Green Smoothie with Banana and Avocado

Here’s a basic green smoothie recipe featuring kale, collards, or spinach, made filling and tasty with banana and avocado.

If using kale or collards, a high-speed blender is preferable to make this nice and smooth. A regular blender is just fine for handling baby spinach. Banana gives this beverage heft, and half of an avocado gives this smoothie a particularly nice mouth feel.

Try making this with hemp seeds

Hemp seeds are suggested as an optional ingredient, but I highly recommend using them! They’re one of the best, most concentrated sources of Omega 3s — even better (and tastier) than flaxseeds. They make a great addition to this creamy smoothie.

Look for hemp seeds at most any natural foods market. Whether you use them or not, this filling smoothie makes a great way to start a day.

More about basic green smoothies

Following the dictate, “everything in moderation” it’s a good idea to vary the kind of greens you use in your smoothies, especially if you get into the habit of making them daily.

Spinach, kale, and collards have the best flavors for blending into greens—spinach is so mild, in fact, that if you close your eyes and just taste, you hardly know it’s there.

A common ratio for green smoothies is about 60% fruit and 40% greens. It isn’t always possible to measure precisely, though a somewhat larger ratio of fruit makes the smoothie more palatable. Once your palate adjusts, though, there’s nothing to keep you from using more leafy greens than fruit.

Recipe adapted from Wild About Greens by Nava Atlas. Photos by Susan Voisin, FatFreeVegan.

Explore more …

• Baby spinach recipes
• Spinach and Mango Smoothie
• Vegan avocado recipes
• Kale and Pear Smoothie

Continue to Content

Yield: 2

Green Smoothie with Banana and Avocado

Print

This basic green smoothie featuring banana, avocado, and hardy greens or spinach is a great way to start the day.

Prep Time 7 minutes

Total Time 7 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 medium curly kale or collard leaves, torn, or a couple of big handfuls of baby spinach leaves
• 1 medium banana (see note)
• 1/2 medium ripe avocado
• 2 cups vanilla nondairy milk
• 2 tablespoons hemp seeds, optional (but highly recommended)
• Lemon juice, to taste
• Agave nectar, to taste

Instructions

1. Combine the greens, banana, nondairy milk, and optional hemp seeds in a blender. Blend on high speed until completely smooth.
2. Pour into a 12-ounce tumbler and add a little lemon juice and agave nectar to taste. Drink at once at room temperature or add a cube or two of ice (unless you've used frozen banana).

Notes

If you like your smoothies nice and cold, freeze the banana ahead of time. Peel, then cut into 1/2-inch slices. Put in a covered container, then freeze for several hours or better yet, overnight — since chances are, this is the kind of smoothie you’d enjoy in the morning.

See lots more refreshing beverages