Make this incredibly delicious Island Green Tropical Smoothie recipe with tropical fruits, fresh spinach, avocado, and coconut water in minutes! Your new favorite smoothie for summer!
This tropical island green smoothie recipe post has been updated with new pictures and an improved layout for a better user experience. The recipe is the same, I just adjusted the amounts so one recipe makes 16 ounces instead of 40 ounces.
Consider this a Tropical Smoothie Cafe copycat recipe with a twist. 🏝️
The sweet flavor from fresh orange, frozen mango, pineapple, and coconut water completely overshadow the fact that it's also made with spinach and avocado. 😉
In fact, this smoothie is so sweet that you can't even taste the avocado in it - my kids still don't know! Don't be surprised if it takes over as your new favorite green smoothie!
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Why You'll Love This Recips
- Easy Recipe Once you scoop out the flesh from an avocado, just add all of the ingredients to a high-powered blender and blend.
- Nutritious Ingredients This smoothie is made with five different fruits and vegetables and no added sugar. Using a combination of fresh and frozen ingredients gives this smoothie more than enough sweetness and the perfect consistency.
- Kid-Favorite This is a delicious smoothie made without banana. Frozen fruit and avocado help give this green smoothie a smooth and creamy texture, while the coconut water, orange, mango, and pineapple give it the tropical flavor that kids love.
Ingredient Notes
- Spinach Use fresh or frozen baby spinach for the brightest color. Spinach is full of nutrients including vitamin A, vitamin K, calcium, zinc and fiber.
- Avocado Adds delicious creaminess to smoothies that is often missing when smoothies are made without yogurt. Avocados are a good source of monounsaturated fats, fiber, and various vitamins and minerals. A ripe banana can be used instead of an avocado.
- Orange Use a large seedless navel orange, peeled. Oranges are high in vitamin C and fiber. If using an orange with seeds, remove the seeds before blending.
- Frozen Pineapple Contains manganese, copper, various vitamins (including vitamin C), and fiber.
- Frozen Mango Adds natural sweetness and helps to give this smoothie a creamy texture. Mango is high in dietary fiber, vitamin C, and vitamin A.
- Coconut water Found in the bottled water section of the grocery store. Coconut water is used instead of coconut milk to give this tropical smoothie just a hint of coconut flavor without weighing it down (coconut milk is creamy, coconut water is not). If you don't have coconut water, you can use plain water instead.
Dietitian Tips
Tip 1 As a dietitian mom, I've learned not to advertise all of the ingredients I use when making something new for my kids. Afterall, if someone offered me a choice between a "tropical smoothie" or a "delicious green smoothie with avocado and spinach," there's no doubt I'd choose the first option... even if they look the same.
Tip 2 In my experience, serving smoothies with a straw makes smoothies much more appealing, especially for picky eaters.
How to Make this Green Tropical Smoothie Recipe
Here's a summary of how to make this refreshing tropical smoothie. For the full list of ingredients and instructions, scroll down to the recipe card.
- Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until the desired consistency is reached.
- Serve and enjoy!
Helpful Tips
- Can use frozen banana instead frozen mango.
- Other dark leafy greens (like kale) can be used in place of some or all of the spinach. If using kale, be sure to remove the thick ribs first.
- If you use fresh fruit, be sure to blend in a handful of ice cubes. It may taste a little watered down, but it will still work. Most kids like their smoothies cold.
- A quarter of one avocado is used in this recipe. Slice the avocado lengthwise, then twist the halves apart. Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh of the half without the seed.
- Add a tablespoon or two of chia seeds or hemp seeds for a boost of protein.
- Orange juice can be used instead of a fresh orange.
- If you are using a low profile Vitamix canister, you may want to double the recipe. This recipe makes just enough smoothie to cover the blades of my low-profile Vitamix blender.
- Store leftovers refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Give it a stir before serving.
Questions You May Have
According to the Tropical Smoothie Cafe's website, their Island Green smoothie is made with spinach, kale, mango, pineapple, and banana. Spinach and kale have similar nutrient profiles, so I chose to use avocado instead to give my smoothie recipe variety.
Also, many smoothie recipes use banana, so I wanted to provide a more refreshing and still delicious option by using orange instead of banana.
Yes, you can use fresh fruit, but it will change the texture of this recipe.
Smoothies taste best when served cold, so either add ice cubes before blending or place your fresh fruit in the freezer for at least an hour before using it to make this smoothie. *Adding ice waters down smoothies.
You sure can! If you think about it, many juices that are often added to smoothies contain water. So, if all you are adding are whole fruits and vegetables, then it makes sense to add water as the liquid base.
In fact, if you don't like the flavor of coconut, use regular water instead of coconut water when making this recipe.
Related Recipes
More Smoothie & Smoothie Bowl Recipes
- 16 Ways to Increase Protein in Smoothies without Protein Powder
- Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Smoothie
- 8 Fruit Smoothies Without Yogurt
- Easy Pitaya Bowl
Did you make this Tropical Island Green Smoothie recipe and love it? Please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and comment below. A 5-star rating is the best compliment!
Don't forget to snap a pic of your bright green smoothie and tag me @carrots.and.cookies on Instagram so I can see it. Enjoy!
📖 Recipe
Island Green Tropical Smoothie Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Blender High Speed Blender. I use a Vitamix or NutriBullet Pro blender.
Ingredients
- 1 cup spinach
- ½ naval orange Seedless. Peel first.
- ¼ avocado See notes for how to easily remove the flesh from a ripe avocado.
- 1 cup frozen pineapple pieces
- 1 cup frozen mango chunks
- ¾ cup coconut water
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.
Notes
- Can substitute frozen banana for frozen mango or a ripe banana for the avocado. Frozen mango and frozen banana add natural sweetness and a creamy texture to smoothies.
- Any leafy green can be used in place of some or all of the spinach. If using kale, be sure to remove the thick ribs first.
- For a higher calorie smoothie, use coconut milk instead of coconut water.
- If you use fresh fruit, be sure to blend in a handful of ice cubes. It may taste a little watered down, but it will still work. Most kids like their smoothies cold.
- Here's how I remove the flesh from an avocado: slice the avocado lengthwise, then twist the halves apart. Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh of the half without the seed.
- Add a splash or two of orange juice if you don't have a fresh orange on hand.
- If you are using a low profile Vitamix canister, you may want to double the recipe. This recipe makes just enough smoothie to cover the blades of my low-profile Vitamix blender.
- Store leftovers refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Give it a stir before serving.
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