The infamous McDonald’s Shamrock Shake makes its rounds once a year at the Golden Arches. Over 60 million of them have been sold since they were first introduced. With 54 ingredients in each shake, though, they are pretty much the opposite of real food!
It might come as a surprise that I’ve never actually tried this seasonally popular drink, but when some friends who normally eat super healthy were raving about how much they love this green concoction from one of the most unhealthy restaurants, I decided to attempt to create a healthy, real food version!
Besides, I’m a big fan of getting nutrition through smoothies and shakes! This version includes nutritious avocado, so it is a tasty (and much healthier!) way to get your Shamrock Shake fix.
A Little Shamrock Shake History
Shamrock Shakes were first introduced in the 1970s but they didn’t gain much popularity and were discontinued. Over the years this shake has morphed from a lemon and lime sherbet concoction, to a vanilla sundae with disturbingly neon-green shamrock sauce, then into a milkshake, and eventually evolved into the mint and vanilla flavored drink that’s so popular.
The McDonald’s Shamrock Shake relies on artificial green coloring, artificial flavor, and loads of high fructose corn syrup. This real food shamrock shake uses pure peppermint oil extract and naturally green foods like spinach and avocado.
Even though there are veggies hiding in this dessert, all that’s tasted is creamy, minty goodness.
A Healthy Dessert? Perfection!
Some people may find it strange to add avocado to a dessert, but this fruit adds a creamy texture and healthy fats. One avocado alone contains the full daily value of vitamin K and folate and about 70% of the daily required vitamins B5, B6, C, and E.
Spinach is a familiar green in salads and breakfast quiches, but it’s just as at home in this real food shamrock shake. This green leaf contains high amounts of vitamins A, C, and K, as well as folate and some B vitamins. Spinach is a good source of certain minerals too, like iron, magnesium, potassium, and manganese.
Even better, avocado increases the bioavailability of the anti-inflammatory nutrients in the spinach. Spinach contains a poorly absorbed source of plant iron called non-heme iron. However, when vitamin C-rich foods are paired with plant based iron sources, it significantly increases their bioavailability. The high amount of vitamin C in the avocado works perfectly!
A note for anyone who has a thyroid issue, or is otherwise trying to avoid oxalic acid: use cooked spinach instead of raw.
Real Food Shamrock Shake Recipe
Although the fast food version is only available once a year, this sweet treat is worth having all year round. It’s creamy and sweet, with enough nutrition to make it a smart choice any time of the year. Although not as sweet as the original version, (which contains over 19 teaspoons of sugar for a medium size!) feel free to add some more maple syrup or honey if you prefer a sweeter taste.
This recipe makes enough for two real food shamrock shakes so it can be shared with a friend!
Healthy Shamrock Shake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups milk of choice
- 1 tsp mint extract
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ avocado peeled
- ¼ cup maple syrup or raw honey or vanilla stevia to taste
- 1 cup raw spinach packed
- 4 cups ice cubes
Instructions
- In a blender combine the milk, mint extract, vanilla, avocado, maple syrup or honey, and spinach. Blend until very smooth.
- Add the ice cubes and blend just until it forms a shake consistency. Add more milk if it’s too thick for your blender.
- Pour the milkshake into cups and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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Do you or did you used to enjoy Shamrock Shakes? Leave a comment and let us know how you enjoyed this real food version!
Sources:
- Sean Lynch and James Cook, “Interaction of vitamin C and iron,” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 335 (December 1980).
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Wow! What a great recipe. I just tried this and I will never buy one from… you know where!! What a great replacement. It feels so good to indulge in something that contains nutrient dense foods! Thank you so much!
We’ve been making this the past few years as an alternative to the processed bought Shamrock Shakes, and it’s divine! I love the extra boost of nutrients provided, and the absence of processed sugar an other ingredients I don’t recognize. It’s quick and easy, and the kids love it!
You could probably get similar results with a banana instead of the avocado.
Love recipes that hide veggies! They work on grown men…lol I made green tea ice cubes to add even more “green health”. Thanks for making it so easy to make healthier choices!
Yum! I’ve made this twice, once with whole cow milk and maple syrup, and once with raw cashews (+ water) and 4-5 dates. I don’t have peppermint extract so I just included a handful of mint leaves both times. Both versions came out super tasty, in my opinion; the whole milk version was probably creamier but I think I also used more avocado with it. My husband was skeptical (“I saw what you put in there” — he’s not one for milk or avocado, outside of guacamole) but really liked it when he tried it! I used steamed (i.e. microwaved) frozen spinach.
We don’t typically have ice pre-made and I was looking for another food to make it thicker, so I added a large handful of cashews. If you have a Blentec, just make sure you Pulse the cashews first, then use the smoothie function for the other ingredients. I used about half the amount of sweetener and it still tasted great, maybe because the cashews taste sweet! Thinking about trying dates to sweeten it next time. My kids and I LOVED it, and the cashews made it more like a meal.
St. Patrick’s Day is almost here, and this looks delicious!
Do you think it would work to use fresh mint leaves instead of mint extract? And maybe scrape out some vanilla bean paste instead of using the vanilla extract? I’m looking to avoid alcohols right now.