Are you looking for a delicious and healthy drink to kick off the new year? Look no further than The Ultimate Kale Smoothie! This delicious, creamy smoothie is packed with fresh fruit, creamy almond milk, and one of my all-time favorite ingredients: kale! This smoothie makes for a delicious breakfast, a grab-and-go lunch, or the perfect post-workout snack!
It should come as no surprise that one of my all-time favorite ingredients is kale. After all, my name IS Kalejunkie! But I have to admit, as much as I love kale now, it wasn’t one of my favorite foods. When I was recovering from my eating disorder many years ago now, kale was one of those foods that I used to eat simply because it was healthy- not because I actually enjoyed it. Now, however, I absolutely love it, in everything from soups to salads to smoothies like this one
If you’re unfamiliar with this magical ingredient, kale is a superfood that is packed with nutrients and has numerous health benefits. It is high in fiber, vitamins A, C, and K, and contains antioxidants that can help reduce inflammation and improve overall health.
But don’t let the healthy aspect fool you – kale smoothies can be delicious as well! When blended with other fruits and vegetables, the taste of kale is subtle and adds a nice, refreshing twist to your smoothie. Just like in this one!
Not only is this smoothie delicious, but it is also the perfect way to start your day. The combination of protein, fiber, and healthy fats will keep you feeling full and satisfied, and the nutrients from the kale and other fruits and vegetables will give you a boost of energy to power through your day.
What You Need to Make This Simple & Easy Kale Smoothie
- Chopped Kale: Of course, you need kale to make this kale smoothie! Any variety of kale works, as long as it is chopped, with the stems removed.
- Frozen Mango or Pineapple: To add a boost of sweetness, I recommend adding either frozen mango or pineapple chunks to this smoothie. If you like your smoothies extra sweet, you can always add a little of both!
- Medjool Dates: Medjool dates are a true superfood that are packed with fiber, antioxidants, and an incredibly sweet taste! If you don’t have any, just leave them out.
- Vanilla (or unsweetened) Protein Powder: I love using vanilla protein powder in this recipe, but you can also use unsweetened protein powder, if you prefer.
- Lemon: A squeeze of lemon adds the perfect amount of tartness and helps cut through the kale!
- Ginger: I love adding ginger in my smoothies because it’s great for your digestion!
- Almond Milk: Any non-dairy milk works well in this recipe, but I love almond milk!
- Hemp Hearts: These are optional, but make for the perfect garnish for this smoothie and add an extra boost of protein!
Tips for Making the Perfect Smoothie, Every Time
Curious how to make the absolute perfect smoothies? As someone who makes smoothies almost daily, here are my TOP fool-proof tips for creating the perfect smoothies:
- Use frozen fruit: Adding frozen mango and/or pineapple to this smoothie is the way to go! The ice from the frozen fruits adds thickness to the smoothie, without needed to add in additional ice.
- Play around with the liquid amount: If you find that your smoothie is too thick to blend, don’t panic! It happens! Just add a bit more milk, blend, open the cover, scrape down the sides if needed, and blend again. And if you have both a high-speed blender and a smaller blender (like a Nutri-bullet), use the high-speed blender instead, as it will blend the frozen fruit much better.
- Blend your smoothie on medium speed. If you blend the smoothie too fast from the beginning, it’s really hard for the blender to properly blend the frozen ingredients – so start lower and then gradually increase the speed.
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a review and rating below! And, since I practically live on Instagram, be sure to tag me in your creations so that I can repost them! xx
** Photography by Gayle McLeod
Ingredients
For the Smoothie:
- 1 ½ Cups Chopped Kale
- 1 Cup Frozen Mango Chunks or Frozen Pineapple Chunks
- 2 Medjool Dates, pits removed
- 1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder or Unsweetened Protein Powder
- 1 Lemon, juiced
- ½ Inch Piece Fresh Ginger
- 1 ¼ Cups Almond Milk
For the Garnishes:
- 1 Tablespoon Hemp Hearts, optional
Instructions
- Add all of your ingredients to a blender and blend on high until they're fully combined.
- If needed, you can pause the blender, remove the lid, and scrape down the sides so that everything is fully incorporated.
- Once done, serve and enjoy! This recipe makes one large smoothie, or two normal-sized ones!
Rate & review
SELECT A RATING and tell me what you think!
What others are saying
OMG so delicious – I made it January 2nd as my first smoothie for the January smoothie challenge 2023.
I made it with mangoes and it so good. I will have to try it with pineapple too one of these days.
Woohoo! I am thrilled that you are taking part in the Smoothie Challenge, Agnes! Thank you so much for making this recipe, and for leaving such a kind review!
I made it January 2nd as my first smoothie for the January smoothie challenge 2023.
I made it with mangoes and it so good. I will have to try it with pineapple too one of these days.
I made this smoothie this morning for the @kalejunkie January 2023 smoothie challenge- 2nd time this month – this time with pineapple. This smoothie is delicious with pineapple 🍍 too. I love the lemon 🍋 in the smoothie. Cheers to the weekend!
😂 I forgot the give ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ s, when I wrote my review … so here it is ⭐️ 🌟 ⭐️ 🌟 ⭐️ ❤️ 🥬 🍋 🍍
Thank you so much, Agnes!! The stars mean a LOT!
I love this kale smoothie. I’ve been having it for breakfast every morning and it’s actually very filling. I add only one date to make it less sweet. Could you provide the calorie information please? Also is there an organic and healthy protein powder you recommend to use? Thank you!
Hi Fernanda! Unfortunately I do not include nutritional information on my recipes, and you can read more about why, here: https://kalejunkie.com/why-i-decided-not-to-include-nutrition-information-on-my-blog/ As for protein powder, I love Ritual’s!
So good! I noticed adding the dates makes my smoothie really frothy, which I love. I have a bunch of sorrell leaves growing, so I tried it with that instead of kale and it worked well since they’re so tangy like this smoothie. Thank you!
Thank you for the review Viktoriya!