Raw Vegan Creamy “Pistachio Ice Cream” Kale Shake

this was so delicious; it was worth every exclamation point i’m about to use!!!!!!! and one more, for good measure!

Absolutely divine, especially early on a Monday morning.  :-)

I saw this and wanted to try, but knew I don’t like banana’s in my smoothies, sorry.  So I soaked 1 cup of filtered water and 3 tbsp of chia seeds the evening before to substitute for the banana.  I added all the other ingredients in the recipe and blended.
It is so Yummy, I’m sorry it only makes just over 2 cups,  I ended up blending another portion, guess I’m just a little piggie, ;).

wheeeeeeee!

I look forward to trying this smoothie.  I’ve got all ingredients on hand!  I wonder, however, how the “pistachio ice cream” bit would be enhanced by actual pistachios?  Maybe I will conduct an experiment.

My husband and I tried this recipe for lunch and it was amazing!  Absolutely delicious!!

This IS so yummy! I no longer use agave so I used date syrup instead.  It tastes super yummy and creamy.  Thank you!

You cannot tell that it is made with Kale at all and it is so yummy!!! I cannot wait to serve this to my kids :-)

Since I cannot eat bananas (I get very bad stomach pains and dizzy) is there anything else I could substitute?

Oh the swooning! I can’t get kale here but surely spinach won’t ruin the pistachio taste… must make!

This recipe looks awesome. am gonna hvae to try it

Tess, this was amazing!  Had for a snack today and was delicious and filling.  Thanks so much!

This looks delicious. I have had kale in my mind for a long time now. Never tried it. This recipe makes me want to try it right away.

This was beyond delicious!  I’ll be making this again and again…who knew that kale could be sooooo good!

Wow! This is the most delicious smoothie I’ve tasted this year!! It’s unusual & has a certain ‘magical’ taste to it, as though there’s a ‘secret ingredient’ that you just can’t quite put your finger on… You would never know this smoothie had veggies it!!! The vanilla makes the perfect finish & keeps it super sweet!! Be careful though, it’s addictive!!!!!!!;-)

My mouth is watering…I think I need to invest in a blender just to try this smoothie!

This smoothie defied my expectations!! I hate to admit I was a bit skeptical, but I loved your cauli soup so thought what they hay - and duh, if you say it’s good, it’s good! No more skeptic here. I’ve never really followed a recipe for a smoothie before but this is SO worth it! THANK YOU for making my morning!

This smoothie is INSANELY GOOD!  Talking about it makes me want one right now - yep, on my way to the kitchen right now to plug in the Vitamix.  Well, I just made one with a few variations and it came out fabulous too.  I added some dates in place of maple syrup and some hemp seeds (same ratio) instead of cashews and frozen bananas instead of room temperature ones + ice.  DELICIOUS!  Thanks, Tess!  You’ve got the BEST smoothie recipes out there, I think.  :)

I made this last night… SO easy and SO good and SO REMINDS me of WHY I LOVE MY Vitamix.  My 15 year old asked “why is there kale in the vitamix?!?” then proceeded to devour his dessert. 

I’m so excited about the recipes on this site - it’s a tremendous resource!!!!

YUM…YUM…YUM!!!!! This is my first recipe and this is delicious, Im sure if I had a Vitamix it would of been even better. I looked forward to trying more of your recipes.  Im so glad I was introduced to your site.

IN LOVE WITH THIS SMOOTHIE! WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT KALE AND BANANA!?

I concur with every grunt that has come before me! This was SOOOOOO Amazing!!! Thank you blender girl! You and your recipes ROCK my smoothie world!

This was by far the most delicious smoothie I have had in a long time.  I added a teaspoon of raw cacao nibs and it seriously was pistachio chocolate chip!  How can this be so tasty and be so healthy :)

I just entered the Vita mix giwe away. I live in Europe and just saw that only residents in the us and canada could participate. Sorry!!!!

