Spinach Banana Strawberry Smoothie
Strawberry banana spinach smoothie is the perfect quick and easy breakfast or afternoon snack. Made with easy to find ingredients, this super simple smoothie is creamy and filling and I promise you will never taste the spinach!
Why you will love this:
- Quick and easy: Spinach banana strawberry smoothie is the perfect breakfast, especially for busy mornings. Ready in just 5 minutes (with freezer and pantry ingredients) this smoothie will quickly become your go-to when you need a satisfying meal on the go!
- Kid friendly! The strawberry and banana are a great flavor combo and cover up the spinach flavor! You can add less spinach or have your kiddos help you make the smoothie to get them more on board with drinking a green smoothie!
- A great way to get in veggies: Do you struggle with getting enough veggies into your routine? Start your day off with this smoothie and you are already getting in 1 serving of vegetables!
Ingredients
- Dairy free milk – almond milk, oat milk, coconut milk, cashew milk all work great here. I would recommend using the milk that comes in the carton (typically refrigerated) for this smoothie. If you used canned coconut milk, the smoothie would be incredibly thick (almost like a frosty).
- Frozen spinach – I like to use frozen spinach. It helps to keep the smoothie cold when blended and it’s so easy to keep on hand in the freezer. You can also put baby spinach in the freezer (in the plastic clam shell it’s typically sold in) and it will freeze well for smoothies.
- Vegan protein powder (optional) – I like to add protein powder for added protein. Protein can help you feel full for hours and also makes the smoothie more satisfying (so you aren’t hungry in an hour). See below for other ways to add protein to the smoothie.
- Frozen strawberries – you can use fresh or frozen strawberries but I tend to use frozen because they are easy to keep on hand all year long and are budget friendly!
- Frozen banana – I frozen banana coins in the freezer from bananas that I won’t use up in time that are going ripe on the counter. You can also use fresh banana if that is all you have on hand.
- Chia seeds – chia seeds add fiber and help to thicken the smoothie. You can omit if you don’t have them.
How to make a strawberry banana green smoothie
Check out a step by step story on how to make a strawberry banana green smoothie!
- Add the ingredients to the blender in the order listed above.
- Turn on the blender and blend on high for 1 minute (or longer) depending on your blender speed.
Top tips
- If you have an older blender, you may want to blend together the milk, spinach and protein powder first before adding the fruit and chia seeds. This helps to ensure all the spinach is blended well so you aren’t eating chunks of frozen spinach. I use a Ninja bullet blender and love how easy they are to use and clean!
- Save money by using frozen fruits and veggies. Fresh strawberries (especially organic) can get pricy fast. Frozen berries and veggies are picked at the peak of the season and flash frozen to quickly preserve the flavor. Because they are less perishable than fresh, frozen fruits and veggies tend to be more budget friendly.
- Make this into a smoothie bowl: This smoothie is pretty thick already but you could thicken it by adding nut butter or peanut butter or slightly reducing the amount of milk in the recipe.
What else can you add to these smoothies
Protein
This recipe includes a vegan protein powder but you can omit that if you don’t have it on hand. Some other great ways to add protein to smoothies include:
- Greek yogurt (regular or dairy free) – use about ½ cup in this recipe.
- Collagen peptides (not vegan) – use 1-2 scoops depending on how much protein you want to add
- Hemp hearts -there is 10 g protein in 3 tbsp.
- Peanut butter powder – typically adds about 7g protein per 2 tbsp. You can find peanut butter powder at most grocery stores by the peanut butter – it’s a great way to add the peanut flavor without all the fat.
- Nuts – typically nuts are a great way to add some healthy fats and protein at once. How much protein will depend on which nuts you decide to add.
Healthy fats
Typically I like to add a healthy fat to my smoothies to make them even more filling! See below for some great ideas on what to add include:
- Peanut butter or peanuts
- Almond butter or almonds
- Cashew butter or cashews
- Sunflower seed butter or sunflower seeds
- Tahini (paste made from sesame seeds)
- Coconut butter or coconut flakes
- Avocado (I promise you won’t taste it)
- Hemp hearts
- Ground flax seeds
- Full fat yogurt
Other fruits or veggies
If you need to keep this smoothie pink for picky eaters, you can use cauliflower rice in place of the spinach to ensure you are still getting in a serving of veggies without the green hue!
If you don’t love banana but still want to naturally sweeten the smoothie, you could add:
- Frozen mango
- Frozen pineapple
- Frozen dark sweet cherries
- Mixed berries
- Mandarin orange (citrus is known to help cover any spinach flavor).
