Laura Fuentes

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Eat Healthy
  • Quick Meals
  • Pancakes
  • About
  • Pasta Night
  • Best Chicken Recipes
  • Meal Plans
  • Cookbooks
  • Contact
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • Eat Healthy
  • Quick Meals
  • Pancakes
  • About
  • Pasta Night
  • Best Chicken Recipes
  • Meal Plans
  • Cookbooks
  • Contact
×
Home » Recipes » Chocolate

Sneaky Spinach Brownies

By Laura Fuentes Updated May 2, 2025

5 from 20 votes

Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.

These spinach brownies taste like traditional brownies and have a rich chocolate cake-like brownie texture.

Looking for a way to get your kids to eat more greens? These spinach brownies are a delicious answer!

While it’s not the same as eating a bowl of spinach leaves, there’s nothing wrong with adding more greens into other fabulous recipes kids already love.

stack of spinach brownies
Jump to:
  • Brownies with Spinach
  • Ingredients
  • How to Make Spinach Brownies
  • What do Spinach Brownies Taste Like?
  • Sneaky Spinach Brownies

Brownies with Spinach

These brownies have a rich chocolate flavor and cakey texture that’s so good no one will even know they are made with puréed spinach and blueberries!

While brownies probably aren’t the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “spinach,” this recipe is an epic way to get picky eaters a few extra greens into their day.

I know firsthand how challenging getting enough nutrients into a picky eater’s day can be. While you’re introducing new foods to their diet and searching for recipes that can add nutrition to their meals, these brownies are a great option to help them get more vegetables into their day.

I have other recipes that use this method of incorporating extra nutrition into familiar foods, some being a little more obvious than others, like smoothies with vegetables. 

pan of spinach brownies topped with powdered sugar

Are Spinach Brownies Healthier?

While this recipe for brownies includes spinach and blueberries, it also uses classic ingredients such as flour, chocolate, butter, and sugar.

They’re slightly lower in sugar and fat than traditional brownies, but my focus with this recipe is the extra antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals my kids get in each brownie.

This is not a “healthy” brownie, but does provide some added nutritional benefit to the classic treat.

Ingredients

Classic brownie ingredients are a tasty way to sneak in spinach and blueberries to make this treat more nutritious than the traditional recipe. Here’s everything you need:

  • Spinach: chopped to sneak nutrition in every bite.
  • Blueberries: provide vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber.
  • All-purpose flour: basic to give structure to the brownies.
  • Granulated sugar: for sweetness.
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder: super chocolatey flavor!
  • Baking soda: for an airy texture.
  • Salt: enhances all the flavors.
  • Butter: adds moisture, softness, and delicious taste.
  • Chocolate chips: to melt and add to the mix.
  • Vanilla: dessert-like flavor!
  • Eggs: to bind the ingredients.

Check the recipe card at the end of this post for the ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.

How to Make Spinach Brownies

This recipe for spinach brownies does require an extra step to blend the veggies and fruit, but overall they are easy to make! 

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F
    Line a 9×9 square baking dish with parchment paper, so the brownies are easier to lift out. 
  2. Make the purple purée
    Blend the spinach, blueberries, and 2 teaspoons of water until a smooth puree is formed. 
  3. Combine the dry ingredient
    Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. 
  4. Melt the chocolate
    Bring 2-3-inches of water to a boil over medium heat. Place a heat-safe bowl over the saucepot and add the butter and chocolate chips to the bowl. Use the heat/steam to melt the chocolate, occasionally stirring until smooth and glossy.
  5. Add the purple purée 
    Stir the blended spinach and blueberry mixture into the melted chocolate along with the vanilla extract.
  6. Make the batter
    Pour the chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients. Add the eggs, and using a fork, mix everything until combined into a smooth batter. 
  7. Add the batter to the pan
    Bake the brownies for 40 minutes until the middles are done and no longer wet to the touch. 
  8. Almost there! 
    Remove the baked brownies from the oven and allow them to cool down to room temperature before slicing into 16 squares. I think you know what to do from here. 

