Oatmeal Green Smoothie Waffles
These green smoothie waffles are easy, delicious and veggie-loaded twist on classic banana waffles! Loaded with oats, spinach, and protein from eggs, they are easily mixed in your blender. Kid-approved, freezer friendly, naturally dairy-free and easily gluten free….the perfect healthy breakfast recipe!
Spinach Banana Waffles
I’m a sucker for anything green…..especially a breakfast food.
Weird. I know. I own the weirdness. But it’s true. So when I saw green waffles hanging out in the freezer section of a health food store while on vacation… I was transformed into the grown-up equivalent of child standing in front of the world’s largest gum ball machine.
Awestruck. Giddy. Maybe a little too giddy. I mean, they were green waffles, after all. Not a one-way ticket to Paris. But to a lady who spends many hours of her life trying to think up ways to get veggies into all the recipes, I was pretty jazzed.
I flipped over the package to read the ingredients. Eggs. Oatmeal. Banana. Spinach. Baking powder.
Hmmmmm. That looks a lot like the ingredients in my Oatmeal Green Smoothie Muffins. It wasn’t exact, mind you. But enough to get the wheels in my head turning.
Did you make these waffles and now you have leftover spinach? Check out How to Store Spinach (and keep it fresh all week long).
Oatmeal Green Smoothie Waffles
Oatmeal Green Smoothie Muffins has, hands down, been one of my most popular recipes EVER.
Especially among kiddos. Which, of course, made them super popular with moms, dads and caregivers. I can’t tell you how many adorable pictures of toddlers with cheeks full of green smoothie muffin I have received over Instagram DM. Its a heartwarming bonus I get in this food blogging gig.
When I saw that these (wildly expensive, yet wildly healthy) frozen waffles reminded me so much of a recipe I knew I could easily make, I tossed them back into the freezer and went home to heat up my waffle iron.
Why these green smoothie waffles are amazing!
- Freezer friendly! Move over Eggo. There is a new freezer waffle in town!
- Veggie-loaded with spinach. But of course! These waffles are a great way to wiggle veggies in at breakfast.
- Kid-approved. Like, woah! Kids adore these waffles, they make great finger foods AND they can help kiddos warm up to other green foods by seeing how tasty these waffles are!
- Mixed in your blender. So easy and fast!
- Naturally sweetened with banana (or applesauce) and a little maple syrup.
- Perfect to make during meal prep. These waffles store easily in your fridge and reheat quickly!
- Naturally dairy-free and can easily be made gluten free for those who need that option.
Kitchen gear I used to make these spinach banana waffles
I get asked all the time what blender and waffle iron I use and suggest. And, trust me, I have tried many! These two products are what I used to make these Oatmeal Green Smoothie Waffles and many other veggie-loaded recipes!
This post contains affiliate links.
Suggested Adaptations
- Replace the banana with applesauce.
- Up the spinach by tossing in an extra handful of the greens! Just don’t go overboard! Veggies hold on a lot of water and adding too much spinach will change the texture of these healthy waffles.
- Make them as pancakes. Remove one egg from the recipe and cook them on your griddle.
- Make them gluten free by using certified gluten free oats.
- Use kale instead of spinach. Just be sure to remove the tough rib from the middle of kale leaf before tossing them into the blender batter.
Other spinach loaded breakfast recipes..
- Oatmeal Green Smoothie Muffins
- Blender Banana Spinach Pancakes
- Kid-Friendly Vegan Spinach Muffins
- Simple Spinach Mango Smoothie
- Blueberry Spinach Smoothie
- Banana-Spinach Pancake Pizza {Paleo}
Loving this waffles and now you are hungry for more?
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Oatmeal Green Smoothie Waffles
Ingredients
- 2½ cups rolled oats, uncooked, use certified gluten free in gf is needed
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted + extra for greasing
- ¾ cup mashed ripe bananas, can sub unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ cup maple syrup or honey
- ½ tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup loosely packed spinach
Equipment
Instructions
- In your blender, combine oats, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Pulse until the oats are broken down into a flour-like texture. Pour into a medium bowl and set aside.
