Matcha Smoothie Bowl

This is the BEST matcha smoothie bowl. Bright green matcha, hearty kale, and omega-3 packed seeds make for a delicious, satisfying breakfast any day of the week. A healthy plant-based recipe that tastes like dessert and is ready in less than 10 minutes? Yes, please!

This vegan matcha smoothie bowl recipe is one of my favorite ways to eat my greens. It’s a super healthy and delicious bowl that’s packed with fruits, greens, super seeds, and everything you need for a strong start to your day.

A green smoothie bowl is a wonderful, fuss-free way to make sure you’re getting plenty of healthy foods in at breakfast. This particular bowl is quick-to-make, beautiful to look at, and much less expensive than its acai bowl counterpart. Let’s take a look!

What is a Smoothie Bowl?

A smoothie bowl is basically a thicker version of your favorite smoothie recipe. Instead of drinking a smoothie with a straw, you’ll make a thicker smoothie and serve it in a bowl-preferably a fun, yet sustainable coconut bowl. Then you’ll add your favorite toppings and eat it with a spoon. 🥣

Why make a smoothie BOWL instead of a regular smoothie? Mostly because it’s much more satisfying to eat your food than drink it! It will take you longer to eat a smoothie bowl than to drink a regular smoothie, which will also help you feel more satisfied.

This recipe’s thick texture, greens, and seeds help make this a balanced, satiating smoothie bowl that will keep you full and focused. In fact, well-balanced smoothie bowls like this one are firmly in the “meal” category rather than the “snack” category.

About this Matcha Smoothie Bowl

This vegan green smoothie bowl is sweet, thick, and slightly vanilla-flavored. It’s packed with superfoods and will actually fill you up, but it costs very little to make.

This (relatively) cheap smoothie bowl, is an easy and quick matcha breakfast recipe you’ll want to make over and over again.

This green tea smoothie bowl checks off a lot of Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen foods, if you’re into that. 🙂 It’s packed with flax, cruciferous vegetables, fruits, hemp seeds, healthy spices, and green tea. Top this smoothie bowl with berries to check off an additional Daily Dozen box!

And, for those of you who “need” caffeine in the morning, you’ll be happy to hear that matcha contains more caffeine than regular green tea.

Basically, this matcha smoothie bowl is a great breakfast and a great start to your day! 🥣 In fact, this recipe is great all year long. This super green smoothie bowl is perfect for warm summer mornings, of course. It’s also a great way to eat healthy in the wintertime since it relies on economical frozen fruit and plenty of hearty winter kale.

About the Ingredients

• Matcha Powder: This is simply ground green tea leaves. We know green tea is super healthy. Well, matcha is the healthiest kind of tea you can choose since you’re consuming the whole food. Choose matcha from Japan, like this culinary version or this ceremonial version.
• Bananas: The base for this healthy smoothie. Bananas are inexpensive, easy to find, and the perfect natural sweetener to counteract any bitterness from the kale.
• Kale: A cruciferous vegetable that comes in a few different varieties, kale contains powerful compounds that may protect against cancer. Kale also contains calcium, iron, fiber, and a variety of different vitamins. New to green smoothies? You can substitute spinach for a more mild flavor.
• Flax & Hemp Hearts: These are the super seeds! They add fiber, protein, and healthy omega-3s to this recipe. They help transform this smoothie into a satisfying meal.
• Soy Milk: A nice, creamy non-dairy option, soy milk has a great nutritional profile. Feel free to use the milk you like best, but note that different non-dairy milks do change the taste. Cow’s milk may interfere with some of green tea’s healthy compounds (source).
• Vanilla Extract: Certain types of matcha have vanilla undertones and vanilla pairs super well with matcha. I don’t always add vanilla extract, but it definitely adds a little something extra.
• Cinnamon: A delicious superfood, Ceylon cinnamon is an easy way to add antioxidant benefits to your meals. Here, it provides a subtle layer of flavor that works well with the matcha and vanilla.
• Ice: This one is self-explanatory, but adding a few ice cubes allows you to blend for longer with no loss of coldness.
• Pineapple (Optional): This is an optional ingredient that makes this bowl sweet and a little tropical. If you’re new to green smoothies, I highly recommend including pineapple.

How to Prep Your Frozen Ingredients

With just a few minutes of prep done in advance, you can whip up this matcha smoothie bowl in 5 minutes flat.

