How to Make the Best Plant Based Green Smoothies

Smoothies are a brilliant way to get all those nutrients into your diet that you might be missing out on otherwise. But there’s one problem with smoothies – they are often very sweet due to the natural sugars in fruit and ingredients like peanut butter used to add protein. The answer is the green smoothie and plant-based green smoothies are a way to get maximum goodness without being too sweet.

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Here are a few of the best ingredients for plant-based green smoothies.

Wheatgrass

Wheatgrass is the number one ingredient to consider for a green smoothie for a plant-based diet. But why? First, there is a lot of good stuff in wheatgrass. And second, if you want to start growing a few ingredients yourself, this is a really easy one to start with. That means that after a short time, you can have ultra-fresh wheatgrass to use in your daily smoothie.

Wheatgrass contains the following benefits:

Contains chlorophyll – natural liver cleanser and detox ingredient that also reduces the damage caused by free radicals (antioxidant) and also strengthens the blood
Antibacterial – helps to stop the growth of unfriendly bacteria in the gut
Helps digestion – boosts the digestive processes and helps process properly

Kale

Everyone raves about the health benefits of kale and for good reason – it may not look inspiring but there’s a ton of goodness in it. But not everyone likes the taste of it. My neighbour loves it and so do my birds but for me? No thanks. However, hidden among other ingredients in a plant-based green smoothie recipe, that’s not such an issue. You can also combine it with stronger fruit flavours such as banana and apple.

Of the many benefits of kale, there are:

High in iron – the body uses iron for everything from creating blood to growing new cells and making the liver function properly, so it is very important
Anti-inflammatory properties – athletes often incorporate kale into their diet because it helps with inflammation from their workouts and the same applies to anyone with health conditions that involve inflammation
Lots of vitamin K – this vitamin is used for bone health and blood clotting as well as being associated with protection against some cancers

Dandelion

Most of us know dandelion as a weed but it is an edible weed, and this means it can be added to green smoothies. It is also often known as a superfood and for good reason. It is easier to grow than even wheatgrass (most gardeners try hard not to grow it!) and this makes it easy to get a fresh supply.

Health benefits from dandelions include:

Rich in calcium – calcium is crucial for strong bones and also to help with age-related damage
Helps the liver – dandelions contain antioxidants such as vitamin C and luteolin that help the liver work in top form as well as helping with proper digestion
Great detoxifier – if you want to clean out your body then the properties of the plant are ideal and can also help to stop conditions such as acne that is brought on by too many toxins in the body

Broccoli

The key to using broccoli in a smoothie is to make sure you have a blender powerful enough to mix them up otherwise the texture of your drink might be a little like sludge. The downside is that it can be quite bitter when blended so use it alongside other strong flavours such as frozen fruit to offset the taste.

Broccoli is good for you because:

Contains folate – this is especially important for pregnant ladies who need it to help their growing baby but is also helpful for everyone
Contains antioxidants – again, those helpful free radical fighting ingredients that can do anything from ease the effects of ageing to fight cancer
Vitamin C boost – a cup of broccoli contains 90% of the recommended daily amount of vitamin C; the only thing it is higher on the charts for than kale

Seaweed

Easy to forget that seaweed is a plant and sometimes it is green (or a slightly yucky-looking brown colour in my experience). In fact, seaweed is actually a type of algae and includes famous superfood ingredients such as spirulina and wakame, the miso soup seaweed. It is relatively easy to use although should be soaked in hot water and rinsed before consuming and thinner types are best for smoothies.

Eating seaweed is good because:

Omega 3 fatty acids – we have all heard about these, usually associated with fish like salmon but seaweed also contains a good amount of them
Helps with digestion – some seaweed such as kombu is particularly good at helping with digestive processes
Prebiotic – seaweed contains some digestive enzymes that we don’t easily digest, and this might sound a bad thing, but scientists have found that it can help the good bacteria in the system and act as a kind of prebiotic

How to make the perfect green smoothie

If you’re looking for a cool way to stay healthy in these hot summer months, try blending your favourite fruits with some ice and water! If you plan on drinking the smoothie right away or freezing it later on down the road – make sure that when preparing ingredients ahead of time – quality matters. The order is very important depending on how far into preparation you are.

If making fresh fruit juice upfront isn’t going to work out due to lack of refrigeration space at home- I recommend juicing everything separately and then storing them all in one large bag together so they can be mixed just before serving by pouring from container A over B until desired consistency; this will help keep produce fresher longer as well because not only do many juices.

Making the smoothie

The smoothie jar is a great way to make your favourite blended drinks. They are easy, healthy and convenient for busy mornings when you’re on the go! In order to get that perfect blend every time, it’s important that we start with some roughage at the bottom of our jars. This will ensure all those frozen fruits don’t absorb too much liquid before they hit the blades in a blender (which would result in dryer ice chunks).

Liquids for the base can be varied depending on what you like. You can use dairy milk or non-dairy alternatives such as oat milk or coconut milk. Almond milk works well if you love the nutty flavour or for something less dairy-ish, try simple tap water or coconut water.

Different bases make for different consistencies

Next up: nuts or seeds- these can be anything from chia seed packets or chopped almonds to pieces of gluten-free Oats ‘n’ Grains cereal – just look around until you find what suits your taste buds best! Now add some fresh fruit like berries which have nutritional value but also provide an excellent flavour.

Finally, you can add something like protein powders if you want to boost your nutrition. Vanilla protein powder can complement most green smoothies while a plant-based protein powder is best if you want to stick with that plant-based diet. You can even get vegan protein powder alternatives.

A word of caution

While there’s no doubt that these ingredients can help boost your health, you should always be careful because too much of a good thing can still be bad for you. Also, watch if you are on any medication that the foods don’t interfere with it. Better to be safe than sorry!