How to Make A Spinach Smoothie and Trust That it Will be Delicious
85Spinach Smoothie
Face it, we're not kids anymore. The time for folding our Brussels sprouts in napkins and hiding them under the dinner table is over. If we want to live healthy lives, we need to eat a balanced diet that includes fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, my palate for vegetables has not matured. I still don't like them for the most part. Guess I'm still a kid at heart. I don't typically eat things if I do not like how they taste. I have however found a delightful little remedy for this situation.
Let's take spinach, for example. Unless it is laden with unhealthy salt, I find that a cup of cooked spinach on my plate can taste bitter and very unappealing. What I learned is that raw spinach leaves, perhaps sprinkled in a salad are much more tasty than cooked ones. Let's take them a step further and make them even more tasty!
Most of us like milkshakes, smoothies, fruit drinks. Why not incorporate your healthy spinach into one? There are many readymade vegetable drinks in the supermarkets but they might contain not so healthy added sugar, salt or sugar substitutes.
With just a little time on your hands, less time than it will take you to make a quick run to the market, you can prepare a delicious spinach smoothie. Here are the ingredients you will need on hand, or run to the market after all, pick them up, come back home and then you're ready:
1 cup of fresh raw spinach leaves
2 oranges, peeled and sliced
1 green apple, sliced not peeled
6oz cold water
4 icecubes
A blender
Place all ingredients in blender and blend on high speed until smooth.
That is really all you need to make a drink that tastes so good, you wouldn't mind starting your day with it each morning. Rich in iron, the spinach will give you a natural energy boost. This is quite a big serving of fruits/vegetables, so you might not be as concerned when you don't have cooked veggies with your pasta at dinnertime.
I was inspired to start making this drink by a couple of different recipes I saw but I have significantly limited ingredients both because of cost and because of sugar content.
Some such vegetable drink recipes suggest adding bananas, grapes, various melons, pineapple and/or strawberries in addition and/or even worse, refined sugar. If you add both a handful of grapes and several pineapple chunks, you are adding quite a lot of sugar that is not necessary however natural (fructose) it may be.
You can limit sugar intake by keeping things simple. You can save those extra fruits for another day and another type of smoothie such as a banana smoothie or a strawberry smoothie.
The way I prepare this drink, it is not very sweet but it still tastes like a treat. Just a little tart, not at all bitter. I hope you try making it. Enjoy and be healthy!
Spinach Smoothie
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Great recipe and I am sure it does taste good and non-spinachy. People forget that fresh spinach does not have a strong flavor (cooked spinach does), and it's easily masked by flavors like the orange and apple in your recipe.
As a lover of spinach, I believe I will be referencing this Hub many times in the future :)
Thank you all for your comments. Livelonger is right. You don't really taste spinach at all. Maybe that's why I like the smoothie so much.
I will surely try this recipe.
Thanks for your comment countrywomen. I hope you like the smoothie when you make it. -Journey*
I have a question... the recipe says 2 oranges and one apple, but all the photos show 2 apples and one orange.. which is it???
I love fresh spinach and I look forward to tying this blend :)
thanks
:-), good observation Patrice. I usually use 2 oranges and 1 apple as the recipe states but I was making several servings of smoothies that day and I just grabbed some fruits and put them next to an already blended smoothie for the pic. I hope you like this recipe when you try it.:-) - Journey*
Ooooh. Love this method for sneaking veggies and fresh fruits into the diet. You rock!
AMcElvain, thanks so much for your comment. I really did hide my Brussels sprouts under the table as a child, but I love this drink and don't need convincing to love it. Kids will love it to.-Journey*
I was looking for something I could mix with spinach to blend in a blender. I tried your suggestion and it was really good.
Thank you.
Hi Lisa B. I'm glad you enjoyed it and thanks for commenting!
How different and delightlul a taste - but I like green and must give it a whirl sometime. I'll believe that it WILL taste good too, as I too do not take much sugar...thanks. And for joining my fan club too!
I love raw and cooked spinach so assuming I will love this. Thank you for this delightful little remedy.
Hey frogyfish, Dottie1, thanks a lot for leaving comments. Hope you try the drink and enjoy!
I need a spinach smoothie for my 4 year old that does not eat enough fiber and has constipation problems, but I need to minimize the spinach taste without using to much sugars with extra fruits. any suggestion?
Hi Ana, thanks so much for stopping by and posting a comment. I definitely suggest using the fruit over any refined sugars of course. These fruits are what I typically use to mask that spinach taste. My only suggestion might be to try using a little less fruit than what is in the recipe and offering smaller portions of the spinach smoothie to your child. I hope this helps.
