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I love this shake!!! Dates are my new favorite thing and I love how yummy they make this shake. Thank you thank you for my new morning staple:)
This is the story of how I started loving dates.
Not go-out-for-sushi-and-come-home-and-watch-reruns-of-the-Office-dates. <— love those too, though, and are we the only people that watch series of TV shows that we like all over again? It’s just so hard to fall in love with something else.
No, but the dates I’m talking right now about are little brown wrinkly things that are incredibly, um, how do I put this… ugly? but taste like a sweet charm straight from the Earth. Maybe even like Earthy Lucky Charms. Granola-People food. Au naturale sweetness.
Spoiler alert: wrinkly brown Earthy Lucky Charms dates are the star of this green smoothie show, and you don’t have to be a Granola-Person (which I am not) to love this.
Bjork and I are trying to use more natural sweeteners in our sweets, because HELLO we love sweets but heaping spoonfuls of sugar on all your food isn’t the best thing for your body. Dang nabbit.
I’ve had a love affair with straight up sugar for a looong time. I can trace the roots of this obsession back to my former days of cereal-eating, which, by the way, is a habit that’s wayyy too expensive now! More than $4.00 for a box that’s gone in like 2 hours? I’ll take the oatmeal pleez. But you better believe, during all my cereal phases, I ate my cereal just to get to that sugary milk at the bottom. Straight up milk and sugar after a whole bowl full of carby yums. This whole sugar dilemma is all cereal’s fault.
Good news for sugar lovers who are trying to eat less sugar: there’s a magic sugar-lover’s fruit called Medjool Dates. And let me guess – you guys have been using them for years? Arriving a few years late to food trends — that’s how I like to roll.
I had seen these Medjool dates around the interwebs in all those suspiciously delicious looking healthy dessert recipes but I don’t think I had ever tried them myself until just a few weeks ago. We ā¤ them! Bjork might even love them more than me, which he probably won’t like me revealing to the masses online, but my job here is to talk straight about food, okay? He loves them.
We are now semi-Granola-People who eat them drizzled with almond butter, soaked in overnight oats, and pureed into smoothies.
So technically this is called a green smoothie because anytime I blend something up in Blendtec (love that big ol blender!) I consider it a smoothie. I don’t juice, I just smoothie.
But also technically the consistency of this particular “recipe” is more like a juice. It’s thin enough to sip easily through a straw. In fact, it might have been too easy to sip on because I think I had this thing downed in a matter of seconds. So I’ve alternately titled the most simple green smoothie as The Green Summer Sipper.
I made this after work one day as an “after school snack” – and honestly, does that after school/after work snack impulse ever go away? I think it might have just become a permanent part of my life after 15+ years of habitual after school snackin – and on this particular day it was soooo hot, like 55 degrees (#minnesota), and this simple 4 ingredient green smoothie sipped through a black and white polka dotted straw just HIT THE SPOT. It was so cool, refreshing, healthy, but also filling. Green Summer Sipper might imply proper, controlled, slow-ish drinking, but I sipped that thing gone in a matter of seconds. sluuuurrrppity slurp.
My parting wish today is that you would find yourself sitting in the sun, magazine in hand, sipping on this 4 ingredient green smoothie A-S-A-P. And all will be right in the world.
Three More Ways To Use Dates
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The 4 Ingredient Green Smoothie
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1–2 (nutrition facts are for 2 servings) 1x
Description
This is the most simple green smoothie ever! Just 4 ingredients, deliciously creamy, and naturally sweet. A no-guilt treat!
Ingredients
- 1 large banana
- 1 1/2 cups vanilla almond milk, unsweetened
- 3–4 Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
- 2 cups spinach
Instructions
- Puree everything together in a blender until very smooth. There should be no flecks of spinach or small pieces of dates left – everything should be incorporated and smooth.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Other optional tips:
1. Add some ice to the blender.
2. Make it thicker by using yogurt.
3. Add different fruits (my faves are mango and peach because they don’t mess up the green color of the smoothie).
4. Add chia seeds, honey, flax, protein powder, etc.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: green smoothie, healthy smoothie, healthy green smoothie
Excellent recipe and comments. May also want to add a tablespoon of vanilla extract and coconut cream.
Thanks for sharing, Jay!
Would this work with frozen spinach? It’s much cheaper where I live. And if yes, would the amount still be the same for both ingredient size and nutrition? Thanks, this recipe is definitely gonna be included in my diet.
This has been on my list of things to try for weeks. Finally made it and WOW! Itās so easy to make and tastes so good! I havenāt added dates to a smoothie before and I was pleasantly surprised! Thanks for sharing!
I make this same smoothie with frozen banana, frozen mango (keeps things cold!), medjool dates, spinach or kale, almond milk, AND a few tablespoons of cocoa powder. The resulting smoothie is like a thick chocolate shake, and the cocoa powder adds extra fibre. Best of all, I’m not drinking something ‘green’! š
Oops – I forgot that I also add almond butter to the mix. Generally I try to throw in hemp seeds, cinnamon, vanilla, flax, protein powder – whatever I can think of to ‘up’ the nutritional value AND flavour profile.
my daughter is allergic to bananas what else would you suggest to use instead ?? (considering nutriments and texture)
I often will add a whole avocado to my smoothies. This would help with thickening.
