People who love green smoothies are no strangers to blending leafy greens. However, making green smoothies doesn’t always have to end up that way. If you’re tired of tasting grassy smoothies, think outside the leafy green box the next time you fire up the blender. Plus, adding non-leafy vegetables increases the amount of fiber in the smoothies and enhances the smoothie’s sweetness. You’ll be ingesting more complex vitamins and minerals, which means a happier skin, healthier immune system, and easier digestion.
The flavors that the vegetable may add to your smoothie will vary greatly. Some will add sweetness, some will add a bit of earthy green flavors, while some fade into the background but can add thickness and texture to the smoothie.
Here are some vegetables you can add to smoothies besides those leafy greens you usually use
1. Squash
Squash is a flexible vegetable with an impressive list of health benefits. The squash family includes butternut, summer, winter, pumpkin, acorn, and zucchini. Adding squash to your smoothie will give it an extra dose of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, manganese, and fiber. It’s also a great source of carotenoids and other inflammatory and antioxidant compounds. It also supports healthy eyes and skin and a stronger immune system.
Taste:
Squash is slightly sweet, extremely mild, smooth, and creamy. It works perfectly as a creamy smoothie base.
How to use in smoothies:
Use fresh slices of squash, or cook chunks and freeze it. Better yet, make puree squash, freeze them in ice cube trays, and then pop it into Ziplock bags. Freeze them for conveniently proportional frozen squash cubes. Squash blends really well with orange, dates, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, and turmeric. Because of its mild taste, you can add it to pretty much anything that you want creamy.
2. Cucumbers
Low in calories, high in water content, and rich in nutrition, cucumbers are one of the best vegetables you can add to your green smoothie taste-wise. Cucumbers are known to be refreshing and hydrating, making it perfect for adding to a cold smoothie drink. It contains vitamin B, vitamin K, vitamin C, potassium, copper, and manganese. It also provides antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.
Taste:
Cucumber has a mild and refreshing flavor. It can be slightly bitter, depending on growing conditions.
How to use in smoothies:
You can use cucumbers fresh or frozen, peeled, or unpeeled. For best results, use peeled and frozen cucumber chunks. Cucumber mixes well with leafy greens, carrots, and tomatoes. They blend perfectly with lemon, lime, dill, basil, and mint. Cucumber is usually mixed with most fruits such as pineapple, watermelon, apple, mango, and even berries.
3. Sweet potatoes
Sweet potato is a nutrient-dense vegetable that is high in fiber, rich in vitamin A, and glowing with potassium. It’s perfect for before and after gym smoothies, as it can provide natural sugar, potassium, and carbs. It can even keep your digestion on track and helps you feel full for longer.
Taste:
It has a delicate, starchy, and honey caramel flavor when raw. When sweet potatoes are cooked, the flavor intensifies. Orange sweet potatoes are sweeter than white varieties.
How to use in smoothies:
Sweet potatoes blend well in smoothies that have nuts, apples, mango, cacao, coconut, pecan, almond, nutmeg, and cayenne. It also tastes great when spices and flavors like cinnamon and vanilla are added. Sweet potatoes give a nice and creamy texture and are better when cooked before blending.
4. Beets
With a distinctly bright and beautiful color, beets are high in fiber, vitamin C, folate, manganese, and calcium.
Taste:
Beets have an earthy, sweet taste that works perfectly with smoothies.
How to use in smoothies:
Start small when starting to add beets in your smoothie, as you may not like its strong flavor at first. It blends with pineapple, banana, strawberry, walnuts, vanilla, coconut, and ginger. Raw or cooked beets can be used, but unless you have a high-speed blender, it’s best to steam, boil or roast them before using. Cut them into chunks before putting in the blender. Beet greens can also be added, as it adds a mild flavor.
5. Carrots
Carrots are very high in antioxidant beta-carotene, thanks to their bright orange color. It also contains high amounts of vitamin C, fiber, vitamin A, potassium, iron, and copper. It also supports good eye and liver health.
