This pineapple matcha vanilla smoothie recipe features baby kale, flaxseed, and Greek yogurt for a healthy and flavorful on-the-go breakfast or anytime pick-me-up.
Do you ever get hit by a wildly specific food craving out of nowhere? That’s the story of me and this pineapple matcha vanilla smoothie. I’m not a ‘smoothie-every-day’ kind of person, but reorganizing my kitchen cabinets led to the discovery of a semi-forgotten canister of matcha and the idea for this one was immediately born. After playing around with the ratio of ingredients, I landed on this iteration that I’ve been happily enjoying multiple mornings in a row…and you know how I get with repetitive breakfasts.
Kale can be a tough leafy green to use in smoothies because it has a tendency to be bitter. I suggest using baby kale leaves as they have less of a strong kale flavor while still packing in all of those nutrients. Pineapple and vanilla yogurt add the perfect amount of sweetness to balance out the kale, with the flavor of matcha rounding it out. Add in ground flaxseed for a boost of omega-3s and fiber (as well as some texture heft) and please, get in my belly.
If you’re not familiar with matcha, it’s a finely powdered green tea that is traditionally whisked with hot water to create a frothy tea beverage. I used this matcha powder here, as well as in these cranberry almond matcha macaroons. Love the flavor! Half a teaspoon of matcha contains around 30 mg of caffeine, so it works as a low-key energy booster in the morning or afternoon – whenever you need it the most. The recipe as written below yields just one not-huge smoothie. I’ve doubled the ingredients and stored the extra in the fridge for the next day without issue if you’d like to be efficient and reduce the number of times you have to clean the blender. <–haaaaate cleaning the blender!
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- 1/2 cup baby kale leaves, packed
- 1/2 cup pineapple chunks
- 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt, about one 5.3-oz cup
- 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
- 1/2 tsp matcha green tea powder
- Ice, about 3-4 cubes
- Add all ingredients to a blender and process until smooth and creamy.
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