This spinach blueberry smoothie is sweet and creamy made with all-natural plant-based ingredients. It’s the perfect smoothie to disguise a serving of leafy greens for the kids or picky adults in your home!
There are days I struggle to get my kids to eat their veggies. Especially when it comes to leafy greens. They love broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, and bell peppers, but when I give them spinach they push it to the side of their plate.
It’s recommended that you consume leafy greens every day. Why? Dark leafy greens such as spinach, kale, Swiss chard, and collard greens have been shown to reduce your risk of obesity, and high blood pressure.
This is due to nutrients, such as folate, iron, calcium, and vitamins E and K, leafy greens are known to boost brain power and fend off dementia.
However, many people, including kids and toddlers are not big fans of leafy greens.
That’s why a hidden veggie smoothie is the perfect way to include leafy greens into your picky eaters’ diets.
Spinach is a mild-tasting leafy green making it a great way to hide a serving of veggies.
I make it for breakfast on busy mornings, a mid-afternoon snack, or even lunch when I’m looking to have something lighter.
This superfood smoothie is packed with fresh blueberries!
Not only do you get a serving of leafy greens, and fresh fruit with this healthy smoothie, but you also get quite a few health benefits!
Antioxidants from the blueberries, protein and healthy omega-3s from the chia seeds, and a naturally creamy texture and sweet flavor from the banana.
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Why This Recipe Works
- A healthy meal replacement
- Packed with essential vitamins
- Ingredients to boost your immune system
- Made with fresh ingredients
- No added sugar
- Vegan friendly
- Gluten-Free
Ingredients and Notes
- Spinach: Fresh washed baby spinach works best.
- Blueberries: Fresh or frozen blueberries work!
- Frozen Banana: When my bananas are starting to brown, I peel them and place them in a freezer safe bag to use for my smoothies. Using a frozen banana creates a thick and creamy smoothie without needed to add any ice.
- Unsweetened Almond Milk: Be sure to use unsweetened to reduce the overall sugar.
- Chia Seeds: Adds some healthy fats making this a well rounded nutritional smoothie.
Tools and Equipment
An excellent blender is key to making excellent smoothies, especially if your end goal is to hide some veggies for the picky eaters in your house.
I had a standard blender for years. I made green smoothies weekly. always using spinach or kale as my leafy green of choice. I’d offer my smoothies to my kids and they’d straight up refuse to drink them. Why? My standard blender created a confetti of shredded spinach and kale. My kids noticed those green flecks and were not fooled.
A high-speed blender is the way to go to have perfect smoothies every time. There are many high speed blenders out there and they range in price from $100-600. Below are three high-speed blenders I recommend at a high, mid, and low price point.
The Vitamix is the top of the line elite blender that comes at the highest price tag at an average cost of $400. If you’re looking for a blender that can do it all this is the one.
You can make soups, frozen desserts, baby food, nut butters, vegan cheese sauces, and so much more. It also has an easy self cleaning method to make clean-up a breeze.
It has a variable 10 speed control so that you can achieve your desired texture. With a 7 year warranty you can feel confident you are purchasing a quality item.
The Blendtec Classic is a mid-range high speed blender at an average cost of $260. It can do many of the same tasks as a Vitamix.
Using a patented blunt blade it delivers on amazingly smooth blends. Also self-cleaning, with with 6 pre-programmed cycles, and 10 manual speeds you will get just the right consistency for the task at hand. It has an 8 year warranty.
The Ninja Professional Countertop Blender is the most affordable at $99. It does not have pre-programmed cycles, and has 4 manual speeds.
It also does not have a commercial grade motor like the Vitamix or the Blendtec, but it gets the job done better than your standard blender. Not self-cleaning like the two above, it is dishwasher safe. It has a 1 year warranty.
Instructions
Using a High-Speed Blender: Pour in 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, followed by the chia seeds, spinach, and topped with the frozen banana and blueberries.
Blend until smooth. The power of the motor will pull the heavier items down to the blades.
Standard Blender Instructions:
- Pour in 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- Add frozen chopped banana
- Blend until smooth
- Add 1 cup of spinach leaves
- Blend until smooth
- Add ½ cup frozen blueberries
- Blend until smooth
- Add 1 tablespoon of chia seeds
- Blend until smooth
With a standard blender, you want to blend as you go to get a smooth and creamy consistency.
