Green Smoothie

A low FODMAP green smoothie of baby spinach, a firm-yellow banana, pineapple, lactose-free or almond milk, and lime.

Prep 5 min

Cook 1 min

Serves 1

Gluten-freeVegan-option

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups (about 75 g) fresh baby spinach, loosely packed
• 1 small firm-yellow banana (about 100 g peeled), still slightly green at the tips
• 1 cup (about 140 g) fresh or frozen pineapple chunks
• 1 cup (250 ml) lactose-free cow's milk or unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 cup ice (skip if the pineapple is frozen)
• 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice (optional)

Instructions

Blend

1. Add the milk to the blender first, then the spinach. Blend on high for 20 seconds to break down the leaves before any fruit goes in.
2. Add the banana, pineapple, ice, maple, and lime. Blend on high for 30 to 60 seconds, until smooth and uniformly green.
3. Pour into a glass and drink right away. The texture thins and the color darkens as it sits.

Tips & Substitutions

• Swap the spinach for kale. Kale is more fibrous than spinach, so strip the stems and blend a little longer. Start with 1/2 cup chopped, and look up your kale type in the FODMAP Foods app to see how its rating changes with portion size.
• Add kiwi for extra tang. Monash lists 2 small peeled kiwifruit (150 g), green or gold, as a low-FODMAP serve; add one with the other fruit, since the glass already has pineapple and banana.
• Grate in fresh ginger. 1/2 teaspoon of peeled, grated fresh ginger is low-FODMAP and sharpens the flavor. Skip ginger powder blends that list garlic or onion.
• Choose a low-FODMAP milk. Lactose-free cow's milk and unsweetened almond or macadamia milk are low at 1 cup (250 ml); cashew milk is not. Canned coconut milk is low at 1/4 cup, so top it up with almond milk or water. Oat milk is low only at about 100 ml. Avoid any milk with inulin, chicory root fiber, or added "prebiotic fiber."
• Mind the banana ripeness. A firm-yellow banana is low at 100 g. Fructans climb as bananas ripen, so if yours is brown-spotted, use 1/3 of a banana (35 g).
• Skip apple, pear, and mango. All three are common green-smoothie add-ins with only small low-FODMAP serves, too small to measure easily in a blender. Stick with the pineapple-and-banana base or add kiwi.

Why This Works

Leafy-green serve. Monash lists 75 g (about 1.5 cups) of English spinach and 75 g (about 1 cup) of chopped kale as low-FODMAP. The measured spinach gives the drink its color and a mild green flavor.

Banana ripeness matters. Ripeness makes the biggest difference in this recipe. Firm bananas are low-FODMAP at 100 g; once they spot and soften, the serve drops to about 35 g. Buy bananas with a little green at the tips and use them within a day or two.

Pineapple over apple or mango. Fresh pineapple is low-FODMAP at 140 g, a full cup, while apple, pear, and mango turn high at much smaller portions because of excess fructose and sorbitol.

Milk and maple in measured amounts. Lactose-free milk and unsweetened almond milk are low at the full cup used here. A teaspoon of maple syrup is under its 1 tablespoon serve and is usually enough with ripe pineapple.

Storage

Blend and drink right away, since green smoothies turn a dull army green within an hour. To hold one, seal it with no air gap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours at 40°F (4°C) or below, then shake before drinking. To prep ahead, freeze the spinach, banana slices, and pineapple in a zip bag, then add milk and ice at blend time.