Green smoothie recipes (all vegan, mostly raw)
Happy Mother’s Day weekend!
I’m lucky this weekend and get to spend Friday evening, much of the day Saturday and much of the day Sunday with the mother dear. She’s been the provincial president of her women’s group, PEO, for the past year (and was on the provincial board for something like the past seven years), and this weekend is her big convention. By Sunday, she will have passed the gavel onto the next president and she will have “retired” from the provincial board. The sistertraveller and I are attending her convention in Brandon this weekend, and then on Sunday the three of us are going out for brunch with the boyfriend; in the afternoon us girls are going to the theatre. It shall be a fun weekend!
Green smoothie recipes
As promised, here are some of my most favourite recipes for green smoothies! I had a lot of fun experimenting with different ingredients. I used spinach as my primary leafy green simply because it was the most available to me when I went to the store and because it breaks down so beautifully in the blender, but it is best to use a variety of all kinds of different leafy greens to ensure that you get a well-rounded amount of nutrients.
I prefer frozen bananas to room-temperature bananas because they make a smoothie much creamier. Also, I usually start with slightly less fruit and such, and then add more for thickening/sweetening purposes after tasting. Go with what your own taste buds prefer! But do always use very ripe fruit… not only will it blend better, but it will also taste a million times better.
Classic Green Smoothie
My all-time favourite. It travels very well – some green smoothies don’t taste that great or lose their frothiness if you make them hours before drinking them, but this one holds up for a solid 24 hours.
- 1 cup cold water
- 1/2 frozen banana
- 1 scoop Tropical Traditions berry-flavoured antioxidants greens powder
- 45 grams organic medium-firm tofu
Vanilla Protein Smoothie
I had this one nearly every day. Delicious and protein-y!
- 1 cup cold water
- 1/2 scoop (or around 12 grams) Genuine Health Vegan Natural Vanilla Protein Powder (you can use other vanilla protein powders, but since I consider most protein powders to be full of crap, I highly recommend this brand :D)
- 1/2 frozen banana
- Handful leafy greens
Tropical Smoothie
I was surprised at how awesome this smoothie was. I really like it and made it several times. You can use regular water rather than coconut water without missing out too much on taste, or you can probably use just about any other kind of coconut water (this was the brand that I had on hand).
- 1/2 cup ONE Coconut Water
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 mango
- 1/3 frozen banana
- Handful leafy greens
Raw Cacao Smoothie
This smoothie is fantastic! It is very chocolatey and thick; it reminds me of a chocolate milkshake.
- 1 cup cold water
- 1.25 frozen bananas
- Handful leafy greens
- 5 grams raw cacao powder (you could also use regular cocoa powder, but raw cacao has many more nutrients)
- 1/2 tbsp local honey
- 25 grams organic medium-firm tofu
Strawberry Surprise Smoothie
You can also use only plain water or only Club Soda – I wanted to try half Club Soda to see if it would make the drink fizzy. I think it did a little bit. Add as many strawberries as you like!
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1/2 cup Club Soda
- A few fresh strawberries (chopped and with green top removed)
- Juice from 1/4 lemon
- 25 grams organic medium-firm tofu
- Handful leafy greens
- 1/2 frozen banana
I didn’t think until afterward that perhaps I should have added the green part of the strawberry to the smoothie – I wonder if the green part is full of lots of nutrients? Must look into that!
Walnut Butter Smoothie
A great smoothie when you want something with a little more staying power. I also like adding a bit of walnut butter to the smoothie after it’s been blended so that there’s some nut butter chunks, myself 🙂
- 1 cup cold water
- 1 frozen banana
- 2 heaping tbsp homemade walnut butter (I add a little bit of local honey, a couple pinches of sea salt and a dash of cinnamon to my homemade version)
- Handful leafy greens
- Dash of cinnamon
The next two smoothies are ones that need some more experimentation to perfect… while they were both drinkable, I think that it’s highly unlikely that I would make them again.
