Mint Chocolate Chip Milkshake (Shamrock Shake Recipe)

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day year-round with this wholesome, tasty, and refreshing Mint Chocolate Chip Milkshake! Made with nutrient-dense spinach, avocado, banana, and mint it’s a creamy Shamrock Shake recipe you’ll want more often than just on the Irish holiday.

This post was originally published on March 6, 2019. Updated on March 1, 2021.

A healthy makeover of a seasonal favorite

If you love mint, then chances are you get excited when the shamrock shakes arrive back on the menu of a popular fast-food chain around St. Patrick’s Day. We get it. With all its cold, creamy, minty, and sweet dessert-like goodness, it’s no wonder that everyone and their brother make their way to the drive-thru – STAT.

Of course, it tastes delicious, but then there’s the inevitable sugar crash that comes after. And it’s no wonder with 63 grams of sugar in just a small serving. We won’t go into the long list of other unpronounceable ingredients. Instead, we’d rather offer you an alternative with our healthier Mint Chocolate Chip Milkshake (Shamrock Shake Recipe) that actually stabilizes your blood sugar while satisfying your minty craving – and your hunger.

Don’t get caught without your green on

This Irish Shamrock Shake will nourish your insides with all its spinach-packed nutrients and it’ll also lower your risk of being pinched by those leprechauns running around on St. Patty’s Day. Keeping you full longer thanks to the healthy fat from the avocado and stabilizing your blood sugar levels with fiber dense banana, this milkshake gets the green-light on the health-o-meter. Keeping one in hand may protect you from more than just those leprechauns. But don’t just save this Mint Chocolate Chip Milkshake for St. Patty’s Day, it can be enjoyed anytime you have a craving for mint chocolate.

Same creamy texture and minty flavor without all the other…”stuff”

Not only does this Mint Chocolate Protein Shake satisfy your craving for something sweet, creamy, and minty-fresh, but it also includes nutrient-dense ingredients and contains only 18 grams of sugar from fruit and veggies (no sugar-laden syrup here)! Loaded with spinach and avocado (say hello to that natural pretty green), banana, antioxidant-rich cacao nibs (or mini chocolate chips if you’re feeling really decadent), and a dash of mint extract (or fresh mint leaves), you’ll question why you wait a whole year to enjoy its less-healthy twin when you can enjoy this one year-round.

Ingredients for this dairy-free shamrock shake recipe

• Spinach
• Milk of choice – almond milk, coconut milk, or even oat milk all work. If not looking for dairy-free, you can use regular cows milk
• Ice
• Avocado
• Banana – peeled, cut into pieces, and frozen
• Mint extract – we love using mint extract for it’s depth of flavor but you can also use fresh mint leaves
• Mini chocolate chips – we love mini chocolate chips can also use cacao nibs
• Protein (optional) – add a boost of your favorite protein powder. For collagen we like these unflavored collagen peptides for plant based we like this Vanilla Raw Protein Powder or Vanilla Protein Blend and for whey based we like this Whey Isolate. For 10% off of all Primal Kitchen products use code: REALFOODRDS

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How to make this Mint Chocolate Chip Milkshake

• In a high-speed, blender place the spinach, milk, ice, avocado, banana, mint extract, and collagen or plant-based protein if using.
• Blend on either a ‘smoothie’ setting or on high for 60 seconds or until creamy and smooth. Optional: Add the cacao nibs or chocolate chips, pulse for 10 seconds.
• Pour into two tall glasses and top with a few additional mini chocolate chips or cacao nibs.

Additional toppings

Milkshake toppings are a must, especially if you’re serving this shake for the Irish holiday.  It’s always fun to top these shakes with a little dollop of whipped cream, an extra sprinkle of mini chocolate chips or cacao nibs, and a sprig of fresh mint.

These finishing touches turn a quick and easy shake into a beautiful dessert that is almost too perfect to eat. We say almost, as one sip in and you’ll find this St Patrick’s Day shake irresistible.

Turn this into a Shamrock Protein Shake for an extra boost

Does anyone else love piling as much stuff into their smoothies/shakes as possible to get the maximum benefits? Well, we’re no different and that’s why we’ve added collagen to this shamrock shake recipe. While it’s entirely optional and doesn’t interfere with the flavors or consistency, it’s a great add-in that adds protein in the most discreet way.

Want to keep this Mint Chocolate Chip Milkshake vegan?

Whether you need a vegan or dairy-free version, this creamy, cold milkshake can be made vegan with two simple steps:

• Use dairy-free milk of choice; almond milk, oat milk, or coconut milk
• Use vegan or plant-based protein powder

Let’s prep it ahead of time

You all know we are big fans of prepping our meals/snacks ahead of time to help with time management, eating healthier, and being prepared for when we (or the kids) get hungry.  Here’s how to prep this mint chocolate protein shake.

• In a freezer-friendly bag place the spinach, ice cubes, avocado (scooped from the peel of course), and a peeled banana. Place in the freezer.
• When you’re ready to blend up your smoothie, simply grab the bag from the freezer, dump all the contents into your blender, add the milk and mint extract (and collagen if using) and blend it up.
• Make several at once!  Rock this meal prep by making several freezer-bags full and you can easily enjoy a milkshake a day for the entire week of St. Patrick’s Day.

More recipes for St. Patrick’s Day

• Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Stew
• Sheet Pan Kielbasa Cabbage and Potatoes
• Sheet Pan Baked Salmon and Veggie Bake
• Crispy Smashed Potatoes

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Let's Get Cookin'

Mint Chocolate Chip Shake

This healthier for you Mint Chocolate Chip Shake is a nutrient-dense food and gets its gorgeous green color from an ample amount of spinach making it a creamy and delicious St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Shake.

• Author: The Real Food Dietitians
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Total Time: 5 mins
• Yield: 2 1x
• Category: Dessert

Print Recipe

★★★★★ 5 from 7 reviews

Ingredients

• 1 large handful of fresh (or frozen) spinach
• 8 oz. milk of choice (dairy or non-dairy)
• 1 cup ice
• ½ small avocado
• 1 medium banana (about 125g), frozen, and cut into chunks
• ½ tsp. mint extract (such as Simply Organic) or ¼ cup fresh mint leaves
• 1–2 Tbsp. cacao nibs or mini chocolate chips (such as Enjoy Life! brand mini-chips)
• Optional: 2-3 Tbsp. collagen peptides or protein powder of choice – use plant-based protein for vegan

Instructions

1. In a high-speed blender, place the spinach, milk of choice, ice, avocado, banana, mint extract, and collagen or protein powder of choice if using).  Blend on high for 60-seconds or until well blended and creamy.
2. Optional: Add the cacao nibs or chocolate chips, pulse for 10 seconds.
3. Pour into two glasses and top with a few additional cacao nibs or mini chocolate chips.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: ½ recipe (without optional protein powder)
• Calories: 202
• Sugar: 18g
• Sodium: 71mg
• Fat: 9g
• Carbohydrates: 28g
• Fiber: 5g
• Protein: 6g

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Photo Credit: The photos in this blog post were taken by Jess of Plays Well with Butter. 

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