Yum , I love Spinach !
I do like spinach but I have never thought of making a spinach smoothie. It looks good though
Hi welch and EverythingMouse, thanks for posting comments!
Try a even simpler version of this recipe. I drink them after I workout:
3 cups frech spinach
water
Blend spinach in water until smooth. Drink and enjoy!
Seriously? It tastes OK? I tried a tomato smoothie once and was not impressed. I love fruit smoothies. Maybe I will be brave and give the spinach one a try.
cooked spinash sucks.........................hope raw spinach will appetise mi mood..............4 it souns great and enjoyable
THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR RECIPE. WILL BE TRYING IT.
Jordan, Cari, maemo, D.A.L. thanks for leaving comments on this hub! Hope you enjoy the recipe when you try it. Jordan, I really need the fruity taste to overcome the spinach flavor but if you love spinach and don't mind having it plain with water, that sounds good- very nutritious!
thanks fr sharing this fibrous hub! LOL
Hehe, sure thing s.aguilar1980. Thanks for posting a comment.
Popeye would probably like the taste of this one.
MrSpock, hehe, I imagine so!
I had been juicing spinach and still do but I feel that too much of the spinach is wasted. My favorite smoothie is:
2-3 cups of blueberries
1 banana (the closer to “overripe” the better)
1 scoop of protein (Whey)
1 scoop of flax seed
1.5 cups of keifer
2 cups of triple washed spinach or baby spinach
3-4 table spoons of apple cider vinager
3 tablespoons of organic (from Spain) Olive Oil (cold press)
Blend all my regular vitamins into this because I think they may be absorbed in my body better (I am not a scientist or doctor).
Sometimes I put a tablespoon of cocoa powder (pure)- very good for you and the items above act as the sweetner.
You can also add a mango, apple or strawberries
Hi Robert,
Thanks very much for posting your comment. I appreciate your sharing your recipe!
I try to have a spinach smoothie every morning. Ever since I got my new blender I can throw anything in it even with its skin which has the most nutrients. My spinach smoothie contains a hand full of spinach, quarter slice of lime with skin, half of an apple with its skin, half of a carrot and 1/3 of a cucumber with its skin, a few ice cubes and splenda to taste. It's probably enough for two but I drink it all throughout the morning.
Hi Emma,
Thanks for commenting and letting us know how you make your smoothie. All those seem like great ingredients.
I used to hate spinach weeks ago t all of a sudden I love it. Your recipe changed my life, haha. thanks!!
:-) Thanks for your nice comment R. Fontes!
I made spinach smoothies, different additives but loved then, then found out spinach has salt which I have to watch, you know anything about how much. The Kale ones have none and I love those too.
Interesting hub healthy and fun!
strawberry and banana is a better combo than apple and orange in a smoothie. add some peanut butter and milk instead of water and it will taste even better in my opinion.
Pollyannalana, M.s Fowler and kelly, thank you all for posting your comments. kelly, I think it depends on the combination. I think the apple and orange seem to go really well with the spinach but thanks for sharing your new ideas.
Actually Journey, oranges are the perfect complement for spinach consumption in this smoothie. The problem with spinach is that although it's high in iron, it is largely not absorbed by the human body without the assistance of vitamin C.
I don't like spinach plain but this actually sounds good! I think I'll try it :)
I am desperately searching to incorporate more vegetables into my diet (especially green ones, or those that aren't corn and peas, aka higher sugar content) and I have a ton of spinach in my fridge going unused. I am so excited to try out the spinach smoothie recipes I see on here, including in the comments. I hope it is actually tasty! :)
I substituted a medium pink grapefruit for the oranges as I prefer grapefruit. It was delicious. Thanks so much for the recipe Journey :)
I enjoyed reading your hub... I especially liked the tips on avoiding fast food, but you know convenience is a huge factor when you're hungry! Plus something about the taste of fast food.. must be all the crap they put in it.
By the way, I checked out your low calorie site... it's promising. Best of luck with that.
pineapple juice.fresh dill,fresh cilantro,lots of spinach,--blend--makes a thick raw soup, add some sprouted peas to make pea soup(do not blend the pea sprouts)
Thank you for posting this! I was looking for a way to make this without adding a lot of sugar using fruits like bananas and without adding extra calories through peanut butter, milk, etc
Would you say this is 4 servings of the recommended 7-10 per day?
