If you’re looking for a refreshing, bright, and cheery smoothie, here’s a great one to try. It packs a punch with a bunch of vitamins and minerals and with orange, carrot, berry and zucchini, gives you plenty of fruit and vegetables. And the best thing is you probably have many of the ingredients already in your freezer, pantry or refrigerator. I love having plenty of frozen fruit and vegetables ready for quick snacks and meals. It makes meal preparation super easy, too.

Hidden Greens in this Refreshing Berry Smoothie

One hidden green in this smoothie is frozen zucchini squash. I’ve previously shared my love for dark greens in smoothies (check out how I sneak spinach into my chocolate berry smoothie here) and while zucchini is actually a courgette, it has very low calories (17 calories per 100 g), is an excellent source of dietary fiber and holds relatively moderate amounts of folates and potassium. Folates are important in cell division and DNA synthesis. Potassium is an important intra-cellular electrolyte and helps regulate fluid balance, muscle contractions and nerve signals.

Another trick with this smoothie is to freeze zucchini ahead of time. Simply cut the zucchini into small pieces (an inch or less) and freeze on a plate, then transfer to a freezer container or bag. It’s so easy to grab some frozen zucchini and add it to your smoothie for some extra nutrition.

So here’s my recipe. Just blend everything together. You can always substitute your own protein powder for collagen peptides and use nut/seed milks instead of water. The macros for this recipe are: 3 g fat, 28.1 g total sugar, 10.4 g fiber, and 23.1 g of protein. If you’re finding the sugar content a bit high, try skipping the orange (a medium size orange has around 12 g of sugar) and perhaps using fruit with lower sugar.