FAQS
Yes, you can use raw fresh spinach. This is what I prefer to use when making when making my smoothies.
When choosing vegetables to add to smoothies you want to choose ones that either doesn’t have a strong flavor such as leafy greens, or ones that are naturally sweet. Also, consider textures. Sweet potatoes are smooth, creamy, and sweet making them a great addition to many smoothie recipes. My favorite vegetables to use include: spinach, kale, beet greens, beets, collard greens, chard, fennel, dandelion greens, butternut squash, zucchini, sweet potatoes, and carrots.
Yes, smoothies are healthy, but there are some common mistakes people make when preparing their smoothies that can add a lot of calories and too much sugar.
I make my smoothies with unsweetened dairy-free milk. My go-to dairy free milk for smoothies is almond milk. Other Liquid Base Alternatives: water, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk, coconut milk, and coconut water. I generally don’t use dairy-free yogurt or juices in my smoothies because they are usually higher in sugar.
Yes, you can use frozen spinach in smoothies. You’ll get a higher concentration of greens when using frozen compared to fresh which can affect the flavor. You can make frozen spinach ice cubes that you can store in the freezer for your smoothies. I recommend using one or two spinach cubes when making a smoothie or the flavor balance will be thrown off and the spinach will no longer be disguised for those picky eaters.
How to Make Spinach Ice Cubes for Smoothies:trong>
- Take your leftover fresh greens and throw them in the blender with water.
- Blend until smooth.
- Pour into ice cube trays and freeze until solid.
- Store in an airtight freezer container to use in your smoothies.
You can also use frozen packaged spinach. It will give your smoothie a cold icy texture. Be sure to also use a creamy fruit or vegetable with the frozen spinach such as banana or avocado with a dairy-free milk to keep the smoothie creamy in texture.
Common Smoothie Mistakes
Keep your smoothies healthy by avoiding these common mistakes.
- Eating a meal with your smoothie…Smoothies have enough calories to be a meal replacement, not a drink to accompany your breakfast. When you add up the calories of everything you put into your smoothie including fruits, vegetables, protein powders, nut butters, seeds, and milk alternatives, you don’t need to eat an additional meal.
- Too much fruit-Adding too much fruit, especially those high on the glycemic index can increase the calories of your smoothie as well as the sugar.
- Too many add-ins-Adding additional sweeteners such as maple or agave syrup increase the sugars. I don’t recommend adding any additional sweetener besides the fruit. Adding protein powders, plus nut butters, plus seeds ends up adding a lot of extra calories. Choose one added protein/fat not multiple.
How to Build A Healthy Smoothie
Try this simple formula to get creative and make your own variations of hidden veggie smoothies.
- Leafy green or Recommended Vegetable
- Frozen Fruit
- Protein/Healthy Fat
- Dairy Free Liquid Milk
Check out these other smoothie recipes!
- Strawberry Blackberry Banana Smoothie
- Broccoli Smoothie
- Pumpkin Smoothie
- Banana Peach
- Mango Banana
- Spinach Apple
- Homemade Oat Milk
If you’ve tried my Blueberry Spinach Smoothie recipe, please rate it and let me know how it turned out. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for more plant-based family recipes your whole family will enjoy!
Spinach Blueberry Smoothie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond milk unsweetened vanilla or regular
- 1 cup raw spinach loosely packed
- 1 frozen banana chopped into chunks
- ½ cup frozen blueberries
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
Instructions
- Add ingredients into blender in the order they appear in the recipe, starting with the almond milk followed by the spinach, frozen banana, frozen blueberries, and chia seeds. Blend until smooth.
Notes
- This recipe makes 1 adult smoothie or 2 kid size smoothies.
- If you do not have a high speed blender put the almond milk in first followed by the banana. Blend until smooth. Add spinach. Blend until smooth. Add blueberries. Blend until smooth. Add chia seeds and pulse to combine.
Amy
Easy and yummy!
Alison Corey
Glad you enjoyed it!
Tayo
My kids had no idea there were veggies in there and gobbled it up. Tastes amazingly delicious!
Raia Todd
So simple! And such a great way to sneak in veggies. 😉
Shanika
This Smoothie looks so delicious and it’s packed with so much nutrients!
Hannah F Healy
I always love putting spinach in my smoothies! This looks great!