Green smoothies are my favorite way to start the day, but I’ve been slacking lately because of lack time. To make things easier, I’ve been doing my smoothie prep work all at once with these green smoothie freezer packs. That way, making a nutritious green smoothie every morning is as easy as dumping a freezer pack into the blender and flipping a switch!
Green smoothies are all the rage now since they’re a great way to get a good serving of fruits and vegetables any time of day. It just gets tiring having to pull out several different bags and containers from the fridge and freezer, washing the fruit, then cutting it up, etc. There had to be a better way – and I found it at Live Simply!
How to Make Green Smoothie Freezer Packs
It’s super easy – gather your ingredients, wash and cut them up, then fill up your labeled bags using your favorite recipe! (Recipe ideas at the end of this post.)
Set Up
I get everything prepped and into separate bowls just so it’s easy to grab what I need. Then, it’s as simple as measuring out the different ingredients and adding them to the freezer bag.
I also add a banana to each smoothie pack because they’re naturally very sweet and creamy, and they add some bulk to the smoothie. Pro tip: Whenever I have some bananas at the bottom of the fruit bowl that are too soft and brown to eat on their own, I just peel them and throw them into a freezer bag and save them for smoothies.
Fill Your Bags
I measure out the fruit first and add it to the bag, then I top it off with my greens. The reason for this order is two-fold: 1) when you flip the bag into the blender, the greens are on the bottom and get blended with the liquid base first. 2) If you don’t have a high-speed blender, you can just pull out the greens first and blend them with the liquid base, then add the fruits gradually, blending until smooth.
For the greens, I usually use spinach, kale, or a combination of the two, but you can get adventurous and use other greens like bok choy, dandelion greens, romaine, or swiss chard. Pro tip: When measuring your greens, make sure to tightly pack them into your measuring cup.
Note: You will not be adding your liquid base to the freezer bags. When you’re ready to make your smoothie, you’ll just add the liquid to the bottom of the blender, then top it off with your green smoothie freezer pack.
Label and Freeze Bags
Once you’ve got your bags filled, label them with what’s inside and date them. If you prefer, you can also add notes about how much (and what kind of) liquid base you’ll need to add to the blender. I don’t bother with that because I just choose it on the fly, depending on what I have on hand or what I feel like drinking that morning.
How to Build a Green Smoothie
Building your green smoothie is actually quite easy if you just follow a simple formula. Personally, I stick to the super simple formula from Simple Green Smoothies which, for 2 servings (16 oz each) is:
- 2 cups leafy greens
- 2 cups liquid base
- 2-3 cups fruit
Superfoods & Boosters
To add even more nutritional value to your already healthy green smoothie, try adding 1-2 tablespoons of these boosters and superfoods to the blender when you’re ready to make your smoothie (ie: Don’t add them to the freezer pack). These are great sources of proteins and healthy fats to help make for a more well-rounded smoothie.
- hemp seeds
- chia seeds
- almond butter (store-bought or make your own)
- protein powder
- flax seeds
- greek yogurt (probiotics)
- lemon juice (immune -boosting and helps the body absorb the iron in leafy greens)
Green Smoothie Freezer Pack Recipes
Here are recipes for some of the bags in the photos above:
Strawberry Mango Green Smoothie
- 2 cups greens
- 1 cup strawberries
- 1 cup mangos
- 1 cup water + 1 cup orange juice
Peach Strawberry Green Smoothie
- 2 cups greens
- 1 cup strawberries
- 1 cup peaches
- 1 banana
- 2 cups almond milk
Strawberry Banana Green Smoothie
- 2 cups greens
- 2 cups strawberries
- 1 banana
- 1 cup milk + 1 cup water
Mixed Berry Green Smoothie
- 2 cups greens
- 3 cups mixed berries
- 2 cups water
More Green Smoothie Recipe Ideas
5 Smoothie Recipes | Live Simply
Green Smoothie Recipes | Simple Green Smoothies
Frozen Smoothie Packs | The Earthy Mama
For more green smoothie tips and tricks, check out my other post on How to Make the Perfect Smoothie.
If you prep your green smoothie packs, how long will they last in the freezer.
I’ve gone up to a month with no problems.
Hi – can you tell me why you can’t add the dry ingredients to the other ingredients in the bag before freezing?
You could probably get away with adding the seeds and powders, but of course not the other boosters like nut butter or yogurt, etc.
wow! Your green smoothie freezer packs recipe ideas is great job. I think it is very effective for Weight Loss Challenge! thanks for share…
Just seen these Sainsburys and Ocado too for the days when you’ve run out of your own bags …
how long do you think you can keep bags in freezer – 1 month or more?
I’ve kept them for up to a month without a problem. You do want to watch for freezer burn though, so that would be your indicator.
Hi, Sarah. Thank you for sharing these great ideas. Anything to make “healthy” easier! I was looking over the recipes, and I was surprised that the Strawberry Mango Green Smoothie didn’t have any mango. Is that right?
Oh my goodness, Sarah! That should have 1 cup of mango in there. Thanks for catching that! I’ve fixed it in the post.
Recipes look great but one question: What do you recommend I substitute the banana with as I am allergic to them?
The banana just gives a bit of sweetness and a nice creamy texture to the smoothie. I also like using greek yogurt for the creamy texture. For sweetness, you can try adding some dates or even a bit of honey.
Oh I love this grab and go set up. This kids and I have been drinking smoothies but sometimes miss a day or two when life gets a bit busy. Definitely will be doing this week. Thanks so much for posting this.
I was missing way too many smoothie days because there’s just not enough time in the morning to do all the prep work. These freezer packs make it all so much easier!
What a great idea! One of those “duh” ideas that I wish I had thought of! LOL!!!
What a great idea!! I would love to be this organized.
Great idea! I really like this for an older child or a husband because they are easy to take out and use. Everything is premeasured. This would be great to leave for the family when traveling.
Yep, my husband loves how easy and convenient these are too!
I love how simple these are, but I do wonder, can you taste the greens?
I don’t taste them at all, but I only ever use spinach and kale, and sometimes romaine. Some of the other greens I mention might have a stronger taste, but with some tweaking I think you can find the right fruit/greens combo to mellow it out a bit.
Wow! This is such a good idea. Usually I have mixed berries and bananas frozen, but never thought of freezing them together as packs. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, Amber! It really is such a time saver when you can just dump everything into the blender and go.
I love this Sarah! We are getting a new freezer/fridge today. I can’t wait to stock mine up. This gives no excuse to make a delicious healthy smoothie when your busy. Perfect!
Yay for new fridge/freezer! It’s always great to start with that clean slate, eh? 😉
This is perfect! Just what I needed to feel better about some changes I’m making here. Thank you!
You’re very welcome, Shary! And good luck on your new endeavors 🙂
I have just discovered green smoothies, and I am totally obsessed. This is a great idea to make it a little more do-able when you’re busy. I love all the flavor combination ideas too. So far I haven’t made it past spinach and banana.
It does become an obsession once you start experimenting with different flavor combos!
I feel that everything in here is totally doable. 🙂 I’ll definitely do these and make some versions of my own out of your suggestions.
Looks good! Simple and easy and your ingredients will stay good so I can switch around what I’m drinking every day. I just thew out nearly a whole bag of spinach as I couldn’t use it fast enough.