Cucumber and Kale Smoothie: The Tasty Drink to Boost Your Alkaline

This post may contain affiliate links. Please check our disclosure policy.

This cucumber and kale smoothie is a clever way to top up our greens intake. With its refreshingly delicious taste, you can’t go wrong by including this drink in your menu.

Cucumber and Kale Smoothie

I’ll be honest with you, I used to think that most “green” smoothies taste like you’re drinking a liquid lawn. But I needed a clever way to hit my greens quota without eating a giant salad every time. So I started making this cucumber and kale smoothie after my morning run, when I’m sweaty and need some rehydration.

I was surprised that it actually hits the spot. It’s crisp, cold, and surprisingly tasty—not just “good for being healthy” good, but actually delicious. It’s incredibly light, so it won’t sit heavy in your stomach while you’re cooling down, and it’s become one of my go-to greens intakes of the day.

If you’ve been looking for a way to add more veggies to your day without the bitter aftertaste or grass-like feel, you really can’t go wrong with this cucumber and kale combo smoothie. It’s the kind of drink that makes you feel like you’ve totally got your life together, because you give your body what it deserves.

Why You Should Drink This Cucumber and Kale Smoothie

And thanks to its high-alkaline ingredients, this smoothie can help you boost your alkaline intake. And alkaline foods are beneficial for our overall health. So it’s only natural if we want to consume them as regularly as possible in our diet.

When it comes to cucumbers, everyone in my household loves them. I often include it in salads like this apple and melon salad or this cucumber and tomato salad. Or, I just simply cut the cucumber and serve it on its own.

But I often find it difficult to enjoy Kale on our meal menu. Apart from roasting them into crispy kale, cooking them in a pasta stir-fry with curly kale, and this Chick-fil-A kale salad, I don’t really cook those fabulous greens into my dishes. Simply because my kids can be a bit fussy. And I don’t really want to make something that the family doesn’t enjoy. 

Therefore, I try to find other ways to ensure our boys do not miss out on the goodness of curly kale, such as adding it to our smoothie. When I also introduced this green smoothie to them, they liked it. So it’s become my mission now to create more smoothie ideas that include kale.

Simple Ingredients

The good thing about this smoothie recipe is that all ingredients are pretty much ordinary staples in our kitchen. They’re not fancy stuff that’s hard to get.

You can get them in any supermarket.

The main ingredients that you need are cucumber, kale, honey, and coconut water.

And if you want to jazz up the taste of your smoothie, I recommend adding a squeeze of lemon juice and a teaspoon of ginger root juice. I promise you will have the most refreshing ginger-ale taste like a green smoothie.

No-Brainer Method

You only need to prep all your ingredients and dump them all in a blender. Then process and blend them into a nice, thick smoothie.

Note: You don’t really need a fancy blender like this one to make this smoothie, though there is nothing wrong with using one. I personally use a basic blender like this one. 

Pro-Tips for the Best Green Smoothie

• Freeze Your Kale: If the bitterness of raw kale bothers you, try freezing the leaves beforehand. Freezing breaks down the cell walls, which mellows the flavor and helps it blend into a silkier texture.
• A Pinch of Salt: It sounds crazy, but a tiny pinch of salt (just a “shake”) actually suppresses the bitterness of the kale and makes the natural sweetness of the honey and coconut water pop.
• Citrus is Your Friend: A squeeze of lemon or lime juice acts as a “flavor brightener.” The acidity cuts right through the earthy taste of the greens, making the whole drink taste much more refreshing after a run.
• The “Green Water” Hack: If your blender isn’t high-powered, blend just the kale and coconut water together first until it’s a greenish liquid. Then add your cucumber and sweetener. This ensures a perfectly smooth finish.

Ingredient Alternatives for More Creative Smoothies

While your original combo is a classic, here is how you can mix it up depending on what’s in your pantry:

• Honey: Try to use agave nectar, coconut sugar, or maple syrup that dissolve instantly in the liquid. Or you can add a few pitted Medjool dates if you want a thicker, richer texture in your smoothie. And Stevia or Monk Fruit can be your go-to alternative, too, if that’s what you prefer.
• Coconut Water: You can substitute with Aloe Vera juice if you prefer a more cooling effect in your tummy. Or pour some cold green tea for a caffeine kick and extra antioxidants. If anything but simple and easy that you’re after, you can always mix everything with plain cold water or sparkling water.
• Boost the Flavor: If you want a more flavorful smoothie, add a piece of ginger root for a spicy zing, a squeeze of lemon juice or a green apple for a bit of tang, or a handful of fresh mint leaves for a healthy mojito taste.

Ways to Enjoy

As you all know, we can have smoothies any time of the day, really. Though my favourites are mid-morning, when I crave some snacks, and after meals. 

And I often serve this cucumber-and-kale smoothie at our summer barbecues. Because you do need some alkalized refreshment after all those protein-rich foods from the barbecue, don’t you think?

Cucumber And Kale Smoothie: The Tasty Drink To Boost Your Alkaline

4.84 from 48 votes

This cucumber and kale smoothie is a clever way to top up our greens intake in our diet. With its refreshingly delicious taste, you can’t go wrong to include this drink in your menu.

BY: Devy Dar

Save RecipeSaved! Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe

Prep : 5 minutes mins

Total : 5 minutes mins

Servings: 1 tall glass

Equipment

• High speed blender.

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• ½ cucumber.
• A handful of green curly kale.
• 1 teaspoon clear honey.
• 1 cup coconut water.
• A squeeze of lemon juice optional, see the note.
• 1 teaspoon ginger juice from 1-inch of root ginger optional, see the note

Instructions

• Wash and rinse the cucumber. Cut it into small pieces and place them in a blender.
• Wash and rinse the Kale leaves and add them into the cucumber.
• Add the rest of the ingredients into the blender.
• Blend and process the cucumber mix until you get a well-mixed smoothie.

Notes

• Adding lemon juice or a green apple can give your smoothie a more refreshing taste and add extra alkaline content.
• A little ginger juice adds a delicate spiciness that makes your smoothie more delicious.
• You can use mineral water, sparkling water, or aloe vera juice for the liquid.
• Use any sweetener you like, maple syrup, agave nectar, coconut sugar/ palm sugar, Stevia, or Monk fruit can be your choices.
• Add a handful of mint leaves if you want a healthy mojito-like taste to your smoothie.

Nutrition

Serving: 1portions | Calories: 86kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.02g | Sodium: 256mg | Potassium: 808mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 108IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 79mg | Iron: 1mg

Devy Dar

Devy founded So Yummy Recipes and Drizzling Flavor to share her love of food after exploring various cultures and cuisines for more than two decades. Her mission is to help others easily recreate traditional and non-traditional food with readily available ingredients. Her works have been featured in Reader’s Digest, Al Jazeera, MSN, Yahoo, Bon Appétit, and more.