Pineapple Matcha Smoothie
Pineapple matcha smoothie is a refreshing, light and energizing breakfast or mid-afternoon snack that will provide you a caffeinate pick-me-up without the jitters. This healthy and simple morning matcha smoothie is ready in just 5 minutes and is high in protein, full of healthy greens, and a great way to boost your energy.
Why you will love this smoothie
- Energizing: This smoothie includes matcha, a finely ground green tea that is said to provide clean energy with no jitters or caffeine crash.
- Easy to make: Using frozen fruits and veggies allows this smoothie to be made in 5 minutes or less. Combine the 7 simple ingredients in the blender and go. An easy morning breakfast or snack.
- Nutritious: This pineapple matcha smoothie includes a serving of spinach, fruit, protein, and healthy fats, a well-balanced meal that is easy, healthy and will give you that extra boost in your day.
Ingredients
- Frozen pineapple: Pineapple adds a fruity, tangy, and tropical flavor to this smoothie pairing perfectly with the spinach. Frozen pineapple helps thicken the smoothie when blended but you can use fresh pineapple or canned pineapple (in juice, drained). If not using frozen pineapple, add 1/4 cup of ice to the smoothie to help get the same creamy texture.
- Frozen spinach: Spinach has a mild taste that is hidden behind the rest of the fruity flavors. Frozen spinach is easy to store in your freezer and since it’s partially cooked, it’s easier to digest than raw spinach. You can use fresh spinach, baby spinach, kale, or cauliflower rice as an alternative.
- Vanilla protein powder: Balancing out this smoothie with protein powder adds sweetness, flavor and makes it more filling. The added protein makes this a perfect breakfast or post-workout snack. Using a vegan protein powder helps thicken the smoothie, however, you can use whey or collagen as an alternative. If you are omitting protein powder, add 1/4 cup of oats to help thicken and some honey or maple syrup to help sweeten. Read our tutorial on the best protein powders for smoothies.
- Cashews: Including cashews helps to give this morning matcha smoothie a nice creamy texture and aids in making it a more filling with the addition of healthy fats. You can use any nuts, seeds, or combinations you want to add. Almonds, pecans, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or hemp hearts would be great options for this smoothie.
- Matcha: Gives an earthy taste that pairs perfectly with the pineapple. Matcha tea provides an energizing boost of caffeine which is great for a morning smoothie or mid-day pick me up. If you don’t have matcha you could omit.
- Chia seeds: Adding a great source of fiber to the smoothie, chia seeds also help to thicken it by absorbing the liquid which also makes it extra filling. You can use ground flax seeds as an alternative to chia seeds. If you don’t have a super strong blender, I recommend using chia protein. Chia protein is finely ground chia seeds that easnily mix into your smoothie.
- Dairy free milk: Use any kind of dairy free milk to keep this recipe vegan. Options like almond milk, oat milk, cashew milk, coconut milk, flax milk will work. You can use regular milk here if you are not dairy free or vegan.
- Medjool dates: Medjool dates provide the pineapple matcha smoothie a slight caramel flavor and natural sweetness. Before adding the date to the blender be sure to remove any pit (or use pitted dates). If you don’t have dates, you can substitute maple syrup, honey, or a frozen banana.
How to make a pineapple matcha smoothie
- Measure all the ingredients and put them into a high-speed blender.
- Blend on high until it is smooth and creamy.
Top tips
- Use frozen fruits and veggies: Using frozen pineapple and spinach will give you the best thick and creamy texture you are looking for in this recipe. You can use fresh pineapple or spinach, but you will want to include 1/4 – 1/2 cup of ice to help the texture.
- Use chia protein: Chia protein (ground chia seeds) is finely ground chia seeds. If you don’t have a strong blender, try out chia protein.
- Use ceremonial grade matcha: There are two grades of matcha, ceremonial and culinary. Ceremonial grade is the highest quality of matcha and made with young fresh green tea leaves and has a more vibrant green coloring and sweeter taste. Culinary is used for baking and uses older green tea leaves and has a darker coloring a bitter taste.
