By Verdant
Looking for easy ways to eat more greens without spending your life chopping or chewing through giant salads? We get it. Who has time for that? It’s tempting to reach for something less green — but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Below are eight quick, easy, and foolproof ways to prepare and eat your greens every day, whether you’ve got 60 seconds or half an hour.
This article is for anyone — but especially for non-cooks and leafy green hold-outs looking for fast, no-fuss ways to get more greens.
We’ve listed these tips in order of prep time, so even if you’ve only got a minute, we got you!
1. Green Powder in Water or Juice — The 1-Minute Boost
Just scoop, stir, and sip. Green powders deliver a concentrated dose of nutrients with zero prep. Mix with water or juice.
This is so easy that no excuse can stand up to it. Don’t love the taste of straight green powder? Head on over to the chocolate flavor green powders. We can do this! 1 minute to prep, 15 seconds to drink.
Recommended Green Power Brands:
2. Steamed Greens — 3 Minutes, 1 Pot
Throw a handful of spinach, kale, or chard into a pot with a splash of water. Bring to a simmer right in the water (or use a steamer) until it is wilted (1-3 minutes depending on the type of greens. Drain and toss with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and a dash of garlic powder or your favorite seasoning.
Other tips for flavor:
– Use flavored olive oil (e.g. orange) and/or flavored balsamic vinegar (e.g. pomegranate)
– Secret restaurant tip: Add lots of butter! (At least you’re getting your greens…)
3. Green Smoothie — 5 Minutes to Blend & Go
Blend leafy greens with fruit, nut butter,
Keep it simple! You don’t even need a recipe. Just throw a combination of these things into your blender:
– Dark Leafy Greens (spinach, kale, chard)
– Frozen fruit to give it texture and some sweetness: banana, pineapple, mango, mixed frozen
– Liquid: Water, milk,
– Extra bosts: protein powder, ground flax seed, chia seeds, Moringa powder
If you do want to build a repertoire of green smoothie concoctions, 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse is a New York Times bestseller filled with easy, healthy, delicious smoothie recipes.
4. Steamed Veggies — 10 Minutes for a Simple Side
Steam asparagus, broccoli, or green beans. Toss with olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, salt, and pepper. A fast, nutrient-rich side dish.
5. Quick Veggie & Miso Soup — 10–15 Minutes, No Fuss
No need for a recipe. Chop any mix of greens and veggies, add just enough water to make soup, and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and let sit for 5–10 minutes. Stir in a tablespoon of miso paste before serving.
Here are some suggested veggie options for a potent alkaline, cancer-fighting mix: broccoli, cauliflower, kale, bok choy, mushrooms, carrot, celery, onion, garlic.
Red miso is anecdotally good at cancer prevention.
6. Bagged Salad Mix — The Busy Person’s Secret Weapon
Do you buy a shopping cart of healthy veggies, feel virtuous, and then let them all rot in your fridge to become a part of the U.S. food waste statistic? We feel you there. It’s SAD… Not to mention BAD… But let’s go easy on ourselves and start with small wins.
Don’t buy the whole cart of fresh veggies. Instead buy one bag of mixed greens (like kale, cabbage, or shredded Brussels sprouts). Open, use half today, half tomorrow — no waste, no spoiled veggies lurking in the fridge. Of course, the bag is plastic, so there is that. But let’s tackle one positive step at a time. This article is about getting greens into your body in a way that you can sustainably do…
Sweet Chopped Kale Salad by Whole Foods has Broccoli Stalk, Kale, Brussels Sprouts, Green Cabbage, Radicchio and a yummy dressing and seeds & cranberries to sprinkle on top.
7. Oven-Roasted Greens — Quick, Crunchy, and Delish in 15-20 Minutes
If you’re ready for something a little “fancier”, step up to making some oven-roasted greens.
Take a tough green fibrous like kale or mustard green. Rinse and cut out the tough stem. Put in a bowl, and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Meanwhile, pre-heat cookie sheet in 425°F oven. Take out hot cookie sheet and spread with the cut greens. Pop back in the oven and roast for 5 minutes. Take out and flip over with tongs. Roast for another 5 minutes (maybe less). They should come out crispy, with some green spots, some brown and almost burnt spots. Serve immediately to rave reviews.
(Courtesy of Delectable Cooks)
8. Juicing — 20–30 Minutes for the Committed Green Lover
Juicing greens like kale, spinach and celery packs a powerful nutritional punch — but it does take a bit more time to prep and cleanup. Tip: Make a bigger batch and store for up to 48 hours.
You can definitely experiment with ingredients. Start with your dense leafy green, but then make sure to lighten it up and sweeten it with cucumbers, celery or green apples. Add a splash of lemon for an extra alkalinizing boost.
Here’s my sister’s green juice recipe which is super light and refreshing:
5 pieces of bok choy
5 cucumbers
5 celery stalks
4 Granny Smith apples
ginger – 1.5 inches
parsley – about 2 cups
If you want to give yourself a good foundation of go-to juice combinations, Juicing for Beginners: The Essential Guide to Juicing Recipes will give you everything you need to get started.
Getting your greens isn’t about perfection — it’s about finding easy, doable ways to work them into your daily routine. Try one or two of these this week and see how simple it can be to give your body the clean, green power it craves.
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