Spinach Ginger Smoothie with Nutmeg
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure.This Spinach Ginger Smoothie, is healthy, low carb and delicious! It’s packed with great flavors and has a satisfyingly creamy texture!
When it’s summer, I tend to make a lot of smoothies. Mainly because, it’s so hot outside earlier in the morning that my typical breakfast (hot tea + oatmeal) warms me up just a little too much!
This ginger smoothie is refreshing, low carb and easy to make! It’s a great way to start the day, filling you up nicely until your next meal. (Learn more: 100 Vegetarian Breakfast Ideas).
It takes less than 5 mins to whip up and only needs 5 ingredients – easy! No need for lots of veggie chopping and dicing, just grate a bit of ginger and put it with the rest of the ingredients, straight into the blender. If you are after a healthy, fat burning and filling morning drink, this ginger smoothie is for you!
Tools and Equipment You’ll Need
A tasty smoothie shouldn’t take more than five minutes to make, and this recipe is no exception! All you need is an excellent blender. My favorite blender options include:
- The Ninja Countertop Blender: Most affordable, Under $100, really effective
- The Breville Fresh & Furious Blender: Under $200 with a few more features than the Ninja
- The Vitamix! Most expensive, but top of the line – will literally pulverize anything and the most versatile blender of them all! Makes “Jamba Juice style smoothies.” It also lasts forever.
How to Make a Spinach Ginger Smoothie – Step By Step
Step 1: Peel ginger, and roughly chop. Then add all of your ingredients: almond milk, almond butter, ginger, spinach and nutmeg to your blender.
Step 2: If using a high speed blender, start on low and slowly increase the speed until all ingredients are blended. Bring speed back to low. Pour into cups and enjoy!
What makes this Spinach Ginger Smoothie healthy?
- Benefits of Ginger: Ginger has a compound called gingerol which is an anti-inflammatory. It also helps to reduce nausea, and includes nutrients that improve brain function. It has been show to lower blood sugar, and improve risk factors associated with heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
- Rich in Vitamins and Nutrients: Along with all the super power benefits of ginger, spinach, almond butter, and nutmeg have some super powers of their own. This smoothie is high in iron, thanks to the added spinach. The almond butter is rich in antioxidants, vitamin E, magnesium, copper, vitamin B2, and phosphorous.
- Heart Health Fats: Almond butter is a great source of monounsaturated fat, protein, and fiber which are essential for heart health.
Will kids enjoy this Spinach Ginger Smoothie?
The ginger in this smoothie adds a distinct flavor that some kids might think is spicy. However, the spinach, almond butter, almond milk, and nutmeg create a well balanced creamy smoothie. Allow your kids to try the smoothie with the ginger, and if they’re not a fan, you can make a kid version by leaving it out.
What is ginger?
The ginger that we eat is the root of the flowering plant. It has been used since ancient times for its medicinal properties as it helps with nausea, arthritis, inflammation, and potentially can reduce the risk of diabetes, cancer, and other health problems.
It is spicy or peppery but also slightly sweet. It has a strong flavor when eaten raw, but that flavor mellows when cooked.
How do you peel ginger?
Ginger root has a tough outer covering that you don’t want to eat. Before adding it to your recipes be sure to peel it. You can use a paring knife to peel, or a vegetable peeler. Be sure to remove the entire dark brown outer edge.
How do you store and keep ginger?
Ginger comes in many different forms. It can be dried and ground like a spice, crystalized, pickled, preserved, or fresh.
Store ground, dried, or crystalized ginger in a cool dry place such as your pantry or spice drawer.
Store pickled and preserved ginger in the refrigerator in their original packaging.
This recipe calls for fresh grated ginger. If the ginger still has its peel, wrap it in paper towel, place in a plastic bag, and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
If your ginger is already peeled you can preserve its life by storing in glass container covered with vodka, in the refrigerator for up to a week. If the liquid looks cloudy it’s time to toss it. That’s a sign of mold and bacteria.
Top Tips for Making this Spinach Ginger Smoothie
- Use the freshest ingredients possible.
- Add ice cubes or frozen spinach, if you want the smoothie to be colder.
- Load your blender liquids first, then spices, then vegetables.
- Blend until the texture is smooth and creamy.
- If you don’t have almond butter you can use any other nut or seed butter.
- To increase the protein in this recipe, add in 1/2 cup-1 cup of Greek Yogurt and/or an all natural protein powder
Check out these other healthy and delicious smoothie recipes!
- Blueberry Banana Blast Smoothie
- Daily Harvest Strawberry + Peach Smoothie
- Spinach and Banana Smoothie
- It’s Easy Being Green: Smoothie Recipe
If you have tried this Spinach Ginger Smoothie recipe, or any other recipe on my blog, then please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious, healthy, family friendly food!
Spinach Ginger Smoothie
This Spinach Ginger Smoothie, is healthy, low carb and delicious! It's packed with great flavors and has a satisfyingly creamy texture!
Servings: 1 serving
Calories: 240kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup homemade almond milk or any boxed unsweetened almond milk that doesn’t have carrageenan
- 2 tbsp raw almond butter
- 2 tsp grated ginger
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 cup baby spinach
Instructions
- Peel ginger, and roughly chop.
- Add almond milk, almond butter, ginger, spinach and nutmeg to your blender.
- If using a high speed blender start on low and slowly increase the speed until all ingredients are blended. Bring speed back to low. Pour into cups and enjoy!
Notes
Top Tips for Making this Spinach Ginger Smoothie
- Use the freshest ingredients possible.
- Add ice cubes or frozen spinach, if you want the smoothie to be colder.
- Load your blender liquids first, then spices, then vegetables.
- Blend until the texture is smooth and creamy.
