How to Make a Thick Smoothie Bowl

This delicious Breakfast Thick Smoothie Bowl is packed with nourishing Antioxidants and Omega-3s rich ingredients to power your brain and replenish your body first thing in the morning.

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This bowl along with our Post-workout smoothie constitute our powerhouses for training days!

Try also our Superfood Green Detox Smoothie, also on this site, to complement your weekly breakfast meal plan.

Berries are at their best during springtime, so if you plan on topping your smoothie with fresh berries, take that into consideration!

🧾 Ingredients

• Frozen fruit - such as frozen berries, frozen strawberries, frozen bananas, and frozen kiwi fruit, just like we do in our strawberry kiwi smoothie.
• Non-dairy milk - such as almond milk, soy milk, or oat milk.
• Seeds and nuts - we like using chia seeds, flax meal, and walnuts.
• Your favorite toppings - like fresh fruit or applesauce.

🔪 Instructions

Place your base frozen ingredients and the plant milk and protein, in a blender or a food processor.

Pour into a bowl and serve with your favorite toppings.

Pro tip: blending the frozen ingredients makes your smoothie bowl perfectly creamy. Don't try mixing frozen berries with regular bananas or vice-versa. Additionally, hemp flour or seeds will make it extra creamy, as hemp has healthy fats that help give the smoothie bowl that creaminess we are looking for.

🧐 how to make smoothie bowls thick

If you're looking to make thick smoothie bowls, there are a few things you can do to make sure your bowl is extra thick and creamy.

First, start with a frozen fruit base - either frozen banana or frozen mango. These will help to thicken up your bowl and make it extra cold and refreshing.

Second, add in healthy fat - such as almond butter or avocado - to help create a thick and creamy texture. We also like using the almond meal we make after making homemade almond milk.

Finally, be sure to add plenty of toppings! Thick smoothie bowls are all about the toppings, so go crazy with your favorite fruits, nut kinds of butter, and seeds.

By following these tips, you'll be sure to create a smoothie bowl that's thick, creamy, and absolutely delicious.

👨🏻‍🍳 Favorite smoothie bowl toppings

When it comes to smoothie bowls, the sky is the limit when it comes to toppings. Fresh fruit, crunchy nuts and seeds, and creamy nut butter are all great options.

For a bit of sweetness, add in some shredded coconut or chocolate chips. And don't forget the power of a good topping to make a smoothie bowl even more filling and satisfying.

Puffed quinoa, chia seeds, and granola all make excellent toppings that will help keep you full until your next meal. So experiment with different toppings and find your favorite combination. Your perfect smoothie bowl is out there waiting for you.

📖 Variations

Nut butter - to make your smoothie bowl richer, you can add a dollop of peanut butter, cashew butter, or almond butter on top, right before serving.

Plant milk - we like using homemade oat milk, homemade soy milk, unsweetened coconut milk, and homemade almond milk, to make our smoothie bowls healthy and cholesterol-free.

This smoothie bowl recipe uses berries, kiwi, and bananas, but you can use all kinds of frozen fruit.

You can skip the berries and kiwi fruit to make a pure banana smoothie bowl, just replace the quantity of frozen fruit, with a frozen banana.

When I make a banana smoothie bowl, I like making one of these thick smoothie bowl recipes:

• Strawberry banana smoothie bowl - simply using frozen strawberries as the complementary base. The combination is inspired by our easy strawberry banana smoothie.
• Coconut smoothie bowl - double the amount of shredded coconut and choose coconut milk over other non-dairy options.
• Peanut butter smoothie bowl - Add one dollop of peanut butter before blending all the ingredients. Similar to our banana oatmeal smoothie recipe.
• Cocoa smoothie bowl - simply add one tablespoon of dark chocolate or cocoa powder, just like we do in our banana strawberry chocolate smoothie version.

🥇 Reasons to have this bowl for breakfast

• Easy adjustable with pantry staples.
• It is a filling, fiber-rich way to start your day.
• Kids friendly.
• It is an effortless way to pack whole foods with plant-based clean nutrients.
• No need for fancy tools.

In addition to the fantastic amount of Omega-3s in your seeds and walnuts, you have all the benefits that berries offer, including fiber, lots of antioxidants, and anthocyanins (also great for brain functions).

✅ Benefits of walnuts

Walnuts are the top nut for brain health. That is because walnuts have a high concentration of Omega-3, DHA, which has been shown to improve cognitive performance and prevent age-related cognitive decline.

An excellent substitute for walnuts that also offers brain nourishing benefits are pumpkin seeds.

In short, this smoothie bowl is an excellent bet on your brain health.

If you choose to substitute Walnuts for Almonds or Hazelnuts, in turn, you still benefit from less age-related cognitive decline, generally associated with Vitamin E intake.

💡 Tips

If you don't love the crunchiness of raw chia seeds, just let them soak from 3-5 minutes while you blend the base ingredients of your smoothie bowl.

It will make them softer and activate the seeds, making them easier to digest, and your body will absorb its nutrients better.

I usually buy frozen organic berries, as they are significantly cheaper and don't lose their properties.

Also, being frozen makes them readily available for smoothies, and you prevent them from rotting fast, as is commonly the case.

I only buy fresh berries when I want to eat them alone as a snack or on top of a smoothie bowl as fresh fruit. So on this bowl, we are using the kiwi for that.

🍶 Substitutions

Berries

Use any organic berries you have. Since it is proven — raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries all work well. We are fans of blueberries smoothies.

Seeds

With this bowl, you will have a great source of essential omega-3s along with fiber. You can add other seeds such as poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds, or sesame seeds. Work with what you have in your pantry!

Other toppings

You can add organic cacao powder or cacao nibs, coconut flakes instead of shredded coconut, or any other fresh soft fruit you can think of, such as apricots, peaches, or pineapple.

You could even use the almond pulp leftovers from making almond milk in your energy power balls.

Read on: 3-ingredient pineapple coconut smoothie »

Sweetness

If you want to naturally bring the sweetness up, add some agave syrup or maple syrup before serving.

Another excellent way to add oats, healthy chia seeds, and antioxidant-packed blueberries is to make a lemon blueberry overnight oats recipe, which is great for making breakfast in advance.

If you are in for the perfect Sunday brunch, why not add a delicious and effortless healthy banana bread, which needs only 10 minutes of prep time.

❓ FAQ

📚 More breakfast ideas

Breakfast Fruit Bowl

Homemade Granola

Best Mango Smoothie

Banana Strawberry Apple Smoothie

Vegan Pineapple Strawberry Smoothie Recipe

Carrot, Cucumber and Celery juice for hydration.

⭐ If you try this recipe, let us know! 💬 Leave a comment, rate it, and don't forget to tag us @ourplantbasedworld on Instagram. Cheers!

📋 Recipe

🌡️ Food safety

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Use oils with high smoking points to avoid harmful compounds
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice. See our full Nutritional Disclosure here.

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