We start most mornings with a green smoothie…usually at the request of our kids! Seriously! It’s the BEST way to sneak greens and all sorts of nutritious foods into their diet! I’ve been asked a million times what we put in our smoothies to make the kids love them so much. In fact, our kids prefer a green smoothie over ANY other smoothie. I’d say that’s a parenting win right there, yes?
I use the Vitamix Ascent Series blender (A3500 Model) to whip it up: it’s my favourite in the Vitamix family and really steps up to the plate. A good blender really makes a difference, nobody likes chunks in their smoothies… am I right?
Here is our recipe, just blend the following ingredients until smooth in the blender, starting at the lowest variable and turning it to high, using the tamper on the highest setting if needed. You can add a scoop of your favourite vanilla protein powder to this if you are making this for an adult but I do not put it in for the kids, it is too much protein for their little kidneys.
Green Smoothie
This green smoothie will be on replay in your house! It's packed with greens and the kids love it!
Ingredients
- 2 cups tightly packed kale or spinach leaves
- 1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
- 1 cup frozen mango chunks
- 1 frozen banana
- 1/2 avocado
- 3/4 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt sub dairy-free yogurt if desired
- 1/2 cup mango or pineapple juice
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk or more to thin if needed
Instructions
-
Add ingredients to blender and blend until smooth.
I hope your family loves this as much as ours!
Tori
xo
SHOP THE POST
This particular post was not sponsored, but I work with Vitamix. All opinions are my own!
Photography by Sharla Pike Photography
Hi Tori, Thanks for all the inspiration on healthy eating! Just wondering how many servings does this make? Thanks for your time!
Sorry I just saw it says 3 – 4 servings!
Hey great smoothie Tori! Our family loves all your recipes 🙂
Kind of a random question, but I was making ice cream from one of your summer posts, and was wondering what you store the ice cream in once it’s made.
Happy Spring!
Alexis
Hi Alexis! I think that Williams Sonoma sells cool ice cream containers but you can just store it in a Tupperware style container with a resealable lid!
Hi Tori! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I’m curious about the amount of sugar in these. I know it’s mainly from fruit (and some in the yogurt and juice), but can you talk about your perspective on this as a dietitian?
Hi Tiffany thanks for the question it’s a good one! We encourage fruit at home, and in truth, if there wasn’t fruit in it to sweeten this the kids wouldn’t drink it! You can choose plain yogurt (I do half of the time, I will add that in there) to help reduce it. I feel that it’s important for me to get the greens into my kids and am totally ok with fruit in their diets! And mine for the record! I hope this helps!
I should also mention that fruit is loaded with vitamins and antioxidants that is healthy for us to! And of course, whole fruit has fibre that we all need. If your kids will drink it without the juice (just sub more milk or almond milk) you can leave out the juice. I’ll admit that mine prefer it with the splash of juice but since there is a decent amount of protein and fat in the smoothie along with fibre it is still a good choice in my books:). Long answer!
Thanks so much for taking the time! You’re so great.
Thank you for the recipe! I will try this!!
Hi Tori!
I’m new to the smoothie game, but eager to sneak more veggies into my 21 month old’s diet. Do you use smoothies in addition to breakfast, or as the meal? Not sure how filling smoothies are and how much it would effect my son’s appetite during breakfast.
Thank you!
Hi Brittaney, I often give the smoothies to them with something else, but they are complete and filling enough on their own, it really depends on how much they consume! I love giving a variety of foods, we often serve some scrambled eggs and toast or peanut butter on toast in addition.
Hey Tori! Recipe Looks awesome! I’m going to try it with frozen kale and spinach.
Hi Tori, any idea how many calories per serving your green smoothies are?
I’m sorry Denise I haven’t done the calculations! My goal is to get them all done at some point…
Take care,Tori
Hi Tori! Thanks for sharing the recipe. Silly question maybe – any particular reason for using frozen banana instead of just a ripe room temperature one?
No it’s a great question! You can use either, I just like how cold it makes the smoothie and we always have frozen bananas kicking around! Tori
Hi Tori,
I was wondering how long a smoothie lasts in the fridge? I work 12 hour shifts & the thought of having to make a smoothie & clean my blender every day just seems daunting. Any tips or tricks are appreciated 🙂
Hi Rachel, I will often serve it the next day as well if there are leftovers but I will say that it’s best served the same day! I just stick my blender in the dishwasher, I know it’s not ideal. You can prep almost all of the ingredients ahead in individual bags and freeze it (minus the liquid ingredients) to make life easier!
Hi Rachel,
I saw on another dietitian friends post (Lindsay Pleskot) that she freezes smoothies into “pucks” in muffin tins and then pulls them in the morning and they are thawed ready to drink for lunch or a morning snack. I haven’t tried but seems like it might be a perfect solution for you!
Such a smart idea right!?
Hi Tori! Do you know how many calories this smoothie is?
Hi McKayla, no sorry I don’t I haven’t done the analysis on it.
I can never stop loving this smoothie….:) ♡
This is absolutely delicious! Not to mention, my 3 & 5 year olds LOVE it! We used 2c of mango as we didn’t have pineapple on hand, and a smidge more of the almond milk because we don’t drink juice. Turned out simply amazing!! Thank you for getting veggies into my kids! It is so difficult!
Xo
Hi Shayla, so happy your crew loved the smoothie! xx Tori
Hey Tori!
I was thinking about starting my 10mth old on smoothies. How old were your boys when you started offering smoothies?
Thanks!!
Hi Amy,
You could start now! Of course you would never use protein powder and only make them out of foods that you have already introduced to your child (in case there is a reaction). It’s a great way to get extra greens and healthy foods into your child. I would skip the juice if any smoothie recipes call for it and just use extra milk. Tori
I hope this helps!