🌿 Green Desserts Without the Artificial Stuff
March is the month of St. Paddy’s Day, that time of year when everything goes green in honor of Ireland’s patron saint. What was once a religious feast day in the 17th century has grown into a grand celebration of Irish culture with parades, festivals, and a whole lot of food.
But here’s the thing: you don’t need a drop of artificial food dye to make your St. Patrick’s Day desserts vibrantly green. Spinach, matcha, avocado, kale — nature has you covered. These 13 naturally green dessert recipes are delicious, beautiful, and completely dye-free.
Looking to round out your St. Paddy’s Day spread? Pair these with our 15 green cocktail recipes for St. Patrick’s Day for the full festive experience.
🌱 Pro Tip: The most common natural green ingredients are spinach (flavorless in baked goods!), matcha powder, avocado, and kale. Each brings a different shade of green — matcha gives a deeper earthy hue while spinach and avocado produce a brighter, fresher green.
🍀 13 Naturally Green Desserts For St. Patrick’s Day 2026 🍀
1. Green Irish Soda Bread
Irish soda bread is a St. Patrick’s Day staple — sometimes sweet, sometimes not, always perfect. Whether you’re having a slice for breakfast with a spot of tea or serving it alongside your St. Paddy’s Day feast, making a green version just feels right. This one from Lands & Flavors gets its gorgeous color naturally from spinach, with zero detectable spinach flavor.
🌿 Green Ingredient: Spinach
🎯 Best For: Breakfast, alongside a St. Paddy’s Day feast
✨ Bonus: Zero spinach flavor — just gorgeous green color
☘️ Grab the Green Irish Soda Bread recipe right here!
from landsandflavors.com
2. Matcha Cranberry Scones
Scones are one of those magical little baked goods that are impossible to resist — and they make beautiful little gifts too. This matcha version with dried cranberries is a perfect green treat for St. Patrick’s Day. Picture one of these alongside a cup of hot Irish breakfast tea. Yes, please.
🌿 Green Ingredient: Matcha powder
🎯 Best For: Breakfast, brunch, gifting
☕ Pair With: Hot Irish breakfast tea
🍵 Yes, I want this Matcha Cranberry Scone recipe!
from aiya-america.com
3. No-Bake Avocado Lime Cheesecake
Cool, creamy, and vibrantly green — this no-bake avocado lime cheesecake from Chef Sheila is the St. Patrick’s Day dessert you didn’t know you needed. Make it in a mini cheesecake pan for individual servings that look absolutely stunning on a party table. No oven. No stress. Maximum wow factor.
🌿 Green Ingredient: Avocado
🎯 Best For: Make-ahead entertaining, dinner party dessert
✨ Make-Ahead: Yes — make the day before
🥑 Get this No-Bake Avocado Lime Cheesecake recipe — you need it!
from chefsheilla.com
4. Avocado Coconut Milk Ice Cream
Rich, decadent, and a beautiful shade of green — this avocado coconut milk ice cream is the kind of recipe that makes you wonder why you ever bought the store-bought stuff. You’ll need an ice cream maker, but you can grab one on Amazon for under $30. Fresh homemade ice cream whenever you want it? Mind = blown. Head over to FoolProof Living for the full scoop.
🌿 Green Ingredient: Avocado
🎯 Best For: Dairy-free dessert lovers
🛒 You’ll Need: An ice cream maker
🍦 Get the full scoop on this Avocado Coconut Ice Cream recipe!
from foolproofliving.com
5. Almond Flour Sugar Cookies
These darling cutout cookies are made with an almond flour base and topped with white chocolate tinted green with matcha powder. Use a round cutter for a modern look or a shamrock-shaped cutter for something extra festive. For natural green sprinkles, India Tree makes all-natural decorating sugars using only vegetable and herbal color sources.
🌿 Green Ingredient: Matcha powder
🎯 Best For: Gifting, cookie decorating, kids and adults
✨ Gluten-Free: Yes — almond flour base
🍪 Snag this Almond Flour Sugar Cookie recipe — they’re too cute!
from feastingonfruit.com
6. Healthy Shamrock Shake
McDonald’s Shamrock Shake is iconic — but a small one clocks in at nearly 500 calories, plus corn syrup and preservatives. This homemade version gives you all the creamy mint goodness with none of the guilt, made with Greek yogurt, avocado, spinach, and fresh mint leaves. It’s naturally green, naturally delicious, and way better for you.
🌿 Green Ingredients: Spinach + Avocado
🎯 Best For: Healthier treat, kids and adults
⏱️ Time: 5 minutes
💚 Make this Healthy Shamrock Shake at home — your version is better!
from joyfoodsunshine.com
🌱 What Makes These Desserts Naturally Green?
Every recipe on this list gets its green color from real food ingredients — no artificial dyes needed. Spinach is the most versatile (virtually flavorless in baked goods), matcha adds an earthy depth, avocado brings richness and creaminess, and kale can produce a surprisingly bold green in cakes. Even a natural chemical reaction in sunflower seeds can turn your cookies green — see #13! For more naturally green eating, check out our guide to green superfoods and our rainbow spring rolls.
7. Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Cake Treats (Vegan)
No guilt required for these ones. These vegan chocolate mint ice cream cakes are made from wholesome ingredients — bananas, coconut cream, and mint — and finished with a drizzle of dark chocolate. They’re frozen, festive, and completely plant-based. We’re completely in.
🌿 Green Ingredient: Mint + Coconut Cream
🎯 Best For: Vegan dessert, make-ahead frozen treats
✨ Make-Ahead: Yes — freeze the night before
🍫 Get this Vegan Choc Mint Ice Cream Cake recipe — guilt-free never looked so good!
