Basic Green Thickie Recipe
Create your own recipes from this base
This post should really have been my very first recipe! However here we are, 76 recipes down the line and I’m being asked all the time, ‘where is your basic green thickie recipe?’. I usually just tell people to make whichever recipe they like, but I do think there is a need to have a very basic recipe that you can tweak to suit your own needs, so here it is, the basic green thickie recipe.
A green thickie is a complete meal, not just your ordinary green smoothie. This is because it contains filling carbs so you get your breakfast or lunch all in one glass and don’t have to make numerous meals. We are busy people and I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the time to make myself multiple breakfasts. This drink gives you everything you need, your drink, your carbs, nutrients, protein, iron etc. It’s all there.
A green thickie is not intended to be a very low calorie drink as it is a complete meal. However you can definitely lose weight by incorporating them into your diet. I think it’s important to get a good number of calories at the start of the day as that’s when we most need most energy and help staving off hunger pangs and cravings for unhealthy foods.
This basic green thickie recipe contains 419 calories. I think this is a good amount of calories for most people to eat for breakfast, but the great thing about them is that you can reduce some of the ingredients to save calories or add in extra ingredients to fill yourself even more. We all have different calories needs so we all need different amounts of food. This recipe is for 2 servings. Each serving is about 1 pint (500ml or just over 2 cups) So you can either drink one for breakfast and one for lunch, save one for tomorrow, share it with someone or if you are extra hungry or need extra calories, drink them both (I often do this).
You can also tweak the ingredients to suit your own taste, budget, food availability and nutrients required. You can pretty much put anything in a green thickie and be able to enhance the flavours or hide them. For example, the taste of spinach is hidden as it’s dominated by sweet fruit, but you could add in some more powerful flavours such as mint to make that the most dominant taste.
Play around with this recipe, add things in and see what works, and let me know if you’ve got a fantastic recipe to share.
Basic Green Thickie Recipe
There are 6 basic ingredients in a green thickie:
- Liquids (water, milk or juice)
- Greens (Spinach, Chard, Collard Greens, Lettuce, Kale or other mild greens)
- Fruit (Add any fruit you like, you don’t have to worry about adding creamy fruit as the oats provide the creaminess)
- Carbs (Oats, Quinoa, Buckwheat, Sweet Potato)
- Seeds or nuts (Any plain seeds or nuts can be added)
- Sweetener (If it needs it add in some healthy sweetener. I prefer to use whole foods so mostly use dates/ date paste)
For more ideas on creating your own smoothie you can read this guide on How to make a Green Thickie. Or read this guide on How to make a smoothie perfect every time. Or you can find my complete selection of Green Thickie Recipes here.
Other news
Green Thickies co-hosts a blog hop called Healthy Vegan Fridays. You can find some other great healthy recipes and health articles there. You can submit your post from Friday until the end of Tuesday.
I also blog over at Love Health Love Life where I share my personal health experiments and you can read what does and doesn’t work for me. Check out my latest article: Could you be suffering from Vitamin D Deficiency Fatigue? My experiments with vitamin D
Basic Green Thickie Recipe
Print recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups Water (Or use dairy free milk or freshly squeezed fruit/veg juice)
- 2 cups Spinach (Or use Chard, Collard Greens, Lettuce, Kale or other mild greens)
- 1 cup Oats (Or use quinoa, buckwheat or sweet potato)
- 2 medium Bananas (Or 2 small mangos (or 2-4 cups of any other fruit e.g. berries))
- 1/4 cup Sunflower Seeds (Or any other plain seeds or nuts (unsalted and un-roasted))
- 1/4 cup Dates (Or date paste, other dried fruit or healthy sweetener to taste)
Directions
| Step 1 | |
| Blend until smooth. | |
Note
Blend the ingredients in the order listed. If you are making a green smoothie blend the greens and liquid first and then blend the rest of the ingredients. This creates more space in your blender. Add more water if required to thin it out. Substitute any of the ingredients for whatever you already have. If your smoothie is too warm, you can cool it down in the fridge or freeze some of your ingredients before blending. You can also replace half of the liquids with ice. Add the ice at the end. It is better to add frozen ingredients at the end to cool the smoothie down.
NOTE: This smoothie serves 2 but if you have an active job, do work outs or have higher calorie requirements you may need to drink both servings.
If you are new to Green Thickies and have more questions about making the perfect green thickie, please read this guide on How to make a Green Thickie. Or read this guide on How to make a smoothie perfect every time.
Find out more about adding OATS or QUINOA to your smoothies.
The RECIPE for DATE PASTE can be found here.
Suitable for Special Diets: Gluten free (Use GF Oats or Quinoa), raw (Use raw oats/quinoa), vegetarian, vegan, dairy free, egg free, refined sugar free, wheat free, soya free (don’t use soya milk), salt free (don't add salt), nut free (replace nuts with sunflower or pumpkin seeds. This doesn't include coconuts)
* If you want to check if you can drink green thickies on your special diet,) please read this first. This will suggest some substitutions so you can still enjoy Green Thickies with ingredients you can tolerate.
