12 Easy Ways to Eat More Greens (Not Just Spinach and Kale) + 5 Benefits

If you’ve ever wanted to improve your diet, odds are that you’ve tried to “eat more greens.”

Perhaps you’ve even been told to do that by your doctor in order to get more nutrients into your body. But eating a basic salad day after day can get pretty tiresome.

Fortunately, there are some creative and easy ways you can eat more greens on a regular basis without growing tired of them! Keep reading to learn my top tips and tricks to help you eat more greens on a daily basis.

Why You Should Eat More Greens: The Health Benefits

Green vegetables are full of nutrients, making them a great source for some incredible healthy benefits. Here are just a few of the science-backed health benefits of eating greens:

• Greens often contain detoxifying properties. [1]
• They fight inflammation. [2]
• Green leafy vegetables are known to support eye health. [3]
• These nutrient-rich veggies also support your bone integrity and reduce fracture risk. [4]
• They support your heart health, including blood pressure and cholesterol. [5]

Those are some pretty powerful health benefits, aren’t they? Now that you have just a snapshot of some of the incredible reasons why you should eat more greens on a daily basis, let’s take a look at some clever ways you can “sneak” more into your diet.

How to Eat More Greens

Here are a few helpful tips to aid in eating more greens.

1. Make a green smoothie.

If you’re wondering how to get more greens into your diet, one thing I love to do is sneak greens into my kids’ smoothies. They’re masked by the deliciously sweet taste of fruit, and my sons love them so much they just ask for more!

Need aa little help to get started? Try my Best Tasting Green Smoothie, which features tropical flavors such as mango and banana but also includes a whopping two to three cups of spinach. It’s a favorite at my house.

Another option is to take your favorite smoothie recipe(s) and add a handful of frozen spinach or kale. You may be surprised to find that you can barely taste it at all! And if you enjoy this treat in the morning, you’re starting your day off right with a nice helping of nutrients, which will encourage you to make great dietary choices all day long!

2. Replace lettuce with kale.

Remember all those benefits above? Kale features every single one of them! In fact, kale is often hailed as one of the most nutrient-dense foods in the world!

One of the great things about kale is that it doesn’t have a strong taste, so you can easily include it in dishes where you would otherwise have lettuce. Think burgers, sandwiches, salads, wraps, and more!

You can even make these incredible kale chips as a snack or side dish in place of a light salad.

3. Add spinach to pizzas, eggs, everything.

You can eat more greens simply by incorporating a few spinach leaves into many of your regular favorite dishes. Add them to your pizza, eggs, salads, sauces, pasta, and more!

As I said above, I like to sneak frozen spinach into smoothies for an extra health boost. Really, the options are endless. Try to get creative and see what you enjoy most!

4. Mix greens into your pesto.

Pesto is a cheesy green sauce used on many pasta dishes and even some sandwiches. And because it’s already green, it’s super easy to sneak some green leafy vegetables in so that you can eat more greens.

Check out my article on Fast Healthy Dinner Ideas (Tip #3) for a quick pesto recommendation. Just make sure to add some extra greens or added benefit!

5. Put arugula on your burgers.

Finally, I can’t write on article on how to eat more greens without mentioning arugula. It’s one of my absolute favorite leafy greens. Why? Well it’s been shown to contain anti-diabetic properties, fight dehydration, and even support healthy weight management!

I love to put arugula on my burgers for a little extra flavor and added health benefit. And if you pair it with my Best Vegan Burger recipe, you’re sure to have a family favorite on your list!