Ready for a Shamrock Shake Remake?
If you have a soft spot for the McDonald's original but can't justify the 500 calories and 63g of sugar, read on... this is the minty treat of your dreams.
↪ JUMP TO RECIPE
Every year, the siren song of the Shamrock Shake calls. Do you hear it, too? Milkshakes make many of us nostalgic for the days before we knew better. What if you could have that creamy, sweet, & cold treat without feeling guilty about it?
Come on a journey with us. We aren't sure how this recipe works, but it does. You'll be sipping the Shamrock Shake Remake and feeling lucky in no time.
Green is Good
The color of the Shamrock Shake (and many of the green treats common around now) comes from green food dye. It's possible that they use a plant-based, organic, food dye, but is it likely?
You know where we stand on artificial colors. It's a no from us.
Enter the hero! In this Shamrock Shake Remake, spinach delivers the rich green we crave. The bonus is that it delivers an Irish Kiss of nutrients too! For example, a cup of Spinach delivers:
Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Carotene, Lutein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, and Folate
Woohoo! That IS good.
No, Spinach-green won't look like the artificial green. That's a good thing.
Yes, you might still see spinach specs in your shake. Also a good thing.
You're a grown-up. You can handle this. Eyes on the prize.
What Makes This Shake Creamy?
We aren't going to villianize ice cream, but to give the Shamrock Shake Remake a fighting chance at being better-for-you, we are going to look for a substitute.
If you're a smoothie whiz, you already know that a ripe banana can add sweetness and creaminess.
The banana is the source of MOST of the calories, carbs, & sugar in this recipe. One medium banana has 110 calories, 28g of carbohydrates, and 15g of sugar. Naturally occuring sugars from whole foods are the gold standard, unlike refined sugar added to foods to increase consumption. Bananas are also considered a superfood for the Fiber, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Potassium, Magnesium, and Manganese they provide us.
This recipe also calls for a combination of Greek yogurt and coconut milk. Greek yogurt is thicker than regular yogurt and contains more protein. Coconut milk is a favorite for smoothies because it is also slightly thicker than dairy, soy, or almond, while still being fairly low in sugar.
For an icy milkshake experience, pop the yogurt and banana in the freezer for about 30 minutes before mixing your shake.
Bring on the Shamrock Flavor
It's easy to get swept up in St. Patrick's Day frivolity and calling something "shamrock" is cute and festive. 🍀 But technically, shamrock isn't a flavor. It's mint + vanilla. So let's make it happen!
You could probably use fresh mint in your smoothie for additional whole food goodness, but for that big mint payoff you're going to want mint extract. It's a concentrated flavor, so a little goes a long way. You can experiment to get it exactly right for your taste.
If you're sticking to unsweetened/zerosugar coconut milk and Greek yogurt, you'll want to round out the mint with vanilla. For that, you guessed it - we're recommending Madagascar Vanilla Sinless Syrups. Sweetened with stevia leaf extract and monk fruit, Madagascar Vanilla syrup will sweeten your shake without elevating your blood sugar.
Good Luck on your Shamrock Shake Remake
We weren't sure how well this copycat recipe would go, but were delighted with the results. It is absolutely minty, creamy, cold, and delicious. The best part about it is how good we felt about drinking it. Our gut felt good. Our energy level was even. And not one smidge of guilt. 🥰
Retraining tastebuds after ditching sugar and artificial sweeteners can take time. We hope you will be patient with yourself and keep going! Better digestion, better metabolism, better health await. 🩵