Hands down one of my favorite smoothies! It was so creamy and truly tasted like pistachio ice cream! Best part, I gave some to my dad, who never drinks ‘green’ smoothies and he asked for seconds!! Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe

This smoothie sounds delicious! Can I use almonds instead of cashews? I’ve been making lots of smoothies myself. They are so nutritious and taste so good! Thanks for sharing, can’t wait to try it.

LOVE THIS!!!! Planning to make as a treat for a friend tomorrow!

I am so addicted to this smoothie it’s not even funny :P

Okay, I love this recipe. I’ve made it like 5 times. I recommended it on my blog today. Thanks for sharing it.

Hi, piggies!  I would like to know if I am the only one who drinks this whole recipe down in one sitting - no sharing!?

Elaine, you ARE NOT the only piggie who drinks this magical elixir all by herself.  I make one for myself and one for my husband.  No sharing.  :)  I ADORE this smoothie.  So tasty, nourishing, filling and jam packed with nutrition.  I love Kale and smoothies = winning combination here.

i just made as my lunch….i love it, so yummy, thanks.

So glad you reposted this on facebook today! I am drinking this smoothie as we speak and it’s so good I may have to steal the portion I was saving for my husband!

I even got the kiddos to slurp this up, yummo!  I will be featuring this smoothie recipe in my post, “10 Super Smoothies”, fyi!  Thanks tess!

I am drinking this as I type!

It’s like nothing I’ve ever tasted - the flavour gave me a bit of a shock at first but I’m quickly acquiring to the taste and I’ll be making it again. This is my first “green” leafy smoothie.

I used organic soy instead of almond milk, and stevia in place of agave nectar.

Thanks for the idea blender girl! (btw I made your vegan mac and cheese too, it was pretty great!)

I bought raw cashews just to make this and I’m so glad that I did. They’re now going to be part of my smoothie repertoire!

This smoothie came out a little too banana-y for me so I added an extra cup of kale. Not sure if it tastes like pistachio, since I’m not sure what those taste like, but it’s delish. Thanks for your great recipes and keep em comin’!

OMG, I LOVE SUN POWER CAFE.  I was introduced earlier this year.  I’m not vegan, but love, love their dishes.  My fav is the colossal kale salad and my husband lives for the pistachio kale smoothie.  I was at the Farmer’s Market this afternoon and though I’d attempt replicating the smoothie, picked up some kale and googled various recipes.  Thank goodness for google—- as it made me fall upon your site, which I’ve immediately book-marked!!!! I’m beyond psyched and will trying your recipe TO-NIGHT.  My husband will be thrilled! Thank you so much!

Thank you so much for posting this recipe! It tastes phenomenal and has made it so easy to get my non-veggie-eating boyfriend to eat kale. Last year I lost forty pounds and about five dress sizes by eating vegetables and exercising (you know, the old fashioned way of losing weight). I don’t feel like I’m sacrificing anything. I mean, I get to drink yummy smoothies which taste like fattening heavenly goodness everyday and still lose weight? Yes please! I can’t believe this is healthy! These shakes really put in perspective that eating right doesn’t mean eating bland flavorless food. And it also means not starving to death on celery sticks. Thank you thank you thank you, and please keep posting!

I feel like this is really weird, but I cannot find kale in my small and isolated location except for in a can. 1. Is that even normal? 2. Can I use it in smoothies?

This is the best smoothie I’ve ever tasted, and maybe one of my top 10 favorite foods ever, and I’m not a big kale fan at all!

However, not being a vegan or vegetarian, this is pretty high-calorie (575), high-carb (56g), and high-fat (30g) for me to have as a snack or even a meal replacement (and those counts are low since I used stevia instead of agave), so I’ve cut the cashews down to 1/4 c. (1/2 c. of them is 360 calories!) and use only one banana and replace the other with 1/2 c.  35-calorie unsweetened almond milk.

So that brings the calories down to 325 and cuts in half the carbs and fat.  So now I can drink it guilt-free as well!