Other additions
This pineapple matcha smoothie is perfect as is, but you can also customize it to your liking with some of the below options:
- Thick and creamy: You can add additional creaminess and up the thickness of this smoothie by adding 1/2 an avocado, 1/4 cup of oats, additional nuts or seeds, or 1/4 cup of ice. Additionally, you could add some canned coconut milk or coconut butter which would add extra tropical flavors to the smoothie.
- Sweetness: To increase the sweetness in this recipe you could add a ripe banana, 1-2 tablespoons of honey or maple syrup, or a few more pitted dates.
- Veggies: This recipe already has 1/2 cup of frozen spinach, but you could add kale, carrots, steamed beets, or frozen cauliflower rice to add more vegetables.
- Spices: Add some extra flavor spice with ginger, cinnamon, or cardamom.
Topping ideas
If you love your smoothies with a few toppings, this smoothie is nice and thick, and you can add some toppings to this smoothie.
Additionally, this pineapple matcha smoothies can easily be turned into a smoothie bowl by making it a bit thicker. You can do this by adding 1/4 cup of oats to the blender when blending. This will add the right amount of thickness for a creamy thick smoothie bowl so you can add lots of toppings. Some great topping ideas are:
- Fresh fruit: raspberries, banana, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, mango, pineapple
- Nut butter: almond butter, cashew butter, peanut butter, sunbutter or tahini
- Chopped nuts or seeds: cashews, almonds, peanuts, pecans, walnuts, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds, hemp hearts, chia seeds, flax seeds
- Granola or cereal: adds a crunch. Easily make your own 4 ingredient homemade granola.
- Sweetness: Honey and maple syrup
- Dried fruits: figs, dates, cranberries, raisins.
- Coconut: Coconut flakes or coconut butter
- Chocolate: Chocolate chips or cacao nibs
Common questions
What is matcha?
Matcha is made by taking the green tea leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant and grinding them down into a fine powder. There are two primary types of matcha green tea, ceremonial and culinary.
Ceremonial matcha is a higher quality grade matcha. This is because the leaves are harvested when they are younger and ground down in a very fine powder. This creates a more vibrant green coloring to the powder with a silky texture and slightly sweeter taste. Ceremonial matcha is typically more expensive due to the extra care that goes into creating it and is used for drinking.
Culinary matcha on the other hand is a lower quality grade matcha and is mostly used for baking purposes, however you can still drink it. Culinary matcha is a less quality because the leaves are older when harvested and the powder is not ground down to as fine of a powder. This creates a darker green color and a coarser texture and slightly bitter taste.
There are many different brands of matcha and ceremonial or culinary matcha will work for this pineapple matcha smoothie. If you are looking for a recommendation, I would suggest Jade Leaf Matcha.
Are matcha and pineapple good for you?
Yes! Matcha contains antioxidants and polyphenols to help protect the body’s tissues against oxidative stress and inflammation. While pineapple is loaded with vitamins and minerals including vitamin C, B6, manganese, potassium, and folate. Matcha and pineapple make a great healthy combination and taste amazing together as the sweetness of the pineapple pairs well with the earthy boldness of the matcha tea.
What fruits can you mix with matcha?
The earthy and grassy flavors of matcha go well with many different fruits. Typically, a sweet or tropical fruit helps to balance out the flavors the best. A few fruits to try with matcha are:
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Oranges
- Bananas
- Mangoes
- Watermelon
- Pears
- Peaches
How much caffeine does matcha have?
The amount of caffeine in matcha depends on the quality of the matcha tea you are drinking. If you have a lesser quality culinary grade matcha it could have as low as 19mg of caffeine. A higher quality ceremonial grade matcha could have upwards of 44mg of caffeine. Matcha is much lower in caffeine than coffee which has 150mg of caffeine per cup.
