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SLIMMED-DOWN SHAMROCK SHAKE RECIPE
It’s been a long time since we’ve indulged in the chemical wasteland that is McDonald’s, but it’s hard to avoid craving their seasonal treats like the super-popular Shamrock Shake! Something about “limited time only” brings us to our knees.
But our shockingly super healthy version is dairy-free, almost fat-free, packed with a protein boost, and doesn’t have ANY of those hard-to-pronounce chemical ingredients of the original.
Just toss everything into your Blendtec or Vitamix blender and let it do the work!
You could do it in a “regular” blender as well (just use fresh banana and more ice).
We tested this all kinds of ways – with and without protein powder, using fresh mint as well as peppermint essential oil.
You can also make this a a make this a mint chocolate chip treat by tossing in some raw cacao nibs before serving.
Love our healthy smoothie recipes? Be sure to join our community for more seasonal treats and healthy alternatives to your favorites! 🙂 Share your rating below if you try this one at home!
Slimmed-Down Shamrock Shake
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk substitute unsweetened or vanilla
- 2 frozen bananas sliced
- 4 drops mint essential oil OR 1/2 teaspoon mint extract OR 1 cup fresh mint leaves
- 1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract if using plain milk and/or protein powder
- 1 teaspoon liquid sweetener of choice Stevia powder (1 packet) or a few drops of liquid Stevia
- 2 cups spinach
- 1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder such as VegaOne
- 1 cup ice*
- Whipped cream or Vegan Whipped Cream optional, to garnish
Instructions
- Place the ingredients into your blender jar in the order listed (if adding the protein boost, put them in before spinach or ice).
- For Blendtec: Press the SMOOTHIE button.
- For Vitamix: Select VARIABLE, speed #1. Turn on machine and quickly increase speed to #10/HIGH. Blend for 60 seconds or until smooth.
- Pour into a chilled glass to prevent melting (McD's keeps it frosty with chemicals!), top with whipped cream if you like, and sprinkle some extra mint or sprinkles on top before digging in!
- All done! Enjoy!! Now take a photo, rate it, and share your accomplishments! 🙂 Tag @BlenderBabes & #BlenderBabes
Notes
Nutrition
HEALTH BENEFITS & FUN FACTS
McDonald’s Shamrock Shake Ingredients:
Vanilla ice cream: Milk, Sugar, Cream, Nonfat milk solids, Corn syrup solids, Mono- and Di-glycerides, Guar gum, Dextrose, Sodium Citrate, Artificial vanilla flavor, Sodium phosphate, Carrageenan, Disodium phosphate, Cellulose gum, Vitamin A palmitate Shamrock Shake syrup: High fructose corn syrup, Corn syrup, Water, Sugar, Natural flavor (Plant source), Xanthan gum, Citric acid, Sodium benzoate, Yellow 5, Blue 1 + more bad stuff in their “Whipped Cream” & “Maraschino Cherry”.
Nutrition Facts: 660 calories, 14g protein, 19g fat (29% daily value), 109g carbs (36% daily value), 93g sugar 510mg calcium (50% daily value), 210mg sodium 75mg cholesterol.
Blender Babes’ Slimmed-Down Shamrock Shake:
Shake: All natural & vegan. One cup of spinach has so much nutrition that it takes this recipe beyond Skinny Shamrock Shake status into SUPER HEALTHY shake land!
Just one cup has 20% of your RDA for dietary fiber, tons of cancer-fighting flavinoids, and two epoxyxanthophylls are present in irregularly high amounts, which will fight inflammation.
The vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, manganese, zinc and selenium in spinach all act as powerful antioxidants that fight the onset of osteoporosis, atherosclerosis and high blood pressure.
Both lutein and zeaxanthin are especially bountiful in spinach and protect the eyes from cataracts and macular degeneration.
Spinach is great for your skin, too – drinking this shake is definitely a great, nutritional boost to your day! Vega Protein Powder alone adds – 50%+ of the following vitamins & minerals: Omega 3s, zinc, selenium, phosphorus, manganese, magnesium, iron, copper, calcium, vitamin k, vitamin e, vitamin d, vitamin c, vitamin a, vitamin b6, b5, b3 (niacin), b2 (riboflavin), b12, b1.
Nutrition Facts:(without protein powder) 143 calories, 3g protein, 2g fat, (3% daily value), 32g carbs (25% daily value), 18g sugar, 268mg calcium (27% daily value), 100mg sodium, 0mg cholesterol. Nutrition Facts:(with protein powder)383 calories, 19g protein, (62% daily value), 8g fat (12% daily value), 54g carbs (42% daily value), 19g sugar ,1365mg calcium (137% daily value), 100 mg sodium, 0mg cholesterol, 84% of daily fiber, Per 2 tablespoons of vegan whipped cream add 100 calories.
I love this shake!!! I bought mint leaves just to give this one a try. I skipped out on any kind of sweetener altogether and thought it was just great. I’m going to try to get my 9 year old to check this one out and see how she likes it. I think the avocado substitution sounds great but then I’d have to find some way to sweeten it, which I’m trying to avoid. This is going to be a great summer shake.
Shamrock Shake…It's what's for lunch!!
I think is totally take the craving when you want something sweet especially for people like us who are trying to diet way to go blender babes
omg!!!this this recipe Is fantastic:))))
so easy my kids love it
Didn’t love this one but still thought it was pretty good.
I didn’t love this one, but I still thought it was pretty good. 🙂
As a mint lover, I was excited to try! I also added a cup of kale for more greens and made slight modifications for nutritional reasons (1/2 banana, and water as base). Also garnished with cacao nibs for a chocolate-like taste. Will not be visiting McDonald’s any time soon 😉
My kids loved this!
Yumm!!!!!!! I love mint and this hit the spot.
What a great way to use up the mint that grows like a weed in my yard.
I would love to try this but like many others I will not be able to. I am allergic to both bananas and avocado which help give these things a creaminess. If anyone has any suggestions for substitutions I would love to hear it.
Hi, Laura! You can probably just add an extra 1/4 cup of milk and ice to give it creaminess – make it sweetened almond milk to replace a banana so you get that extra flavor. Let us know how it turns out!
Thank you! I will give it a try.
I used silken tofu and found I needed to reduce the liquid a bit. Turned out great but will not be using stevia again, I’ll try a little bit of honey next time. I have tried all forms of stevia and each time I have a bitter taste in my mouth. I think with those two changes this could easily be one of my favorite green smoothies!
I’ve never had a bitter taste with Trader Joe’s liquid Stevia. Try agave nectar too it’s sweeter than honey.
I don’t much care for McDonald’s shamrock shake, but I liked the smoothie version a lot! I skipped the protein powder, added the extra banana and skipped the ice, and I used fresh mint leaves. I really loved it!
I’ve never had a shamrock shake because I don’t like mint. I tried this recipe anyway (for the challenge) and didn’t care for it. I think you really have to love mint! I will try it again and use way less mint than the recipe calls for though.
I’m going to do the juice cleanse and I’m starting day 1 of the 5 day pre cleanse. This will be my first green smoothie. I’m excited to try it!
OMG!!!! so easy and delicious!!!! I adjusted a little the recipe. put only almond milk (unsweetened), 1 cup os spinach, 1 banana (not frozen), i tsp vanila extract, 3 small branches of mint and cup of ice!!!! result: AMAZING!!! thank you for inspiration!
YUMM!!! Yes this is a great one to substitute. We had another community member use avocado instead of protein powder and said it was DELISH! 🙂 SO GLAD YOU LOVED IT SONIA!. Happy Blending!