Start your morning with this delicious and refreshing green tea smoothie made with banana, almond milk, and matcha powder.
Today I’m sharing one of my favorite smoothies and it’s Matcha Green Tea Smoothie (抹茶スムージー). Summer is just around the corner and I thought some of you may be interested in healthier food and drink menus. If you’ve been reading Just One Cookbook for a while, you know how much I love matcha (green tea powder) and it seems right to start sharing smoothie recipes using matcha.
Watch How to Make Green Tea Smoothie 抹茶スムージーの作り方
Delicious and refreshing matcha green tea smoothie made with banana, almond milk, and matcha powder.
Difference between matcha (green tea powder) & regular green tea leaves
Before I start, I want to mention once again that matcha (or green tea powder) is NOT something you can make by grinding green tea leaves that you normally drink at home or restaurant. I receive this question all the time, so please make sure that you don’t grind green tea leaves to make matcha. What’s matcha then? You can read from this post where I explain a little bit more about matcha.
As my work requires me to spend a lot of time testing recipes which comes with a lot of eating, and sitting in front of computer which means staying glued to my chair and not moving enough, I noticed I had involuntary put my health in negligence. I knew it was time to do something about it. So back in October last year I made a resolution to take a better care of myself. What that means is I make sure to 1) make time to go to the gym 5 days a week and exercise for at least one hour, 2) sleep by 1 am, not 2 am anymore, and 3) eat smaller portion (and less carbohydrate). They seem ambitious, but I am determined to carry them out.
One of the new habits that I incorporated into my daily routine is drinking smoothies. Smoothies are simple, delicious, and exciting, but they are not a replacement for a meal in my case. Instead they are more like a healthier “snack” between meals to fill me up, so I don’t gorged on a big portion during meal times. I make healthy smoothies for Mr. JOC and myself every morning, and another round of smoothies for my kids and myself everyday after school.
Of all the smoothie recipes I’ve experimented with so far, my favorite is matcha green tea smoothie. The taste of banana mixed with matcha green tea complements each other well and you get a creamy consistency. What I love most is the power duo also gives you an energizing boost and the natural sweetness helps stave off cravings for sugary snacks.
You can use any blender to make smoothies, but I bought a Nutribullet from Costco a while back when it was discounted. It’s so easy to use! You can make as many servings as you like, but what I like most about this Nutribullet is that it’s easy to make ONE serving. And the blender container can turn into a cup so you don’t need to pour the smoothie into a glass (one less thing to wash!). You can even take it on the go with a special lid. How awesome is that? (I am not being paid or compensated by Nutribullet for singing praises here. I just truly enjoy the product).
If you are looking for a power morning drink or an afternoon pick-me-up, I hope you enjoy this matcha green tea smoothie. It makes a delicious refreshing treat especially on a sticky summer day. Cheers to a healthier daily routine!
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- 1 Banana
- 5 ice cubes
- ¾-1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or cow's milk, coconut milk, etc)
- 1 tsp matcha (green tea powder)
-
Gather all the ingredients.
- Put banana and ice cubes in an electric blender/mixer or Nutribullet.
- Pour almond milk and add matcha green tea powder on top.
- Blend until all the ingredients are combined and smooth. Pour into a glass/glasses.
I use NutriBullet to make smoothies.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
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I actually make these all the time, instead of going to starbucks for the green tea frappuccino! But I never thought of adding bananas. I’ll try that next time! Bullets are great at making smoothies!
Hi Theresa! I hope you enjoy green tea smoothies with banana in it. It’s a wonderful natural sweetness and goes well with matcha. 🙂
I tried it, and it was amazing! I love the hint of banana 🙂 It makes the smoothie thicker too! Thanks for the great idea 😀
So glad to hear you enjoyed it already! Thank you so much for your kind feedback! xo 🙂
Nami! Have a great trip to Japan! I can’t wait to read about all the food you eat and all the places you go. Are the kids doing some school in Japan again? Take care and bon voyage!
