Popeye Power Smoothie

Name: Popeye Power Smoothie
Prep time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 cups
Ingredients: 1 cup orange juice ½ cup pineapple juice ½ cup low-fat plain or vanilla yogurt 1 banana; peeled and sliced 2 cups fresh spinach leaves 2 cups crushed ice

This tasty green smoothie is sweet, creamy and refreshing. Kids love it!

Video

Cooking for a Crowd

Use these recipe sheets to prepare for larger groups:

Glasses of green fruit smoothies with straws.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Makes: 4 cups
Nutrition Facts: View label

Ingredients

1 cup orange juice

½ cup pineapple juice

½ cup low-fat plain or vanilla yogurt

1 banana, peeled and sliced

2 cups fresh spinach leaves

2 cups crushed ice

Directions

Wash hands with soap and water.
Rinse fresh produce under running water before preparing.
Combine all ingredients in a blender.
Puree until completely smooth.
Serve immediately.
Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.

Notes

For a thicker smoothie, use frozen fruit or vegetables instead of ice. Frozen vegetables from the store should be cooked first according to package directions.
Use any type of juice, including juice drained from canned pineapple.

Featured in a Food Hero Monthly

Comments

Submitted by Abbie on Wed, 03/27/2024 - 09:24

I've made this spinach and fruit smoothie for elementary and middle school students and everyone likes it. I brought it to class the week of St. Patrick's day which was perfect with the vibrant green. Instead of ice, I used frozen mango. My banana was also frozen. It was really sweet and tropical tasting. Even though I packed the spinach in, the kids don't taste the spinach.

Submitted by igussgon on Thu, 08/04/2022 - 11:58

This smoothie is so good! A lot of the kids were surprised that it tasted so good because of the green color but it turns out to be a fan favorite at every event!

Submitted by AngMath on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 07:41

Everyone loves this! If you need a dairy free version, substitute an avocado or an extra banana for the yogurt.

Submitted by Joanne Lyford on Wed, 07/10/2019 - 14:15

I tried this recipe with some fifth grade students on a Friday afternoon. After the lesson, once everyone was served, the students decided to "toast" by clinking their paper cups and taking sips after every "toast". Everyone got a turn to offer a "toast" and I was amazed at how many celebrated many of the new foods we'd tasted during the year. "Here's to strawberries", one student exclaimed. "Here's to garbanzo beans", "...and hummus"...and on and on it went. At the end they spontaneously decided to garnish their drinks with the few remaining spinach leaves. More "toasts" ensued and the final toast was "We love spinach"!

Submitted by watkinbr on Thu, 12/28/2017 - 12:04

I used a can of pineapple chunks, and used the juice from that for the smoothie. Then put the rest of the pineapple chunks and juice in a containter as a snack for later!

Submitted by AngMath on Mon, 01/23/2017 - 16:50

Canned crushed pineapple in juice works very well as a substitute for the pineapple juice.

Submitted by tierrabonita on Tue, 01/24/2017 - 06:11

Great suggestion!! Something I normally have in the pantry :).

Submitted by Jennifer Pettit on Tue, 11/01/2016 - 13:18

We always come back to this recipe since everyone loves it. Kids who initially say they don't like spinach change their minds after tasting this Smoothie. We also received favorable taste test results when we substituted 1 1/2 cups of kale for the 2 cups of spinach--another great, green variation!

Submitted by lindaeaton on Tue, 06/07/2016 - 17:54

It looks good. Is the sugar content on the nutrition label based on using plain yogurt or vanilla yogurt?

Submitted by butlerr on Tue, 06/14/2016 - 11:36

There are now two nutrition labels to show the difference between plain and vanilla yogurt. Thank you for asking!

-The Food Hero Team

Submitted by AngMath on Wed, 12/02/2015 - 10:22

Kids and adults love this smoothie! We did this recipe at an elementary cafeteria tasting and I had many parents come up to me in the weeks afterward and tell me that their children insisted that they make this recipe at home. My own kids request it at least once a week.

Submitted by Killer Tomato on Wed, 12/10/2014 - 14:25

I've had 100% success in getting spinach haters to actually *like* spinach when we've made this recipe in class (it's better if the haters are the ones making the smoothie). I like to use a traditional blender, not a handheld one, to chop the spinach super fine.

Submitted by JMA1445 on Fri, 04/19/2013 - 10:08

I love this recipe! It's definately the best way to eat spinach. Tips: blend the smoothie really really well so that all the bits of spinach are chopped up. I peel and freeze my old bananas to add to my smoothies so they are nice and thick. Kids love it!

Submitted by Edamame on Tue, 03/26/2013 - 15:42

This smoothie tastes WAY better than it looks. You can't even taste the spinach, but you're still getting all the healthy nutrients from it!

Submitted by tierrabonita on Mon, 01/07/2013 - 14:56

Yummy! Tastes great and love the thickness. The spinach leaves really makes it as we tried it 1st without them. And kids love the color too! Oh, we have tried this with vanilla, strawberry and blueberry yogurt, and most of all love the blueberry!!! Also we often use only one type of juice, whatever is on sale that week.

Submitted by MeganB on Mon, 03/26/2012 - 11:10

Kids love this recipe- and so do I!

All the nutrients from spinach with the taste of what my students call "healthy bubblegum!"

Submitted by FoodFanatic on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 13:52

The green color is a little deterring, but the flavor is truely great! The pinapple juice keeps it very fruity!