Easy Spinach Smoothie Recipe Little Sunny Kitchen

I’m one of these people that ALWAYS keep frozen spinach in my freezer! Frozen spinach is cheap, packed with antioxidants, perfect for adding to meals and smoothies, and a great way to consume more leafy greens. My green smoothies always contain spinach and trust me, I only make great-tasting smoothies with the healthiest ingredients possible. See my Kiwi Smoothie, it has spinach too and it’s delicious! This spinach pineapple smoothie recipe is so simple, and only needs 4 ingredients. It’s also banana-free, and naturally sweet so you don’t need any extra sweeteners. But, it’s also very versatile, so you can add more ingredients if you like.

Use Frozen Fruit and Spinach

For convenience and freshness, my freezer is always stocked up on frozen spinach, fruit, and vegetables. This means that there is no food waste as I don’t have to use everything up within a few days or a week (as I would with frozen produce), and it’s also cheaper. In case you didn’t know, frozen produce is fresher than “fresh” produce sold at the store. The reason behind this, is that fresh fruit is picked and frozen within hours of picking and that locks in all of the vitamins and the good stuff. On the other hand, fresh fruit takes quite a while to get to a store, go on display, in your cart, and on your counter until you’re ready to enjoy it. Now that does not mean that I only buy frozen fruit and vegetables. It depends on what I’m making, and what ingredient do I need for my recipe. And for smoothies, frozen fruit and vegetables are perfect! But you can use fresh produce if you like.

Spinach in Smoothies

I always get the question of whether I can taste the spinach in my smoothies, and the answer is no! Here are a few tips for you:

Make sure that the spinach that you’re using is RAW. Cooked spinach won’t taste good in smoothies, so whether you’re using frozen or fresh spinach, just add it to your smoothies raw. Pair with naturally sweet fruits! I’m using pineapple in my recipe here, but banana also works great.

How to Make a Spinach Smoothie

To make my green spinach smoothie, you only need 4 ingredients: Spinach, pineapple, kiwi, and milk of choice (I use almond milk). So simple! The key to really good and creamy smoothies is a powerful blender. I love my Vitamix blender, and while it is quite an investment, if you can afford it then I totally recommend it (it comes with a 10 year guarantee, and should last you even longer!). It’s also perfect for soups, homemade nut butters, making oat flour, and much more! To make the smoothie, add the spinach and the fruit, top with milk (or use half milk, half water) and blend on high speed for 40-60 seconds until the smoothie is thick and creamy. The smoothie will be frosty due to the frozen fruit, if it’s too thick for you, then just add more liquid and blend again until you reach the desired consistency.

Customize Your Smoothie

Use pineapple or banana or both! I like the tanginess that the pineapple adds, so if I’m using banana instead, I like to squeeze some fresh lime juice in my smoothie. Add other fruit such as apples, oranges, frozen mangoes, or strawberries. Use any milk that you like. I usually go for almond milk for a dairy free smoothie, but you can use coconut milk, soy, oat, rice or even dairy milk if you like. Omit the milk and use coconut water instead! Swap the spinach for kale. But I would reduce the amount to ¾ of the spinach as kale has a stronger flavor. Check out this kale pineapple smoothie recipe. Add your favorite protein powder. If you’re not using any frozen fruit or spinach, add ice cubes.

Storing Tips

It is recommended that you consume the smoothie right away for it to be beneficial. However, smoothies can be stored in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Consume within 12 hours if you can, up to 24 hours should be fine as well. I often end up making more smoothie than I can drink right away, so I store the leftovers in 16-oz mason jars as they’re convenient and they seal tightly so I can take my smoothie to the office, picnic, park, etc. The smoothie will separate when stored, so just shake it well before opening and drinking. Make ahead: If you want to make it ahead, I recommend that you measure out the ingredients (leaving out the liquid), and store in Ziploc bags in the freezer. This way, you will have ready to blend pouches of smoothie mixes in your freezer for whenever you need them. Just add your liquid of choice, and blend!