- In your now-empty blender, combine banana, eggs, oil, maple syrup/honey, spinach, and vanilla. Blend until very smooth and spinach is completely pureed.
- Pour oat mixture back into the blender and blend to combine. You might need to scape down the sides of the blender once or twice to ensure everything is incorporated.
- Heat up your waffle iron. Heat up your waffle iron (see above for which iron I use). If needed, put a little oil on the iron's plates to prevent sticking. Once hot, pour 1/2 cup of batter onto your hot iron.
- Depending on your waffle iron, cook for 4-6 minutes or until golden and crispy.
- Remove the cooked waffle from the iron. To keep it warm while you cook, place cooked waffles on baking sheet in a 200℉ oven.
- Enjoy warm or let cool and store in fridge or freezer until needed.
Those look soooo goood! I don’t eat eggs. Do you have a recommendation on what to replace it with? Thank you! Love your posts on IG!!
Glad egg, apple sauce, yogurt
Sorry Flax egg
Hi! Is there an alternative for the apple cider vinegar? Thanks!
Any vinegar would work!
Is the Apple cider vinegar for the muffin recipe? I checked the waffle recipe multiple times and didn’t see ACV.
You are correct, there is no ACV in the waffle recipe but there is in the muffin. They use different rising agents. Baking soda requires an acid (ACV) to activate it while baking powder does not.
Before the recipe was updated on 1/18/21 it has ACV as an ingredient in the waffles.
My little one is gobbling these up right now. Takk (thank you) from Norway 🙂
Oh I love that! Thanks for sharing!
We have a kid recovering from the flu at our house. She gobbled these right up! (Along with the rest of us who are trying to keep our immune systems in tact).
Oh I so love hearing that!!
Made these for me and my little guy for lunch as pancakes. They turned out very good and tasty! Thank you for the recipe!
Game changer! Been in a yucky habit of quick Eggos for my daughter’s breakfast lately (gross). But wasn’t sure how to change it up. Saw this and made big batch and froze for week–perfect!! My 7yo told her friend, "There’s lettuce in my waffles, but I can’t even taste it! They’re even good without syrup!" I’ll take that for the win:) Thanks!
Made these tonigt- ended up having two for dinner. So delicious! I used my mini waffle maker and froze the rest. These will make for a super quick breakfasts. Pop ‘em in the toaster and go! Thanks for the recipe!
Delish! But left the honey/maple out of the batter, since enough maple goes on top, along with a dollop of easy unsweetened home-made raw whole milk yogurt and fresh fruit. Will come back to this one! Gonna freeze a bunch of these before our next baby arrives–will be invaluable quick snacks when busy with a new baby. Might also add a bit of ground flax seed for fiber and omega 3s, and also some brewer’s yeast, since those ingredients are known to improve milk supply. Thanks for this!
These were FANTASTIC!!! I can’t believe my kids ate kale for breakfast and had no idea 😀 These will be a staple for us!
What kind of waffle maker do you use? I’m having a hard time finding a non toxic brand. These look delish!
Can I used regular rolled oats?
Yes!
Tried your green smoothie muffins recently, but for some reason, I’ve not been fond of banana lately. Wanting to try the waffles, and saw in comments on the muffins that we can substitute applesauce for bananas. I have homemade applesauce (yay!), so wondering what quantity of applesauce you recommend for the substitution of 2 bananas. I could eyeball it, but wonder if you’ve already worked out the quantity. Thanks!
Such a small thing, but your steps are in the incorrect order. Thought I would offer feedback. I love your recipes! I don’t even have a kid who is eating solids yet, but this has been great practice to cook with so many veggies. Thank you!
Thanks! I’ll fix it now!
I am in love with these waffles!! I’ve been trying to find nutrtious lunchbox items for my preschooler that also comply with a variety of classroom allergy restrictions. These are a huge hit! They freeze wonderfully and are really just perfect. I use frozen spinach, works great. My ten month old loves them too. Thanks so much!!
I am so glad!!
Could I use frozen spinach if I don’t have fresh on hand?
