Tips To Add Green Smoothie Recipes To Your Daily Diet

How to Make Healthy Green Smoothies

Vegetables: spinach, kale, red and/or green chard, collard greens, broccoli, beets and celery all make great additions to green smoothies.

Liquid/Base: Nothing beats water or coconut water, but you can always use juices, milk or yogurt as a base.

Powders + Additives: Flaxseed meal, brewer’s yeast, wheat germ, agave nectar, honey or protein powders can all be combined in your smoothie recipes. We use Nutiva Organic Chia Seed which is affordable and comes in a 32-ounce bag. In the absence of fresh greens, we also like to use Green Vibrance powder, a plant-based daily superfood with probiotics.

Tips to Making Green Smoothies

• Process the produce: wash, dry and cut into smallish pieces all your produce as soon as you bring it home. Fresh greens that won’t be used within a day or so should be processed and stored in the freezer.
• Start with smoothies with more fruit and fewer vegetables and work your way towards a smoothie with more leafy greens and nutritious vegetables as possible. Spinach is a mild green that is rich in nutrients, making it perfect to begin your green smoothie journey.
• Blend in the right order: This is important, especially when making green smoothies for toddlers or picky eaters who dislike pulp: add leafy greens with liquid and blend first, then add the rest of your ingredients. We use high powered blenders like the Vitamix or Ninja Professional to thoroughly break down the fiber of greens so the smoothie has a smooth texture. Also, if using frozen berries or other frozen ingredients, omit ice. If using all fresh ingredients, add ice cubes.
• The very sweet, tart taste of orange juice is very effective in covering up the some of the bitter greens (such as collards). If you’re a family that doesn’t keep juice around on a regular basis get orange juice concentrate. Just make sure to look at the ingredients to be certain you have nothing but orange juice. I only buy concentrated orange and apple juice because of this.
• Blueberries are delicious, but will also make a blue smoothie. Not green, which might help out for those kids totally adverse to green food! Play with the ingredients to see what colors you can come up with. Add carrots or pumpkin puree and see what color you get.

Don’t let the idea of veggies in your smoothie freak you out. Green smoothies really are a delicious compromise that even your children will delight in! It really isn’t a difficult concept- mix the green stuff with the sweet stuff and get a healthy, great tasting treat!

Enjoy! And happy blending.

More Smoothie Inspiration

How to Make a Green Smoothie Your Toddler Will Love

Mango Papaya Smoothie

Our Favorite Green Smoothie Powder: Green Vibrance

Smoothie Recipes for Picky Eaters