Here’s how to make a smoothie bowl! These tips and tricks make it easy to whip up this tasty breakfast or snack homemade.

Need breakfast or snack inspiration? Try a quick and easy Smoothie Bowl! Instead of sipping the fruity puree through a straw, try it in a bowl loaded up with toppings. It’s a satisfying blend of textures and flavors that admittedly tastes more like dessert than a healthy way to start the day! Here are a few tips to making a killer smoothie bowl: how to avoid melting too fast, how to pack it with protein, and the best toppings to use.

How to make a smoothie bowl (base recipe)

Making a smoothie bowl is simple, but you’ll a few tricks. The smoothie bowl concept is modeled after an Acai Bowl, a Brazilian dish that’s a frozen puree of acai berries topped with fruit, granola, coconut and nut butter. It was invented in the 1980’s in Brazil and spread to the US in the 2000’s. Now, smoothie bowls hold a place in popular culture: made with any type of frozen fruit. Here’s what to know about how to make a smoothie bowl:

• Freeze the bowl first. This quick tip helps to avoid the smoothie melting too fast.
• Prep the toppings while the bowl freezes. You’ll want them all ready to go before you blend it up.
• Memorize the base recipe. The base recipe for a smoothie bowl is thicker than a normal smoothie. Use 1 ½ cups frozen fruit, 1 banana, ½ cup Greek yogurt and ½ cup orange juice (plus any more to get it to blend).

Smoothie bowl flavors

You can vary a smoothie bowl in so many different ways using different frozen fruit! Shown in these photos is the mixed berry smoothie, using frozen mixed berries (the package with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries). But there are infinite variations on the base recipe. Here are some ideas for varying the frozen fruit:

• Strawberry with frozen strawberries, or strawberry blueberry, strawberry mango, strawberry peach or strawberry pineapple
• Blueberries with frozen blueberries, or blueberry peach or blueberry pineapple
• Mango with frozen mangos, or mango peach, mango pineapple, or mango blueberry
• Peach with frozen peaches, or peach pineapple or peach raspberry
• Pineapple with frozen pineapple
• Green smoothie bowl: use 1 ½ cups frozen mango or pineapple, 1 banana, 2 cups spinach or baby kale, ½ cup Greek yogurt and ½ cup orange juice

Packing the bowl with protein

This smoothie bowl has a dose of protein from the Greek yogurt: and you can add more if desired! Protein is important for keeping you full and satiated, especially important if you’re eating this smoothie bowl as a meal. Here are a few notes:

• Greek yogurt: ½ cup Greek yogurt adds 12 grams protein
• Protein powder: Add a scoop of protein powder for a major boost (we like this protein powder: 1 scoop has 24 grams protein)
• Chia seeds: 1 tablespoons chia seeds adds 2 grams protein.
• Nut butter topping: 1 tablespoon almond butter has 3.4 grams protein.

Smoothie bowl toppings

What are the best smoothie bowl toppings? There’s an ideal mix of fruity, crunchy and smooth items that makes the ideal topping blend. The crucial ingredient, in our minds? Nut butter! The way it slightly solidifies in the smoothie reminds us of hot fudge in a sundae. Here are our ideal toppings:

• Fresh berries like blueberries, strawberries or blackberries
• Sliced fruit like bananas, apples, pineapple, or mango
• Granola like Peanut Butter Granola or Homemade Granola
• Chopped nuts like pecans, sliced almonds, hazelnuts, or cashews
• Seeds like pepitas, sesame or sunflower seeds
• Nut butter like almond butter, peanut butter, cashew butter, pecan butter, or walnut butter (use sunflower butter or tahini for nut free)
• Coconut, large or small flakes
• Honey, maple syrup or agave syrup

Vegan variation

Want a vegan smoothie bowl? It’s easy to mix up:

• Omit the Greek yogurt and add more orange juice until the smoothie blends
• Add another protein source like protein powder or chia seeds

More smoothie recipes

You can even make a smoothie bowl with an existing smoothie recipe! Just reduce the liquids slightly so that the texture of the smoothie is a bit thicker. Here are a few of our favorite smoothies: