Brightly colored foods normally indicate the presence of food dye and other processed ingredients. Though this rainbow smoothie includes four electrifying layers, it’s made using 100% plants and whole-food ingredients.
Now, blending all the ingredients together is just fine, yet layering different flavors creates a unique smoothie experience. Plus, your smoothie will instantly become Insta-worthy. When trying to eat healthily, sometimes you need your food to be eye candy!
No need for multiple blenders, just rinse out the container in between blends. If you want a truly smooth result, invest in a Vitamix for the best blend every time.
You will need a few pitchers or glasses to hold each smoothie color in-between blends before you’re ready to assemble the smoothie.
Create Vibrant Colors, Naturally
Fruit is naturally bright and just about every color of the rainbow, so smoothies made with whole food should be too! Berries are an easy way to deeply color your smoothie as well as mango and pineapple. Spinach and kale will turn almost any smoothie instantly green, yet mixing leafy greens and berries often turn smoothies a deep red or brown.
I created a list at the bottom of this post with smoothie recipes based on the end color, so feel free to swap out any layer with one below. Make your rainbow smoothie your own! Blue is the only shade I haven’t mastered through whole-food, so using a natural powder-like butterfly pea protein does the trick easily.
Smoothie Bar Toppings
Need a fun, plant-forward breakfast for a summer sleepover? This rainbow smoothie can be doubled or even quadrupled and then set up like a build-your-own sundae bar. Here are a few of my go-to topping suggestions:
Go crazy! The kids can pick out which smoothie layers they want and then run wild with the topping options. It’s a seriously fun way to eat the rainbow in a smoothie.
Rainbow Smoothie
Summer is the perfect time for some tie-dying; instead of white t-shirts, it’s a healthy smoothie! Vibrant, colorful layers are blended separately, then spooned into jars and topped with a dollop of coconut whipped cream and sprinkles. Blend up a quadruple batch for a DIY tie-dye smoothie bar and let everyone create their unique blend of flavors and colors.
Ingredients
Green layer:
- 2 cups spinach
- ½ banana
- ½ cup mango (thawed, if frozen)
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup coconut milk
Yellow layer:
- 1 cup mango (thawed if frozen)
- 1 orange (peeled)
Pink layer:
- 1 cup strawberries (frozen, yet slightly thawed)
- ½ cup beets (peeled and roughly chopped)
- ½ cup coconut milk
Blue layer:
- ½ cup coconut milk
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon butterfly pea powder
- pinch baking soda (optional)
- ½ teaspoon lemon (juice, optional)
Toppings:
- Coconut cream (whipped)
- sprinkles (no artificial dye)
- Freeze-dried berries (crushed)
Instructions
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Blend green, yellow, and pink layers separately. Transfer each color to a separate bowl or jar. Rinse blender between each color. Add a little extra water if blender is having a difficult time blending.
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For the blue layer, place coconut milk and butterfly pea flower powder in a small jar or bowl and whisk together until combined.
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To serve, spoon a little of each color into two pint jars. There will be more green than any other color. Top the smoothies with a dollop of whipped coconut cream (simply whisk the thick cream from canned coconut quickly) and garnish with sprinkles and/or freeze-dried fruit. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Add lemon juice if you’d like the blue to become a bit more purple.
- Double or triple the layers to feed a party.
- Add a whole toppings bar to turn these into smoothie ‘sundaes.’
- Coconut whipped cream is a great dairy-free topping that you can buy from the store or make yourself.
- This smoothie won’t keep in the fridge for very long, so if you want to make it a few hours ahead of time, then store the layers separate from each other then stir and layer right before serving.
Nutrition (estimated)
Calories: 295kcal (15%) Carbohydrates: 47g (16%) Protein: 4g (8%) Fat: 11g (17%) Saturated Fat: 10g (63%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g Monounsaturated Fat: 1g Sodium: 168mg (7%) Potassium: 778mg (22%) Fiber: 7g (29%) Sugar: 32g (36%) Vitamin A: 4334IU (87%) Vitamin C: 135mg (164%) Calcium: 87mg (9%) Iron: 2mg (11%)
More Colorful Smoothie Recipes
I love creating smoothie recipes with both style and flavor. If you want a specific color for your next event, then check out these naturally vibrant options below. Layer them together to create your own version of this rainbow smoothie:
Red Smoothies
Yellow Smoothies
Orange Smoothies
Pink Smoothies
Purple Smoothies
Blue Smoothies
Don’t forget to share your rainbow smoothie photos and tag @SimpleGreenSmoothies in them! I’d love to see all your creations; this community can create works of art with food.
