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.
Jump to:
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 am beginning to make 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 sharing these 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, try this super simple vegan shamrock shake! It will leave you feeling guilt-free and fill you with nutrient-rich foods.
💗 Why You’ll Love this Vegan Shamrock Shake
- 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 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.
Mint 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 them 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.
How to Make A Vegan Shamrock Shake
- Freeze a banana before making the shake. Chop into chunks and place in a freezer-safe bag.
- 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.
- 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. That’s a quarter of your recommended calories, and WAY too much sugar!
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).
The ingredients in a McDonald’s shake are not good for your health. 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 an excellent and thick shake-like consistency.
- Make sure your avocado is ripe. It should be soft but firm when you squeeze it.
- 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. You might need to blend a bit longer if you don’t have a high-speed blender.
- Drink your Vegan Shamrock Shake immediately, and don’t store it 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: Substitute coconut milk for unsweetened soy milk or almond milk.
Dessert Milkshake: Instead of using coconut milk, use vanilla coconut ice cream to create a special dessert treat.
🥤 Serving Suggestions
- Pour into a glass and top with dark chocolate chips.
- If you like whipped cream, top this shake with a cherry and coconut cream!
😋 More Vegan St. Patrick’s Day Recipes!
Recipe
Vegan Shamrock Shake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup light Coconut Milk
- ¼ avocado
- 1 frozen banana cut into chunks
- ½ cup fresh leaf spinach
- ⅛ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 teaspoon 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 an excellent and thick shake-like consistency.
- Make sure your avocado is ripe. It should be soft but firm when you squeeze it.
- If you don’t have coconut milk, use the 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, a high-speed blender is not necessary for this recipe. You 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.
veenaazmanov
This is definitely so creamy and delicious. Great combinations of ingredients. Avocado is one of my favorite too. I will surely check this out.
cyndy
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!!
Beth
This looks amazing and so delicious! I can’t wait to give this a try! My daughter is going to love this!
Biana
I love the color and how festive this is! Definitely adding it to my St Patricks Day menu!
Lima Ekram
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!
Becca
This sounds delicious! I can’t wait to try this recipe:)
Ciara
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!
Amanda
I’ve never had a Shamrock shake, but this version seems like it could be good!! Can’t wait to try it!
Shirley
I have to admit I am a sucker for the fast food holiday shakes but this recipe looks like something I could do! Thanks!
Julie
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!