Thank you so much to everyone that posted comments to this hub most recently- James, Sara, Sarah, Daisy, razman, Barbara, Elizabeth and penny. I appreciate it and I'm glad you found this hub helpful or interesting.
I'm sorry I haven't been by to moderate comments on this hub in a long time. Penny, you pose a good question and I would say yes, definitely. You can count as many fruits as you have put into the amount of drink you have consumed for the day.
Mmmm, spinach. Now, I've never had a problem eating my spinach but today I thought "I really don't want to eat my spinach" so I thought, I know, I'll toss it in the blender with some fruit since I was thinking of making a smoothie anyway. So I made a blueberry strawberry banana spinach smoothie. Now, I'm not too keen on apples in my smoothies but I think the oranges would go great with the spinach so I may have to give that a go next go-round.
I usually use frozen fruit in my smoothies instead of ice cubes... I keep a bag of mixed fruit chopped up in the freezer, whatever currently floats my boat... and toss a handful of that in with milk (I'm really bad about getting my calcium!) and a banana usually.
Fruit masks the spinachy taste well, so really, you could chuck a handful into any smoothie without hurting it.
I think this may very well become my method of veggie delivery. Honestly, I hate salads. I hate the whole 'you must eat salads in order to be healthy' mentality. Bring on the smoothies!
Anyway, your recipe looks promising and next time I want a tart smoothie I just may have to give it a go!
Hey Tiana, thanks a lot for your nice comments on this hub and thanks for sharing your own ideas. I especially like the idea of putting in some frozen fruit as well.
Best,
Journey *
ice, i put some cold green tea instead of water its a chill drink, next time i may add minth and watermellon lol
recepie sounds fabulous as I love spinach anyway. will be trying tomorrow morning. Not sure kids will give it a go but I already stir frozen spinach into spaghetti bolognaise - made with quorn- and they never notice (haha)
Delicious! I m drinking it right now. I admit I add a few leaves of basil, and a bit more of spinach. Loving the freshness! Thanks
Hi Victor, Lynne and Fanny, thanks for posting comments.
Victor,
Those are good ideas for variety.
Lynne,
I like your idea for camouflaging the spinach for the kids!
Fanny,
I'm so glad you tried the recipe and enjoyed it. Basil is an interestng add-in.
Best,
Journey *
hi there just tried spinach,straberries, 8 baby carrots, cranberry juice (half cup), frozen blueberries... and all came out good, just side note, dont have a 3.5 yr old toss more spinach then u need in the blender as you def. can tell the difference! but overall very yummy and healthy! and a great way to interact with lil ones...
Hi kelli,
Thanks for posting a comment and for sharing the information about what you do. That is a creative ingredient combination and it's nice of you to get the kids involved with the project.
Best,
Journey *
I fill blender:
nearly full with spinach
2 vine tomatoes
1/4 cup of 100% mango juice from costco
water and ice.
Hi Ike,
Thanks so much for commenting. I like the idea of using the mango juice.
This is truly delicious. We've recently been using spinach in our smoothies and they taste wonderful! I use orange juice for some of the liquid.
Hi PegCole17, thanks for your comment. I'm so glad you like this drink. Your using some orange juice is also a good idea.
can you freeze bananna and mellon smoothie and how do i defrost it ??
This is good stuff. I had it this morning.
Hi Rhonda,
Thank you. I'm so glad you tried making it and liked it!
Chaz,
I have frozen both banana and melon before but not in a smoothie. For the banana, they were in ice pops.
I think it would be perfectly fine for you to freeze your smoothie in a freezer safe container and then defrost it on your counter top or the lower part of your refrigerator when you are ready. I'm sure it will be fine and it doesn't hurt to at least try to do it.
One effect that you might not like about it is that the banana might turn color a bit and look more brown when you defrost it.
Good luck. If the defrosting does not work out then you will know that you should only drink that particular type of smoothie fresh and not frozen.
I wouldn't have believed a spinach smoothie could taste good but actually, with the ingredients you listed, it doesn't sound so bad. Thanks for sharing!
this is my daily smoothie recipe:
1/2 cup blueberries
3 cups fresh spinach
1 cup 0% greek yogurt
2 Tablespoon chia seeds
1.5 cups almond milk (sometimes watered down)
Delicious & nutritious!
Hi Pinkchic18, thanks for your appreciative comment! I hope you try the recipe sometime.
Hi hs,
Thanks so much for generously sharing your own recipe too.
How many calories would you say this smoothie was?
christine almaraz 3 years ago
It's very green! I love spinach but have never had it in a smoothie. It's about as healthy as it gets I'm sure. Great hub.