Green Banana Smoothie with simple ingredients. Bananas, spinach, milk and ice make a super nutritious, filling smoothie that kids and adults will love.
Like many of you, I make a lot of green smoothies. Since the current recommended daily allowance for vegetables and fruits is between five and THIRTEEN?! I mean, I can only make a salad so big before I feel like I’m feeding rabbits. Hence, why I like adding smoothies to the daily routine. But I have a hard time getting my 10-year old to drink the sometimes “cut grass” tasting smoothies my husband asks for in his quest to keep sugar grams (even natural-sourced) to a minimum. This same little boy, who loves sushi and has also been known to say “we should have sardines again for dinner!”, has NEVER liked bananas (what?), which has me scratching my head especially since bananas are such a super-food.
Enter my oldest son to save the green-day for his little brother…
On a recent visit, Chris made a simple smoothie for Ryan and now he requests this same smoothie EVERY day! Perfect for so many reasons –
- It requires very few ingredients
- It’s a powerhouse with the spinach and banana
- It’s filling and satisfying, which I love when that Afternoon-Binge-Monster tries to take over my body. AND…
- It is DE-licious!
Blend the following ingredients into a powerful blender to yield two frothy 12-ounce servings (Quantities don’t need to be exact):
- One very ripe banana (medium, about 7″)
- 4 cups loosely packed fresh spinach leaves, or 2 big handfuls
- 1 cup milk (I use whole milk, but the nutrition information below is using 2% milk since that is more commonly used) Update: I also have it on good authority that it’s delicious with almond milk.
- 6 ice cubes
- Optionally, also add 1 Tablespoon chia seeds if you have them
Pour into two tall glasses and enjoy!
Nutrition info per serving (without chia seeds): Calories 135, Total fat 2.9g, Sat. fat 1.6g, Cholesterol, 10mg, Potassium 769mg, Carb. 22.4mg, Fiber 3.g, Sugars 13g, Protein 7.2g, Vitamin A 118%, Vitamin B6 23%, Vitamin C 37.5%, Calcum 7%, Folate 32%.
Ryan likes this so much he thought we should share it with some of his friends…. Well, 3 out of 4 of these boys thought it was “totally awesome!” and would recommend you try it “for sure!”. In asking for feedback from my young friend who only held the cup up to his mouth and never let the smoothie get past the dam he’d created with his lips… “If it wasn’t green, I might try it.” So, if you have that problem… maybe use a blindfold or put it in a green glass?
I know this is not some new, “never thought of putting those ingredients together!” recipe. But since it tastes like a treat and adds an additional 2 servings of vegetables and 1 serving of fruit to your day, I’m drinking it too since it is chock full of healthy things you need for under 140 calories! I am just looking out for you, my friends.
This smoothie is gorgeous!!! I love green smoothies, and my kids do too. Which means we all get our veggies! Win win win!!!
This was our first spinach smoothie experience! I have always been meaning to try it. This was a great combination of fruits and vegetables and healthy too. My kids and I both enjoyed it!
Had this for breakfast today 🙂 very refreshing and doesn’t taste like grass lol
I did add 1/2 tsp of organic honey. A Delicious smoothie!
delicious! make it with plant “milk” rather than animal milk, it’s much better for you.
Maja, I agree. We make it often with almond milk. 🙂
I make this smoothie but also add peanut butter
I’ve made something like this before. It’s also good with some kind of berry added (in addition to the banana). I usually freeze the bananas, then I don’t have to add ice.
My other favorite way to get the greens in is soup. Sometimes I blend the soup; sometimes I don’t. I have soup just about every day for lunch.
This would probably be good with avocado instead of banana, too, though you might have to use some sweetener
I will have to try this! What a great idea for an afternoon snack. i tend to get the munchies around 3:00, so this would be perfect!
I’m right there with you Kathy. I don’t even need to look at the clock when I start getting that craving to raid the pantry. I know it’s 3:00! 🙂 Let me know if you try it, what you think of it.
I knew you guys were having smoothies every morning as I hear that Blendtec cranking away! We’ve switched to almond milk and Doug prefers his green stuff in a green plastic cup—much easier to drink when he doesn’t see it!