A four-ingredient smoothie bowl thick enough to eat with a spoon. Frozen strawberries and banana do the work; the protein powder makes it a meal rather than a snack.
Five minutes, one blender.
Key points
- Four ingredients. Two of them fruit.
- Five minutes. Blend and top.
- Thick enough to spoon. That is the whole point.
- Use frozen fruit. Not fresh, or it will not hold.
- Add water last. A teaspoon at a time.
What you'll need
- 1 1/2 bananas
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- 1 serving vanilla plant protein powder
- A small amount of water
Method
- Blend everything together, adding the water a little at a time until it moves but stays thick.
- Serve with your favourite toppings.
How do I get it thick instead of runny?
This is the question that decides whether you get a smoothie bowl or a smoothie in a bowl, and there are only three rules.
- Freeze the fruit. Both the strawberries and, ideally, the banana. Fresh fruit cannot produce a spoonable texture no matter how little liquid you use. Slice bananas before freezing or your blender will struggle.
- Add liquid a teaspoon at a time. Start with almost none. You can always add more; you cannot take it out.
- Use the tamper, not more water. When the blender stalls the instinct is to add liquid. Stop the machine and push the fruit down instead.
If it has already gone thin, add more frozen fruit or freeze it for 20 minutes and re-blend.
How should I cut strawberries for the top?
Thin, and lengthways. Hull the strawberry, stand it on the cut end and slice down through it in 2 to 3 mm slices. You get flat fans that lie on the surface rather than sinking in.
Fanning them is easier than it looks: slice almost through without separating the base, then press gently to spread. It takes ten seconds and makes the bowl look considerably better.
Halved or quartered strawberries also work and are faster. They just sink.
Is it better to cut strawberries or leave them whole?
For a topping, cut. For storing, whole.
Cut surfaces lose vitamin C faster through oxidation, and cut strawberries go soft and weep within a day. So hull and slice them right before serving, and keep the rest of the punnet whole and unwashed in the fridge until you need them.
Washing before storage is the most common thing people get wrong. Moisture on the skin is what makes strawberries go mouldy fast.
How many calories are in a bowl of strawberries?
Strawberries are one of the lower-calorie fruits: roughly 30 to 35 calories per 100 g, so a decent bowlful is around 50 to 70 calories.
They are also high in water and reasonably high in fibre, which is why they are filling for the calories. That is the honest reason they suit a smoothie bowl, rather than anything more exotic.
The calories in this recipe come mostly from the banana and the protein powder, not the strawberries.
Is there a downside to eating strawberries?
For most people, no. A few things worth knowing rather than worrying about:
- They spoil fast. A practical downside more than a nutritional one.
- Allergy is possible though uncommon, and more likely in people with birch pollen allergy.
- They are moderately high in salicylates, which matters only to the small number of people who are sensitive.
- They appear on pesticide residue lists. Washing helps. Buying organic is optional, and the evidence that it matters for health is weaker than the headlines suggest.
None of that is a reason to eat fewer strawberries.
What is the healthiest fruit?
There is not one, and the question itself is the problem.
Different fruits are strong in different things: berries in antioxidants and fibre, citrus in vitamin C, bananas in potassium, kiwifruit in vitamin C and fibre. No single fruit covers everything, which is exactly why variety beats optimisation.
The fruit that does most for your health is the one you actually eat regularly. Most Australian adults do not meet the recommended two serves a day, so eating more of whatever you like beats picking the theoretically best one.
Which protein powder should I use?
A vanilla plant protein suits this best and keeps it dairy free. Plant proteins are thicker than whey, which works in your favour here.
100% Vegan Protein is our house-brand option, and the wider plant protein range has the alternatives. Whey works too and gives a slightly lighter texture.
Toppings
- Sliced strawberry and banana. The obvious one, and it still looks best.
- Granola or toasted coconut. Crunch against the soft base.
- Nut butter, warmed slightly so it drizzles.
- Chia or hemp seeds. Extra fibre and a little protein.
Eat it straight away. A smoothie bowl left standing melts into a smoothie within ten minutes.
For more like this, browse the full recipe collection.
