Healthy Vegan Shamrock Shake
Who says St. Patrick’s Day indulgences have to be loaded with fat and sugar? This breakfast-worthy vegan shamrock shake is not only diet-friendly, it’s also loaded with nutrients that give it a beautiful minty green hue naturally! I enjoy this minty shake throughout the year, but like to share the recipe for this special “green” occasion.
Some of you may be a bit stand-offish with some of the healthy ingredients, but I can assure you that they disappear, melding with the other flavors rather than overpowering. But keep in mind, the process of making this shamrock shake is just as important as the ingredients. To keep it nice and thick (I like to eat it with a spoon!) and to ensure that all of the ingredients blend in completely, you will want to minimize the amount of liquid added.
Your blender can most likely handle a thick shake (note that I do not have a high powered blender, and this still works great for me), but you should always add the softer ingredients first, followed by the frozen banana, when using a standard blender. If using a personal blender, add the frozen banana first, and then the soft ingredients. Basically, you want the softer (and leafier) ingredients closest to the blades to help the blender gain some momentum before hitting the tough stuff. If you are tempted to add more liquid, do so modestly. Too much milk alternative might make the greens spin in the blender rather than fully processing into a festive, healthy shamrock shake.
The greens and avocado in this recipe are not only sneaky, healthy additions, they also give the shamrock shake its color! I like to use romaine lettuce in this rich smoothie as it gives a light, minty green color and doesn’t affect the flavor. Spinach also blends in seamlessly, in terms of flavor, but makes the shake a slightly darker green, depending on how much you use.
Ingredients
- 1 very ripe, frozen, medium to large banana, broken into chunks
- 1 ounce avocado (about 1/4 of a small to medium avocado)
- 1-2 romaine lettuce leaves or a handful of baby spinach
- 1/2 cup unsweetened rice milk, almond milk, or coconut milk beverage, or more as needed
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Sweetener to taste (see note below for options, including sugar-free)
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to your blender, ensuring that the avocado and lettuce are closest to the blades and the frozen banana is furthest from the blades.
- Blend about 1 minute or until it is nice and smooth. If it gets too thick to blend, add a little more milk alternative to get things moving.
Notes
Quick Notes: About 1 tablespoon of your favorite sweetener should do it, but feel free to adjust to taste. (see below for my “sugar-free” option – yes, there are naturally occurring sugars in banana)
Variations:
No Sugar Added Option: Instead of the above noted sweetener, I used one 25mg Scoop of Stevia plus 1 Teaspoon of Sweet-X Xylitol Crystals.
This recipe is Vegan, Vegetarian, Dairy free, Egg free, Gluten free, Nut free, Peanut free, Soy free, Wheat free, optionally Sugar free, and Low fat.
http://www.godairyfree.org/recipes/vegan-mint-shamrock-shake
Tagged egg--free, gluten free, grain-free, healthy living, nut-free, paleo, peanut-free, soy-free, St. Patrick's Day, summer, vegan, vegetarian
12 Comments
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PamelaMarch 15, 2013 at 4:17 am
I will try this on my daughter. I make smoothies every day and the veggie smoothies don’t usually get a good reception. These ingredients sound good enough to be successful!
MaggieMarch 15, 2013 at 10:48 am
Yummy and tummy-friendly too!
Milk Allergy MomMarch 15, 2013 at 11:00 am
Thanks! Made this today. DIdn’t have avocado and got a little crazy with the extract…but still yum! Shared on our site.
CarolMarch 15, 2013 at 11:56 am
Slainte! That means to your health in Irish – seems appropriate, no?
RickiMarch 15, 2013 at 5:32 pm
This looks incredible. SO my kinda shake!
beachmamaMarch 15, 2013 at 10:09 pm
Alisa I LOVE your cookbook! It’s taken my nearly 10 years to whittle down my nearly 100 cookbooks to about a dozen favorites and yours made the cut ; )
I went vegan almost 9 years ago and veg for nearly 20 years. It’s recipes like yours that make the vegan diet bountifully delicious.
Thanks so much!
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Dani's DishMarch 18, 2013 at 5:57 pm
Yum… I love this idea. I can’t wait to try it soon, even if it’s not St, Patty’s day anymore. Thanks!
JoanneMarch 23, 2013 at 5:02 am
I love mint desserts but I refuse to let myself try a shamrock shake…and here is this vegan shake to the rescue! Yum!