Diary of a Smoothie Bowl

I've been smoothie bowl obsessed for the better part of 2016. I just can't. get. enough. They're gorgeous,  fun, and full of ingredients you can be happy about putting in your body. I'm sure there are a million different ways to make them, but I thought I'd share my smoothie bowl MO...

First, I always use frozen fruit. It gives the smoothie bowls a great thick and creamy consistency. To puree that frozen fruit, though, you'll need a heavy duty machine. If you have a fancy blender (you know, one of the ones that costs as much as a pair of Manolo Blahniks) you can use that. I don't own one (and given the choice I'd rather have the shoes), so I always just use our normal kitchen food processor, and it works fine. It will take a couple minutes in the food processor to achieve the desired consistency, so don't be alarmed if the mixture just looks like chopped fruit at first - keep blending and it will finally turn creamy.


The best thing about smoothie bowls is that you can mix and match them according to whatever ingredients you have on hand. It's also very easy to tailor them to dietary restrictions or programs (like Whole30 or Vegan). Here's my general guideline for ingredients and quantities:

Smoothie Bowl Mix and Match Recipe

2 cups chopped frozen fruit (I like to freeze our own!)
1/4 cup something creamy (greek yogurt, coconut cream, almond milk)
1/2 Tbs. - 1/4 cup Add-Ins (nut butters, honey, maple syrup, unsweetened cocoa powder, spinach)

Just combine ingredients in a food processor and puree for 2-3 minutes until creamy (stopping and stirring occasionally of needed). And that's it! Then the fun part: pour into a bowl and decorate as desired. I usually go for chia seeds, shredded coconut, cacao nibs, fresh fruit, nuts, and granola.

Here are some of my very favorite combos...

Strawberry Banana with Almond Butter

1 cup chopped frozen strawberries

1 cup frozen banana chunks

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

1/4 cup almond butter

1/2 Tbs. honey

pinch of salt

Chocolate Strawberry Banana

1 cup frozen strawberries

1 cup frozen banana chunks
¼ cup plain greek yogurt
2 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbs local honey

Banana Blueberry (Vegan/Whole 30 Compliant)

1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup frozen banana chunks
1/4 cup almond butter
1/4 cup almond milk

Peanut Butter Banana

2 cups chopped frozen bananas
¼ cup plain greek yogurt
¼ cup peanut butter
1 Tbs. honey

Peanut Butter & Jelly

1 ½ cups frozen blueberries

½ cup frozen banana

¼ cup plain greek yogurt

¼ cup peanut butter

1 Tbs. honey
pinch of salt

Just Peachy

2 cups chopped frozen peaches
¼ cup plain greek yogurt
2 Tbs. honey
½ Tbs. lemon juice

Berry Vegan

1 cup chopped frozen strawberries

½ cup frozen banana chunks

½ cup frozen blueberries
¼ cup almond milk

2 Tbs. almond butter

½ Tbs. maple syrup

A couple more tips: I've been freezing our own fresh local fruit this summer. Just take whatever fruit you're using, wash and peel/slice it, then lay it out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and pop into the freezer overnight. The next day you can transfer the fruit to ziplock baggies. Since they were frozen individually, the pieces won't all stick together as they would have if they'd just been tossed in the ziplock bag to begin with. I just love freezing our own fruit since it's so abundant now during the summer, and it also gives me a chance to save whatever fruit we get in our CSA that we might not be able to use otherwise (right now we are up to our necks in peaches!). This works double for bananas - not local, but I love being able to "rescue" a trash bin-bound banana by slicing and freezing it! Also, no need to do the baking sheet trick for bananas - I just put them directly in ziplocks.

My second tip - smoothie bowls make great popsicles! Parker is a big smoothie bowl fan, so usually we have no trouble polishing them off. But once in awhile, if he's not around and I can't finish one, I'll pour the leftovers into a popsicle mold and freeze it, and voilà - instant popsicle!

Is anyone else out there smoothie bowl obsessed?