A Healthier Take on the Shamrock Shake (Surprise Superfood Ingredient!)
~ The perfect way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day! This fun, delicious, simple, and healthy version of the Shamrock Shake is just bursting with nutrition! With no artificial colors, too! You’ll be shocked at how healthy this copycat Shamrock Shake is … yet it tastes just like its namesake original! ~
This Recipe Is: • Ready in 30 Minutes or Less • Vegetarian • Gluten Free •
lá sona ú Pádraig
Huh?
It means “Happy St. Patrick’s Day!”
I have to admit … I’m kinda super excited about this particular St. Paddy’s day, since I’ve recently discovered a tiny (teeeeeny) bit of Irish ancestry.
You see, last year my oldest kiddo had to do a family tree project, and even after the project was finished, I was fascinated by the whole process and kept digging to uncover more info. And … I found out that I actually have some Irish ancestors!
(Ummmmmm … confession: I may or may not sometimes talk in an Irish accent and dance little jigs around the house. My husband just shakes his head and asks if I’m trying to reconnect with my people. Yes, yes, in fact I am. I can feel the Irish just pulsing through my veins! I may start to call myself O’Gretchen. No? Too far?)
Irish heritage or not, how do you celebrate St. Paddy’s?
Maybe a parade? Does your city put green dye in the rivers? How about green eggs for breakfast? Maybe you live near Savannah, Georgia or Boston, Massachusetts where March 17th is considered a legal holiday. A legal holiday. Like, recognized.
But what if you don’t live near a city that celebrates with a parade or a green river?
Well, you could wear green (yeah, yeah … that’s a given).
Or you could swing by McDonald’s to get the long-anticipated Shamrock Shake. That’s ok … no, wait … well …
I get it. Shelley and I both remember back when we were kids, waiting and waiting for March to come around because it meant that we’d get that creamy mint shake. It.was.awesome.
But now we’re moms, and we want to feed our kids the best and most nutritious foods. Those Shamrock Shakes were just begging to be THK-ified!
Still, we knew that we’d have to use our very best thinking caps to figure out this transformation!
It all started way back (ok, a few months ago) when we were planning our editorial calendar for 2014, and we saw that St. Patrick’s Day was fast approaching. I proclaimed, “Ohhhh … a Shamrock Shake!” at the same moment Shelley announced, “Yummm … green smoothies!”
Hmmm … how could those two ideas become one? It’s quite simple, actually!
When we initially started testing for this recipe, we knew that food coloring wasn’t going to be an option. So here’s where that promised superfood comes in …
It’s … SPINACH!!! Gorgeous, naturally green-colored and loaded with mega nutrition!
Before you wrinkle up your nose in that “something-smells-bad” face, just hear me out. This is nothing like a spinach salad … or even a spinach-loaded pasta dinner. NOTHING!
You TOTALLY can’t taste the spinach! Promise. Cross my heart. Pinky swear, too.
That’s one of the reasons that spinach works so well in smoothies – raw baby spinach just doesn’t have all that much flavor!
Between our two families, none of our kids (not one of them!) could detect even a hint of spinach in these shakes. And when they found out, they all just kinda shook their heads (they’ve been down this sort of THK road before) … and then continued happily slurping away!
Seriously – not joking! These milkshakes are fully kid-tested and kid-approved!
Now you might be thinking, “But why is THK recommending frozen yogurt or even ice cream??”
First, remember, these are for a treat. And also remember, we are real people! We certainly don’t recommend that you eat the entire carton of ice cream at once … but a life lived with moderation is a happy life! And there are lots of pretty terrific light ice creams and frozen yogurts on the market that have decent ingredient lists, taste fabulous, and are relatively low-fat. AND don’t forget there are three cups of spinach in there! THREE CUPS!!!
To tell the truth, though, we really, really wanted this to work with Greek yogurt – even frozen Greek yogurt (because, you know – that would have been nutritious beyond belief).
We tried. We truly did.
But after several batches of Greek yogurt concoctions (that weren’t so delicious), we decided to ditch the Greek yogurt altogether and embrace the milkshake side of this idea.
And it was good. It was very, very good.
As in: the kids have been begging for these THK-ified Shamrock Shakes consistently for the last two months since this recipe was born. (Apologies to those in our town who may have noticed our stores coming perilously close to running out of spinach!)
And so there you have it … the nutrition of a spinach-loaded green smoothie, with the creamy goodness of a milkshake (a Shamrock Shake, to be exact)!
These frosty cups are the perfect addition to your festivities, whether you’re dying an entire river green or just donning a shamrock-green sweater!
So put on your dancin’ shoes – we’re doing the jig!
And … lá sona ú Pádraig!
A Healthier Take on the Shamrock Shake (Surprise Superfood Ingredient!)
The perfect way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day! This fun, delicious, simple, and healthy version of the Shamrock Shake is just bursting with nutrition!
• Ready in 30 Minutes or Less • Vegetarian • Gluten Free •
Ingredients
- 3 cups loosely but firmly packed baby spinach (about 2 ounces)
- 1/2 cup nonfat milk
- 3/16 teaspoon mint extract (not peppermint – see note)
- 2 cups of your favorite reduced-fat vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt (not frozen Greek yogurt)
Instructions
- In a blender, combine spinach, milk, and extract until spinach is completely incorporated, with no tiny green pieces visible, scraping down the sides two or three times as needed. The mixture will be whipped and frothy.
