Green Machine Smoothie

We forever hear about how you should always have your ‘five a day’ when it comes to fruit. But it can sometimes be a little bit of a tough ask. Well, today we’ve got the solution. A homemade green machine smoothie looks almost as good as it tastes. It is packed with vitamins, minerals, and heaps of fresh fruit. To find out how to make it, read on.

How to Make a Green Machine Smoothie

We aren’t going to beat around the bush. To make this recipe, you will need to have a blender and a powerful one at that! That said, with the use of electronic kitchen equipment, you should find the easy green machine smoothie a breeze to create.

We start by taking a granny smith apple, and after removing the core, we pop it into a blender. We then add a generous helping of kale. If adding kale to a green machine smoothie seems odd, trust us, it is worth it. Kale is packed full of minerals like iron, which are important for healthy heart function, and a load of other health benefits… Once it’s blended, you won’t know it is there.

The two above ingredients form the ‘backbone’ of our healthy green machine drink. We add some lime, cilantro, and a little orange juice, along with fresh ginger and some banana. From there, it is simply a case of hitting the ‘go’ button until your smoothie reaches a nice consistency.

The quantities in this recipe make one large smoothie or two small if you are kind enough to share.

Tips and Tricks

Have you ever made a smoothie that tastes a little thin and watery? Here’s a great tip to stop it. Add a cold element. In our recipe, we use a banana that has been frozen. This works wonders to make your green machine drink lovely, sweet, and creamy. If you don’t have (or like) bananas, you can use a few ice cubes to produce the same effect.

While we specify granny smith apples in our recipe, you can use whatever apples you have to hand. Cox, gala, pink lady… They all work. The flavor and appearance might be slightly different, and your green machine won’t be so green.

Related: Try out Daily Harvest to get smoothies delivered to your door

We use a splash of orange juice to loosen our smoothie up, but we have also made this drink with pineapple juice and apple juice. The taste is slightly different, but the bulk of the drink comes from all of those delicious fruits, so don’t worry too much if you haven’t got any orange juice.

To add a slightly contrasting taste, we add a little ginger. Fresh ginger is the best, but you can use the jarred stuff too. At a push, we have also used dried ginger powder. The taste was pretty similar after our green machine smoothie was blended.

Presentation is everything. If you can get hold of some super chunky mason jars, then be sure to use them. If you want a real eye-catching effect, pop them into the freezer an hour or so before you make your smoothie. When you pour it in, the dew on the outside of the glass frosts up and helps to chill the drink!

If you make your smoothie and then go and do something else, you might find that it settles and separates over time. This is completely normal. Just give it a good stir with a long spoon to get it back to its lean, mean, and green best! 

Be sure to give your smoothie a really thorough whizz in the blender. There is nothing worse than being halfway through and finding a whole chunk of kale (or even worse, ginger!) You’ll be able to tell when the green machine is nearly ready as the blender will stop rattling and the sound of the blender will raise in pitch.

We use cilantro as our green herb of choice. However, you can try other green, soft herbs for a slightly different flavor. Fresh basil is a great one to use. Our particular favorite is fresh mint.

Remember, this smoothie is supposed to be healthy. But, if it isn’t sweet enough, you could consider helping it out a little. To try and stay vaguely healthy, consider using honey to supplement the sweetness.

Kale isn’t always to everyone’s taste or can be hard to find. Don’t worry, we’ve got the answer. In place of scale, you can use spinach instead. The drink tastes pretty identical, and spinach is also loaded with Iron too… Get you, popeye.

Add the frozen elements last. If you add them too soon, by the time it comes to pulverize your smoothie, it will have melted, leaving your smoothie watery (yuck!)

You don’t have to grate the ginger if you’ve got a good blender. The only reason we suggest grating it is that ginger tends to be quite hard, and you don’t want to find a chunk at the wrong moment!

Other Smoothies: McDonald’s Strawberry Banana Smoothie & Angel Food Smoothie King

Conclusion 

So, there you have it. A smoothie that is packed full of goodness, not forgetting great taste too. The lean green machine smoothie is good for those on the go who haven’t got time to be prepping fruit and veg all day long. Kale or spinach, which do you think is best? Let us know in the comments!