How to make an awesome green smoothie

I never used to be into smoothies. I always thought they were… wasteful, almost? Why throw six different items of fruit in a blender and swig them down in a couple of minutes, when they could feed you for an entire afternoon if you ate them one by one?

Well, my previous reason for disliking smoothies is actually one of the reasons I do like them now – they’re a great way to use up fruit and veg that’s slightly past it! Limp spinach, bruised bananas, squidgy peaches – we’ve all got them, and they’re all welcome here. Clear out your fridge in one fell swoop, without having to waste any of those lovely nutrients that you paid good money for.

And yes, we’re talking about veg as well as fruit. I’m not saying you should throw a turnip in your smoothie (though I’m sure it’s been done, and was probably delicious), just some greens to give a fresh, vibrant taste – and colour! Green smoothies are basically just regular smoothies, with added green (it’s kind of in the name). You can feel good about your green, while enjoying the lovely fruity flavours. Win win.

The exact ingredients in a green smoothie can obviously be changed from day to day, depending on what you have going limp in your fridge – and everyone has their own recipe. Some people use milk, some use fruit juice, some just use water. People have their own favourite combinations of fruits and veg. But whatever you go for, just throw everything in a high-powered blender, give it a good blitz, and you’re good to go.

Here’s my favourite little formula…

The green smoothie you can see in the photos contains the ingredients you can see in the image above – avocado, banana, watercress, grapes, a little bit of vanilla protein powder, and some milk. I made it super thick, just how I like it (almost spoonable). But again, you can change the ingredients up however you like, so go mad.

I’ve included the recipe below, but really I’m sure you can figure out how to bung everything in a blender!

Do you have any other ingredients that you love to include in your smoothies? Let me know your favourite combinations in the comments!

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Simple green smoothie

Prep Time5 mins

Total Time5 mins

Servings: 2

Calories:

Author: Becca Heyes

Ingredients

• 1 handful watercress
• 1 small avocado
• 1 small banana
• Handful of grapes
• 1 tsp protein powder
• 250 ml milk (~ 1 cup)

Instructions

• Add the first 5 ingredients to a high-powered blender, and blend until smooth. Add the milk, and blend again until well combined. Adjust the smoothie's thickness with additional milk if desired. Serve chilled.

Note: nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose.

10 more awesome green smoothies

Pre-workout coconut green smoothie from Recipes From A Pantry
Blueberry and strawberry green smoothie from Hungry Healthy Happy
Apple and kale green smoothie from Tinned Tomatoes
Post-workout green smoothie quencher from Fuss Free Flavours
Green monster smoothie from Life Currents
A green smoothie for the green-phobe from Food To Glow
Hemp protein green smoothie from Smarter Fitter
Kale and apple green smoothie from Cookin’ Canuck

Or, why not try my coconut, pineapple and banana smoothie (it tastes like a piña colada!).