Healthy Copycat Shamrock Shake

4.75 from 4 votes
•62 comments
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February 20, 2020
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Satisfy your milkshake cravings with a naturally green Mint Smoothie. This healthy Copycat Shamrock Shake recipe is sweet, creamy, and refreshing, just like the McDonald’s dessert. But it doesn’t have all the sugar and artificial ingredients and colors. Feel good about enjoying one for breakfast or as a protein-packed snack.

Want something chocolaty? Try a Chocolate Mint Smoothie!

A green mint smoothie in a milkshake glass with two striped straws on top of cloth napkins and a small piece of burlap.

Green Mint Smoothie – A Healthy Shamrock Shake Recipe

Every year I find myself craving a Shamrock Shake from McDonald’s and looking for that year’s release date. But then I remember the last time one – ever since they started adding whipped cream and a cherry, they just aren’t like the ones from my childhood.

So I thought I could indulge that craving in a healthy way by turning it into a mint smoothie. With natural, real ingredients, it’s healthy enough to be breakfast-worthy, but sweet and yummy enough for dessert. And that’s without any added sugar or even green food coloring.

Now you don’t have to wait for Shamrock Shakes to come around again because you can enjoy it any time of the day and year! And it’s definitely better and better-for-you than McDonald’s!

And if you want to add it to your St. Patrick’s Day celebration, you can enjoy it after you’ve had Easy Crockpot Corned Beef or Easy Shepherd’s Pie for dinner.

Looking down at the top of a green mint smoothie in a glass with two straws, one pink and white striped and one green and white striped.

How bad is a Shamrock Shake for you?

The claim of only a handful of ingredients in a Shamrock Shake – vanilla reduced fat ice cream, shamrock shake syrup, whipped topping, and a maraschino cherry – really covers up a laundry list of sweeteners, artificial colors and flavors, and preservatives.

One shake has more added sugar than you should have in a day and nearly 500 calories in a SMALL!

While it’s totally fine to indulge sometimes, this is one dessert I just don’t love enough to want to have it as one of my treats. I totally prefer this healthy copycat Shamrock Shake!

Are Shamrock Shakes gluten free?

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 the ingredients are gluten free.

A green mint smoothie in a milkshake glass with two striped straws.

Mint Smoothie Ingredients

Here’s a quick list of what you’ll need. The full amounts can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

  • Spinach or kale. I prefer baby spinach because you get the nutrition of dark leafy greens with a more mild flavor, and it completely disintegrates when you blend it. But you can use kale or your choice of greens.
  • Milk. Use your favorite dairy or non-dairy milk. 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 because it blends totally smooth without the tart flavor of the yogurt. And it has just as much protein.
  • Banana. Prepare in advance by making sure you have some frozen bananas.
  • Mint extract and vanilla extract. McCormick and Nielsen & Massey are brands that are gluten free. You can also feel free to add more mint extract if you want a more minty flavor.
  • Ice cubes. Enough to achieve the consistency you like.
  • 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.

How to Make a Healthy Copycat Shamrock Shake

Add spinach or kale, milk, Greek yogurt or cottage cheese, frozen banana, mint extract, vanilla extract, and ice to your blender in that order. Then all you have to do is blend until smooth. You can also adjust the sweetness of your mint smoothie if needed with your desired sweetener.

A shamrock shake smoothie in a glass with a pink and white straw and a green and white straw.
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.

Looking down at the top of a green mint smoothie in a glass with two straws, one pink and white striped and one green and white striped.
4.8 from 4 votes

Mint Smoothie – Healthy Copycat Shamrock Shake

Satisfy your milkshake cravings with a naturally green Mint Smoothie. This healthy Copycat Shamrock Shake recipe is sweet, creamy, and refreshing, just like the McDonald's dessert. But it doesn't have all the sugar and artificial ingredients and colors. Feel good about enjoying one for breakfast or as a protein-packed snack.
Prep: 5 minutes
Total: 5 minutes
Servings: 1

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 Facts
Mint Smoothie – Healthy Copycat Shamrock Shake
Amount Per Serving (1 g)
Calories 211 Calories from Fat 27
% Daily Value*
Fat 3g5%
Cholesterol 5mg2%
Sodium 377mg16%
Potassium 647mg18%
Carbohydrates 32g11%
Fiber 4g16%
Sugar 18g20%
Protein 13g26%
Vitamin A 1480IU30%
Vitamin C 14.5mg18%
Calcium 425mg43%
Iron 0.7mg4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Author: Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips
Course: Breakfast, Drinks, Smoothie, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keywords: green smoothies, mint smoothie, smoothie recipe
Looking down at the top of a green mint smoothie in a glass with two straws, one pink and white striped and one green and white striped.

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62 Comments
  1. Lisa
    Reply

    Just because something is green and slap a silly name to it, doesn’t make it Irish. From what I’ve read there is nothing close to Irish here.

  5. Donna | Healthy Food Tribe
    Reply

    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!

    1. Brianne Cupcakes & Kale Chips
      Reply

      What a great tip, Donna! Thank you for sharing that. I’ll have to start saving up avocado pits now. 🙂

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    […] Kale is what gives this healthy drink its color plus a little vitamin K. Get the recipe from Cupcakes and Kale Chips […]

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  30. Adelina Priddis
    Reply

    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.

  31. Lydia
    Reply

    5 stars
    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!

  36. Quinn
    Reply

    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!

  46. Friday Fun! March 23, 2012 | Cupcakes & Kale Chips
    Reply

    […] Shamrock Green Smoothie was a hit at home and in cyberspace.  I might have had a couple more after the one I had Saturday […]

  48. Lisa
    Reply

    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 🙂

  49. Em (Wine and Butter)
    Reply

    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!

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Welcome to Cupcakes & Kale Chips, where I share gluten free recipes & kid-tested family favorites!

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