Refreshing Pineapple Cucumber Smoothie

A refreshing and sweet pineapple cucumber smoothie.  The smoothie comes together in only 10 minutes using only 5 ingredients (unless you add milk or count water).  The frozen pineapple and kiwi add a sweet yet sour flavor.  While the cucumber is mild, it makes the smoothie very refreshing.  Toss in a ripe banana and fresh baby spinach to complete this easy green smoothie.

For more pineapple smoothies, try my banana pineapple spinach smoothie, beet and pineapple smoothie, orange ginger carrot smoothie, or tropical island green smoothie.

Jump to:

• Recipe features
• Ingredient notes and substitutions
• Frozen vs fresh ingredients
• Variations
• Tips
• Instructions
• New to adding greens to your smoothie?
• Can I make green smoothies in advance?
• Storing green smoothies
• Related recipes
• Recipe
• Comments

Recipe features

• Made with tropical fruits to naturally sweeten this pineapple cucumber smoothie recipe!
• It’s a quick and refreshing drink for a hot summer day!
• A great way to add more veggies to your diet!

Ingredient notes and substitutions

The recipe uses simple ingredients, but please see the recipe card below for the exact measurements.  

Cucumber - I prefer using an English cucumber; they have thin skin and tiny seeds, so they don’t need to be peeled or de-seeded. If you use regular cucumbers, then peel and de-seed them before adding to the pineapple cucumber smoothie.

Pineapple - Frozen pineapple will create a thicker smoothie, while fresh creates a thinner consistency.  If you substitute with fresh ripe pineapple, add ice cubes to chill the smoothie.  Since fresh fruit will add more liquid, start with 1 ½ cups of water if substituting the frozen pineapple for fresh pineapple.  If the smoothie is too thick, water can always be added back.

Kiwi - No need to chop up the kiwi, just peel it and throw it into the blender. If you want to skip the kiwi, add half the juice from a lime for a little tang.

Banana - The ripe banana adds sweetness and acts as a binder. You can substitute it with half of an avocado.  This substitution will reduce the sweetness of the cucumber smoothie.

Spinach - Fresh spinach can be substituted with kale.  De-stem the kale, and tear it into bite-size pieces before adding it to the smoothie. If you are using baby kale (it has small leaves with tender stems) then there's no need to tear apart or remove the stems. If you're looking to change up your greens in smoothies, try arugula in smoothies with pineapple and oranges.

Cold water - The water can be substituted with dairy-free milk, which will make a creamy smoothie. Try it with unsweetened plain almond milk, oat milk, cashew milk, soy milk, or light coconut milk.  Coconut water can also be used instead of water.

Frozen vs fresh ingredients

I use a combination of frozen and fresh fruit in my smoothies.  Using frozen pineapple drastically cuts down on the amount of prep work.  Using a fresh banana and kiwi gives the smoothie some fresh components so it doesn’t have the texture of a slushy.  Frozen fruit (while in its frozen status) can be more bland than its fresh ripe counterparts.  So I prefer a combination of the two!

Variations

• Try adding fresh ginger to taste.  Grate into the smoothie with the rest of the ingredients.
• Use lemon juice or lime juice instead of the kiwi.
• Substitute half of the frozen pineapple with mango.

Tips

• To make it less sweet, use more greens or reduce the recipe's suggested amount of fruit.  You may need to decrease the liquid if you use less fruit.
• If you are using all fresh fruit, try blending in ice cubes to have a cold smoothie (this may dilute the smoothie).

Instructions

If you have a high-speed blender you can probably add everything at one time and blend until smooth.  If you don't and your blender has difficulty breaking down kale, add the greens, cucumber, and liquid first.  Puree and then add the frozen fruit, ripe banana, and kiwi, and pulse to break up the frozen fruit.  Then blend until smooth.

New to adding greens to your smoothie?

If you’re new to adding greens to your smoothie and unsure if you’d like it, start with spinach.  It has a milder taste than kale and it’s easier to cover up with fruit.  You can also try adding half the amount of greens, then over time slowly increase the amount as you get used to them.

Can I make green smoothies in advance?

You can make the cucumber green smoothie a day in advance, but there may be some liquid separation so give it a good stir before consuming it.

Another option is to portion off the greens and pineapple in a freezer-safe bag. Then when you're ready to make it add them along with the banana, water, and kiwi to the blender and blend until smooth. You can add the banana to the freezer bag, but skip adding the liquid to the freezer bag.

I prefer to leave the banana out to add more fresh components to the smoothie.  I haven't tested freezing the kiwi along with the other ingredients.

If you are freezing all fresh fruit for the creamy pineapple cucumber smoothie, to prevent the fruit from freezing in one clump flash freeze it on a lined baking sheet.

Once frozen, add it to the freezer-safe bag and write on the bag the amount of liquid and any other ingredients needed to finish the smoothie. When prepping this way with everything frozen for the smoothie, I like to let it partially thaw before I blend it with the liquid.

Storing green smoothies

The smoothie is best if served immediately, but store the leftover smoothie in an airtight container with a lid in the refrigerator and consume it within 24 hours.  I’m a big fan of reusing cleaned-out peanut butter jars for all sorts of storage: overnight oats, freezing, meal prep, and even smoothies.  Plus they come with a lid!

Related recipes

• Dairy-free mango smoothie
• Chocolate banana smoothie
• Pineapple banana smoothie

I hope you enjoy this vitamin c rich spinach cucumber pineapple smoothie! If you like the recipe, feel free to rate it and leave a comment.

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