It’s that time of year again, when the popular “Shamrock Shake” is available for a limited time, to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
But, did you know there are 54 ingredients in this particular shake from McDonald’s? These ingredients include artificial dyes and preservatives, not to mention high fructose corn syrup and carrageenan– all of which aren’t exactly doing our body any favors.
Instead, try making this healthier minty green milkshake at home. It gets its green hue naturally, thanks to a handful of fresh spinach (which you can’t taste!) and a touch of avocado, which also makes it ultra-creamy. Paired with naturally sweet and fiber-rich dates, plus a splash of pure peppermint extract, this shake tastes as wonderful as it will make you feel.
Even better, you can prepare it faster than visiting a drive-thru window.
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Healthy Shamrock Shake (Vegan, Paleo)
Serves 1
Ingredients:
1 cup almond milk, or water
1/4 avocado, pitted
1 handful fresh baby spinach
1/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
5-6 soft Medjool dates, pitted
handful of ice
Directions:
Combine all of the ingredients in a high-speed blender, and blend until smooth and creamy. Adjust sweetness to taste, if necessary, and serve immediately.
A healthy, minty green shake, perfect for celebrating St. Patrick's Day!
- 1 cup almond milk , or water
- 1/4 avocado , pitted
- 1 handful fresh baby spinach
- 1/4 teaspoon pure peppermint extract
- 5-6 soft Medjool dates , pitted handful of ice
- Combine all of the ingredients in a high-speed blender, and blend until smooth and creamy. Adjust sweetness to taste, if necessary, and serve immediately.
Notes:
- If your blender doesn’t handle dates well, try using 1 to 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup instead.
- If you can’t have avocado, leave it out and add a spoonful of nut butter for extra creaminess.
- Since the flavor of peppermint extracts vary, you may want to start off with just 1/8 teaspoon, and add more to taste. They can be very potent!
- You can make this shake sugar-free by omitting the dates and using stevia, to taste.
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Reader Feedback: Are you a fan of minty milkshakes? Mint chocolate ice cream used to be my very favorite, so this shake is right up my alley. (Especially with a few dark chocolate chips blended in!)
J
This is so yummy! The avocado gives it that creaminess you just miss from other smoothies…..great replacement from ice cream and I still get my shamrock fix. Thanks!
Molly
This is an AMAZING recipe!! I had just feeling nostalgic for the mint chocolate chip shakes at Baskin Robbins, and this is nearly identical in flavor! I made a half recipe, and I didn’t have any spinach so instead I substituted about 5 leaves of endive that I had around the house. SO DELISH! Thank you thank you!!!
Caitlin
This is so delicious! My 16 month old son is obsessed with it too 🙂 Thank you!
Eva
Hi there, Love the green smoothie! I just found a web site about certain vegetables to not eat them raw … like spinach as they are a Cruciferous vegetable and should not be eaten raw.
http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/think-raw-veggies-are-best-think-again/
I wanted to share and was wondering your opinion on this as you studied it and it is a profession of yours. I wanted to go to the professional rather then listening to a web site post.
Thank you! : ) Eva from Canada.
Willow Moon
I have used avocado in a smoothie a couple of times – I normally use banana. With dates and peppermint extract, this sounds delicious! I love that it’s vegan and gluten free.
melissa gibson
It was amazing! My kids loved it too! Your website is so wonderful, I use it almost daily. Do you know of any nut, sugar and dairy free chocolate chips? I would like to add the chocolate next time; we use Enjoy Life but it has cane syrup?
Dawn Hadley
This is one of my all time favorite green smoothies! I had run out of peppermint extract and kept forgetting to buy it at the store…So glad I remembered to pick some up at Whole Foods this week and this refreshing yummylicious shake is back in rotation…I love this with Kale and coconut milk as well and if your dates have gotten a little hard, they are easy to soften up by soaking them in the “milk” of your choice the night before you are going to use. Thanks Meagan for all your amazing creations!
Stefani
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. My kids always beg me to get shakes on St. Patrick’s Day, and I just can’t do it knowing what is tin them. These were a big hit not only with my family, but all the neighborhood kids. I ending up making three blenders full.
Megan Gilmore
Yay! I’m so glad to hear that!
Erin L
This was SO good. My daughter loved it. Especially with dark chocolate bits in it 😉
Thank you!!
Jen
Of course Megan has just what I am craving and so delicious! I added some Enjoy Life chocolate chips to this and it hit the spot. Yum!
Brianna
Thanks for the avocado substitution suggestion. I’m going to try to make this tonight. Avos are a migraine trigger for me, so I avoid them at all costs.