The Best-Ever Green Smoothie is made from just 4 ingredients, and is gluten, dairy, and banana free. Healthy, easy, and kid-approved!
You’ve probably seen 1,001 green smoothie recipes on the internet, including a couple here on IGE, but I’ve officially found the most delicious one yet.
The BEST EVER Green Smoothie, if I do say so myself!
The combination of 4 ingredients that blends into said best green smoothie, comes from a new-to-us smoothie shop we visited last weekend. It was all I could do to prevent a husband-shaped hole from appearing in the doorway when we realized the smoothies were EIGHT DOLLARS a piece.
Y’all, it’s SO much cheaper to make them at home!
Watch How to Make It
Kid-Approved Green Smoothie
Needless to say we got one smoothie to split, but it ended up being so unbelievably delicious that I accidentally drank more than my fair share which made my toddler cry because he didn’t get as much as he wanted.
#MotherOfTheYear
I got back in my baby’s good graces the following day when we recreated the smoothie at home for a fraction of the cost, and it ended up being a dead ringer for the $8 one. I mean, we nailed it!
4 Ingredient Green Smoothie
Just four ingredients are blended until brilliantly green, silky smooth, and tropical tasting:
- Chopped kale
- Baby spinach
- Frozen mango
- No-sugar added apple juice
If you’re a green smoothie skeptic, promise me you’ll try this combo. Even my kiddos slurp it down. It’s is a fantastic, healthy post-nap/school snack.
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItNormally I wouldn’t put juice in a smoothie, but for me the pros outweigh the cons in this case. It’s basically a salad in smoothie form that tastes like anything but.
That said, if you want to cut down on sugar you could try using coconut water in place of some of the juice. I’ve tried using water and it tastes a little bland.
Pump Up the Protein
As I mentioned, we like drinking Best-Ever Green Smoothies as an after school or post-nap pick me up. It’s also great as a pre-workout drink because it’s light and energizing. That said, if you’re looking to serve this smoothie for breakfast and want to pump up the protein, try:
- Pairing with scrambled or hard boiled eggs, or piece of peanut butter toast.
- Adding 1/2 cup high-protein Greek yogurt before blending.
- Adding a Tablespoon of chia seeds before blending.
- Add a scoop of your favorite protein powder.
Frozen Green Smoothie Blender Packs
This green smoothie makes great smoothie blender packs too. Add the kale, baby spinach, and mango into ziplock baggies then freeze. When you’re ready to drink, pour the contents into a blender, add the liquid, then blend!
How to Make Best Green Smoothies
Start with curly kale that’s been stripped off the woody stems then roughly torn or chopped.
Recipe Tip
Do not use store-bought, bagged chopped kale, which often comes with big pieces of stems that do not blend fully.
You can either hold the bottom of the stem then use your other hand to strip off the leaves as you pull the stem out, or simply pluck the kale off the stem.
Add the kale plus baby spinach into a high-powered blender with frozen mango hunks.
I have a Blendtec and absolutely love it. Kale can be a bit tough, but it’s blended to smithereens in this high-powered blender.
Finally add no sugar added 100% apple juice.
Pop the lid on top then blend until silky smooth. NO color editing here – the smoothie really is this bright green, but doesn’t taste like it!
Pour the smoothie into glasses then add a straw. The recipe makes 16oz so you could split with a partner, or keep the whole thing for yourself.
Bright, fresh, healthy, and 100% delicious. I hope you love this healthy green smoothie recipe as much as we do – enjoy!
More Healthy Breakfast and Snack Recipes
- Green Smoothie Muffins
- High Protein Overnight Oats
- Blueberry Muffin Smoothie
- Mini Egg Bites
- Maple Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Make-Ahead Breakfast Bowls
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup lightly packed chopped curly kale
- 1 cup lightly packed baby spinach
- 1 cup frozen chopped mango
- 1 – 2 cups no sugar added 100% apple juice
Directions
- Add the ingredients to a high-powered blender in the order listed above.
- Blend until very smooth — you may need to run the smoothie cycle 2 times — then serve. The Green Smoothie will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days if store in an airtight container or jar.
Notes
- This smoothie makes great smoothie packs! Combine the kale, spinach, and mango into baggies then freeze. When you’re ready to drink, pour the contents of one baggie into a blender then add juice and blend until smooth.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Hi there! I was wondering what blender you used. It looks SO smooth, but for the price of most smoothie blenders, I want to be extra sure on which ones are truly worth it.
Hi Jackie! I have had a Blendtec for years and years and it is an absolute workhorse. Love it very much!
I absolutely loved the way you took pics of your little boy enjoying his best ever smoothie; all my children are grown with not too little ones lol but I’ll definitely be sharing this recipe with my two daughters. AND!! I’ll definitely be making it for myself tomorrow. To the market I go, I’m an earthly ole girl and love, love spinach, kale, all and anything greens. Thank you for each photo you shared . I’m subscribing to your website NOW !!! For more goodness lol Susansoucie54. I’ll be back for a review
I hope you loved it, Susan!!
I make this a lot. I usually use all spinach instead of the kale and sometimes change up the fruit. Recently used a frozen mix with mango, pineapple and strawberries that was really good!
Hello,
Just found your page and I am trying to get all these medical conditions under control with food. Latest diagnosis Lyme, then barrets, which is chronic acid reflux. I’m in IA as well so it was refreshing to find your page. Any suggestions or help as I’m trying to learn all this on my own. Have 1 other person I just met finally helping. Thank you for your time! Love, Light and Gratitude!
My toddler and I love it!
Let me tell you – I do not believe that anything of that particular color of green should be used for human consumption. I view the yoga-pant clad, muscle tee wearing crowd with an air of amusement and firmly believe that they are masochists desperately trying to lie to themselves that their green smoothies are delicious and healthy.
That said, this was the best thing I have every put in my mouth…ever. I mean, better than dessert, better than fresh watermelon on a hot day – Just amazing. I was really hesitant to try it at first but when I saw the photo you posted of your kid drinking it down, I figured if a kid likes it (rare that children like bitter vegetables like spinach or kale), it must be worth trying.
AMAZING. I happened to have some swiss chard and arugula on hand, so I threw those in as well. I think the arugula actually gives it an interesting sweet yet peppery taste – like strawberries and black pepper together.
Nevertheless, I will be carrying this in an opaque bottle – I refuse to let my yoga-muscle-tee friends think they have won.
HAHAHA!!
Thank you so much for sharing the best evergreen smoothie. My son hate veggies but when he tasted this recipe we been drinking this everyday for the last 3 weeks. I been using coconut water and it’s so refreshing.
These are great.
I have a cheap food processor, it probably wouldn’t blend kale to the perfection I’m looking for! Do you think it would work to finely chop and cook the kale before adding? Thanks!
This smoothie is delicious! My 4yo requests it daily. I’ve made it with spinach and kale and also just double the spinach (was out of kale), and both ways are great. Thanks so much for sharing this!
Has anyone tried this with Ripple milk instead of apple juice? Or added protein powder? Trying to up my veggies and protein…
I know I’m super late, but thanks so much for posting this. It’s banana-free and that’s more than alright with me (and daughter)! Can’t wait to try this out.. :)
thank you for the simple no nonsense quick results recipes & the pics are awesome!t