Healthy Shamrock Shake – Naturally Green Mint Smoothie Recipe
A Healthy Shamrock Shake recipe will satisfy your minty milkshake craving, but without the extra sugar, crazy ingredients, or artificial colors. Yes, this naturally green mint smoothie has the refreshing flavor and creamy texture you love. But this good-for-you copycat is made with all real ingredients. So you can feel good about enjoying a Shamrock Shake smoothie for breakfast, as a protein-packed snack, or even a healthy dessert!
I have been dying to get myself a Shamrock Shake from McDonald’s. But then I remember that the last time I had one, I wasn’t thrilled.
I rarely indulge in a McDonald’s milkshake, but I don’t think they have been the same since they started putting whipped cream and a cherry on top. I mean, this is McDonald’s, not an ice cream parlor, or even a diner. Their food isn’t supposed to come with garnish.
Then I saw someone post the list of what is in a Shamrock Shake. Not that I don’t ever consume those ingredients – I do love McDonald’s plain old vanilla ice cream from time to time. And the ice cream is the main component of the shake.
But it wasn’t worth the calories or chemicals for something I don’t really love.
Yet on St. Patrick’s Day, the idea of a Shamrock Shake for breakfast seems like the way to celebrate. And then after Easy Crockpot Corned Beef or Easy Shepherd’s Pie for your gluten free St. Patrick’s Day dinner, why not have another one for a healthy dessert?!
Shamrock Shake Green Smoothie
This healthy Shamrock Shake smoothie will totally satisfy your craving for that minty milkshake. It’s sweet and creamy, and, in my opinion, perfectly minty. And definitely better and better-for-you than McDonald’s!
Honestly, I am not a huge mint person, so this is admittedly a little light on the mint. If you like things really minty, go ahead and add more mint extract. And no, you can’t taste the spinach or kale, and if you blend it up, you don’t even know it is there, other than the lovely green color it gives the smoothie.
Are Shamrock Shakes gluten free?
Gluten Free Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. This information is solely based on my research and personal experience, and I provide it as a courtesy to my readers. Please consult your doctor or medical professional for any questions as it relates to your needs, particularly if you have celiac disease or a severe gluten allergy or intolerance. Products, manufacturing facilities, and ingredients change frequently, so you should always contact the manufacturer for the latest information.
McDonald’s does not promote any of their food products as gluten free. However, Shamrock Shakes do not have any gluten-containing ingredients. And the risk of cross-contamination is fairly low.
But if you want to be 100% sure, your best bet is to make it a home. Then you can be totally confident your mint smoothie is safe since all of these ingredients are gluten free.
Additionally, if you make a healthy Shamrock Shake, you can get the flavors you love without all the extra sugar and artificial ingredients.
What is in a Healthy Copycat Shamrock Shake?
- Spinach or kale – I prefer to use baby spinach. You get the nutrition of dark leafy greens but without an undertone of flavor. And it completely disintegrates when you blend it. But you can use kale or your choice of greens.
- Milk – you can use your favorite dairy or non-dairy milk of choice. For smoothies, I prefer Silk unsweetened vanilla almond milk.
- Plain Greek yogurt or cottage cheese – most people like to use yogurt in their smoothies. I actually prefer cottage cheese. It blends totally smooth without the tartness of yogurt. It has just as much protein. And the bit of salt enhances the sweet flavors of the smoothie recipe.
- Banana – prepare in advance by making sure you have a nice ripe and sweet banana in your freezer. Break it into chunks and throw it in the freezer at night for a breakfast smoothie. Or if you forgot at night, freeze it in the morning so you can have one as a healthy dessert.
- Mint extract and vanilla extract – these are typically gluten free, but do be sure they are not made with grain alcohols if you are sensitive. McCormick and Nielsen & Massey are safe options.
- Ice cubes
- Optional sweetener – if your banana isn’t ripe and sweet enough, you might choose to add a bit of honey, Swerve, stevia, or another sweetener.
BRIANNE’S FAVORITE BLENDER
I always recommend a high-powered blender like the Blendtec for the smoothest, most creamy smoothies. The Mini Wildside+ Jar is the perfect size for one or two smoothies. You can even use the “Smoothie” setting to have it gradually increase the speed to perfectly incorporate the liquids and frozen ingredients. Note, I do usually stop it a little before the cycle is over because I prefer an extra thick smoothie.
I am a Blendtec ambassador, and should you make any purchases through my Blendtec Store link, I will receive a small commission, but that also means you can use the code CUPCAKESANDKALECHIPS to receive 20% off.
How to make a healthy Shamrock Shake smoothie:
- Add spinach or kale, milk, Greek yogurt or cottage cheese, frozen banana, mint extract, vanilla extract, and ice to your blender.
- Then all you have to do is blend until smooth. You can also adjust the sweetness if needed with your desired sweetener.
What other mint recipes can you make?
- Mint Chocolate Chip Glazed Popcorn
- Chocolate Mint Smoothie
- No-Churn Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake
- Gluten Free Double Chocolate Mint Cookies
- And if that’s not enough, check out 17 Chocolate Mint Recipes and 35 Mint Chocolate Chip Dessert Recipes!
