Tips for the perfect smoothie bowl

We’ve all seen the beautiful açai bowl creations at smoothie bars, with their vibrant colors, fascinating swirls, and fresh toppings. You can achieve this at home, I’m serious! Here are my top 3 tips to make the smoothie bowl of your dreams.

The first key to making an amazing smoothie bowl is getting it thick. The consistency should be like sorbet. To do that, use frozen fruit, as well as a strong enough blender that allows you to push down the ingredients (aka: a tamper).

For this smoothie bowl recipe, I’m using:

  • frozen pineapple chunks: provides natural sweetness
  • frozen mango chunks: helps make it thick and creamy
  • coconut water: hydrating plus just enough liquid to blend

Dragon Fruit Smoothie Bowl with blueberries and blackberries

How to blend a smoothie bowl

The second key is the blend. Unlike regular green smoothies that blend into a liquid fairly easily, smoothie bowls will remain thick in the blender, and might take a little muscle. This is my method for blending:

  1. Add all the ingredients to the blender, then turn on high speed to start the blending process.
  2. Once the ingredients stop moving on their own, use the tamper through the top to push down the fruit to engage the blade again. If you don’t have a tamper, then stop the machine and use a spoon/spatula to push the fruit back towards the blade and blend again. Be patient— this can take a few minutes to get everything blended. Thick= good, so avoid adding extra liquid.
  3. Once blended smoothly, scrape into bowls. Now, the fun part: adding the toppings.

Best toppings for a smoothie bowl

While your smoothie bowl ideas can take you in any direction topping-wise, my favorite toppings are a combination of protein, healthy fats and juicy fruit. While you feel like you are spooning out ice cream, you can still add healthy ingredients to maximize the benefits of the natural fruits you just blended:

  • Protein: granola, sliced almonds, hemp hearts, chia seeds
  • Healthy fats: almond butter (or other nut butter), shredded coconut
  • Juicy fruits: kiwi, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, pineapple
  • Extras: cacao, bananas, cinnamon, goji berries, freeze dried fruit, shaved chocolate

Now that you’ve learned all my best tips and tricks, let’s get blending!

All Smoothie Bowls