Kale Pineapple Smoothie
This kale pineapple smoothie is packed with fruits and veggies, and can easily be prepped in advance as a make ahead smoothie. Adding this pineapple kale smoothie recipe to your repertoire is a great way to add extra leafy greens to your diet. So easy and delicious!
GE® provided me with the freezer, but all opinions and experiences are 100% mine.
Creating this Kale Pineapple Smoothie
A few months ago I had the opportunity to add an extra freezer to our home. I didn’t really need extra refrigerator space, but our freezer was always jam packed with no room left over to do any substantial freezer cooking, just a few things here and there.
Now that I have an extra freezer in the basement, I have been able to do a lot of meal preparations ahead of time.
It has made my life so much easier to have freezer friendly homemade meals and snacks stashed in the freezer. Especially on days with a lot of after school activities or when I am sick.
I honestly can’t believe it has taken me this long to jump on the freezer cooking train.
Between frozen homemade dinners, snacks, breakfast items like frozen pancakes and waffles, and frozen cookie dough, I have everything I need for a day when life doesn’t go as planned. And now I have plenty of room to have more than just a couple of things on hand!
One of my favorite time saving tips for breakfast on busy school mornings is to make freezer smoothies. Madeline is really into smoothies for breakfast and I like them too so this makes figuring breakfast out for the two of us really quick and easy.
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Make Ahead Kale Pineapple Smoothie
Madeline and I have several smoothie flavor combinations that we enjoy. I have assembled a few of each flavor ahead of time in zip top bags and stashed them in the freezer.
Madeline’s absolute favorite smoothie right now is this Kale Pineapple Smoothie. I love it too and I love that she is getting a large serving of green vegetables to start off her morning.
Every time I give her a glass of this she sighs and says “Mom, you make the BEST smoothies.”
I like to add a scoop of vanilla protein powder to our kale pineapple smoothies when we have it for breakfast to make it a little more substantial.
I’m honestly not sure if she knows that this kale pineapple smoothie has kale in it. She either knows and doesn’t care or hasn’t realized since she usually doesn’t watch me make it.
When she first asked what kind of fruit it had, I told her it had green apples and pineapple.
So, I kind of think she accepted the fact that it is green based on that it has green apples in it because now she refers to it as her green apple smoothie. Either way works for me!
Click HERE to save this recipe for Kale Pineapple Smoothie!
What’s in Kale Pineapple Smoothies?
For this pineapple and kale apple smoothie, you’ll need:
- Fresh Kale
- Celery
- Green apple
- Lemon
- Water
- Frozen pineapple
- Vanilla protein powder or Unflavored Collagen Peptides (optional)
For the complete ingredient list and detailed instructions to make this pineapple kale and green apple smoothie, scroll to the bottom of this post for the FREE printable recipe card.
How to Make a Kale Pineapple Smoothie
The above is simply a quick summary of this kale apple pineapple smoothie. Check out the full recipe in the free printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for all the detailed instructions.
Tips for Making Kale Pineapple Smoothies
Recipe Tips
- Feel free to adjust the ingredients in this kale smoothie recipe as you see fit. You can play around with the fruit to vegetable ratio, use a different flavor of protein powder, etc.
- For a thicker smoothie, add less liquid when blending it up. And for a thinner smoothie, add more liquid. For a more flavorful smoothie, you may want to use a nut milk or flavored milk.
- Lastly, you can blend up the entire lemon called for in this recipe, no need to peel it first. However, if your smoothie tastes bitter to you, just remove and discard the lemon peel next time.
Kale Pineapple Smoothie FAQs
Got questions about how to make this pineapple, kale and green apple smoothie? Here are the answers to a few commonly asked questions. Feel free to leave any other questions in the comments on this post and I’ll respond with answers.
What can I substitute for kale?
If you don’t have kale or don’t like kale, you can substitute spinach instead when making this pineapple green apple smoothie recipe.
Can I use a different type of apple?
I don’t recommend substituting a different type of apple in place of the green apples in this smoothie recipe. Green apples have a distinct tart flavor that pairs well with the other ingredients in this kale pineapple smoothie.
What kind of kale should I use?
I typically use curly kale in our smoothies, but you can also make this healthy smoothie using lacinato kale (sometimes called dinosaur kale).
Can I add yogurt to this smoothie?
Yes, you can if you like. I recommend using unsweetened Greek yogurt in this recipe. The flavor will be slightly different, however, because the yogurt adds creaminess to the recipe that otherwise wouldn’t be there.
Without the yogurt, this smoothie is very fresh, light, and refreshing tasting.
Can I make smoothies in advance?
Yes! I’ll walk you through the process of making freezer smoothies below:
How to Prep Make Ahead Smoothies
- Label the bag with contents and instructions (i.e. Kale Apple Pineapple Smoothie – add water, then blend). This way you know what the bag contains and how you need to prep it. Tip: use a permanent marker!
