Strawberry Banana Smoothie Bowl | Bites of Wellness

Strawberry banana smoothie bowls are the perfect quick and easy breakfast or snack recipe. Customizable and incredibly refreshing, this simple, healthy smoothie bowl is thick and creamy and ready in just 5 minutes. Naturally sweetened, diary free and vegan, this banana strawberry smoothie bowl is a great alternative to ice cream!

Why you will love this recipe

• Easy to make – making this strawberry banana smoothie bowl is so simple. Add all the ingredients to a high speed blender or food processor and blend! The hardest part is deciding what toppings to put on top!
• Simple ingredients – you can find all the ingredients for this strawberry banana smoothie bowl recipe at your local grocery store! Buying frozen strawberries for this recipe will save you money and ensure you always have the ingredients you need on hand!
• Customizable – you can easily change up the ingredients or the toppings for this strawberry and banana smoothie bowl based on what you have on hand! Changing up the toppings is a fun way to make this smoothie bowl a little bit different every time you enjoy it!
• Kids love it – thick and creamy, kids will love this smoothie bowl and it’s a great way to get them a serving or two of fruits for the day! Let them choose their smoothie bowl toppings for even more enjoyment. This recipe is easy enough that with supervision your kids should be able to make this all by themselves!

Ingredients

Strawberries (fresh or frozen) – for smoothie bowls I typically prefer frozen fruit since they help the smoothie get nice and cold and are easy to keep in the freezer all year long. If you have fresh strawberries on hand that are starting to turn, smoothies and smoothie bowls are a great way to use them up! You can also stick them in the freezer (hull them first) to use later in smoothies.

Bananas (fresh or frozen) – bananas help to make this smoothie bowl incredibly creamy and rich. I prefer to use frozen banana slices when I have them as I love a really cold smoothie. You can make your own frozen banana slices by freezing banana coins on a wax paper or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer safe bag.

Dairy free milk (or water) – use whatever your favorite, go to milk is for this. Oat milk., almond milk, cashew milk, coconut milk, flax milk or just regular dairy milk if you are not dairy free or vegan. In a pinch you can also use water.

Chia seeds (or ground flax) – chia seeds are used to help thicken the smoothie and also provide extra fiber and healthy fats. Fiber helps to make the smoothie more filling.

Vanilla protein powder or oats – for this recipe I used a vegan vanilla protein powder to help thicken the smoothie. You can also use rolled oats in place of the vanilla protein powder if you prefer not to use it. If you are using a whey-based protein, add 2-3 tablespoons of oats along with the protein powder, if you are using collagen, use ¼ cup of oats in addition to the collagen peptides.

Toppings of choice (see below for ideas)

How to make a strawberry banana smoothie bowl

Check out a step by step story on how to make strawberry banana smoothie bowls.

Start by adding all the ingredients to a high-speed blender or food processor.

Blend until smooth (usually on high for 1-2 minutes).

Pour into a bowl or a large cup and top with your favorite toppings.

Top tips

• Use frozen fruit when possible. Frozen strawberries and bananas help to make a super cold, incredibly refreshing smoothie bowl. Frozen berries often tend to be less expensive than fresh berries. You can freeze your own bananas for smoothies easily.
• Prep in advance – if you want to prep the smoothie bowls in advance, you can measure all the ingredients except for the milk and protein powder in a freezer safe bag. When you are ready to serve, simply pour the pre-measured ingredients in the blender, add milk and protein powder and blend.
• Customize it! Add your favorite nut butter or peanut butter or a handful of frozen veggies (cauliflower, zucchini, spinach, kale) to make the smoothie even more filling and packed with nutrition.
• Save leftovers in ice cube molds to use in smoothies later this week/month or freeze into popsicle molds. The popsicles are extra fun when you have toppings added to the smoothie bowl leftovers.

Other additions

• Healthy fats: Avocado, nut butter or nuts for healthy fats
• Yogurt for probiotics and protein (if you use a greek style yogurt dairy free or regular). If you add yogurt, reduce the amount of milk by the amount of yogurt added.
• Veggies: Cauliflower rice, frozen zucchini, cooked beets (refrigerated or frozen), frozen spinach or kale (will turn the smoothie bowl green). You may need to add a splash more milk to account for the extra veggies.
• Powdered supplements like: Camu camu (for Vitamin C), Maca powder (energy and hormone support), Ashwagandha (for stress support) or mushroom powder (for additional antioxidants and immune support)
• Spices: Cinnamon, ground or fresh ginger, nutmeg
• Sweetness: If you add more ingredients like frozen vegetables, you may want to add a touch of sweetness (depending on how sweet your fruit was). Some great additions are maple syrup, pitted dates, date syrup, or honey (not vegan).