- Add ice cream/frozen yogurt and blend just briefly, until smooth and completely mixed, scraping down sides if needed. Do not over-blend or the milkshakes won't be as thick.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Mint Extract: Be sure to purchase extract labeled as "mint" and not "peppermint." Mint extract contains oils from both spearmint and peppermint, and pure peppermint extract absolutely won't taste right in this milkshake. Also, we realize that 3/16 teaspoon is an unusual measurement, but through our testing, we consistently found that 1/8 teaspoon wasn't quite enough, but 1/4 teaspoon was too much. Unless you own a 1/16 teaspoon measure, just fill your 1/8 teaspoon once, then estimate as you fill it about half full again. Alternately, you could use a scant 1/4 teaspoon. That should be close enough, and you can adjust the amount of extract to taste.
Separation: Similar to many smoothies, this milkshake will begin to separate upon standing. If that happens, just give it a swirl with a spoon, or briefly reblend.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 5 1/2 servings Serving Size: 1/2 cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 103Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 68mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 0gSugar: 15gProtein: 3g
Nutrition information should be considered an estimate only, and may vary depending on your choice of ingredients or preparation. No guarantees are made regarding allergies or dietary needs. Always consult a physician or dietician for specific advice and questions.
Hi Girls,
I came across you on Nazeen’s site Coffee and Crumpets. I love your healthy shamrock shake and I’ve pinned it to pinterest. I’ll be visiting again and I hope to see you around.
Hi, Mireya! Thanks so much for stopping by! Love “Coffee and Crumpets,” too! And thanks a million for the pin – much appreciated! Hope you have a fantastic weekend! 😀 ~G&S
Looks delicious and I love that your green is natural and not some yucky food coloring 😀 I’ve never had a shamrock shake before, but this looks like I need to try it. Happy St. Patricks day! Have a great weekend ladies 😀
Egads! You’ve NEVER had a Shamrock Shake!?!? Ok! This we must fix! Try it, and you’ll be hooked (and maybe we’ll even call you O’Cindy in celebration :D)! You’ve gotta have this in your St. Patrick’s Day repertoire for maximum Irishness! And besides, your kids will thank you! Happy St. Paddy’s Day, my friend! ~Shelley (or should I say … O’Shelley)
Thanks for the Gaelic lesson … that’s wonderful! I can’t imagine what a spinach shake would be like, but I can imagine that it goes well with mint … and all that Popeye energy it would give you! Great way to get your kids to get something super healthy down them. Love it!
Hi, Helen! Ummmmm … glad you liked the Gaelic lesson … but don’t be too impressed! (Gretchen had to google that – lol!) Anyway, you seriously need to just not imagine this as a spinach shake at all. We know – a “spinach shake” sounds kinda weird, right?!? But you won’t notice the spinach is in there at all! It simply provides great color (and mega-nutrition!) … so just think of it as natural food coloring :D! And, can we make a little confession? It’s not just our kids that are gulping these down … yuuuuummmmm!!! ~G&S
Crazy…I just had a week of making these almost exact same shakes at work as samples for people to try. I put some avocado in as well to give it another extra boost of nutrients. The frozen Greek yogurt is actually what I used and worked for me, but the good ol’ fashioned ice cream would be amazing.
And I could not stop nodding my head while I read your post…yes to moderation! yes to desserts once in awhile! It’s totally what my blog is all about! Thanks for sharing!
Hi, Kara! We’ll have to try the avocado idea (we loooove those) – thanks for the suggestion! And we’re really curious about the Greek frozen yogurt. We tested this with a couple of different Greek frozen yogurt brands and it was honestly pretty terrible. The super-tangy flavor of the frozen Greek yogurt just didn’t play nicely at all with the mint – it’s was just a weird clash. Please tell us what brand you used! We really had hoped to make this shake work with frozen Greek yogurt! We did have slightly more success using (unfrozen) vanilla Greek yogurt – the flavor wasn’t too bad, but everyone agreed that it just didn’t taste like a Shamrock Shake. It tasted like some sort of reasonably good smoothie, but the flavor and texture of a Shamrock Shake just weren’t there. *SIGH* That’s when we gave up on Greek yogurt (since we didn’t want to create a green smoothie, but truly wanted to recreate the flavor and texture of a Shamrock Shake) and went to low-fat ice cream or even (NOT GREEK) vanilla frozen yogurt. So seriously – we’re totally curious what you used, if you wouldn’t mind sharing that!
And three cheers for moderation … and dessert! Loving your blog, BTW! 😀 ~G&S
So I used 2 different kinds of frozen Greek yogurt throughout the week: Yoplait Vanilla Greek Yogurt and Oikos Vanilla Greek Yogurt. Were these any that you tried? I didn’t even attempt to try the original because I knew it would be too tangy. I can see what you mean, though, about the tangy/off flavor when you tried the Greek yogurt in the shake. It did seem to have a little bit of an after taste of sorts..? Almost everybody seemed to really like the shake, though, so I just kept it. If it was for myself…I’d probably go with ice cream. 🙂
I have searched the dregs in my freezer and my work-in-progress pics from this recipe, and I’m just not sure anymore which brands I tested, although they were definitely vanilla. But, yeah … you are so right about the “tangy/off flavor” and the “after taste” – that was exactly the problem! The tang just didn’t work with the mint at all! However, I have high hopes that another flavor combination (when I’m not trying to concoct something that tastes exactly like a real Shamrock Shake!) will work beautifully with the frozen Greek yogurt! Next time … 😀 Hey – Gretchen and I totally appreciate your really insightful comments and feedback! Have an awesome weekend, Kara! ~Shelley
Beautiful! I, too, remember those shakes fondly! I wonder if they would even taste good at all anymore. I’d prefer yours, please! 🙂
Happy st. Patty’s Day to you and yours, O’Gretchen!
Honestly … I’m not sure how those shakes taste – I haven’t had one in years! And now with this awesome shake, I’ll never need one again! We can all happily make these at home and feel great! 🙂 Hope you had a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day, O’Debi! Lol!! ~Gretchen