Taste:
Carrots have a mild and somewhat sweet flavor. When you add them to smoothies, you may not taste them, but they offer great health benefits and a nice color that’s hard to pass up.
How to use in smoothies:
Carrots go well with any flavor combination. You can add them raw or cooked, but if you’re using them raw, grating or cutting to small pieces is recommended. Unless you have a high-powered blender, use them lightly steamed or roasted.
6. Cauliflower
One of the healthiest foods in nature, cauliflower, offers a wide range of health benefits. Tossing a frozen cauliflower to your daily green smoothie can help you sneak more vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, potassium, and fiber to your diet.
Taste:
Cauliflower has a mild flavor that can easily blend into any smoothie without altering the taste. It adds a nice creaminess to the smoothie.
How to use in smoothies:
Since cauliflower is practically tasteless, it can blend well with any flavor of a smoothie. It serves as a healthy thickener for the drink. For most recipes, a half cup of cauliflower florets is blended with various fruits and greens. You can add it raw or cook it first. You can also use pureed cauliflower in ice cubes for a frozen smoothie.
7. Snow peas
Snow peas are a great source of fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, and potassium. These little pods pack big nutrition. Regular consumption of snow peas has been linked to support blood sugar regulation, promote heart health, protect against cancers, and increased Omega-3 and ALA.
Taste:
Actually a legume, snow peas are a great addition to smoothies due to their bright and crisp flavor. It’s light, sweet, and refreshing. If you want your smoothie to taste like spring, try adding some snow peas.
How to use in smoothies:
Snow peas are best blended with cucumber, spinach, avocado, grapes, citrus fruits, pear, pineapple, apple, and nuts.
8. Zucchini
As mentioned earlier, zucchini is part of the squash family, but it has a lot of benefits on its own. It’s very low in calories but high in fiber and water, so it can help you feel full for longer. It’s also rich in vitamin C, manganese. Zucchini also comes with good amounts of potassium, folate, vitamin B6, vitamin A, Omega-3 fatty acids, and riboflavin.
Taste:
Zucchini is virtually tasteless, making it a great fiber-rich addition to any smoothie. It’s very mild and slightly sweet, and it becomes creamy when blended.
How to use in smoothies:
Slice zucchini into cubes before putting them in the blender. You can add them raw or cooked, but raw is recommended only if your blender is high-powered. Zucchini blends well with almost anything, especially citrus, mango, apple, banana, berries, cinnamon, and cacao.
9. Broccoli
Broccoli is a super nutritious, green vegetable that’s an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin C, folate, chromium, and fiber. It comes with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification properties. It helps ease digestion and support cardiovascular health.
Taste:
The flavor of broccoli is challenging to describe because people taste it in different ways. For some, it may have little to no flavor, especially when eating it with dishes. The flavor of broccoli can be perceived anywhere from mild, to mildly bitter, to bitter.
How to use in smoothies:
The fruits and veggies you will enjoy blending with broccoli will depend on how you taste this vegetable. If it already tastes bitter for you, it’s best to mix them with sweet fruits like banana, mango, blueberries, pineapple, cranberries, orange, apple, or grapes. You can add it raw or frozen.
10. Mushrooms
The health benefits of mushrooms depend on the type you’re going to use. But generally, mushrooms are a great source of antioxidants that can help boost the immune system and protect the heart. It also contains anti-inflammatory properties and serves as a rich source of copper, vitamin B2, selenium, and vitamin B3.
Taste:
The taste of mushroom differs depending on the variety, but they have mild earthy taste overall.
How to use in smoothies:
Wash mushrooms well and add two to three pieces to your smoothie. It won’t change the flavor of your smoothie overall. It’s great to blend with spinach, strawberries, almond, walnut, blueberries, apples, cinnamon, raspberries, bananas, and vanilla.