A few years ago, I polled Instagram asking what kind of smoothie recipes you wanted to see on Ambitious Kitchen. Many of you actually wanted no banana smoothies. I’m all about bananas, but if you’re looking for a creamy, dreamy smoothie made without them, this might just become your new fav.
This is truly my favorite green smoothie recipe ever, and it’s proof that you don’t need bananas to get a creamy and nutritious smoothie that’s still sweet enough to drink!
This beautiful green smoothie was inspired by my famous Immune Boosting Wellness Smoothie, and quickly became an AK reader favorite. It’s full of tropical flavors and is great for breakfast thanks to fruits, veggies, and healthy fats to help keep you satisfied all morning.
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Ingredients in the best green smoothie recipe
This green smoothie recipe happens to be both vegan and dairy-free, making it a great choice for just about anyone. Plus, there are no sweeteners added. Yep, that’s right, this green smoothie gets plenty of sweetness (and vitamin C) from tropical fruit, so there isn’t any need to add more sweeteners like honey or maple syrup. Just the fruits and vegetables, Mom!
- Frozen fruit: we’re adding tropical flavor with frozen pineapple and frozen mango. Did you know that pineapple is great for digestion? It contains an enzyme called bromelain, which helps fight inflammation in the gut and body. I say, eat up!
- Avocado: if you like smoothies with a creamy texture, avocado is a great add-in. Not only does it help enhance the color of this green smoothie, but it also provides healthy fats, potassium, fiber, and plenty of B vitamins. Don’t worry, thanks to the tropical fruit and ginger, you won’t even taste the avocado.
- Fresh ginger: this was another reader request, and it’s so delicious in green smoothies! Be sure to use fresh ginger (not powdered), and if you don’t have a high-powered blender, I recommend grating the ginger to ensure even blending.
- Organic spinach: a great veggie to add to any smoothie. If you’re looking to get more greens in your smoothie, try adding a few cups of fresh spinach is the perfect way to do so!
- Milk: feel free to use any milk you’d like in my smoothie recipes as the liquid base. Almond milk tends to have a neutral taste in smoothies, coconut milk will add a more tropical and creamy flavor, and regular milk will add a boost of protein.
Simple ingredient swaps
In general, I suggest trying to stick to the fruit and liquid ratios to ensure this green smoothie stays nice and creamy. However, there are some easy ingredient swaps that will still keep this green smoothie delicious and filled with nutrients:
- Customize your fruit. If you’re out of pineapple or mango, feel free to simply add more of the other fruit or swap in a frozen banana. Berries would also be yummy in here, just note that they might turn your smoothie a little brown when mixed with the greens.
- No avocado? No problem. This green smoothie will still be delicious without it, and you could add some yogurt for extra creaminess.
- Swap your fresh greens. Feel free to use kale in place of the baby spinach.
- Out of fresh ginger? I absolutely love the freshness (and tummy soothing properties) that ginger gives to this green smoothie, but if you don’t have any, it will still be delicious without it.
Are green smoothies really that good for you?
Everyone’s health and nutrition needs are different, but because this green smoothie is packed with vitamins, minerals, and even healthy fats, I’d say YES, it is very good for you! If you’re looking for ways to up your fruit and vegetable intake, this is the perfect breakfast or snack to enjoy.
Can you taste the greens?
Nope! The best part about this green smoothie recipe is that you get to sneak in tons of healthy greens that you won’t even be able to detect. This simple green smoothie recipe is made without banana and tastes tropical and refreshing thanks to the mango, pineapple, and ginger.
Adding extra nutrition to green smoothies
You can enhance any green smoothie by adding additional nutritious ingredients to really make it your own. Don’t be afraid to experiment a little! Here are a few suggestions that you can add to this green smoothie:
- Matcha: if you’re a green tea lover, you can add a teaspoon of matcha to your smoothie for green color, antioxidants and earthy flavor.
- Flaxseed meal: this is one of my favorite ingredients to add to smoothies for a little boost of fiber and minerals, and is especially great for nursing mamas, as flaxseed can help increase milk supply. A tablespoon is plenty! Here’s a brand I love.
- Chia seeds: feel free to add a tablespoon of chia seeds to your smoothie for a boost of healthy fats and fiber.
- Hemp seeds: if you’ve been wondering what to do with those hemp seeds lurking in your cupboard, feel free to throw in a tablespoon into your smoothie for a boost of healthy fats, omegas and minerals.
- Protein: make this a post-workout smoothie and boost the protein by adding 1/2 cup greek yogurt or 1 scoop of your favorite protein powder. I recommend Vital Protein collagen peptides or Four Sigmatic protein powder.
- Mint: do you love minty flavor? Add a few fresh mint leaves!
Tips for making green smoothies
Have you had a chance to check out my post about prepping smoothies and how to increase their nutrition?! If not, it’s a great resource! Here are a few more tips for making the best creamy, healthy green smoothie:
- Use frozen fruit. Using frozen fruit is best as it helps keep the smoothie cold and thick. Ice is harder to blend and can make your smoothies watery. If you only have fresh fruit, try adding 1 cup frozen cauliflower.
- Add more liquid. Don’t be afraid to add more liquid if your smoothie is too thick or won’t fully blend. A high-speed blender tends to blend frozen fruit much better, so if your blender isn’t as strong, you may need to add more milk.
- Start low, go high. Start the blender on low speed, then gradually increase to high to help blend all ingredients. Finally, end with the blender on low speed.
