Nearly every time I go to the grocery store one of those huge plastic containers of baby spinach finds its way into my cart. I always have big plans of how I’m going to use it up before it goes bad. My success rate is about 20%. But I see that rate going up exponentially now that I have landed on the perfect green smoothie.
Really, Beth? The perfect green smoothie? Major side-eye coming your way.
I realize that this is a bold claim to make. But my claim is substantiated by three pieces of evidence.
- Michael (my husband) doesn’t usually like green smoothies. But he’s had this one several times, and has even said it is “really good.” This is a big deal.
- Vida (my precocious preschooler) drinks them like they’re melted candy in a cup.
- Josh (the sweetest toddler around) sucks his down and then begs for more. Seriously.
So, yes, in my book, this is the perfect green smoothie. AND, now you too can buy the Costco-sized container of spinach and put it to good use upon arriving home by prepping several smoothies and stashing them in the freezer until you’re ready to drink perfection. The best part? There are only 5 ingredients and each serving is under 400 calories! Let’s do this.
How to make the perfect green smoothie:
Here’s what you need to make the perfect green smoothie:
~ 2 cups of baby spinach
~ 1 banana (fresh or frozen)
~ 1 cup frozen tropical fruit like pineapple, mango, papaya, or a mix
~ 3 dates (make sure they’re pitted!)
~ 2 Tablespoons of raw almonds
Recommended serving/storage vessel: 1 quart wide mouth mason jar with plastic BPA-free lid
So pretty, right? Almost seems a shame to blend it all up. But that does make it easier to drink. If you need a handy guide for how to layer the ingredients in, here you go.
If you plan to blend and drink the smoothie right away, the order of ingredients isn’t so important, but if you’re making these ahead to freeze and blend later, the order is very important when it comes time to get everything out.
The basic idea is – put loose, hard items like nuts and seeds at the bottom, then frozen fruit, then pack as many greens as will fit. Then, when you’re ready to drink, you’ll pour water into the jar and it will fill in all of the extra space and loosen everything up to make it easier to transfer to the blender. After that, you can pour the smoothie back into the same jar to drink it all up, and it will fit perfectly!
See? You’ll have that spinach used up in no time. No refrigerator science experiments for you! Or me. Most of the time. I can’t tell you how handy it is to just grab a jar out of the freezer and have a smoothie ready to go in less than a minute. I’m slowly finding my way into this meal prep thing, and smoothies are proving to be the perfect entry point.
I hope you’ll give it a try too! I’d love to hear how it goes so leave me a comment or share a pic of your smoothie prep prowess on Instagram!
Green smoothie perfection, just waiting to be had.
Perfect Green Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 banana (sliced into 1 inch chunks (previously frozen is helpful but not necessary))
- 1 cup frozen tropical fruit ((pineapple, papaya, mango, or a mix))
- 3 dates (pitted)
- 1/8 cup raw almonds ((soaked is great but not required))
- 2 cups baby spinach ((or as much as you can pack into the jar))
- 1 1/2 cups water ((see notes if using a mason jar))
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Pour into serving glass or mason jar (if doing the prep ahead method).
- Drink and feel virtuous, vibrant, and alive!
I don’t know how that could be BAD. look at all that scrummy fruit in there!
I’m totally going to start using the word scrummy. 🙂
ala Mary Berry. Totally crept into my vocabulary after watching that British baking show.
AH – YES! I knew I’d heard it before. So scrummy… 🙂
Yum. I’ve never put nuts in mine, but should try that.
Hi Kirstin! Sorry for the late reply, playing comment catch-up. 🙂 My fav part about using nuts is that blending with them water basically makes nut milk, but you get to keep the fiber and pulp of the nut in the smoothie. I’ve also used seeds like pepitas or hemp seeds with similar results. 🙂
Love this!! I just eyeball everything but then don’t know how much water to use so sometimes it’s extra thick or extra runny 😛 I’m definitely going to try prepping some of these! And I totally hear ya on the spinach, I buy one at Costco every single time and I’m embarrassed to admit the number of times it doesn’t even get opened 🙁
Well, I win the “prize” for latest comment reply ever. So glad I’m not alone on the Costco spinach thing. I’m getting better at it though! Last night I tested a vegan creamed spinach recipe and used the whole container!!!
This really was a perfect green smoothie. Very drinkable! Love the idea of prepping in advance too. Thank you.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Deborah! Apologies for the delayed response, I’m playing comment catch-up. 🙂
That is a genius technique!
Why thank you. 😉
Most blender blades will fit right on the Mason jar, so you can blend right in that and not dirty the blender! 🙂
Can’t wait to try this!
I’ve used my Vitamix for so long now that I forgot about this trick! I wish it worked with high-speed blenders but sadly it does not. I tend to go for the wide mouth mason jars anyway because I can freeze liquid in them and I can’t do that with the regular mouth size jars. 🙂
I made the “non frozen” version of this first to see if it’s “any good” before I go to all the trouble of making several jars. Oh, my! This is yummy. I made a frozen jar for tomorrow. I can hardly wait until breakfast 🙂
Hi Beth, if using from frozen, you just add water and put in blender right? I am trying to picture getting it out of the jar being frozen. I absolutely love this idea!!
Hi Karen! Yep, it’s really important to add water directly to the jar right after you take it out from the freezer. I let it sit for a minute or two and then it usually loosens up enough to pour into the blender. Hope that helps!
Love the jar recipe and idea to freeze. I do canning so always have plenty of jars….and left over spinach..lol.
I also a have a Meal Saver that I can prep ahead jars for a week. But, really I can’t wait to try the frozen..just don’t have a lot of freezer space 🙁
I’m making you IP chick peas right now! I did add extra time. I’m trying my first go at Hummus! Lately I’m loving it!
How long will this be good in the freezer?
Hi Cait! It should last a minimum of 3 months, very likely up to 6 months. There’s not much that could go bad with it, really. 🙂