Smoothie Bowls Explained - Let's Eat Smart

If you haven’t come across a smoothie bowl before you’re probably thinking…what is she on about? Smoothie bowls are just what they sound like. It’s a smoothie, served in a bowl, served with a variety of toppings such as fruit, nuts, seeds or granola.

What really sets smoothie bowls aside from ordinary smoothies is the consistency. Smoothie bowls tend to be a lot thicker, meaning you can eat them with a spoon. They need to be thick in order to support your toppings and avoid them sinking to the bottom. There are two ways to achieve such consistency.

My preferred method is adding half an avocado into my smoothie base (1 whole avocado if it is a small one). This will make the smoothie super thick and creamy. The avocado taste is almost undetectable.

If you don’t have an avocado to hand, or simply don’t want to add one to your smoothie, then you can achieve a similar consistency by freezing your fruit (especially the banana) before blending.

Smoothie bowls are super easy to make, and the ingredient possibilities are endless. The base of my usual smoothie bowl is simply a little plant-based milk, 1 banana and half an avocado to give it a nice thick body. I then add whatever fruit and toppings I like.

Toppings

So you’ve made your smoothie base. Pour it into a bowl, and let it become your canvas for toppings. This is where the fun begins! Smoothie bowl toppings are literally endless. You can add more nutrients, flavour and texture by adding various toppings to your bowl.

Smoothie bowl topping ideas:

Almonds, walnuts or other nuts
Chia seeds
Oats
Cut up fruit
Desiccated coconut
Nut butters
Your favourite granola
Cacao nibs
Goji berries

Vibrant colours

When making a smoothie bowl, remember that if you want to keep the colours nice and vibrant, try not to mix too many colours together. AVOID mixing complementary colours (such as blue and orange, red and green) as this will make your smoothie go brown. To keep them bright, only mix primary colours together: