I absolutely love experimenting with green smoothie recipes. It’s one of my favorite things to do lately. There’s nothing like finding just the right combination of ingredients that go together perfectly in unexpected ways to make a truly delicious smoothie. This apple and glorious greens smoothie recipe is the result of one such experiment with various healthy greens. It covers pretty much all of your essential nutrient bases as it’s packed full of vitamins, minerals, and disease-fighting antioxidants. If you’ve never been big on green smoothies because you’re put off by the taste, then this recipe is definitely worth your time — it just might be the green smoothie recipe to turn you into a lifelong fan.

It Really Is 100% Glorious

Who knew that adding a single apple into your greens smoothie could pay off so well? It definitely does, with the apple adding a good amount of vitamin C, fiber, minerals like calcium and potassium, B-complex vitamins, and a wide variety of phytonutrients. It’s these phytochemicals found in apples that give them most of their great health benefits, including helping to reduce your risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and diabetes. (1) As you can see, there are all kinds of good reasons why you were always told to enjoy an apple a day when you were growing up.

After adding your diced apple, it’s time to start loading up on greens for the smoothie. Start with ¼ cup of frozen kale (or a single cup of fresh kale). This leafy green is an extremely popular smoothie ingredient (along with spinach) and for good reason. It’s one of the most nutrient-dense vegetables out there, offering loads of nutrients that include vitamins A, C, and K, iron, and a potent amount of antioxidants. Interestingly enough, you are often better off to consume kale raw in smoothies as opposed to cooking it. The cooking process actually results in lower levels of antioxidant activity. (2)

Along with the kale, you’ll also be adding ½ of a medium sized cucumber that has been peeled and sliced. Cucumber is another green veggie that I love adding into my smoothie recipes because it’s great for helping to stay hydrated because of its water content while also offering a ton of nutritional value. Cucumber is an incredibly popular detox ingredient because of the numerous therapeutic benefits provided by the abundance of phytochemicals it contains. (3)

This smoothie recipe also includes another one of my favorite green ingredients to add in the form of ¼ cup of chopped avocado. By adding some avocado into the mix you are able to further increase the amount of dietary fiber, antioxidants, and heart healthy monounsaturated fats that this smoothie offers. There are numerous studies that have indicated avocado consumption to be incredibly beneficial when it comes to supporting cardiovascular health (4), which makes them a fantastic ingredient to include in all of your green smoothie recipes.

Rounding out your healthy green ingredients, this recipe also calls for ½ cup of fresh mint and ½ cup of chopped fennel bulb. Both of these green options help to add even more essential nutrients to the smoothie — and they’re both known to help ease digestion as well. After adding in all of your greens, simply mix in a bit of lemon juice, water, and ice to finish the recipe off before blending it all together and enjoying this delicious green drink.