Yes, but I suggest defrosting it and draining off the extra liquid before adding it to the batter
These sound great. Do you think it’s possible to use defrosted frozen chopped spinach? I’d defrost and squeeze the water out? Thanks!!
I think so! I’d use considerably less though, since it would be much more condensed.
So I have been making this about once a week for about 6 months. My kids, ages 6, 4, and 2, (and 5 month old who will enjoy them before too long) all LOVE them!! My goal is always to make extra to freeze for crazy mornings, but they never last that long. Haha!! The only way I can get my 2 year old to eat any veggie is by making your recipes. So THANK YOU for helping me nourish my picky eaters!
I am SO happy to hear that!
Wanted to share that these make GREAT pancakes. We avoided the recipe for months because we dont have a waffle iron, but glad we tried it and wanted to share that with other readers in the same boat.
I am SO glad! And I’ve updated your comment for privacy as you requested 😉
These are so yummy!! My 5 year old LOVED them!! So did the hubs 🙂 thanks so much!
I wondering if I can make these without bananas as they are something I cannot tolerate eating when sweetened with anything. I love the sound of these waffles and want desperately to make them but without bananas please. Thank you for your help
I usually use unsweetened applesauce in place of bananas in many baked goods. My rule of thumbs is one banana = about 1/2 cup
My kids adore these!
My daughter does too!
These are such a great, quick breakfast! We pretty much always have a batch hanging around cause they’re so good for any meal and snacking!
Agreed! I always have to make another batch for my freezer when we run out!
My family loves these and I’ve been making them for a couple years now! But I’m just wondering if the recipe recently changed ? The past two or three times they’ve come out completely different.. Thanks for the great recipes!
I did update it recently but the only change I made was from baking soda to baking powder
Thanks for the response! That might be it.. they shrink in my waffle iron rather than expand to size 🙂
Oh no! Hmmm….let me test them again with the baking soda vs the baking powder. Thanks for the notes!
Taesha, did you have to do anything special for these to come out green? I made kale waffles (a slightly diff recipe), but they turned out brown with green edges. I’m wondering if it’s because I partially cooked down the kale first?
Thanks! ❤️
It sounds like your waffle iron was cooking hotter than mine. Low and slow helps to maintain the color.
Very fluffy and flavorful!
So glad you enjoyed! We love these.
Can I sub banana/ applesauce to Greek yogurt?
I haven’t tried but maybe. The waffles wouldn’t be as sweet, though, as the banana and applesauce add natural sweetness.
I followed the recipe exactly as is and we really enjoyed the waffles!
I’ll be making and freezing these!
So glad you enjoyed these as much as we do! We just had some for breakfast.
Thank you so much for your recipes! I have made these for years. Your’s is hands down my favorite “green” waffle / pancake.
Im hoping you may have some insight. The past 2 times I’ve made them I used your updated recipe, but I had to batch blend in my processor since my blender part is on a ship somewhere tbd haha I did the dry ingredients and then the wet and mixed them together by hand. Do you think that is why they are taking longer to cook? They end up so brown now compared to prior. Or could it be the recipe update? They just seem too wet when the light goes off and “golden brown” like before.
Any thoughts / tips would be appreciate. I hate to overcook them but they are still good. Just different!
Hi Natalie! I am so glad you enjoy this recipe! Mixing these by hand does create from a fluffier waffle IMO. If you feel they are too soft for your liking, stir in an extra 1/4-1/3 cup of processed oats to help them thicken up and be a be a bit firmer! Let me know if that helps!
I made these as a breakfast-for-dinner meal last night, and they were delicious! I made a couple substitutions based on what I had available: kale instead of spinach, avocado oil instead of coconut oil, and omitted the syrup so I could give some to my 6 month old. They were delicous – 2.5 y/o loved them, too. Thanks for a great recipe! I’ll be saving this one.
Love that, Keeley! I, too, find this recipe to be super forgiving while also still being delcious! I’m sso glad you enjoyed it and were able to make it work for you and your family!
Big hit with my picky 3 year old. I added a little bit of ginger and cloves because she loves gingerbread.
So glad to hear that, Cole! Love the gingerbread vibe! I bet it was delicious.