Have you ever tried freezing your smoothies? I have a friend who is a teacher and needs to be able to wash enough greens once to last a while. I’m thinking she could try making some smoothies and freeze them in portions so she can get the greens she needs. Not sure if that would work well, though. Any thoughts?

Yum! You suggested this for a couple of new green smoothie drinkers that were afraid to drink our greens! Thanks for the recipe. It was awesome and very pistachio ice cream like! Great work and thanks for sharing.

Any shake that gets all three of my kids - including my three year old - to demolish a bunch of kale gets mega praise. thanks heaps. just discovered your site and we’re slowly drinking our way through it. we all *heart* the brazil nut chocolate milkshake too - great for dessert.

This was my first green smoothie and I’m in love! My 3 year old helped me make it and she loves it too ( she didn’t even question the kale, which really surprised me)

This was so delicious! Who would have guessed kale could taste so yummy in a shake? I used Lacinato - my favorite variety. I drank this smoothie this morning, right after all 4 of my wisdom teeth got out.

Thank you so much. :) I will be coming here often since I can’t have much solid foods for a while.

This is sooooooo good. I am so happy I discovered your website.  So excited to discover new ways to eat my greens!

Can’t wait to try this one!  Sound super delish!  Plus I just love Kale!!

This recipe is awesome!  I use homemade almond milk instead of water add a 1/2 cup of chickpeas.  Sounds gross, but there’s no taste to them and they give me the extra carbs to keep me going all morning.  Thank you for posting!

Absolutely DELICIOUS! Even my 13 year old son likes it!

This has to be one of my absolute favourite green smoothies.  I love it and I’m in heaven when drinking it!

Amazing, and I am not a kale lover. I used salted,roasted cashews, all I had, did NOT use vanilla, used 5 dates, no agave, started with 3 leaves of kale because I was scared, today used 4. Today, I couldn’t wait to have this shake, I had used the rest of the cashews today, and added in salted almonds for the balance. So DELICIOUS! I will have this everyday, because of the massive health benefits. I also used frozen bananas.

Absolutely delicious. Never tried kale before. I am so happy I gave it a go. I am going to try and grow it now so I can mix it in other smoothies or juices. This recipe is fantastic. This website is fantastic. Thank you so much.

I cannot wait to try it. But kale is hard to come by where I live (central Europe) :-(

Hi central Europe. You can grow kale. Can you get seeds?  It will be AMAZIING!

I tried making this smoothie, but it didn’t turn out well, because it had way too much kale. I put 3 large leaves in there, but it was a lot more than a cup. So next time I will make sure to measure the quantity in cups/by weight.

Finally found the equivalent of kale in my country and made this as soon as I got home. Hands down the best kale smoothie. Kale? You’d never know it! I will consider this my “go to” dessert smoothie when I want something sweet but healthy.

Hello there Blender girl,  curious, which is better for the body system…xanthan gum or guar gum… I m attempting not to gain weight but still enjoy my raw diet and your yummy ideas shared here! 

In gratitude, Namaste
gyamma

Thanks, it actually does as after more research I purchased guar gum and not xanthan and I got some irish moss too. 
Thanks again, Peace.

My bf saw this and said to me “This just saved your life.” Can’t wait to try it!

Excellent, glad to be of assistance and my question could bring answers to another. Each one teach one!

Hi Tess! I just discovered your website, and I can’t pin/write recipes fast enough! I’d love to try this one (and many others), but I don’t handle cashews very well. Is there a good substitute? Macadamia nuts or almonds, perhaps? Thanks for any help, and I can’t wait to try out some of your recipes! :-)

This looks fantastic!  I can’t wait to try it!

This is delicious!  I even served it to a couple of my not so plant based family members today and they LOVED it.  I hope it isn’t wrong that I nearly laughed my head off at the fact that they were gobbling up kale!

Hi!  I just wanted to let you know that I just tried this recipe, and it is FABULOUS!!  I just bought a vitamix last week and have been having so much fun exploring recipes.  I made your recipe as is, except I substituted 1/4 cup pistachios for the 1/2 cup cashews, as that is all I had on hand.  It was delicious.