Learning how to make green smoothies is one of the best things you can do for a dash of life improvement.
This is especially if you’re wanting to get healthy and add more nutritious foods into your daily routine.
It’s funny, because lots of people think that green smoothies are bitter or gross. But that couldn’t be further from the truth!
Green smoothies can be super tasty once you learn how to get the right mix of fruits and veggies together.
They’re amazing for a morning pick me up especially if you aren’t a big breakfast person or if solids too early in the morning aren’t your thing.
When we were little, my mom got into eating healthier foods, and every weekend, before going to the gym, she’d make some sort of smoothie for us.
One of my favorites was a carrot and milk smoothie with protein powder. It just tasted oh so GOOD!
It wasn’t exactly a green smoothie, but if I were to add some leafy greens to it then that would just about do the trick.
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That’s basically where my love of smoothies grew. Since we didn’t grow up with much, we didn’t really have the extra money to spend on extra things like smoothies when we went out.
Thankfully mom learned to make them at home, and they were SUPER delicious (and good for us too!)
The basic ingredients of a green smoothie
A basic green smoothie is usually made up of a few ingredients:
- Some sort of greens (usually leafy greens)
- Some sort of natural sweetener aka fruit
- A liquid base like almond milk or coconut milk or simply water
- And then added super foods like chia seed, turmeric, or flax seeds
That’s it! With those four parts you can make an awesome green smoothie that will help keep you full in the mornings, help give you the energy you need to get things done, and make sure you’re getting at least a portion of your servings of fruits and veggies.
The general recommended amount of fruits and veggies you should be getting a day according to the USDA is anywhere from 5-9 servings a day.
How to make green smoothies taste good
So, you know that basics of what goes into a healthy green smoothie, but let’s face it, sometimes certain combinations taste worse than sour cottage cheese left out for a week.
You need some flavor!
Thank heavens there are plenty of naturally sweet and oh-so-good-for-you ingredients that take your green smoothie recipes from 1-100 in a few pulses of your blender.
Related: 23 Healthy And Easy Meal Prep Ideas For When You Don’t Know What To Make
For example, you can use coconut bits to sweeten the deal and add some texture to your smoothies
You can also use medjool dates to make smoothies sweeter if they’re too bitter.
If you MUST use an extra sweetener then go with some agave nectar.
Coconut water, almond milk, and even aloe water can be great ways to blend a smoothie so it isn’t too thick.
There are also conversions to think about, whenever you’re making big batches of something. Thankfully, I’ve created a guide to help you with liquid conversions!
The morning green smoothie recipe that I swear by
I love being able to wake up in the morning and get creative with my green smoothies.
They differ day to day, like sometimes I’ll add strawberries like other times I’ll add ginger. It just depends what I’m in the mood for that morning.
And I usually like to rotate through my super foods too. Like one day I might use a teaspoon of chia, another day a teaspoon of flax, and yet another a teaspoon of turmeric.
But the base of the smoothie recipe always stays just about the same.
Green Smoothie Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 cup strawberries, chunked
- 1 cup kale and spinach mix
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1/4 cup protein powder of your choice
- 1 banana, chunked
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to your Oster blender (it helps if you add your almond milk first)
- Blend until smooth
- Add agave nectar or medjool dates for extra sweetness if strawberries are too bitter
- Pour and enjoy! You can keep it in the freezer for 2-3 days
The BEST on-the-go smoothie blender
If there’s one thing that saves me time with smoothies, besides meal prepping, is a good smoothie blender that doesn’t take me ages to clean.
I’ve been using an Oster Smoothie Blender for YEARS now and its something that I didn’t have to think twice about incorporating it into my day.
Any time I need a smoothie all I have to do is put in all my ingredients (even ice and nuts) and it blends them in no time…and I don’t even have to pour out my smoothie. That’s the BEST part.
I just take it, put the lid on, and go. It also brings a couple of straws with it, but I don’t use them very often (you don’t really need to).
The best thing is a lightweight durable smoothie blender like this one isn’t going to cost you an arm and a leg like most other smoothie blenders on the market.
It makes for an awesome gift idea and it will last you for YEARS to come. 
Smoothie super foods worth trying (that don’t taste yucky)
Perfect for meal prepping!
Chia seeds
Chia seeds are these tiny little dark balls that don’t really taste like anything (maybe a little nutty if you have a spoonful) but are SO good for you. They contain Calcium, Protein, Fiber, and lots of other nutrients that help you stay as healthy as possible.
And because they are basically tasteless, you can put them in almost any food you eat.
Spirulina
Spirulina is another ‘superfruit’ that’s seriously high in nutrients and has all types of nutritional value that you can use in your smoothie daily. Spirulina grows in water and has nutrients like Vitamin B1,2,3 and even iron.
Goji berries
Goji berry has anti aging benefits and can even help you on your journey to lose weight. It also contains lots of antioxidants. These berries are bright red and you can eat them lots of ways, not just in smoothies.
Flax seeds
Flax seeds are another one of those nutty tasting seeds that are an excellent addition to your smoothie recipes (even as a beginner smoothie aficionado). They’re filled with omega-3 fatty acids and protein, which are great for maintaining a healthy diet.
Hemp protein
Hemp is chock filled with healthy nutrients, vitamins, fibers and fats that are healthy for you. If you’re on a plant based diet and are cutting out meats, hemp protein is an excellent addition to your morning smoothies.
it comes in a brownish powder that almost looks like cumin. So it’s a pretty easy addition to your smoothie recipes in the mornings.
Acai powder
Acai is filled with lots of antioxidants which are great for the skin and have been known to be great in helping boost your brain power. You can choose to either get acai berries to add to your smoothies or simply buy the powder to make it easier to use everyday.
Maca root powder
Maca powder has a nutty taste, so if you like nuts, you won’t have a problem adding this powder to your smoothies. Its been used medicinally for hundreds of years and contains lots of protein, Vitamin C, potassium, and protein along with manganese (great for bone health!)
Coconut oil
So I’m not quite sure that coconut oil makes the ‘super food’ list but it sure does add a nice dollop of healthy fats to your smoothie if you choose to use it. You probably know by now how GOOD it can be for lots of things in your body, if not, here’s where you can find out more about it.
Even more green smoothie recipes for beginners
As with every habit you try to start, making healthy smoothies constantly can take a while before it starts to stick.
But it’s important to remember to start small first, and then work your way up. This means start with simple smoothie recipes!
Experiment with whats in your kitchen and try out different mixes of what you already have to see what gives.
From there you can start making your smoothies fancier, and more nutrient packed, by adding some super food additions like flax seed or maca powder.
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I really like hemp protein powder in my smoothie, but many people don’t like the taste. My “perfect” smoothie contains: 2 tbsp of hemp protein powder, 2 tbsp of shelled hemp seeds, 2 tbsp of hemp seed oil (great for omega 3 & omega 6), banana, a bit of curcuma, and a mixture of milk and water (you can use only one of those if you like). It is not so green than other smoothies, but more like greenish-brown in color.