Smoothie Bowls – What’s the Hype All About?

Yesterday I mentioned some detoxifying benefits of a vegan diet. One easy vegan recipe you can have for either breakfast or lunch is a smoothie bowl! Lately I have been obsessed with making smoothie bowls. If you’re not familiar with what it is, it’s basically just as the name states – a smoothie in a bowl. The smoothie is usually made much thicker ( more of a sorbet consistency ) and is topped with a variety of toppings.

One of the reasons I love smoothie bowls, aside from how delicious they are, is because they are much more filling than traditional smoothies due to all the toppings. Not only that, but I tend to eat them much slower than I would drink a smoothie.

They’re also great because you can customize them to whatever you have on hand in the fridge. Yesterday I was feeling under the weather so I made sure to include some immunity boosting foods such as almonds, kiwi, and papaya in my smoothie bowl this morning. They’re quite simple to make and only require a few steps to assemble.

The base

The base of the smoothie bowl is any mix of frozen fruit. I mostly use frozen bananas and add whatever other fruits I have such as frozen mango, frozen berries, or frozen coconut meat. You can even use frozen cauliflower for a lower glycemic bowl. The key is to make sure that you’re using frozen ingredients for your base in order to make a thicker consistency, otherwise you will end up with a fruit soup – which is not nearly as appetizing.

The superfoods

 Smoothie bowls are a great way to sneak in some superfoods such as spirulina, cacao, maca, matcha, or acai powder! If you don’t have any of these powders on hand and would like to amp up your smoothie bowl, I recommend adding greens to your base! You wont be able to taste them and it will add an extra punch of nutrition!

The toppings

Here is where you can get really creative and decorate your smoothie bowl with toppings. This step is an opportunity to add EVEN MORE nutrition to the bowl. I always use a mix of fruit ( usually berries ), granola, and some nuts! Other great toppings are things such as coconut flakes, chia seeds, nut butter, buckwheat, and dried fruit. The options are endless.

The protein and fat

This step is optional, but I always make sure to add protein to my smoothie bowls. This can be in the form of a scoop of protein powder in the base, or just some nuts and seeds in the toppings. In addition, I make sure to add fats such as nuts or coconut. Since the smoothie bowl is naturally a good source of healthy carbs, adding fats and protein will help ensure you are getting all the macronutrients your body needs at each meal. This will help to make the smoothie bowl satisfying and help avoid blood sugar spikes, providing a steady flow of energy.

As long as you follow these 4 assembly steps, you can create any smoothie bowl easily at home! I promise, after trying one, you’ll wonder why you never jumped on the bandwagon sooner.