It’s January, people! Which means….
Fat pants – you’re on the bench. Skinny jeans – suit up. ? ? ?
Had a little too much high carb fun the last few weeks?
Panicking now because bathing suit season is only 4 months away? ? ? ?
I feel your pain! (Like REALLY, I do.) ? ? ?
If you’re like me and have been eating carbs like it was your job lately, then you’re probably feeling pretty lousy right now. Bad news is, it gets worse before it gets better. I’m on day 3 of the 3 Day Keto Kickstart Plan and I have no energy and a headache from detoxing all the carbs and gluten I’ve been eating for the past few weeks.
I’ve lost four pounds already though so there’s that at least! AND I know that the detox phase only lasts a couple of days, so I’m ready to gut it out and get back to work! ? ? ?
This low carb green smoothie isn’t on any of my existing Keto Weekly Menu Plans (yet) because I’ve only just FINALLY come up with a healthy green smoothie that isn’t loaded with carb heavy fruits to make it palatable!
Seriously, I’ve been trying to accomplish this for quite awhile with a variety of healthy greens, veggies, and a minimum amount of fruits. I’ve had some major fails – at least in the flavor department, but I’ve soldiered on.
I’m excited to say that this low carb green smoothie that I’m sharing today is everything you’d want a green smoothie to be! It’s creamy, refreshing, and has just enough sweetness to make it perfectly balanced.
So why should you even care? Should you be drinking green smoothies on a low carb diet?
Absolutely YES! ?
One of the downfalls of a low carb diet if you aren’t careful is a lack of Vitamin C and other important nutrients that you get from veggies and the occasional fruit.
You can supplement some things in pill form, but the best way to get vitamins and antioxidants is directly from a food source – and preferably raw. There are many enzymes in raw foods that help your body perform necessary functions – also the fiber is essential to keeping your micro biome of healthy bacteria alive and thriving.
I personally believe that low carb stopped working as well for me a couple of years ago because I wasn’t paying attention and ensuring that I was getting plenty of fiber and vitamins from raw veggies. I think my good gut bacteria died off and I ended up with leaky gut and adult onset food allergies as a result.
Since then, I’ve been focusing on rebuilding my micro biome with lots of healthy fermented foods, and ensuring that the little beasties have plenty to eat in the form of fibrous veggies and leafy greens.
I’m not a huge salad person, so in the past while eating low carb I would tend to eat most of my veggies cooked, and rarely ate leafy greens. A smoothie like this one is perfect for those of us who don’t enjoy a big bowl of salad every day – you get lots of micronutrients and antioxidants, in a tasty format that is easy to slug down with breakfast (or anytime.)
Another benefit of going the smoothie route rather than simply eating the same ingredients in salad form, is that blending them breaks down the cell walls better than chewing them ever could, releasing all of those nutrients into an easy to digest format.
I bought a Vitamix blender years ago and love it for all the many tasks it can perform with ease, but for this particular smoothie it’s not necessary. Any blender or even a magic bullet will be able to make this smoothie, because the romaine and other ingredients break down pretty easily – as opposed to kale which needs the more powerful blender to truly break down.
If you’re using a lower powered blender just be sure to mince your ginger well and cut your pineapple into smaller chunks so that it breaks down nicely and doesn’t leave you with stringy pieces in your smoothie.
If you’ve got family members (especially kids) who aren’t big on vegetables, a smoothie like this one is a great way to get some healthy greens and hydrating fruits and veggies into them without a big fight. Hungry Jr. has been drinking green smoothies since he was a toddler and he loves them!
For your non-low carb family members, feel free to add a little extra fruit to make it even sweeter – whatever it takes to get them to drink it!
I boosted the sweetness slightly in this version with some erythritol but you may not need to. It really depends on how sweet your batch of fruits and veggies is and it varies widely depending the season and the ripeness of what you’re using.
As you get used to drinking green smoothies, I also find that your tolerance for the green flavor will grow, and the need for sweetness to offset it will lessen. But to get you started, feel free to sweeten it with a low carb sweetener to taste!
This low carb green smoothie recipe is also dairy free – it gets healthy fats and a creamy, rich texture from the avocado, which also tones down the greens flavor that some people find hard to get used to.
This healthy and refreshing green smoothie will be a staple for me moving forward, and at only 3g net carbs per cup, I can easily fit it into my carb budget every day! And so can you!
Notes: This recipe makes six 1 cup servings, but you can drink 2 cups per day if you make room in your carb budget, giving you three days worth for one person. If you only want to drink 1 cup per day and don’t have anyone to share it with, I recommend making it in smaller batches as the flavor and health benefits deteriorate the longer you keep it in the fridge.
IBIH Low Carb Green Smoothie – Dairy Free
- Yield: 6 one cup servings 1x
Description
This low carb green smoothie is healthy and refreshing, without all of the sugar and carbs of a traditional green smoothie! Keto and Paleo friendly!
Ingredients
- 4 cups filtered water
- 1 cup romaine lettuce
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh pineapple
- 2 Tbsp fresh parsley
- 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup raw cucumber, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 cup kiwi fruit, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 Hass avocado (remove pit and scoop flesh out of shell)
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar substitute (I used Swerve)
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve cold. Leftovers will keep several days in the fridge, shake well before serving.
Notes
Approx nutrition info per one cup serving: 37 calories, 2g fat, 3g net carbs, 1g protein
- Category: Low Carb Smoothie Recipes
- Cuisine: American
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Jennifer Parker-Kienutske says
Love this one
I don’t use kiwi, parsley or cucumber in it often but it is my go to!!
kate says
what if Kiwi is not in season can something else low carb be substituted?
Gruffalo says
This is a minor niggle, but it would be incredibly useful to have the quantities in weight (grams) rather than just cups.
Volume is a notoriously inaccurate method of measurement when it comes to cooking, and I can imagine the macros could change quite a lot depending on how finely something is chopped or how efficiently packed into the measuring cup.
It would also make it much easier to divide or multiply the quantities.
The recipe itself is awesome, but please, please add weights!
Rebecca Ching says
Hi Melissa,
I have been a fan of your Blog and website (not to mention I have purchased two of your recipe books.
Unfortunately, I have had to change to a Vegan diet (boy do I miss my Bacon) so I am trying to find Vegan Low Carb recipes and this one works well…THANK You !!
Have you thought of trying to pull together Vegan Low Carb recipes to add to your monthly blog or maybe even a recipe book ?
Well Cheers to you and your adventures in Belize !
Becca
Amber says
Would this work well with an orange flavor? After gallbladder surgery I have not been able to tolerate a low carb diet (fiber and protein both are killing me). My doctor and I are certain that low carb is the only thing that will help me lose weight and stabilize blood sugars, so we’re trying multiple methods to help get me back on the wagon.
He’s proscribed this nasty medicine which has to be drunk and the flavor can best be described as tang with grit/jello in it. It’s terrible. I was hoping blending it throughly with a low-carb smoothie would help it be tolerable and thought this might be a good place to start. What do you think?
Mellissa Sevigny says
I’m sure it would be fine with an orange flavor added Amber!
Amber says
It works great! I’ve been using it for four days and haven’t once had a problem taking this medicine! You rock!
When you get a chance, a low-carb smoothie series would be muchly appreciated. Most of the ones floating around the Internet clock in at 15-20g of carbs (almost a whole day’s worth)!
Thank you for all your great recipes. :)
Grace says
How about taking bile salts to break up fats? Especially necessary without a gallbladdder. Dr Berg offers a great one .
Fran says
I have just started on green smoothies & can’t believe how much I love them ( even crave them).
I hope my smoothie is healthy & low carb.
A handful of frozen mixed berries or just blueberrys.
A handful of baby spinach.
A handful of kale.
A stick of celery
1/4 avocado
Fresh mint leaves, fresh parsley, fresh brahmie
200ml coconut water.
1tbs of coconut oil
1/4 cucumber ( if I have it )
& sometimes 1 tbs of chia (when I remember)
Blended together.
Can you tell me if this is low carb.
Carissa says
I would just check the carb content on your coconut water, one I had the other day was 16g per 8oz, which is a bummer if you’re keto. I like to smuggle coconut water into the movies with me when I go to keep myself away from soda, as part of an “indulgence” meal :D Your recipe sounds great though, as does the one posted! I’ve been doing romaine and/or spinach, cellery, cucumber, half a green apple, 1tbsp coconut oil and 6oz strong brewed green tea – major energy!! The idea of kiwi, pineapple, and avocado sounds awesome and I can’t wait to try it, thanks Melissa!
Mike says
You talk about low carbs. But I thought fruits like pineapple and kiwi were very high on carbs ?? On the beginning stages of low carb diets aren’t we suppose to stay away from high sugar fruits like pinnaple ?
Mellissa Sevigny says
If you eat an entire pineapple yes it will cause you a problem. But the small amounts in this smoothie are accounted for in the carb count per serving. As long as you stay at 20-30g net carbs per day it doesn’t matter where those carbs come from to stay in ketosis. But fruit is certainly a more healthy carb option than say beer or pizza – which you can also technically have if you keep your total net carbs per day within the keto limit.
Charly says
I wanted to know how many is okay to drink a day and do I just drink that and nothing else. Can I have one for breakfast then a small snacks have one for lunch small snacks then have dinner and then a small snack just after dinner I’ve been on a low carb diet since June of last year lost 60 lbs since then just looking for something on the go i can crab and go.
Cathy S. says
Ok – very very good. I froze some in jars and took to work for afternoon “snack” Super pick me up. thaw, shake and enjoy. As if you just made it.
Julie says
I made this today & was pleasantly surprised at how good it is, but it was a little bit gritty from the kiwi seeds and perhaps the parsley. If I strain it, will I lose any valuable nutrients? Perhaps I need a different blender??