Our Favorite Simple & Healthy Green Smoothie Recipes

Our Favorite Simple & Healthy Green Smoothies // Four Wellness Co. wellness blog // wellness tips for healthy living

This post contains affiliate links, through which we may earn a small commission if you choose to purchase, at no additional cost to you. We only share products or services we personally use & recommend!

Green smoothies are one of our favorite tips for packing more nutrient-rich veggies into our daily diet.

Besides being delicious, refreshing and packed with phytonutrients, they’re also a great way to “get your daily greens” within a busy schedule. Green smoothies are quick to make, easy to transport (an insulated thermos keeps them cold all day!), and quick and easy to consume on-the-go.

Drink your greens!

Drinking your greens via a green smoothie is also beneficial for your health in a few other ways:

Blending pre-masticates the fibrous veggies and fruit in your smoothie, making it easier for your digestive system to access the nutrients packaged up in all that fiber. Fiber is an essential part of a healthy diet and though, in theory, we should be able to easily digest the fiber of whole fruits and vegetables… most Americans have spent many years/decades consuming diets too low in fiber—aka not enough fresh, fibrous produce—, so it can be taxing to a digestive system that’s not used to breaking it down.
But, even though blended smoothies give your digestive system a head start on breaking down the fiber in fresh fruits/veggies, the smoothies still include that fiber (something juicing removes).
And, smoothies are a great opportunity to add in additional health-boosting ingredients, like detoxifying fresh herbs and citrus, protein-packed chia, and more.

Green smoothies can be made with either fresh or frozen produce—so they’re both a great way to use fresh produce (if you have it on hand), as well as a healthy snack (or meal supplement) if you haven’t made a shopping trip in a while. And, they can be very easily meal-prepped!

Anatomy of a healthy green smoothie

In just a moment we’ll share some of our favorite healthy green smoothie recipes (which are great options if you’re looking for ideas or starter recipes!). But, you can also experiment and make your own green smoothies with any combination of ingredients you have on hand and enjoy. Here’s what you’ll need:

🥬 Greens

Leafy greens should be the foundation of your green smoothie. Spinach and kale are both great, versatile options, though you could use any leafy green you’d like (some other options to consider: swiss chard, collard greens, beet greens, romaine lettuce).

🌿 Herbs

Add green herbs too! Think cilantro, parsley, basil, mint, etc. They’re great at detoxifying and add a nice punch of flavor.

🍑 Fruit

You can use either fresh or frozen fruit—though if it’s fresh, you may want to add a few ice cubes to the blender to help give the smoothie a frozen consistency. Any fruit works here, but some of our favorites are: mango, pineapple, berries, peaches, banana.

🥛 Liquid

For the base of your smoothie, we recommend either coconut water (which is rich in electrolytes, so a great option for summer!), or a plant-based milk (such as oat milk, almond milk, coconut milk, rice milk, etc.).

🥑 Healthy fat

To make your smoothie more filling, you’ll want to add healthy fats and protein to your smoothie. For example: protein powder, nut butter, avocado, coconut oil. Adding fat also helps to give your smoothie a smoother, creamier consistency.

🍋 Smoothie add-ins

We also love boosting smoothies with fresh-squeezed lemon or lime juice, chia seeds, spirulina or “supergreens” powder, collagen… the sky’s the limit here!

Our favorite green smoothie-making equipment

You can make a smoothie with essentially any blender, but some are stronger than others (meaning, you’ll get a smoother blend). Though you certainly don’t need an expensive top-of-the-line blender for just an occasional smoothie, a nice blender will tend to hold up better over years of daily(-ish) smoothie making.

Here are some of our favorite smoothie-making supplies:

Vitamix blender

Klean Kanteen insulated thermos

lemon and lime juicer, best for smoothies // Our Favorite Simple & Healthy Green Smoothies // Four Wellness Co. wellness blog

lemon & lime juicer

Healthy green smoothie-making tips

Focus on leafy greens

The fruit’s there to add some texture and sweetness, but we don’t want to go overboard (fruit, of course, is high in natural sugars). Aim for no more fruit in your smoothie than you would typically eat in one sitting.

Choose organic as much as possible

We want to super-charge your body with nutrients, not pesticide residues! Spinach and other greens have some of the highest pesticide residues of fresh vegetables. If you’re not familiar, check out the top foods you should definitely buy organic.

A tip for using bananas

Peel ripe bananas, cut them in half, and freeze in plastic freezer baggies. Though many smoothie recipes call for a whole frozen banana, we like to use only half if you’re using other fruit as well (they’re quite high in sugar 😁).