A tart, sweet green apple smoothie with fresh spinach is a perfectly refreshing breakfast or snack. No refined sugars needed!
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If you've never used green apple in a smoothie before, you're in for such a treat! It adds such an amazing flavor. In this recipe, I combine it with sweet mango for a sweet-tart treat that's sneakily pretty healthy!
I tried something new with this smoothie: adding raisins for sweetness. Usually, I'd use dates, but I wanted to see if this less expensive option would work well, and they work like a charm!
You can use dates, golden raisins, agave nectar, or maple syrup to sweeten, so go with what you have in the pantry!
Ingredients and substitutions
- fresh spinach - This gives the smoothie such an amazing, bright green color and sneaks some greens into your day! You can use other leafy greens, like kale, but do remove the tough stems.
- water - To help the blender do its thing.
- green apple - A Granny Smith apple works perfectly in this recipe, but any firm, tart green apple is fine here. You can peel the apple or leave the peel on. I like leaving the peel because you get more fiber that way. Either way, do cut it into chunks to make it easier for your blender to break down.
- mango - For sweetness. I love how mango pairs with tart green apple in this smoothie!
- raisins or dates - Amps up the sweetness even more. I like to use raisins, because they're more affordable, but dates do have an amazing flavor! You'll start with just a couple of tablespoons or raisins or one to two dates and add more, if needed, depending on how sweet your green apple is and how sweet you want the smoothie to be. You can use agave or maple syrup to sweeten instead, too.
- ice - Makes that smoothie nice and cold and thickens it even more! You may nee more ice, depending on how thick you want your smoothie and what other ingredient options you go with.
How to make an apple spinach smoothie
Add the spinach, ½ cup of the water, the apple, mango, and two tablespoons of the raisins to the blender and blend. Add the extra ¼ cup of water, if needed, to get a nice, smooth mixture.
Puree until smooth and taste.
Add ½ cup of the ice to the blender. Also add more raisins, if you think it needs to be sweeter. Blend again, and add more ice, as needed, for a thicker smoothie.
If you want it thinner, add more water by the tablespoon and blend until you reach your desired consistency and sweetness.
Enjoy your green apple smoothie immediately!
Helpful tips
- Don't skip cutting the apple into chunks. Big 1 ½" to 2" chunks are fine. You just want to make life a bit easier for your blender, since apple is harder to break down.
- It may take a couple of rounds of blending to get the mixture totally smooth, but it's so worth the extra blending time! Just give your blender breaks every 30 to 45 seconds, so the motor can rest.
- Do leave out the ice during the first blend of this smoothie. That will allow the spinach and apple to break down to the smoothest texture before you add the ice and blend again.
More green smoothies
📖 Recipe
Green Apple Smoothie
Ingredients
- ½ cup fresh spinach
- ½ to ¾ cup water - or more, if needed
- 1 green apple - cored. You can peel the apple or not. Peeled will be smoother but you do lose some filling fiber that way.
- ½ cup frozen mango
- 2 to 4 tablespoons raisins - to taste. Or you can use dates, golden raisins, agave, maple syrup, or your favorite sweetener to sweeten to taste.
- ½ to ¾ cup ice - or more for a thicker smoothie
Instructions
- Add the spinach, ½ cup of the water, the apple, mango, and 2 tablespoons of the raisins to the blender and blend. Add the extra ¼ cup of water, if needed, to get a nice, smooth mixture. Puree until smooth and taste.
- Add ½ cup of the ice to the blender. Also add more raisins, if you think it needs to be sweeter. Blend again, and add more ice, as needed, for a thicker smoothie. If you want it thinner, add more water by the tablespoon and blend until you reach your desired consistency and sweetness.
- Enjoy immediately!
Got a question? Tried this recipe? Leave a reply!