Smoothie bowl topping ideas
This strawberry banana green smoothie is thick enough to make into a smoothie bowl! Here are some great topping ideas:
- Sliced bananas or sliced strawberries
- Coconut flakes
- Hemp hearts, chia seeds
- Chopped nuts
- Seeds (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds)
- Chocolate chips
- Dried strawberries or dried bananas
- Drizzle of your favorite nut butter (almond butter, peanut butter, sunbutter, tahini)
Can you taste spinach in this strawberry banana green smoothie?
No, the combination of the strawberries, banana and vanilla protein powder help to cover up any of the spinach flavor. I promise you won’t taste it. If you are unsure, start with ¼ cup and slowly build up how much you use every time!
How to make smoothies in advance
A great way to make your green smoothies in advance is to make individual freezer bags full of your smoothie ingredients already measured out. This way you can store the freezer bag of smoothie ingredients in the freezer for a quick grab and blend breakfast option. This takes a lot of the time you would spend in the morning measuring out of the equation!
For this recipe, you would want to measure out the frozen spinach, strawberries, banana and chia seeds in a freezer bag. Be sure to add the date and the ingredients to the outside of the bag.
The morning of, simply add the milk and protein powder to the blender along with the content from the freezer bag. Blend and go!
How to freeze banana for smoothies
- Start by peeling the banana and cutting the banana into coins.
- Place the banana on a wax paper or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Freeze the banana on the baking sheet for 2-3 hours until frozen solid.
- Transfer the frozen banana coins to a freezer safe bag and label with the date. These will last about 1 month in the freezer.
How long will a smoothie last?
You can store smoothies in the fridge for about 24 hours (they are best within 8 hours). If you are taking a smoothie to work, storing it in a stainless steel tumbler that insulates the smoothie from the heat is best!
If you have leftover smoothie you don’t plan on finishing that day, pour the smoothie into an ice cube mold and freeze solid. You can use these cubes in future smoothies.
Substitutions
- Dairy free milk – you can use regular milk or water in place of the dairy free milk if needed. You could also use a combination of water and canned coconut milk if you don’t have any dairy free milk on hand.
- Frozen spinach – you can also use fresh baby spinach or even baby kale in place of the frozen spinach. If you don’t love the idea of a green smoothie but want it to still have veggies, you could use frozen zucchini or cauliflower rice in place of the frozen spinach.
- Protein powder – this is optional. You can easily omit the protein if you don’t have it on hand. You could also use collagen peptides, hemp hearts, dairy free or regular Greek yogurt, nuts, or peanut powder in place of the protein powder. See above for suggested amounts to include.
- Frozen strawberries – you can also use fresh strawberries. If you don’t have strawberries, use whatever your favorite berry is: blueberries, raspberries, blackberries.
- Frozen banana – bananas add creaminess to the smoothies and also help to cover the taste from the spinach. You could use frozen mango or pineapple in place of the banana if needed (between ¼ and ½ cup depending on how sweet you like your smoothies)
- Chia seeds – chia seeds are a great way to help thicken your smoothies and they also add some healthy fats. You could also use ground flax seeds as well. If you don’t have chia seeds or ground flax, you can omit or add your favorite nut or seed in place.
If you love smoothies, you should try:
- Mango Kale Smoothie
- Blueberry Green Smoothie
- Peanut Butter Low Carb Smoothie
- Coffee Banana Protein Smoothie
- Apple Banana Spinach Smoothie
Strawberry Banana Green Smoothie
$3.87 Recipe/$3.87 ServingGuided Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 Cup dairy free milk - $0.57
- 1 Cup Frozen Spinach - $0.50
- 1 serving vanilla vegan protein powder - $1.91
- 6 Frozen Strawberries - $0.75
- 1/2 Banana - $0.10
- 1 tsp Chia Seeds - $0.04
Instructions
- Add the ingredients as listed to a blender.
- Blend at least 1 minute (or longer) until smooth.
Notes
- For this recipe, you would want to measure out the frozen spinach, strawberries, banana and chia seeds in a freezer bag. Be sure to add the date and the ingredients to the outside of the bag.
- The morning of, simply add the milk and protein powder to the blender along with the content from the freezer bag. Blend and go!
Would substituting spinach for kale taste ok?
Yes! I do this often! If it is fresh kale, be sure to remove the thick stems.
Strawberry banana smoothie is a staple for my morning routine. Sooooo good!