sharing these wonderful things! LOVE IT!!!!
I am wondering if you have anything suggestions for something else then Peanut Butter? I have a daughter that is allergic to nuts, but I would love her to have this drink!
Ok, so I saw this on pintrest. And as a certified fast food junkie who eats nothing green I wanted to give it a whirl.. I have to admit I was not convinced it would be “drinkable” first because of the color second because the main ingredient is spinach. Again, I HaTE all things green and if I’m being honest all veggies.. So, with an open mind and willingness to try new things in 2012 I made it and actually like it. So thank u for helping me take one baby step to eating healthier
I just made this minus the greek yogurt……….yummy!!! Thanks!
I gotta’ tell you, I (well, hubby) was skeptical at first…but it was YUMMY! The only thing I did different was add another 1/2 tsp of the peanut butter, used Activa Light Vanilla yogurt and about 1/2 – 1 cup of crushed ice. I like my smoothies more like a milkshake!
I just made this smoothie this morning and I loved it!!! Thank you so much for posting this! I’m going to add a little more spinach next time
yay!
[...] is where the mind switch comes in. I have decided to replace one meal a day with a smoothie called Green Monster Spinach Smoothie. Not only does it cut down my calorie intake, it fills my body with healthy veggies and fruits. If [...]
Sounds good…but is there any substitute you can suggest to replace the peanut butter?
[...] Spinach Smoothie [...]