What do Spinach Brownies Taste Like?

These brownies have a rich chocolate flavor with no hint of spinach. The semi-sweet chocolate is strong enough, so it masks the leafy greens, and the texture is more soft and cakey than the traditional fudgy brownie.

More Recipes that Hide Veggies

These brownies aren’t the only delicious way to get those veggies in. The recipe ideas below look and taste amazing but include additional ingredients to make them even better for you and the kids. 

  • Veggie Mac & Cheese
  • Fire-Roasted Tomato Soup
  • Blueberry Spinach Smoothie
  • Spinach Pancakes

Sneaky Spinach Brownies

stack of spinach brownies
Servings: 16 brownies
Prep Time: 15 minutes mins
Cook Time: 40 minutes mins
Total Time: 55 minutes mins
These spinach brownies taste like traditional brownies and have a rich chocolate cake-like brownie texture.
5 from 20 votes
Print Pin

Ingredients

  • 2 cups chopped spinach
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter, 1 stick
  • ½ cup chocolate chips
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 eggs

Instructions

Prep the oven:

  • Preheat oven to 350F and line a 9×9 square baking dish with parchment paper (for easy lifting). 

Make the purple purée:

  • In a blender, place the chopped spinach, blueberries, and 2 teaspoons of water. Blend until a smooth puree form. Add a little more water if needed, you want the mixture to have the consistency of apple sauce, about 1 cup.

Combine dry ingredients:

  • In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. 

Melt the chocolate:

  • Melt the butter and chocolate chips in a heat-safe bowl with the double boiler method by placing water in a small saucepot, placing the bowl on top with the butter and chocolate, and using the heat/steam to melt the chocolate. Once the chocolate chips have melted, turn off the heat and place the bowl on the counter. You can also melt them in the microwave, very carefully to not burn the chocolate, about 1 minute, stirring throughout. 

Combine:

  • Pour the blended spinach and blueberry mixture into the melted chocolate bowl along with the vanilla. Stir to combine.
  • Pour the chocolate bowl mixture into the flour bowl. Add the eggs, and with a fork, mix everything until combined. 

Bake:

  • Pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, until the middles are done and no longer wet to the touch.
  • Remove from oven, allow brownies to cool down before slicing. 

Equipment

Clean Treats
Clean Treats Cookbook
Dessert Carrier

Nutrition

Serving: 1brownie | Calories: 173kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 127mg | Potassium: 83mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 561IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 1mg

More Chocolate

  • two smores stacked and held in front of an air fryer
    2-Minute Air Fryer S’mores
  • three small bowls with chocolate avocado mousse topped with whipped cream
    Chocolate Avocado Mousse
  • Oatmeal Breakfast Brownies
  • hot chocolate charcuterie board of toppings and cookies
    Hot Chocolate Charcuterie Board

Comments

    5 from 20 votes (10 ratings without comment)

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




  1. Carmen says

    May 20, 2025 at 10:50 am

    5 stars
    Wow this is an amazing recipe!! I really can’t tell the spinach and blueberries inside. My son loves these and he doesn’t even know that there are fruits and veggies inside 🙂 Love the texture as well. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
  2. Rachel says

    March 10, 2025 at 3:51 pm

    5 stars
    These spinach brownies are the best ever!

    Reply
  3. Krista says

    November 06, 2014 at 9:59 pm

    5 stars
    I have a garden full of spinach right now and thought I’d try to make a batch of these. Unfortunately I just started steaming before measuring how much I had (a lot). Don’t suppose you have any idea about how much STEAMED spinach is needed for the recipe…? (not hopeful, but thought I’d ask). Thanks

    Reply
    • Laura Fuentes says

      November 09, 2014 at 9:10 pm

      I am sorry! spinach will shrink like no other when steamed. I’ve never measured that way.