Thanks Vivi! I can’t wait to eat there too! 😀 This time we’re hoping to travel more within Japan. Thanks again!
Thanks for posting this. I’ve been having smoothies for breakfast daily now and it’s been great. Very filling and at the same time, I’m having my daily portions of vegetable without having to chew anything… I usually use spinach or kale for my green smoothies.
Hi Vee! My kids definitely prefer baby kale in the smoothies than eating it as a meal. It’s a great way to squeeze in extra nutrition! 🙂
Oh, Nami! As I’m typing this I’m sipping my matcha smoothie and it is my NEW FAVORITE MID MORNING SNACK!
I know my family will love it, too because it will satisfy their sweet tooth! Thank you, thank you, for sharing this and I hope you have more smoothie recipes!
Hi Donna! Thank you for posting the picture on your instagram! So happy you enjoyed it! I’ll include more smoothie recipes this season. 🙂
Thanks so much for your kind words, Kathleen! 🙂
Hi! I love your website and your recipes and I wanted to give this green tea smoothie a try. It looks yummy!
However, I do have a question before I make this smoothie. Now, I have matcha at home but I can’t eat bananas because I have a banana-intolerance. Can I use silken tofu as an alternative or are there other alternatives?
Hi Charysma! I hope you enjoy this smoothie! 🙂 I add banana for the texture and sweetness. If you want your smoothie to be a little bit sweet (like the one I made), you need to add some sweet component such as honey or sugar. I’ve never tried tofu in my smoothie (that sounds fun!). But I would add yogurt etc to make it little more creamy. 🙂
Can this be made without banana?
Sure! You need to sweeten with sugar, honey, or any of sweetener of our choice. 🙂
Thanks for sharing this recipe. It was excellent. I also ordered some stuff from Season with Spice and it came within a day. Wow. Thanks again!
Hi Marla! I’m so glad you enjoyed this smoothie! It’s one of my favorite and I’m really glad you liked it! Mark and Reese are the best! They work very hard to provide the best service and products. Glad you like Season with Spice too! 🙂
Love this recipe! I’m always looking for new ways to enjoy my matcha. I can’t get enough. Your site rules btw!
Thanks so much Edward! I love matcha too and hope to make more matcha recipes. 🙂
i like to make matcha smoothies too on my fr
Hope you enjoy! 🙂
You should freeze the banana, and ditch the ice cubes
Hi Michael! Yeah, thanks for the tip! My readers can use this tip for sure!
I guess if you make smoothies everyday, you plan ahead to freeze bananas. I buy frozen fruits for smoothies but I always don’t get to freeze bananas…. unless bananas are too ripen and I had to rescue!
MMMM I made this matcha smoothie and it is so yummy and simple. I like how there is no need to add any sugars or syrups. Nice, healthy, and simple recipe 🙂
Hi Erin! Yes! For a matcha lover, this is a good alternative to other matcha drinks. Thanks so much for trying this recipe! 😉
I’m in love with this smoothie! It’s very easy to make, healthy and refreshing. Great snack for summer. Sometimes I freeze the banana beforehand and just skip the ice cubes. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Kamonwat! So happy to hear you enjoy this recipe! Yes freezing bananas is great replacement for the ice cubes. 🙂
Hi there! I am interested in making this for my family, but I have a couple of members who are allergic to banana 🙁
Any chance you could recommend a substitute ingredient?
Hi Warren! I’m sorry for my late response. Banana gives natural sweetness and creamy texture without overpowering the matcha flavor. If you can find an ingredient that give sweetness, you can use it instead. And then maybe switch milk to yogurt for thicker texture?
An over ripe pear would be pretty close, but other fruit like mango or papaya could work. I bet even berries would be great, especially blueberries.
Thank you Erin!
This has become my twice daily comfort drink during the pandemic of 2020. Thank you for posting this, Nami!
Hi Lord Sakana! I’m so glad to hear that you enjoy this recipe! 🙂