A vegan shamrock shake that’s creamy, minty, chocolatey, and way healthy. It’s a quick and easy dessert that’s done in 5 minutes and only needs a few simple ingredients.
When March rolls around we break out our green sweaters and prepare for a jolly good time as we move towards St. Patrick’s Day and get excited about spring!
I begin making smoothies again, and putting traditional vegan Irish recipes on my meal plan for the week!
McDonald’s cashes in on the green madness with their signature Shamrock Shake. It’s cloyingly sweet, green, and minty.
Many offices splurge on St. Patrick’s Day by bringing these to share with their co-workers.
If you’d rather skip the drive-through and quench your craving for a Shamrock Shake this St. Patrick’s Day, I’ve got a super simple recipe that will leave you feeling guilt-free and fill you up with nutrient-rich foods.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Low in calories
- Low in sugar
- Natural ingredients
- One serving of vegetables
- One serving of fruit
- Healthy fats
- Creamy and smooth
- Fresh and Minty Flavor
- Only 5 Minutes to Make
Ingredients and Notes
Coconut Milk-This shake has a creamy and rich texture and a natural sweetness that comes from coconut milk. You can use an alternative plant-based milk if you prefer.
Frozen Banana-Whenever I’m making a shake and I want it to be sweet without adding sugar or stevia, my go-to is frozen bananas. Frozen bananas when blended are creamy. If you freeze your bananas when they’re browning there are more natural sugars. Bananas have some great health benefits too with fiber, potassium, vitamin C, and vitamin B6 among others.
Avocado-It helps give this shake a natural green color and adds even more creaminess.
Spinach-Spinach in this shake also helps give it a natural green hue. Spinach is mild in flavor, so when added to a smoothie or shake, it blends easily with the other flavors.
Peppermint Extract and Vegan Chocolate Chips: A small amount of peppermint extract goes a long way and gives this shake its signature minty flavor. If you have fresh mint leaves, you can use that instead. I recommend ¼ cup of fresh mint as a substitute for peppermint extract. A small amount of dark vegan chocolate or chocolate chips on top as a garnish.
Instructions
Step 1: Freeze a banana prior to making the shake. Chop into chunks, and place in a freezer-safe bag.
Step 2: When you’re ready to make the shake, add the frozen banana, spinach, avocado, unsweetened plant milk of choice, and peppermint extract. Blend until smooth and creamy.
Step 3: Pour into a glass, and top with dairy free chocolate chips. Enjoy!
Recipe FAQS
There are 550 calories, and 83 grams of sugar in a 16 ounce McDonald’s Shamrock Shake. Here are the rest of the nutrition facts:
Fat: 13 g
Saturated Fat: 8 g
Trans-fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 50 mg
Sodium: 180 mg
Fiber: 0 g
Protein: 13 g
It is made with vanilla reduced fat ice cream, shamrock shake syrup, and whipped cream.
Vanilla Reduced Fat Ice Cream Ingredients: Milk, Sugar, Cream, Corn Syrup, Natural Flavor, Mono and Diglycerides, Cellulose Gum, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Vitamin A Palmitate.
Shamrock Shake Syrup Ingredients: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Water, Sugar, Natural Flavor, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Yellow 5, Blue 1.
Whipped Cream Ingredients: Cream, Nonfat Milk, Liquid Sugar, Contains 2% or Less: Mono and Diglycerides, Natural Flavors, Carrageenan. Whipping Propellant (Nitrous Oxide).
If you can’t pronounce it you probably don’t want to consume it. These ingredients are preservatives, additives, and stabilizers.
You also want to watch out for corn syrup, natural flavors, and dyes, such as yellow 5 and blue 1 listed above. Food dyes have been linked to hyperactivity in some children.
Expert Tips
- Use a frozen banana. This creates a cool and thick shake like consistency.
- Make sure your avocado is ripe. It should be soft but firm when you give it a squeeze.
- If you don’t have coconut milk, use a plant milk of your choice. Almond milk will reduce the fat and calories in this shake.
- Using a high speed blender will ensure that all the spinach leaves blend well without any flecks of leaves. However, it is not necessary to have a high speed blender for this recipe. You just might need to blend a bit longer.
- Drink your Vegan Shamrock Shake immediately, and don’t store for an extended period of time. The banana will melt and the shake will not be as thick.
Variations and Substitutions
Mint Leaves: If you don’t have peppermint extract, feel free to use fresh mint leaves. I recommend about ¼ cup of washed and stemmed leaves.
Lower Calorie: Sub the coconut milk for unsweetened soy milk or almond milk.
How to Serve
- Pour into a glass and top with dark chocolate chips.
- If you like whipped cream, you can top this shake with whipped coconut cream and a cherry!
Vegan Shamrock Shake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup light Coconut Milk
- ¼ avocado
- 1 banana frozen
- ½ cup fresh leaf spinach
- ⅛ tsp peppermint extract
- 1 tsp dairy free chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Add chopped frozen banana, coconut milk, avocado, spinach, and peppermint extract to your blender. Blend until combined smooth and combined.
- Pour into glass a and sprinkle with chocolate chips.
Notes
- Use a frozen banana. This creates a cool and thick shake-like consistency.
- Make sure your avocado is ripe. It should be soft but firm when you give it a squeeze.
- If you don’t have coconut milk, use plant milk of your choice. Almond milk will reduce the fat and calories in this shake.
- Using a high-speed blender will ensure that all the spinach leaves blend well without any flecks of leaves. However, it is not necessary to have a high-speed blender for this recipe. You just might need to blend a bit longer.
- Make it and drink it right away. It will lose its thickness if stored in the refrigerator as the banana will melt.
This is definitely so creamy and delicious. Great combinations of ingredients. Avocado is one of my favorite too. I will surely check this out.
Oh my gosh this was dreamy! I subbed in vanilla almond milk because I didn’t have any coconut milk on hand and I wanted to make this right away So so good!!
This looks amazing and so delicious! I can’t wait to give this a try! My daughter is going to love this!
I love the color and how festive this is! Definitely adding it to my St Patricks Day menu!
Creamy, minty, chocolatey..sounds absolutely delicious I cant wait to try this recipe. I think you might be onto something with the avocado-banana combo!
This sounds delicious! I can’t wait to try this recipe:)
Yay! I need this in my life! I really love the idea of the Shamrock Shake, but it always tasted a little… off to me. I’m definitely going to try this, I’m a total smoothie addict and this looks so good. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
I’ve never had a Shamrock shake, but this version seems like it could be good!! Can’t wait to try it!
I have to admit I am a sucker for the fast food holiday shakes but this recipe looks like something I could do! Thanks!
I can’t wait to try this. I’ve never had a McDonald’s shamrock shake b/c they are so horrific for you but this one looks like a great alternative!