More of my most popular smoothie recipes:
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
- Cherry Cheesecake Smoothie
- Almond Butter Blueberry Smoothie
- Creamsicle Orange Smoothie
Healthy Shamrock Shake Recipe
With natural, real ingredients, this mint smoothie is definitely healthy enough to be breakfast-worthy. But it’s definitely still sweet and yummy enough for dessert, just like your favorite mint milkshake. And that’s without any added sugar, or even any green food coloring. It’s made with all real and gluten free ingredients, so you can enjoy a naturally green smoothie any time of the day and year!
I hope you’ll leave a comment and give it a FIVE STAR rating or share a review on Pinterest or photo on Instagram!
Tag me @cupcakekalechip and use #cupcakesandkalechips!
Healthy Shamrock Shake Mint Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup baby spinach or kale or other dark, leafy green of your choice
- 1 cup milk of choice
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt or cottage cheese
- 1 frozen really ripe banana
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon mint extract (or more, if desired)
- 4 ice cubes I used 4 regular-sized ones. This was probably about 3/4 cup. Adjust accordingly based on the size of your ice cubes and how icy you want it.
- Optional, honey, stevia, etc., if needed, depending on how ripe and sweet your banana is
Instructions
- Put all ingredients into a blender in the order listed, and blend until smooth.
- Pour into a glass to serve.
Nutrition
Enjoy! Originally published on March 17, 2012. Photos updated on March 3, 2016.
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Donna | Healthy Food Tribe says
This is a very interesting recipe indeed, thanks for sharing Brianna! One thing I’ve been doing lately is blending avocado seeds, they’re a great source of antioxidants and fiber. So whenever I eat an avocado, I keep the seed for later and just add it as an extra ingredient to my next green smoothie. If there’s enough fresh fruit in there, you can hardly taste the avocado seed. Worth a try!
Brianne Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
What a great tip, Donna! Thank you for sharing that. I’ll have to start saving up avocado pits now. 🙂
Nikita Arora says
My mouth is watering just reading this and looking at the pics, this sounds like perfect comfort drink after a long day.
Brianne Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
Thank you, Nikita!
Roshani Khanna says
Oh my gosh this looks so good! I am over here drooling over this dish right now. I am all over this. I can’t even stop starring.
Brianne Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
Thank you so much!
Taylor M says
I’m not sure what exactly I did wrong but mine tasted like banana flavored tooth paste????
Lauren Deegan says
This was a great idea to get the kids in my family to eat their greens without them knowing.
Nishan Parikh says
This tastes nothing like shamrock shake. Booo
Nishan Parikh says
And my mom is making me drink it
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
SO MUCH BETTER than all that gunk that’s in the Mickey D’s shake! This looks much tastier!
Abby (@ No Fail recipes) says
I have a hard time getting my family to eat enough greens but I’m pretty sure this recipe will help solve that.
Adelina Priddis says
I really need to keep some mint extract in the house.. I want if just a couple mint leaves though would give it the same flavor? hmmm, must go experiment, since I don’t feel like shopping today, lol.
Brianne Izzo says
I bet it would work!!
Lydia says
I made this smoothie for breakfast this morning, and it is sooo good! I was a little skeptical at first, because I wasn’t sure how all those ingredients could taste remotely like a shamrock shake, but I was pleasantly surprised! I didn’t have any mint extract on hand, but I did have peppermint coffee syrup. I used about 2-3 TB of that, it was delectable! I also upped the banana to 1 1/2 to make it a little creamier and used spinach for the green and vanilla almond milk. This is definitely a smoothie I will be making again! Thank you for the delicious recipe!
Brianne Izzo says
So glad you tweaked it to make it your own!
Becca from It's Yummi! says
I have a couple of similar recipes on my blog, Brianne, but I love the shamrock shake take on yours! PINNED 🙂
Brianne Izzo says
Thanks Becca! Green smoothies passing themselves off as shakes is never a bad thing!
Quinn says
If I’m doing a low-carb, very low-sugar meal plan, would you suggest an alternative to the banana? I know that helps with the consistency, but I am only eating berries, lemons, and limes for fruit. Thanks! It looks delicious!
Brianne Izzo says
Hmmm, the banana gives the texture and sweetness. Perhaps avocado and some stevia or other sweetener?
Are says
Would substituting the mint extract for mint leaves yield the same results?
Brianne Izzo says
I would think so, though I haven’t tried it, so you might have to experiment with the amount.
Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
Thank you, and thanks for checking it out. I am in the midst of a big re-design, so hopefully you’ll check back and see lots of good changes.
Katherine Martinelli says
This looks way better than anything at McDonald’s! Thanks for linking up at my blog hop 🙂 Pinned!
Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
Thanks. So happy I found your blog and blog hop.
Lisa says
This shamrock shake version is definitely more my speed than McD’s…..not to say I wouldn’t probably enjoy the “real” (but really artificial!) thing, but that ingredient list does burn me a little….
I had one 3 years ago and was disappointed, so since then, I’ve just made my own versions (some gross…especially the more health I try to make it)… Yours looks pretty and delish–thanks for sharing 🙂
Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
It was really good. I made another one for Tyler and I for a snack later in the day 🙂
Em (Wine and Butter) says
OMG – my St Paddys day post is exactly the same!! Well… slight variation on the green smoothie (coconut milk!!) but same basic theme. How funny!!! (although I have yet to post SO please please know there was no copying involved 🙂 ).
Happy ST Paddys day to you and Bug!
Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips says
No worries! There seem to be a million variations on this theme floating around out there this week 🙂 Hope you have something fun planned!