Healthy Homemade Shamrock Shake

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healthy homemade shamrock shake

I’ve never been part of the national annual frenzy over Shamrock Shakes. Peppermint and McDonald’s are both pretty low on the list of things I actively seek out. But I’ve been insanely into smoothies lately (I just got a new blender, I don’t think I’ve chewed anything in like a week) and we’re still approaching St. Patrick’s Day, so all the things should be green. And drinkable. Also, I’m trying really, really hard to come around on peppermint, so this was good motivation to keep giving it the old college try.

This is really more of a smoothie-type drink than a thick shake, but the flavor is great (and just right, according to a Shamrock Shake devotee I tested the recipe on). Just a little bit sweet from vanilla yogurt, agave, and banana, with a cool minty kick from pure peppermint extract mellowed by creamy almond milk. Oh, and why is it green? Because of spinach. Which you cannot taste AT ALL. My hand to God. You’re getting a solid serving of veggies and you won’t even know it. Which also makes it great for kids, if you omit the protein powder.

Also, since this is not even really a “recipe” so much as a “pile of stuff dumped in a blender,” it’s infinitely adaptable. Want a thicker, more shake-like consistency? Use vanilla frozen yogurt or ice cream instead of the yogurt and ice. Not into protein powder? Just leave it out. It’s good any which way you spin it. I’ve had this for breakfast two days in a row and I don’t even like peppermint. And as an added bonus, this version has half the calories, twice the protein, less than half the carbs, and less than 1/5 the fat of a legit Shamrock Shake – with zero artificial colors or flavors. So skip the McD’s run and give this a whirl. In your blender. See what I did there? Yeah, yeah, I know.

healthy homemade shamrock shake

Healthy Homemade Shamrock Shake
 
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A healthy, protein-packed do-it-yourself version of McDonald's popular Shamrock Shake.
Category: Breakfast, Snack, Dessert
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 cup vanilla nonfat Greek yogurt
  • 2 scoops vanilla protein powder (optional)
  • 1 banana
  • 2 handfuls baby spinach leaves
  • 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1 Tbsp agave nectar
  • 1-2 drops peppermint extract
  • 5-6 ice cubes
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend on high speed until smooth. Serve immediately.
Notes
To veganize, sub soy or coconut yogurt. Nutrition facts are based on the recipe as written. If omitting protein powder, subtract 30 calories and 6 grams of protein from each serving.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 270 Fat: 2g Carbohydrates: 36g Sugar: 25g Sodium: 147g Protein: 20g

Source: Inspired by Shape

9 Responses to Healthy Homemade Shamrock Shake

  1. That looks delicious but you can’t have only 2g carbohydrates and 36g of sugar. Sugar is a carbohydrate.

    • Hi Lori – that’s just a weird thing with how my recipe software displays nutritionals. The 2g is referring to fat (Fat: 2g). There are 36g of carbs and 25g sugar.

    • Oh, no worries, it totally looks like that at a glance. I never noticed it before your comment, but I’ve just started including nutrition info. I’ll see if I can figure out how to tweak it manually so it’s on different lines. Thanks for the heads up!

  4. Everything about this post made me laugh out loud! haha I feel the EXACT same way about peppermint and mcdonalds. I never even realized this was a “thing” until this year and now all of a sudden shamrock shakes are taking over my instagram, facebook, twitter… Bizarre. I’ll stick to my banana-almond butter green monster smoothies any day! haha 🙂

    • haha I just got a VitaMix and am green monster smoothie CRAZY right now. I put green shit in everything. My boyfriend is like, does everything we eat have to be green now? YES. Yes it does.