Apple Pie Smoothie
This one’s for Cammy! She mentioned that she’s been trying to play around with an apple pie smoothie recipe and a carrot cake smoothie recipe but has yet to find the magic ingredients. So I took on the challenge! I like the spice combo and the lemon seems to really add something, but this recipe still isn’t quite right. Maybe I was just missing the oaty “crust”? I’m going to play with it some more and I will share the recipe when it’s perfected. In the meantime, if anyone has a great apple pie smoothie recipe or carrot cake smoothie recipe, please share it in the comments below for both Cammy and myself!
- 1 cup cold water
- 1/2 apple (peeled; reserve peel for munching on!)
- 1/2 frozen banana
- 30 – 50 grams organic medium-firm tofu
- Handful leafy greens
- Generous sprinkle cinnamon
- 1/2 tbsp local honey
- Squeeze of lemon (I used less than 1/8 of a lemon for a double batch of the smoothie, just for reference)
- Pinch each of cloves and nutmeg
Kiwi Smoothie
Very interesting flavours! I had a couple kiwis in my fridge leftover from the fruit salad at Easter brunch, and they made this smoothie a very delightful bright green colour.
- 1 cup cold water
- 1 kiwi (peeled. I’m not the type to eat the skin. If you like it, go nuts, I guess?)
- 1 frozen banana
- 25 grams organic medium-firm tofu
- Handful leafy greens
I made a few other green smoothies, including a hearty blueberry flax smoothie, a grape smoothie, a fruit salad smoothie, a bubbly smoothie (using champagne) and some others, but I wasn’t too keen on those ones. They were generally too sweet, too acidic, or else they didn’t blend well. The above recipes are all ones that I enjoyed and I made almost every one of them at least twice; I would absolutely drink them all again.*
*Not counting the apple pie smoothie and the kiwi smoothie, however.
What’s your favourite (green, raw, vegan or otherwise) smoothie recipe? Share in the comments section below!
I don’t like putting water in smoothies – I feel like they lose flavour? My favourite all time smoothie is 1 cup of plain low fat yogurt, 1 cup of juice (any will do, usually I use a mixture, like apple/orange/pear or mango/pineapple), 1 banana, and 1 cup of frozen mixed berries. As a basis, it’s really great, fills you up (it’s my favourite summer breakfast – and usually there’s enough for 2 servings), and really open to modifications. You could easily add in a couple of handfuls of spinach, or a half a mango or some kiwis if they’re on hand.
The sistertraveller makes an appearance!! Awesome 🙂
That sounds super yummy. Someday I’ll come over for breakfast and you can make us a couple smoothies?
So many choices!!! I don’t do smoothies too much anymore – did a ton when I was younger & into my 40’s but all of a sudden my bod did not want them anymore. I guess 20+ years of them got to my bod! 😉 I have always wanted to try a green one so lots for me to work with here!
Funny how the body changes – I used to NEVER drink smoothies but now I’m all over them!
Those all look yummy! I like adding some lemon to curb the taste of the bitterer greens like kale.
Mmm. Lemon is a great addition!
Can’t start my day without my green smoothie- latest version: spinach, 4oz carrot juice, frozen blueberries, handful of oatmeal(seriously! Makes it creamy), ground flax, and a few chunks of frozen mango…..
I’ve got to try adding oatmeal to my smoothie next.
I usually put orange juice in my smoothies. It looses a lot of flavor just with water. Lots of good choices here, I’m always up for a new green smoothie recipe.
For the apple pie smoothie try to add something that simulates a caramel or butterscotch flavor. Seems odd but when mixed with apple is an exact match to apple pie. I learned this drinking shots in my younger days. 🙂
As a raw wild nutritionist of 20 years, I have tried out every greens powder superfood out ther for travel and “emergency” green nutrition – this is the best raw vegan greens powder out ther – http://www.GreenDrink.info – (and it’s not our company by the way- lol)
Thanks for the recipes…I have been on green smoothies for three weeks. 2 x a day and one cooked meal in the evening. I have lost five lbs in three weeks and feel wonderful. I do pee a lot and think my weight loss should be more given this.. but that is ok. My husband even likes a smoothie now and then!
Try JUST A BIT of maca powder for the “crust” flavor you are looking for for the apple pie recipe. It has a graham like taste but also carries a strong horseradish type of taste if you use too much. Maca has many health benefits. Everyday I put about a 1 tablespoon of maca powder for an entire blender worth of smoothie.
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