The night before, or once a week if you make smoothie bowls frequently, take a few minutes to freeze the necessary ingredients. Here’s how:

• Bananas: Freezing bananas at home is really easy and really economical. Let your bananas ripen until spotty, then peel and freeze in a single layer. (I like to use a silicone baking mat to prevent sticking). Once frozen, transfer them to a reusable freezer bag or container for longer-term storage.
• Kale: Wash your kale, remove the thick inner stem, then roughly chop it. Freeze your kale in 2-cup portions.
• Pineapple: It’s easy to find frozen pineapple at the grocery store and that’s usually what I use. To freeze your own, wait until ripe, then peel and cut into chunks. Freeze in half-cup portions for ease.

Now you’ll always be ready when a smoothie bowl craving strikes!

Smoothie Bowls without Bananas?

I see a lot of people asking about smoothie bowl recipes without bananas. It’s certainly possible to make smoothie bowls without bananas. However, I don’t personally recommend it! Here’s why:

Smoothie bowls made with bananas are AH-mazing.

• If you freeze your bananas when they’re nice and spotty, they will be perfectly sweet.
• Frozen bananas get super creamy and fluffy when blended.
• When frozen and added with other delicious ingredients, the banana flavor is pretty mellow.
• Best of all, bananas are extremely inexpensive and high in fiber.

With inexpensive bananas as the base of this recipe, you’re able to keep your smoothie bowl costs down. Acai bowls are amazing, but they’ll be about 3x the cost of this smoothie bowl. 🙂

How to Make Thick Smoothie Bowls

Thick smoothies bowls aren’t hard to make! Here’s what you need to know:

• Use a high-speed blender.
• Include plenty of frozen fruit.
• Freeze your greens whenever possible.
• Use as little liquid as you can.
• Remember to use your tamper.
• Add flax (or chia seeds) for a healthy gelling effect.
• Above all, be patient!

Thick smoothie bowls are typically great as a healthy, whole-food, plant-based dessert! However, since this one contains matcha (and therefore caffeine), stick to matcha-free smoothie bowl recipes for dessert.

For other easy and delicious dessert recipes that can be made in your blender, food processor, or Vitamix, check out this Healthy Chocolate Mousse and this Vegan Chocolate Pudding.

How to Make Pretty Smoothie Bowls

If you’re a smoothie beginner, this is going to blow your mind: 🤯

Think of the colors of your smoothie ingredients. Then think about the color wheel you learned about in elementary school.

If all your smoothies are brown, you’re probably mixing berries and greens. I don’t blame you! They’re just about the healthiest foods on earth.

But if you think about the color wheel, red strawberries plus green colored kale = a brown smoothie. Bright purple blueberries plus green spinach = a brown smoothie.

To make a “pretty” smoothie, keep your colors in mind and you won’t go wrong. In this smoothie, we’re using bright green kale and bright green matcha. Then we’re mixing them with a neutral (bananas). Your smoothie bowl will be beautiful and green, and then you can add your brightly-colored berries on top!

Topping Ideas

I am always recommending additional toppings for my recipes! And, of course, smoothie bowls are made for toppings. 🙂

This smoothie bowl covers many important bases already and you definitely don’t need to add toppings. Adding some low-sugar, antioxidant-packed berries is highly recommended, though!

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Whole blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries
• Sliced strawberries
• Sliced kiwis
• A sprinkle of coconut flakes or shreds
• A scoop of granola
• A sprinkle of hemp hearts or chia seeds

Having Trouble Blending?

If your blender isn’t quite as powerful as you’d like, don’t fear! You can add additional liquid and turn this into a drinkable smoothie instead. After adding additional liquid and blending, give your smoothie a few minutes to gel and thicken up (this happens because of the flax).

Your green superfood smoothie will still be beautiful, healthy, and filling just not quite as thick.

HELPFUL TOOLS FOR THIS RECIPE

• Vitamix
• Measuring Cups & Spoons
• Large Cutting Board & Sharp Knife (to prep kale)
• Silicone Baking Mat (to freeze bananas in a single layer)
• Coconut Bowls

The Background & Science Behind These Ingredients

• How healthy is matcha green tea powder? Dr. Michael Greger “never leave[s] home without it”.
• See this article for the many, many benefits of green tea.
• To learn more about omega-3s and why flax and hemp seeds are so healthy, read this post about omega-3s.
• Smoothies are an easy and convenient way to make sure you’re eating dark green leafy vegetables every day. Blending may actually be better for you, since breaking your food down more fully can help maximize nutrient absorption.
• Drinking smoothies slowly and adding greens and flax can help you feel fuller and more satiated. In addition, adding fat to your smoothies (from nuts and seeds) helps you absorb fat-soluble phytonutrients. See this video for more information.

What do you think?

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you make this recipe, then please leave a comment and rating. I would love to hear what you think and how it worked out for you!

For more healthy breakfast ideas, please check out my breakfast recipes! Looking for something sweet? Here are my dessert recipes.