Here is a delicious green smoothie recipe that sneaks in a lot of vegetables. Feel free to use your favorite vegetables or adjust the amount to your liking! For more smoothie inspiration, try my red zinger beet smoothie, my original red beet smoothie, or blueberry smoothie!

As someone who tests carb-heavy recipes frequently, I rely on green smoothies as an easy way to get more fruits and vegetables into my body. When I was testing the pineapple bun recipe several weeks ago, I ate at least one of those buns a day. My stomach was so full from the bread, and I could feel in my body that I needed to eat more fruits and vegetables to balance everything out. This green smoothie came to the rescue.

For those of you who are just starting to experiment with adding different vegetables to your smoothies, this is a great place to start. I’ve used easy-to-find ingredients for this green smoothie recipe. Feel free to play around with the ingredients to suit your taste!

WHAT YOU NEED FOR THE GREEN SMOOTHIE

LIQUIDS: ORANGE JUICE & OAT MILK

I always use juice as a base for my smoothies because they provide natural sweetness. Most often, I use orange juice, apple juice, or carrot juice. Even though these juices contain natural sugar, I try not to go overboard by adding too much juice into my smoothies. Otherwise, I’ll be consuming a lot of sugar at once.

To add more volume to the smoothie, I often use non-dairy milk, such as oat or almond milk. You can also use soy milk or even filtered water for this smoothie.

MIXED GREENS

I often use salad greens for my smoothies. In the photo, the greens are a mixture of baby spinach, baby chard, and baby kale. You can substitute that mixture with baby spinach or any other type of salad green. If you are using bunched kale, I recommend using slightly less (maybe 1 large handful) because they have a stronger earthy flavor.

BELL PEPPER

Sweet bell peppers are great for smoothies because they are slightly sweet. In my photo, I have yellow bell pepper, but orange and red varieties work, too. You’ll want to use about 1/4 of a large bell pepper.

AVOCADO

Adding half an avocado to a smoothie is one of the best ways to thicken a smoothie and to make them more filling. Even if your avocado is looking a little brown (because you left an open half in the fridge for several days), they’re still usable for smoothies.

GINGER

Almost all of my smoothies have ginger in it because I love the zingy flavor. When I’m using very fresh ginger, I usually add slices of ginger straight to the blender. However, when I’m using ginger that’s been sitting in my fridge for a while, I grate the ginger first. Ginger that’s a little dried up tends to be fibrous and not pleasant to swallow in a smoothie. Grating the ginger helps to get rid of those dry fibers.

LEMON JUICE & ZEST

I also use lemon juice to brighten up my smoothies. A lot of the lemon flavor comes from the rind, so I use a microplane zester to grate the zest for my smoothies. You can also use limes instead of lemons.

CAYENNE PEPPER

To give my smoothies a spicy kick, I usually add a bit of cayenne pepper. You can use less or leave it out completely.