This green kefir smoothie with granola is packed with nutrients like spinach, avocado, and flax for a hearty and filling breakfast recipe.

So here we are, a few days into the fall season. Are you secretly excited that summer's over? Or are you savoring the last remnants of hot weather for as long as you can?

As it turns out I'm a little bit of both. How's that for non-committal? Summer brings with it all sorts of outdoor fun, tasty treats, and last-minute plans, but by the end I'm craving routine like crazy. A part of it definitely comes from all of the holidays that fall right in a row. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas...we go from anticipation of one thing to the next.

But I'll stop there because I don't want to get ahead of myself and wish fall away!

I'm the kind of person that thinks about breakfast from the moment I wake up. There are lots of healthy breakfast options out there, but I've become partial to smoothies. They're a one-stop-shop kind of recipe when it comes to nutrition, and are flexible based on what ingredients you have on hand. Plus they're travel mug-friendly if you're on-the-go.

Recipe ingredients

This kefir smoothie packs in so many nutrients and has a ton of staying power, which is essential when it comes to breakfast.

One smoothie includes:

Baby spinach and banana for a variety of nutrients.
Kefir for probiotics and calcium.
Avocado for healthy fats.
Ground flaxseed for fiber and omega-3s.
and granola for carbs and heft.

This green kefir smoothie is for you if you're the type of person who doesn't need a smoothie to be overly-sweet. Potential sweetness here can come from three ingredients: the banana, the kefir, and the granola.

Kefir is a cultured milk product similar to a more liquid-y yogurt that features probiotics and calcium. I typically use a plain, no-sugar-added variety for this kefir smoothie, but there are differing flavors and levels of sweetness out there for you to choose from. Vanilla would be a real treat.

Next up is the banana. The riper the banana you use, the sweeter this smoothie will be. I recommend a fairly ripe one!

Then for the granola. Only one-quarter of a cup is included in this recipe, but you can get creative with your flavors to mix-and-match this smoothie to fit your tastes. The granola adds thickness to this smoothie that I find to be so satisfying.

Related recipes

For a green smoothie with a completely different flavor profile, this pineapple matcha smoothie is also a satisfying breakfast or snack. This one is sweeter by nature of the ingredients with a little caffeine boost from matcha powder. As written it uses baby kale and Greek yogurt, but spinach and kefir would also work.

If you're intrigued by blending granola into your smoothies, did you know you can do the same with old-fashioned oats? This extra-filling chocolate cherry smoothie definitely lives up to its name with avocado and flaxseed in the mix, too.

Recipe notes

The ingredients here certainly have wiggle room for you to adjust their quantities. Baby kale can be used for spinach, plain old-fashioned oats can be used instead of granola, you can omit the avocado if necessary, etc.