5 Top Vegetables in Smoothies

A smoothie with base ingredients like juice, yogurt, milk, and fruit is certain to benefit from a well-chosen selection of vegetables to boost the nutrient content.

Certain vegetables are more effective at blending into a smoothie than others. Vegetables are versatile and can form part of a fruit inspired smoothie without altering the taste, or form part of the main ingredient to create a more favorable mixture.

Here are five vegetables that can easily be added to a healthy smoothie:

1 – Avocados

Using ingredients like avocados can have a higher calorie count, but this type of vegetable is able to give beneficial nutrients like unsaturated fats, potassium, vitamin E, and folate. Avocado has a highly creamy texture which makes them a perfect choice to include in a healthy smoothie. A prefect avocado based recipe includes vanilla extract, lime juice, agave nectar, coconut water, pineapple, and ripe avocado. Once blended down the resulting mixture will produce a healthy alternative to pina colada.

2 – Carrots

Carrots are a great choice to add to smoothies for the nutritional benefits, but the taste is largely undetectable once blended down. A great smoothie recipe consists of ½ an apple, orange juice, ½ a banana, lime juice, green grapes, and chopped, raw carrot. This will create a light and energizing smoothie that is loaded with nutrients, including vitamin A and vitamin C. However, if planning to blend down carrots or similar hard vegetables make sure to invest in a high-quality blender. A low-quality blender is likely to leave quite large size chunks in place.

3 – Cucumbers

Add the cucumbers to the smoothie to help up the moisture and thickness levels while having minimal impact on the overall flavor. Cucumbers are perfect to combine with fresh basil, garlic, lemon juice and tomatoes to produce a liquid refreshment that is quite savory in taste while still offering a lot of potassium, vitamin A, and vitamin C. Plus, the nutrition quality can get a further boost by adding in kale or spinach.

4 – Leafy Greens

Vegetables that easily blend into smoothies include the leafy greens, such as romaine lettuce, kale, and spinach. Even though the leafy greens won’t have a strong impact on the taste, they are certain to leave the smoothie with a color that is dull brown to bright green. Nutrient benefits of these vegetables include iron, calcium, folate, and vitamin A and K. A neutral flavor comes from spinach. A healthy recipe includes blending 1 cup of baby spinach (raw), 1 cup of strawberries (frozen), ½ banana (frozen), and 1 cup of soy milk. A smoothie consisting of bananas, yogurt, and orange juice can benefit from kale. Plus, romaine is versatile and goes with a smoothie consisting of honey, apple juice, and blueberries.

5 – Spinach

Spinach contains phytonutrients which are loaded with anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. Plus, a healthy serving of fresh spinach is easily able to supply about 200% of the DV of vitamin K which is needed to lower blood pressure and maintain bone health. Spinach is quite bland in taste and hardy noticed once it has been included in the smoothie – but you still get the amazing benefits of this vegetable.