Abstract According to current concepts of white analytical chemistry (WAC), the use of organic solvents those are teratogenic and carcinogenic must be avoided for the protection of the environment and of the analysts. This led to the development and validation of the WAC–assisted green liquid chromatographic technique (reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC)) for the simultaneous analysis of anti-hypertensive drugs (azilsartan medoxomil, chlorthalidone and cilnidipine) in human plasma and their fixed-dose combinations. The analytical quality by design approach was used in conjunction with the design of experiments and chemometrics concepts to develop the method. To develop the green RP-HPLC method, critical method variables (CMVs) and critical analytical attributes were identified using the multivariate analytical tools principal component analysis and partial least square regression. Using the Box–Behnken design, the design of experiments was used for CMV optimization and response surface analysis. It was possible to explore the analytical design space for the life cycle management of the RP-HPLC method. The developed method was found to be validated following International Council for Harmonization Q2 (R1) and M10 requirements. Using the red, green and blue paradigm, the existing and proposed chromatographic methods were evaluated for their validation efficacy, greenness profile and cost-effectiveness.