8. Homemade Green Apple Gummy Bears
Gummy bears are fun at any age — it’s just a fact. And making your own at home is a lot easier than it looks. All you need is unflavored gelatin and some gummy bear molds. These all-natural green apple gummy bears are soft, sweet, chewy, and a lovely shade of green — plus they make a really fun activity to do with kids before the party.
🌿 Green Ingredient: Green apple juice
🎯 Best For: Kids, party favors, fun activity
✨ Make-Ahead: Yes — set in the fridge overnight
🐻 Get the Green Apple Gummy Bear recipe — these are way too fun to skip!
9. Kale and Apple Cake With Apple Icing
UK food blogger and cookbook author Kate Hackworthy knows how to make you eat your vegetables without even realizing it. Her kale and apple cake gets its gorgeous rich green color entirely from kale — but the kale leaves zero flavor behind. What you’re left with is a moist, fluffy apple cake with a zingy apple buttercream-style frosting. That just happens to be spectacularly green.
🌿 Green Ingredient: Kale
🎯 Best For: Showstopper layer cake, dinner party dessert
😮 Fun Fact: No kale flavor at all — just the color
🍏 Get this magical Kale & Apple Cake recipe — nobody will believe it’s green from kale!
from veggiedesserts.co.uk
10. Baked Paleo Spinach Donuts With Matcha Glaze
With your own donut pan, homemade donuts are easier than you’d ever think — no frying, no mess, just healthier ingredients straight from your pantry. These gorgeous green Paleo donuts are baked, not fried, and finished with a matcha glaze that’s as beautiful as it is delicious. Your waistline will thank you.
🌿 Green Ingredients: Spinach + Matcha
🎯 Best For: Healthier treat, Paleo diet
🛒 You’ll Need: A donut pan
🍩 Bake up these Paleo Spinach Donuts this St. Paddy’s Day — get the recipe!
from joyfoodsunshine.com
11. Almond Flour Brownies With Matcha Mint Frosting
Need a chocolate fix this St. Patrick’s Day? These dense, fudgy almond flour brownies are gluten-free, dairy-free, grain-free, and loaded with healthy fats and protein. The matcha mint frosting on top is what makes them St. Paddy’s Day-ready — and the matcha and cocoa combo makes for a serious afternoon energy boost too.
🌿 Green Ingredient: Matcha powder
🎯 Best For: Chocolate lovers, gluten-free and dairy-free diets
✨ Bonus: High in protein and healthy fats
💪 Get these fudgy Matcha Mint Brownies in your life — recipe right here!
from choosingchia.com
12. Spinach Cupcakes With Irish Cream Frosting
These fabulously green cupcakes use pureed spinach for color and vanilla cake as the base — and no, you cannot taste the spinach at all. The real star is the cream cheese frosting spiked with Irish cream liqueur. It’s festive, it’s delicious, and it’s a guaranteed conversation starter at any St. Paddy’s Day party.
🌿 Green Ingredient: Spinach
🎯 Best For: Party desserts, adult entertaining
✨ Make-Ahead: Bake day before, frost day-of
🧁 Get these Irish Cream Spinach Cupcakes on your St. Paddy’s Day menu!
from reneeskitchenadventures.com
13. 5-Ingredient Green Keto Cookies
This one is a little bit of kitchen science magic. A natural chemical reaction between chlorogenic acid in sunflower seed butter and baking soda turns these cookies green — no dye, no matcha, no spinach. Just chemistry. One reviewer noted an even deeper green when using raw sunflower seed butter and baking at a slightly lower temperature for a few extra minutes. Five ingredients, naturally green, keto-friendly. We love a recipe that surprises you.
🌿 Green Ingredient: Sunflower seed butter (natural reaction!)
🎯 Best For: Keto diet, low-carb celebrations
😮 Fun Fact: The green color is pure chemistry — no added coloring
🧪 Try the science magic yourself — get this 5-Ingredient Keto Green Cookie recipe!
from Keto Diet
☘️ Frequently Asked Questions
What can I use to make desserts green naturally?
Spinach is the most versatile option — it’s virtually flavorless in baked goods and produces a bright green color. Matcha powder gives a deeper, earthier green and a subtle flavor. Avocado creates richness and a soft green hue. Kale works beautifully in cakes. And as you’ll see in recipe #13, even sunflower seed butter can turn green through a natural chemical reaction with baking soda!
Will I be able to taste the spinach in these desserts?
Not at all. Spinach is one of the most flavor-neutral ingredients you can add to baked goods. When blended into a batter or dough, it completely disappears flavor-wise and leaves only its color behind. The same is true for kale in the apple cake recipe (#9). Nobody at your St. Paddy’s Day party will guess the secret ingredient.
Which of these desserts can be made ahead of time?
Most of them! The no-bake avocado cheesecake, gummy bears, vegan ice cream cakes, and jello shots all benefit from being made the night before. The cupcakes can be baked ahead and frosted day-of. The cookies and brownies hold well for several days in an airtight container at room temperature.
Are any of these desserts gluten-free?
Yes — several of them! The almond flour sugar cookies (#5), almond flour brownies (#11), keto cookies (#13), and vegan ice cream cakes (#7) are all naturally gluten-free. Always double-check ingredient labels if you’re cooking for someone with celiac disease. For more gluten-free recipe inspiration, check out our full gluten-free recipe collection.
What drinks pair well with these green desserts?
For a full St. Patrick’s Day spread, our 15 green cocktail recipes are the perfect pairing. The creamy desserts like the cheesecake and ice cream pair beautifully with the Grasshopper or Luck of the Irish shots. For a warm drink pairing, our Buenavista Irish coffee is a natural alongside the brownies and cupcakes.