Meal prep this smoothie
That’s right, you can prep this smoothie ahead of time, freeze it, and enjoy it later! Get all of my tips and tricks for meal prepping smoothies here.
Favorite smoothie tools
Check out more of our go-to kitchen essentials here.
More smoothie recipes to try
- Good Morning Coffee Smoothie
- Lemon Blueberry Smoothie
- Almond Cherry Smoothie (my favorite smoothie ever!)
- Peanut Butter Blueberry Banana Smoothie
- Snickerdoodle Tahini Date Smoothie
Get all of our delicious, healthy smoothie recipes here!
I hope you love this delicious green smoothie recipe! Be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. And don’t forget to check out our guide on how to prep smoothies ahead of time. xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Healthy Green Smoothie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
- ½ cup frozen mango chunks
- ½ medium ripe avocado
- 1 inch knob of ginger, peeled
- 2 cups organic spinach
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, plus more as necessary
- Optional: 1 tbsp hemp seeds or flaxseed meal
Instructions
- In a large high-powered blender, add in all ingredients and blend on high for 1-2 minutes or until all ingredients are well combined. If necessary, add in more milk to thin the smoothie and blend again. Serves 1.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on July 8th, 2019, republished on March 16th, 2021, republished on March 6th, 2023, republished on July 22nd, 2025, and republished on March 5th, 2026.
I find frozen pineapples and frozen mangos are not ripe enough to taste sweet so this recipe is a little bland on sweetness. Ginger gives it a nice kick. I would add half a banana next time to compensate for that.
Feel free to buy fresh pineapple and mango and freeze them for this recipe, too!
I had everything but the ginger and decided to make it anyway. Glad I did! Next time I hope to have fresh ginger on hand. I appreciate the recipe saying not to sub ground ginger for fresh, or else I might have tried it.
I used dairy milk (2%). I added 1 tbsp of chia seeds and ended up with a very thick smoothie, so next time I might add more milk or maybe even some water to make it a little less thick.
So glad you enjoyed! Yes, fresh is best for the ginger 🙂
May I ask if i can use pineapple in a can? 🥺🥺 we don’t always have fresh frozen pineapples readily available in my area.
Sure!
Love the smoothies. Thanks for the recipes and sharing.
Was hesitant about making the Green smoothie but it had all the ingredients that I like so I decided to give it a try. Absolutely loved it. It’s nice and creamy. I made it 2 days in a row. Love it.
Amazing! So glad you gave this a try 🙂
Great smoothie! My family has a big sweet tooth so I swapped milk for pineapple juice as the base to sweeten it up and now everyone will drink it.
Ah yay! This is great to hear, I am so glad you are loving this recipe and it turned out great for you!
I loved the avocado smoothie. Yummy 😋
Yay! So glad you’re loving this smoothie and it turned out great for you 🙂
Great
The ginger is a great touch
You are correct this is the best green smoothie!
Delicious!
Perfect! So glad you agree!
Absolutely delicious and so healthy!
FANTASTIC!!! I only used a quarter ginger instead of inch.. GREAT!!
Added a fresh orange because didn’t have mango and subbed canned coconut milk (didn’t have almond milk) & it brightened up the flavor! Love all your recipes….thank you!
Yum that sounds amazing! Happy to hear it came out great 🙂
Love this recipe; very versatile. Added a fresh orange because didn’t have mango and subbed canned coconut milk (didn’t have almond milk) & it brightened up the flavor! Love all your recipes….thank you!
My favorite green smoothie!! My kids even love it!
Yess! So glad this recipe is a hit for the whole family ❤️
Could I use frozen spinach for this?
That should work fine! I’d recommend 1/4 to 1/2 cup 🙂
This smoothie recipes smells, taste delicious and is affordable and has so much added benefits.
So glad you love it 🙂
Felt like every time I did a Berry spinach smoothie I really tasted the spinach and the color was so ugly!!! Loved this new recipe as a post workout snack, and will definitely add Greek yogurt next time for more protein
Awesome! So happy you’re loving this one, Saba 🙂
Love a no-banana smoothie and these DELIVER! The ginger is perfection.
Awesome!! So happy you love this one 🙂
We’re new at smoothies. I so appreciate all of your notes. This was excellent and is a keeper!!
Excited that you tried this one and loved it! And glad to hear the notes were helpful 🙂
I absolutely love this recipe! I’ve been making it for weeks sans the ginger and it’s the perfect start to my day. I have wanted to incorporate more veggies into my diet and this is a fantastic way to do it. I love my smoothies thick and creamy and this hits the spot every time.
I’m so glad! One of my favs, too 🙂
Just made this for lunch today. So good and creamy! My toddler loved it too. Definitely saving for later!
So glad it was a hit!
Would recommend reducing the avocado to a 1/4 of an avocado. I like the creaminess/silkiness the half avocado gives this smoothie, but as the avocado has a neutral flavor, this smoothie is pretty tasteless. Additionally, due to the avocado, this smoothie is way too thick – to the point where is feels stuck in my throat – and as the thickness is from the avocado, and not frozen fruit/ice, it never melts to a thinner consistency.
Absolutely feel free to reduce the avocado! With the rest of the ingredients I’ve always found this recipe to have great flavor, but it’s very easy to customize, too.
This is my new favorite breakfast smoothie. It’s so so delicious. I add all the works you’ve suggested to this smoothie and I can’t get enough of it! Thank you for sharing!
Perfect! So glad you love it!