I wish I could get on the green smoothie bandwagon, but I just have not been able to, and this one doesn’t sound like it would help with that. š
Susan – see my variation in comments below and try adding cocoa powder to a green smoothie. Delish!
I love this shake!!! Dates are my new favorite thing and I love how yummy they make this shake. Thank you thank you for my new morning staple:)
What if I don’t have dates can I use something else?
Prunes or figs would be a great alternative!
Hi have you thought of using figs in a smoothie soak them before in little water then add to smoothie delish yummy even with the seeds .
Green smoothies can be so declicious and healthy, but they are sometimes tricky to perfect. I’ve been following your blog for a long time, and I’m so impressed with your consistency and persistence with your blog. Plus every blog entry is so lovely and energetic! Clearly the recipe for success!
We would love for you to check out our app, Simply Smoothies, and give us your feedback. It allows the user to choose their own ingredients and we create a recipe that offers the right ratios to make a well balanced smoothie everytime. We craft the recipe and also provide the nutritional facts for the smoothie. So easy to use. If you guys like it, we would love for you to share it with your followers too! Thanks a bunch!
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/simply-smoothies-smoothie/id975605998?amp%3Bat=&%3Bct=&%3Buo=6
Yum .. absolutely gorgeous. Just made this and used frozen banana, was delicious and creamy. First green smoothie that I made for my hubby and he loved it. I think next time I will put a tad more almond milk in to make 2 full cups of deliciousness though
Another way to make it colder and thicker is to use frozen bananas! It makes it so creamy!
great tip! Thanks Sheila!
This sounds good, til I get to the spinach part, but I’ll try it lol I love smoothies; mine are the yogurt/blueberries/strawberries/banana/oj kind, very easy and yum, but I do need to try to put a veggie in there, I guess. I love dates, but never thought of putting them in a smoothie. However, I’m on a VERY tight budget, and was wondering if frozen spinach would work as well (or at all) as fresh.
I love this smoothie! I have had a hard time drinking” green” things but this has cured that issue! I vary it using hemp and chia seeds depending what I have on hand. I am craving one now!
Thanks Nancy! Glad to hear that!
So I don’t have a fancy blender and was dubious that the dates would still be chunky after as much blending as possible, and sure enough that’s what happened. However, I did a little bit of poking around and discovered making date paste! Just boiling however many dates covered with an inch of water for 15 minutes or until you can mash them up. Works like a charm for my cheapo blender and apparently the paste will keep for a few weeks in the fridge. Phew!
Oh my gosh, genius! Thanks for sharing Kei!
I’ve never had almond milk before, and I can’t get it in my area (not the US). Is there any reason why I can’t just use cow’s milk? Should I add a little vanilla extract, since you use vanilla almond milk?
Yep, that would work perfectly fine. We’ve been buying almond milk lately just because we like it better in smoothies but vanilla extract would give you some of that same flavor.
Thanks for your prompt reply!
Just had this smoothie for breakfast. This was so good & filling(yup drank it all)! I’m trying to eat healthy and this definitely will go in my rotatation. So glad I found your blog. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Glad to hear it Tondie! š
Great recipe, thanks. However, one small picky point. It’s “dagnabbit” not “dangnabbit”
Urban Dictionary supports both!
You’re still ahead of the date game Lindsay — I have yet to buy them! I’ve heard so many wonderful things, but I know how easily I get addicted to new sweet treats (especially the healthy ones) and kind of told myself to wait and see… But I think your smoothie/sipper/green-glass-of-pure-joy convinced me. And afternoon snacks, school-related or not, are always a must!
I didn’t care for this quite as much as I thought I would. I chopped up the dates first but the blender didn’t make them much smaller. Perhaps I should try this recipe in my food processor next time. The color of the smoothie was beautiful!
Yeah, the dates are really hard to incorporate. The Blendtec does it really well but that’s a major powerhouse blender. Another tip would be to soak the dates in a little bit of water prior to blending – might help them soften!
I’ll try that next time, thanks!
I think I have a new favorite smoothie! In trying to avoid processed sugar, the dates made this sweeter than I expected- delicious. So grateful to have found your blog. Love it and love that you love Jesus!
So glad to hear it Christine! And yes I sure do! š
I always have leftover dates from my bars and never thought to use them in a smoothie. GREAT idea!
I love simple. This is so awesomely simple. On another note I read you post last year about choosing to not go blogger full time and I recently caught your post about deciding to go full time blogging. Time can change everything. Good luck, but you don’t need it š
True that! Time really does change things. š
Lindsay, I used to think I hated dates (tried one of my dad’s neat as a child and …. bleurgh!) but like you I’ve recently discovered how delicious they are in healthy raw snacks. The smoothie looks and sounds so so healthy. I have to admit I’m a little suspicious of the spinach but I trust you that the dates make it palatable … I might be tempted to add some fruit though as you suggest! š
It’s all in your mind. Once you try it you’ll love it… my whole family was really skeptical of the green-ness but they loved it. š It’s sweet and yummy and you can’t taste the spinach at all IMO!
I adore dates, especially in smoothies. I also like to slice them partway open, dollop on a spoonful of nut butter and then hoover them as a sweet/protein-rich/high fibre snack. I have stop myself at two though – otherwise it’s sugar rush city.
Exactly! the nut butter and date combo is amazing.