- Then, place all of the solid ingredients in a freezer safe plastic zip top bag. This would include ingredients like the fruits and vegetables, chia seeds, etc. .
- Squeeze as much air out of the bag as you are able to do and zip. Then, stash all the bags in your freezer.
When it is time to prepare your smoothie, just dump all of the contents of the bag into your blender along with any additional ingredients, such as the liquids, and blend.
Should I Blanch Vegetables Before Freezing Them?
Some vegetables you definitely do need to blanch before freezing in make ahead smoothies.
For a full list of which vegetables should be blanched, please reference this list. Note that you do not need to blanch greens like kale or spinach before freezing in smoothie bags.
Can I freeze already made smoothies?
Yes, if you’ve already made a smoothie and want to freeze the leftovers, you can definitely do that too!
You can make the full pineapple smoothie recipe and freeze the prepared smoothie in small individual serving containers, such as plastic freezer jam jars.
This is a great option for packing smoothies in kids’ lunches. Put the smoothie in frozen in their lunch bag along with a spoon and it will be sorbet consistency by lunchtime.
Click HERE to save this recipe for Kale Pineapple Smoothie!
Try this Kale Pineapple Smoothie!
Next time you’re looking for new green smoothie recipe, give this Kale Pineapple Smoothie recipe a try!
Did you love the combination of kale, pineapple, and green apple in the smoothie? Leave a comment below and give it a review for others to see what you thought of this great recipe.
On Instagram? Share your photo and tag me @goodlifeeats #goodlifeeatsrecipes. I’d love to see your photo of this healthy green smoothie!
More Easy Smoothie Recipes:
This Chocolate Almond Banana Smoothie tastes decadent, but it’s actually refined sugar-free!
Looking for more ways to sneak in your greens? Try making this Berry Mango Kale Smoothie. You’d never guess that there’s kale in it!
I love the tropical flavors of this Pineapple Coconut Kale Smoothie. It reminds me of summertime, even in the dead of winter!
This Pumpkin Oatmeal Smoothie tastes just like fall! It’s lightly spiced and super creamy.
Love the flavors in a piña colada? Then you’ll love this Strawberry Pineapple Coconut Smoothie!
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What’s your favorite breakfast smoothie?
Kale Pineapple Smoothie
You can adjust the ingredient amounts according to your personal preferences - making it more green or less, thicker or more like juice, etc.
Ingredients
- 2 packed cups of Kale Leaves
- 1 1/2 cup frozen Pineapple
- 2 ribs Celery, cut into chunks
- 2 Green Apples, sliced (core and stem discarded)
- 1/2 of a whole Lemon (seeds discarded if present(
- 16 ounces Cold Water
- additional water according to your consistency desire
- 3 scoops (12 tablespoons / 60 grams) Unflavored Collagen Powder
Instructions
- Add the fruits and vegetables to the jar of a high powered blender in order listed.
- Pour the cold water over top.
- Secure the lid on the blender. Then, blend on high (or "smoothie" setting if your blender has one) until completely smooth.
- When ingredients are fully blended, add the collagen powder and blend on lowest setting, just until combined.
- If desired, add additional water or ice and blend on low until smoothie reaches your desired consistency.
- Divide into glasses and serve.
Notes
Adaptations:
Can be made without the collagen powder if required for dietary preferences.
To Meal-Prep Freezer Smoothies:
These kale smoothies are easy to make ahead of time and store in the freezer. You can add all of the fruits and vegetables for one recipe into a small freezer friendly zip top bag and freeze and make several bags in advance.
Then, when you are ready to make a smoothie, dump the contents of one bag into the blender and follow the remaining instructions.
To Freeze Prepared Smoothies:
Alternately, you can prepare the full smoothie recipe and freeze the prepared smoothie in small individual serving containers, such as plastic freezer jam jars.
This is a great option for packing smoothies in kids' lunches. Put the smoothie in frozen in their lunch bag along with a spoon and it will be sorbet consistency by lunchtime.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 192Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 64mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 4gSugar: 30gProtein: 14g
GoodLifeEats.com offers recipe nutritional information as a courtesy. This provided information is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although GoodLifeEats.com makes every effort to provide accurate information, these figures are only estimates.
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You can adjust the ingredient amounts according to your personal preferences - making it more green or less, thicker or more like juice, etc.
Patti says
Don’t you have to blanch vegetables before you freeze them?
Katie Kick says
Some you definitely need to blanch before hand, but for greens like kale or spinach I never do.
Joshua Hampton says
Thank you for this very handy tip. My wife loves smoothies for breakfast. Freezer smoothie bags will certainly make mornings easier for us.
Lisa says
Great tip! Doesn’t it get bitter, when you use whole citrusfruit?
Katie says
I have not noticed any bitterness. If you are concerned about that, you can remove the peel and just use the fruit.
Allison says
I got a Blendtec for Christmas, so we are all about smoothies here now . . . like every single day! This combination sounds really yummy – especially with that lemon added in. I know what I’m having for breakfast in the morning.