Topping ideas

• Fresh fruit
• Coconut flakes (regular or toasted)
• Chocolate chips (mini are extra fun)
• Granola or cereal
• Nut butter (almond butter, cashew butter, peanut butter, sunbutter)
• Nuts or seeds (almonds, cashews, peanuts, pistachios, pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds)
• Hemp hearts
• Chia seeds, ground flax
• Drizzle of maple syrup or honey

Common questions

What is a smoothie bowl?

A smoothie bowl is a smoothie that is thicker than a traditional smoothie so that you can put toppings on top. Smoothie bowls are typically eaten with a spoon (out of a bowl or a large cup) instead of being drank from a cup.

The benefit of eating a smoothie bowl with a spoon (especially when there are toppings) is that you have to then chew your food, which for some people can help them feel fuller and can help stimulate digestion.

Are smoothie bowls actually healthy?

Everyone has a different definition of healthy, but overall smoothie bowls made at home are healthy when you choose the right ingredients.

This banana strawberry smoothie bowl has fruit, fiber and lots of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. There are no added sugars, and you can make it more filling by using protein powder and topping the smoothie with nuts or nut butter.

Many smoothies and smoothie bowls that you can buy outside of the house use a base of juice (typically apple juice, orange juice or a tropical juice) or add extra sugar in the smoothie to make it even more palatable and sweet. Adding the juice or sugars can make the smoothie bowl incredibly high in carbohydrates without the extra fiber provided by using the whole fruit. This can spike sugars, especially if there are not healthy fats and protein paired with these ingredients.

Making this strawberry banana smoothie bowl at home helps you ensure that you are using quality ingredients and including ingredients that will make you feel your best without anything unnecessary.

How do you thicken a smoothie bowl?

Smoothie bowls are typically thickened by using just enough liquid to blend up the other ingredients. You can also add things

• Chia seeds
• Ground flax seeds
• Vegan protein powder (this will absorb some of the liquid making it thicker)
• Rolled oats or quick oats – just like your morning oatmeal, the oats will absorb some of the liquid when blending.

What to do with leftover smoothie?

Fridge: You can leave your smoothie in a bowl or cup for up to 24 hours in the fridge.

Freezer: Freeze leftover smoothie bowls in ice cube molds (these can be added to smoothies you make in the future to add strawberry banana flavor) or you can pour leftover strawberry banana smoothie bowl ingredients in a popsicle mold and freeze solid. This is a great trick to give your kids a healthy snack!

What should you add to a breakfast smoothie to help keep you full?

For the most satisfying breakfast, you want a good balance of protein, healthy fats and fiber. Making sure your breakfast smoothie has all these components will help you feel fuller longer. Here are some great ideas:

• Protein: Protein powder, greek style yogurt (dairy free or regular), hemp hearts, nuts, nut butter, peanut butter, peanuts, white beans (or black beans), oats, cottage cheese (not vegan or dairy free), collagen peptides (not vegan), egg white protein (not vegan)
• Healthy fats – avocado, coconut flakes, coconut butter, nut butter, nuts, peanut butter, peanuts, ground flax, chia seeds
• Fiber – chia seeds, ground flax, oats, beans (white beans, black beans, lentils), veggies (cauliflower, zucchini, spinach, kale, beets)

Substitutions

• Strawberries (fresh or frozen) – you can use whatever berries you have on hand here. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries or even frozen dark sweet cherries.
• Banana – if you don’t have banana or cannot tolerate it, add ½ of an avocado or ½ cup of frozen cauliflower rice and 1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup or 1-2 pitted medjool dates for added sweetness.
• Dairy free milk – use your favorite dairy free milk or even swap out the milk for your favorite yogurt of choice. You can use water in place of the dairy free milk if needed.
• Chia seeds – chia seeds help to thicken the smoothie. You can use ground flax as well. If you don’t have chia seeds or ground flax, reduce the dairy free milk to ¾ cup.
• Vegan vanilla protein powder or rolled oats – you can use 1 serving of vegan vanilla protein powder or ¼ cup of rolled oats interchangeably for this recipe. If you don’t have a vegan protein powder on hand and want to use whey protein, collagen peptides, add your protein of choice but add 2-4 tablespoons of rolled oats as needed or reduce the amount of liquid as the vanilla protein powder absorbs quite a bit of the liquid.

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