      Reply
  4. Enid says

    February 26, 2014 at 7:19 am

    5 stars
    I’ve made this twice and it came out pretty but I just noticed the 1/2 thing. I had been putting in1/3 cup of each flour oops!

    Reply
  5. Enid says

    February 26, 2014 at 7:17 am

    5 stars
    I have a question about the flour mix. So that’s 1/2 cup total of those three flours mixed together? How much is that of each flour?

    Reply
    • Laura Fuentes says

      February 27, 2014 at 10:03 am

      that would be total, yes… but the recipe is very forgiving so you have a bit denser brownies than gooey.

      Reply
  6. Melissa says

    January 07, 2012 at 6:39 pm

    5 stars
    A half cup of veg into a whole pan of brownies doesn’t seem very healthy to me. That’s about two teaspoons per serving.

    Reply
    • Laura says

      January 07, 2012 at 6:46 pm

      Melissa, that’s what I thought at first. But then, I looked at the servings and the 1/2c of blueberries and spinach is A LOT more than 1/2 cup of those items. you have to think that they have been pureed. It’s over 1 Cup of the raw items and about 1TB per serving. The goal is not to use brownies as the only way to give kids vegetables but to add them in when possible. Unlike traditional brownie recipes (most use 1-1.5 sticks) this only uses 4TB. Thanks for visiting!

      Reply
  7. Laura Todd says

    February 28, 2011 at 7:32 pm

    5 stars
    I can’t wait to try them out!!! Thanks for sharing Laura!

    Reply
  8. liz says

    February 25, 2011 at 8:09 am

    5 stars
    This is going to sound like such a little kid question, but do they smell weird because of the spinach-blueberry combo?

    Reply
    • Laura says

      February 26, 2011 at 12:25 pm

      not at all. they smell like chocolate and more chocolate. it’s ridiculous how moist and delicious they come out.

      Reply
  9. Chichi says

    February 23, 2011 at 10:55 am

    5 stars
    Great idea!…Love it!

    Reply
  10. Samantha Bradley says

    February 23, 2011 at 9:18 am

    5 stars
    Thanks for posting this. I plan to utilize this recipe on my husband not just on my sons… as he is more anti-veggie than they are. Love the idea and will have to buy the book also.

    thanks again,
    Samantha

    Reply

Hi! I'm Laura.
Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, mom of three, and the woman behind the world’s best pancakes—here to help you ditch the mealtime drama with recipes your family will actually eat.

More about me →

Let's Be Social!

Facebook Pinterest Instagram YouTube
5 Secrets to Healthy(er) Family Meals

Fresh Favorites

  • large stack of fluffy pancakes with slice of butter on top
    Best Fluffy Pancakes Recipe
  • rotisserie chicken alfredo
    Rotisserie Chicken Alfredo
  • three hard shell tacos
    How to Make Taco Shells
  • 4 fillets of baked cajun salmon served with roasted potatoes and broccoli
    Baked Cajun Salmon

Trending Now

  • large stack of pancakes topped with a slice of butter. a small bottle of maple syrup behind the stack of pancakes.
    How to Make Pancakes Without Eggs
  • copycat canes nuggets and fries with texas toast and two sauces
    Copycat Cane’s Chicken Recipe with Homemade Cane’s Sauce
  • large plate of freshly baked mixed chicken pieces
    Juicy Baked Chicken Pieces
  • creamy garlic sauce in a large pot with pepper on top
    5 Ingredient Creamy Garlic Sauce

Footer

Browse

  • Start Here
  • Eat Healthy in 30 Days
  • Weekly Family Meal Plans
  • Recipe Index

Useful Links

  • Contact
  • Permissions
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

COPYRIGHT © 2025 LAURA FUENTES · DESIGN BY FUENTES MEDIA

Rate This Recipe

Your vote:




A rating is required
A name is required
An email is required

Recipe Ratings without Comment

Something went wrong. Please try again.