A tutorial: How to make the PERFECT green smoothie
I’ve mentioned a couple of times in the past few days, that as a short-term new year’s goal, I would like to drink one green smoothie everyday in the month of January. I’m a HUGE fan of green smoothies, so this typically wouldn’t be too difficult for me. However when it’s freezing outside, the last thing I want is a snack or meal made with ice. I do feel so good and way less bloated when I make veggie-filled smoothies a part of my meal plan, though. So for the sake of feeling great, I will endure the chill of the smoothie!
This post is for those of you looking to incorporate more fruits and veggies into your diet, but get totally turned off by the thought of drinking something green and in the case of the Blueberry Apple Green Smoothie….. dark blue green. It doesn’t look too pretty, but let me tell you, it is delicious! There are so many variations of the green smoothie; different liquids, fruits, veggies and add-ins that you can use. I’m going to share with you ideas for building your green smoothie and then you can play around with some of your favorite ingredients to make it your own.
Liquid: The liquid is the first thing that you will add to your blender. My liquid of choice is usually unsweetened vanilla almond milk and I like Silk brand because it doesn’t contain any of the controversial ingredient, carrageen. Any type of milk or yogurt will work here; coconut milk, soy milk, cow milk, kefir, chocolate milk, rice milk and the list goes on. Water works too.
Greens: If you’re a green smoothie virgin; you’ll want to use spinach because it is not as strong as kale, collard greens, chard, romaine or green leafy herbs like cilantro, parsley and mint. All of these are great choices and I personally like to combine my greens…. a bunch of spinach, some kale and a little chard. When adding your greens, a handful is about 1 cup and if you’re using spinach you can pile it on because the flavor is so mild.
Fruits: There are so many options when it comes to fruit. If you’re a banana lover like myself; an extra ripe banana will sweeten your smoothie perfectly and add such a lovely flavor. Apples are also a really great choice for making your smoothie taste nice and sweet. I like for my fruit to be frozen because it will make your smoothie extra thick. I commonly buy extra ripe bananas, unpeel them and freeze them in a huge baggie. Be sure to unpeel them before freezing…. I speak from experience! Some of my other favorite fruits in green smoothies are pineapple chunks, strawberries, blueberries and mangos. I also typically add 1-2 stalks of celery and about 1/4 of a cucumber to up my green intake.
Nuts, Seeds and/or Superfood Add-ins: You want to add in some healthy fats because they will help you to properly absorb all of the vitamins and minerals that you are taking in. Dr. Oz recommends 1 tablespoon of Chia seeds daily and these are my favorite superfood to add to my smoothies. I also like adding ground flax seed, hemp seeds, hemp oil, coconut oil, flax oil, 6-8 almonds or walnuts and/or a tablespoon of nut/seed butter. Now you don’t want to add all of these at once….. choose one or two.
Extras: If I’ve used an extra ripe banana or an apple, I usually don’t need to add any extra sweetener. If your smoothie needs to be sweetened up a little; add pure raw honey, maple syrup, raw pitted dates, raisins or stevia. If you’re feeling fancy, top your smoothie (after blended) with dried fruit, cereal, granola, chopped nuts, shredded coconut, or additional fresh fruit and eat with a spoon.
Method: After all ingredients have been added to your blender, blend away. You may have to stop and start your blender several times, pushing ingredients down as you go. If you like your smoothie extra thick and a little slushy (and you didn’t use frozen fruit) add a cup or two of ice (after blending other ingredients) and combine.
Blueberry Apple Green Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup liquid, I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk.
- 1/2 cup blueberry yogurt, I used Stonyfield blended blueberry yogurt.
- 2-3 cups greens, I used spinach.
- 1 apple, cored (I didn't peel mine, but if you don't have a Vitamix, Blendtec or Ninja you may want to consider peeling your apple.)
- 1/2 cup blueberries, frozen
- 2 teaspoons Chia seeds or ground flax seeds, use up to 1 Tablespoon if desired
- 1/2 tablespoon almond butter, any nut or seed butter will work
- 1-2 cups ice, optional
Instructions
- Add ingredients in the order listed above to a high-speed blender and blend.
- Add ice, as desired after you have blended other ingredients and blend.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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These are GREAT tips! I’ve made green smoothies for YEARS and this is just how I like to make mine. Perfect advice and you’ve got a great blog here!:) I also love Stonyfield and Silk for the same reasons. I don’t tolerate fruit that well, but I have found that freezing cucumber cubes and kefir into cubes makes for the PERFECT replacement!:) I just use acai powder to increase the antioxidants that I’m missing from whole fruits and it has no sugar. Plus, it makes for a really frosty, creamy treat. If I could just stop adding so much liquid! I always make that mistake and end up with a watery smoothie. Frozen greens work well too, if you’ve ever tried using frozen spinach or kale:) Great blog!!!! I’ll be sharing this on Pinterest!
Love your tips! I will definitely have to try the acai powder.
You already know I love smoothies – and this recipe sounds great! Lately I’ve been adding this Superfood Powder I bought to both smoothies & yogurt bowls.
I love green smoothies and while the weather here is cold.. actually cold is the wrong word.. insanely FREEZING (high of -8 on Monday) I still love my smoothies especially because I can blend and go!! Sitting down for breakfast doesn’t happen during the week if I want to get my workouts in! Thankful that green smoothies can keep full and focused all morning!
I agree. They are perfect for me to take on the way to work and they do keep me really full too.
Why am I just seeing this now?!?! What a perfect guide! Thanks so much for sharing 😀
I love green cocktails, but it is difficult for me to drink them in the winter… I prefer chewing things at this time 😉 Though I would like to add them in January a little to be cleared after New Year’s holidays! Unfortunately, my blender broke so everything that I can – lick lips, looking at these remarkable cocktails 😉
I’m with you…. they are hard to feel like drinking in the winter!
Love this post! I have been meaning to try out green smoothies.
You definitely should give them a try!
One of the major reason I am SO happy to be back in Nebraska is because I am now reunited with my Ninja and can make green smoothies again!! Even when it is freeeeezing cold outside I still crave them…weird, I know ;). I definitely don’t have a problem getting in my greens with these.
They make me freeze too, but I still love them!
Such amazing tips! I remember trying spinach in a smoothie for the first time a few years ago and being completely shocked that I couldn’t even taste the greens. Perfect way to get some extra nutrition in 🙂 Buuuuuut it’s a little too chilly to be thinking about smoothies right now… Grrr Canada.
Yes, I do believe -40 temps is a bit too cold!
Great tutorial! If it weren’t -40 degrees here I’d be all over the green smoothie. 5 months and then I’ll be all over this!
I can totally understand…. well, not really, but I can imagine. 😉
I love green smoothies, but I almost always have peanut butter banana with spinach or peanut butter and strawberry with spinach, so I love the ideas you gave me! I just might be having the blueberry apple green smoothie for lunch!
Peanut butter, banana and spinach is my favorite combo!
i LOVE green smoothies and I just had one yesterday for breakfast! I love to add ginger and spirulina too, though the spirulina can get tricky with the taste.
Today I was lucky to find fresh raspberries, so they will go into today’s green smoothie for sure!
I’ve never had spirulina, but I’ve thought about giving it a try. Fresh raspberries is definitely a winner.