- If you don’t have almond butter you can use any other nut or seed butter.
- To increase the protein in this recipe, add in 1/2 cup-1 cup of Greek Yogurt and/or an all natural protein powder
Nutrition
Calories: 240kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 20.3g | Saturated Fat: 1.4g | Sodium: 209.1mg | Potassium: 419mg | Fiber: 5.3g | Sugar: 2g
This was delicious and so refreshing for an afternoon snack. I love the way the ginger really makes it taste so fresh!
I’m so happy to hear that Cyndy!!
The flavor of the ginger really adds some depth to this smoothie. It’s a great guilt free way to start the day!
Thanks so much Alison!! I totally agree!
My goal the next 2 weeks is to eat clean. This smoothie is perfect to add to my eating plan. I love the flavor combination as well as the richness of nutrients and vitamins!
Yes!! This would be absolutely perfect to incorporate into a clean eating plan!
Love that this smoothie is tasty and full of antioxidants!
Totally!! It’s so refreshing and so good for you!
The color is so vibrant and beautiful! I can only imagine how delicious it is in the mornings, afternoons, or evenings. I can’t wait to make this tomorrow morning.
Thank you so much!! I’m sure you will love it!
Hi, can you please tell me how this comes to 400 cals?
The almond butter is around 200, the almond milk is around 40 and the rest of the ingredients have next to nothing.
Thank you
Lisa
Hi Lisa! Great catch! I got the nutritional info from Dr. Hyman’s team but I think they had it wrong – I just recalculated it myself and like you mentioned, it’s about 230 calories not 400 for the recipe 🙂 The recipe is updated now with the correct info – thanks for pointing that out!
I cannot eat almonds. What could I use in place and still get an adequate amount of protein? Cashew?
Cashews would work! Let me know how it turns out Lisa!
Thanks Anjail, but most of us over 55 years old can’t have a lot of calories without gaining weight. That would be almost half my calories for the day! Looks yummy though. Will be interested in lower calorie options.
Hi Ren! Totally understand different people have different caloric needs, but are you really only eating 800 calories a day? That’s way too low for anyone – 1200 is the lowest you should go. If you eat less than 1200/day you send your body into starvation mode: your metabolism shuts down and you won’t lose weight. That could be why you’re having a hard time and why you might gain weight if you eat more! Happy to talk to you about this in more detail – feel free to email me at: pickyeats@gmail.com!
I have to respectively disagree. I know the starvation theory is a common mantra, but if I increase my food/calorie intake I start gaining weight. Many others have the same issue once over menopausal age. My guess is you are much younger age.
Hi Ren, Have you talked to your doctor about this? I’m pretty sure just about any doctor would tell you that 800 calories is much too little no matter how old you are. And yes, you will gain weight if you increase your calories from 800 to 1200 — because your body right now is in starvation mode so it’s trying to get as many calories as it possibly can, and your metabolism has slowed down considerably. After a few months of eating at least a 1200 calorie diet that has tons of fruits & veggies, fiber, protein and healthy fats, you’ll see your weight stabilize: your metabolism will speed up and you might even lose weight (especially if you are exercising regularly). I’ve worked with a number of post-menopausal women and have helped them lose weight by increasing their calories to be at least 1200/day and increasing their healthy fats intake, so I’m definitely familiar with what you’re going through. I’d just encourage you to chat with your doctor and/or a nutritionist about this – would love to know what they have to say!
400 calories??!! Yikes!
Hi Ren! 400 Calories is actually perfect for a breakfast meal (and this smoothie would count as a breakfast given that it’s pretty filling and high enough in protein/fiber to count as a meal). So you don’t have to be worried about it being 400 calories 🙂
It’s possible to make almond milk from almond butter (1 TBSP almond butter per cup water, plus sweetener if desired). Since it’s being blended, I would omit the almond milk and more almond butter.
That’s a great tip about the almond milk Bev! Although, I wouldn’t recommend omitting the almond milk altogether – you need some liquid in order for this to be drinkable (vs. a super thick mush 🙂 ). Hope that helps!
Couldn’t you just include water with the extra almond butter to make up for the liquid? Also can’t ‘ you make the almond butter from blending almonds to a creamy paste?
Oh yeah you can definitely use water instead of almond milk — I was more saying you need some sort of liquid in the smoothie so that it’s drinkable. Whether you use water or almond milk doesn’t really matter — the almond milk will just make it more creamy since it’s strained and won’t have the actual nut pieces (vs. almond butter thinned with water). And yes you can make both almond butter and almond milk from almonds at home (using a blender for the butter and a strainer for the milk)! Hope that helps!
Sorry for the confusion and my awkward wording. I originally meant that one could use 1 TBSP almond butter plus 1 cup water per 1 cup needed almond milk.
I have a Vitamix and I think that it can easily blend the almond butter and water into a smooth milk (not gritty). It might not be fiber free, but you wouldn’t notice that in a smoothie that has other things (e.g., the above ginger and spinach).
If that’s a problem for other types of blenders, then you could whiz up the almond butter and water and strain it before using it in the smoothie.
Oh! Yes that totally makes sense 🙂 Thanks for clarifying Bev!
Can you use ground ginger instead of fresh? I know fresh is best but I like options since we are full time rvers.
Hi! Yes absolutely – ground ginger would be ok!
I’ll definitely be trying this! And I’m looking forward to your facts about fat. My teen boy has really taken an interest in heathy eating and exercise, and he’s begun asking lots of questions. There’s so much misinformation out there! Thanks for always sorting things out for those who want answers!
Thanks so much Rica! I’m sure you’ll love this smoothie recipe 🙂 I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on my “Facts about Fat” post – once you read through it don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!