The caffeine in matcha can affect people differently than typical caffeine since matcha also contains L-Theanine which may provide a stress reducing “calming” effort alongside the energy boost to stop caffeine jitters.
Can you prepare this smoothie in advance?
This pineapple matcha smoothie is best enjoyed immediately. The flavors are the best when they are cold and refreshing. However, this smoothie can be made up to 24 hours in advance and stored in the fridge in a cup with a lid or container until you are ready to enjoy.
You can also meal prep this smoothie by putting all the ingredients except for the dairy free milk and matcha powder in a freezer bag (I like Stasher Bags) and freezing until you are ready to enjoy. When you are ready to enjoy, simply dump the smoothie bag ingredients in the blender, add the milk and matcha. Blend until smooth and enjoy.
Storing leftovers
You can store the pineapple matcha smoothie in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
If you need to store leftovers for longer you can pour leftovers into ice cube trays or soupercubes. When ready to reuse, blend up with water or milk or add the leftover cubes to another smoothie when blending. You can store frozen for up to 3 months.
Substitutions
- Frozen pineapple: You can use frozen or fresh pineapple in this recipe. If using fresh pineapple, add 1/4 cup of ice to mimic the texture of frozen pineapple. Additionally, if you are looking for the same tropical flavor profile and don’t have pineapple, you can use mango or banana. Strawberries or blueberries would also be good fruits to pair with matcha.
- Frozen spinach: Fresh or frozen spinach will work with this recipe. If using fresh spinach, add 1/4 cup of ice to obtain the same texture as frozen spinach. Alternatives you can use in place of spinach are fresh or frozen kale, baby spinach, or frozen cauliflower rice.
- Vanilla protein powder: You can use any protein powder you have on hand (vegan, whey, collagen) or you can omit it from the recipe. If you are not including protein powder with added sweetness to get the same texture and sweetness, add 1/4 cup of rolled oats and 1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup or honey.
- Matcha: If you don’t have matcha, you can omit completely.
- Cashews: Alternatives to cashews for this morning matcha smoothie recipe are almonds, peanuts, or your favorite nut/seed. Additionally, use cashew butter, almond butter, peanut butter, tahini or sunbutter.
- Chia seeds: Use chia protein (ground chia seeds) or ground flax seeds as an alternative to chia seeds. You may also omit this from the recipe.
- Dairy free milk: You can use any milk you prefer that you have available. If you do not have milk, you can use water or coconut water.
- Medjool dates: You can use 2 tablespoons of maple syrup or honey. Additionally you can use 1 medium frozen banana.
If you love green smoothies, you should also try
- Spinach Raspberry Smoothie
- Strawberry Banana Spinach Smoothie
- Banana Mango Kiwi Smoothie
- Banana Apple Spinach Smoothie
- Mango Kale Smoothie
- Strawberry Kale Smoothie
Pineapple Matcha Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen pineapple
- 1/2 cup frozen spniach
- 1 serving vanilla vegan protein powder
- 2 tbsp cashews
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 cup dairy free milk
- 1 medjool date
- 1 tsp matcha
Instructions
- Measure all the ingredients and put them into a high-speed blender.
- Blend on high until it is smooth and creamy.
Equipment
Notes
- Use frozen fruits and veggies: Using frozen pineapple and spinach will give you the best thick and creamy texture you are looking for in this recipe. You can use fresh pineapple or spinach, but you will want to include 1/4 – 1/2 cup of ice to help the texture.
- Use chia protein: Chia protein or ground chia seeds is chia seeds finely ground down. If you don’t have a strong blender or aren’t a fan of chia seeds stuck in your teeth, try out chia protein.
- Use ceremonial grade matcha: There are two grades of matcha, ceremonial and culinary. Ceremonial grade is the highest quality of matcha and made with young fresh green tea leaves and has a more vibrant green coloring and sweeter taste. Culinary is used for baking and uses older green tea leaves and has a darker coloring a bitter taste.