This post has been shared with these Fabulous blog hops.
Green Thickies also co-hosts a blog hop, Healthy Vegan Fridays so join us on Friday to find fabulous health related articles and healthy recipes..
The best type of blender to make Green Thickies is a Vitamix and you will get beautifully smooth Green Thickies, but you can use whatever type of blender you have or can afford. This blender
is reasonably priced and will easily make green thickies along with lots of other delicious food.
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Hi, I'm Katherine, thanks for stopping by. I healed myself of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and lost 56 pounds. I now have loads of energy for my baby girl and enjoy walks on the beach with my family. I am passionate about helping you improve your health and reach your ideal weight. I invented Green Thickies to provide a complete meal drink for busy people who care about their health.
Hi Katherine,
What are your thoughts on food combining, and having oats and fruit together in the thickies? I thought that they were not a good combination for digestive health?
Thanks!
Ally
Hi Ally. This is a very common question that I get asked so I intend to blog about it this week. Stay tuned! Thanks for the inspiration!
I added up all the calories from one thickie on “my fitness pal”.
It calculated 551 without the seeds and only 1 date.
(I used 2 cups spinach, 2 cups of mixed berries, 1 cup oats,
1 date and water) Am I adding too much stuff?
That sounds about right. Green Thickies are supposed to be very filling as they keep you going for a long time. If you want to cut back on the calories just add less oats. I usually use 1 cup of oats for 2 servings of Green Thickies, so if this is just for you, you might want to try just adding half a cup of oats.
Hi Katherine,
Thanks for the recipes, I am a new fan!
However, I am a bit confused about the energy value. You write that the recipe portion contains 2 servings and 419 calories. So each serving is 491 calories/2 = 245 calories, right? In the nutrition fact box below one serving equals one recipe equals 419 calories! Could you please clear this up for me – and I apologise if I am asking an obvious question!
Many thanks!
Hi Katherine,
I have a clarifying question… Would the quinoa or oat be raw or precooked? I’m a smoothie-making pro, but I’ve never thought to add oats or quinoa so I thank you for the tip and recipes.
Best,
Jess
I found this recipe yesterday and purchased the ingredients today because I wanted to try it ASAP. I like the flavor VERY much and it is definitely sweet enough with the bananas and dates. My issue is that the consistency feels weird in my mouth and I have to make the conscious effort to swallow it. I came back to the website to see if anyone else mentioned anything like that but then I read about using a vitamix blender to make it smoother. My problem is that I have a regular blender that probably doesn’t blend nearly as well. So I put it back in the blender for much longer. It is a better consistency but it will still take getting used to. Maybe for those with a regular blender like me it may work better with a nut butter and spinach powder to smooth it out a bit more. Your thoughts?
Nichole,
I have used similar recipes for a long time and just have a standard blender. What I do is portion the spinach out and freeze it ahead of time.
As far as the oats and nuts, I throw them in the blender first and grind it to almost a powder consistency. Then, I throw in the frozen spinach & water and blend until smooth. Then, proceed with the rest of the ingredients. Works every time.
Thanks for a great recipe! I tried it yesterday and again today, and I’m really enjoying it : )
I’ve previously found the flavor of greens in a smoothie to be pretty assertive – needing extra sweetener. But with your recipe, the oats balance the flavor of the greens so nicely that I didn’t need the dates at all! The Banana made it just properly sweet. (I omitted the nuts/seeds too, and used a frozen banana)
I really enjoy these, and feel like they’re a great addition to my diet & my health. Thanks : )
Thanks for a great idea, Katherine! I tried one of these a couple of days ago, and am really enjoying it. I never had thought of putting oats in a smoothie, and it really makes all the difference. Not only does it make the smoothie more substantial & healthful, but it also balances the assertive flavor of the greens, allowing me to reduce the sweetener.
Of course, I tweaked it a little to my personal preferences – I’m using a frozen banana, and omitting the dates (already sweet enough for me) and omitting seeds/nuts (I try to limit my intake of high-fat foods – even healthy fats).
Thanks for a wonderful idea – I’m looking forward to having another one in just a few minutes, now : )
Sorry about the redundant posts above! I got an error message after the first one, so re-entered it, not realizing it was posting.
I just wanted to add that I use an inexpensive 2 cup capacity food processor (a Sunbeam Oskar) to make this, and it works great. I believe that I bought it for $2.99 at the thrift store, and they usually retail for 20-something dollars. No expensive equipment needed for this recipe : )
Wow, what a great story! Thanks so much for sharing your journey. I’ve gone through phases of enjoying green smoothies, but right now I’m on a weight loss program like the high protein/low carb diet you tried but made you sick. I’ve lost 30 lbs, but I’ve been thinking of switching because of the disruption to my elimination that it has caused.
I’m excited to have my first ‘Thickie’ tomorrow morning!
Hi Katherine, can you recommend me a kind of recipe smoothie that i can make and take everyday for breakfast lunch and dinner? I don’t wanna eat solid foods. i just want to try what you’ve tried with the smoothie and take regular exercise. Can you make me a simple recipe please…. =”(