Matcha Smoothie Bowl

Ever wanted to make a café-worthy smoothie bowl, without the $20 price tag? Try this easy 5 ingredient, 5 minute recipe. In a blender, combine frozen banana, zucchini, vanilla protein powder, your favourite plant milk, and matcha green tea powder. Bowl heaven.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Matcha smoothie bowl topped with banana, berries, granola, and coconut
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top down of matcha smoothie bowl with gold spoon, pink cloth and topped with berries, granola and banana

Ever wanted to make a café-worthy smoothie bowl, without the $20 price tag? You have to try this Matcha Smoothie Bowl. Five ingredients, five minutes – the flavour combo of creamy banana, vanilla, and matcha green tea is out of this world.

I’m also thrilled to announce that I’m partnering with another phenomenal brand – Vitamix. I’ve been using my Vitamix blender for more than 6 years, and absolutely adore it (testament via the hundreds of recipes on my blog which I’ve made in it). As a qualified nutritionist, people often ask me what blender I recommend, and hand on heart I’ll answer Vitamix every time. It’s an investment in your health that will pay huge dividends, enabling you to make not only smoothies, but dressings, sauces, soups and more. As well as achieve that silky smooth inner to your raw tarts that will rival any high-class organic café.

If you’re Auckland-based and would like to see me and my Vitamix in action, come to the Go Green Expo next weekend. Sat 29th and Sun 30th April at the Eventfinda Stadium on the North Shore, I’ll be headlining the seminar room at 12pm both days. And it’s FREE! Simply grab yourself a ticket, then head up to the seminar room to secure your spot (it’ll be closed once we’re at capacity).

Right, enough excitement, let’s get to this smoothie bowl.

How to make your Matcha Smoothie Bowl

Ingredients for this smoothie bowl

To make this bowl you’ll need:

  • Bananas – sliced and frozen the night before. I recommend having a container of frozen sliced bananas in the freezer at all times, for making bowls and smoothies in less than 5 minutes. Choose the ripest spottiest bananas you can find, slice into ½ cm rounds, then freeze.
  • Zucchini – or courgette as they’re called in New Zealand, France and French Canada. They’re meanwhile referred to as zucchini (single and plural) in Australia, the US, and English parts of Canada. Ah but gross, aren’t I going to taste a random raw zucchini in my delicious Bali bowl? Nope, 100% not. Try it to believe me, but the zucchini addition adds a light fluffiness, and offset the banana flavour so it’s not overpowering. A stroke of smoothie genius really.
  • Plant milk – your favourite, any will do. I opt for a creamy neutral milk here such as oat milk, but soy, a thick almond, or any other will work fine. Rice milk is quite sweet and I don’t think this bowl needs the added sweetness, so that’s the only one I’d probably skip.
  • Vanilla protein powder – a plant-based variety if possible. This adds sweetness, creaminess, and a hint of vanilla flavour, plus amps up the protein content of this meal.
  • Matcha green tea powder – the pièce de résistance of our smoothie bowl, matcha gives it its green hue, hides the zucchini colour, but also adds a gorgeous earthy flavour that offsets the sweet banana base perfectly. Matcha also has a host of nutritional benefits, including being an incredible source of antioxidants, and acting a natural energy and mood booster.
top down ingredient shot of zucchini, matcha, protein powder, banana, bowl coconut bowl

Step-by-step

slicing zucchini
1. Slice the banana and zucchini into ½ cm rounds, then place in the freezer overnight.
frozen fruit in blender
2. Once frozen, add the banana and zucchini to the blender, with the rest of the ingredients.
blending
3. Blend on low, then slowly increase the speed up to high, for 1 minutes of blending in total. Use the tamper to push the mix down onto the blades while blending to get the ultimate texture.
matcha smoothie bowl in brown coconut bowl
4. Pour into a bowl, gently smooth flat with the back of a spoon, then top with your desired toppings.
Buffy Ellen holding matcha smoothie bowl with gold spoon, pink cloth and topped with berries, granola and bananaa

Recipe tips

  • Freeze the night before – if you try freezing the fruit and zucchini for this recipe when you want your smoothie bowl, this is clearly not going to be a 5-minute recipe. However, with a bit of forethought, this is definitely a 5 minute jobbie.
  • Freeze on a silicon sheet – how to get beautiful free-flowing fruit, just like in the frozen bags from the store? Put your sliced banana and zucchini on a silicon sheet, and then place in the freezer. They’ll freeze as separates, and then you can pour them into a container for later use. Don’t do this, and you’ll likely end up with a ginormous frozen block of banana – which you’ll then need a small industrial chisel to separate into pieces for your smoothie. If you don’t have a reusable silicon sheet, you can use a piece of baking paper or just a tray, but the silicon sheet doesn’t stick and also – can be reused again and again.
  • Start low, end high – for the ultimate smoothie bowl texture, start your blender on low, and only when the fruit is chopped into smaller pieces, increase the speed. Slowly increase right up to high, using a tamper (a type of stick that comes with your blender) to push the food down onto the blades as you blend. This way you’ll get maximum blade-action, but won’t need to blend past one minute, which will start turning your smoothie bowl into a smoothie slop.

Have your toppings ready before you start, as once you’re smoothie bowl is ready, you’ll want to pour it out of the blender, smooth it down with a spoon, then top it straight away so it doesn’t melt.

matcha smoothie bowl with gold spoon, pink cloth and topped with berries, granola and bananaa

Substitution ideas for this matcha smoothie bowl

To be honest there’s not much I’d change here. The bananas are critical, the zucchini adds a delicious lightness, the protein powder adds flavour and creaminess, while the matcha grounds the flavours. But here’s two ideas you could try:

  • Zucchini – use frozen raw cauliflower instead. This will add a similar neutral fluffiness that zucchini does.
  • Vanilla protein powder – swap for a neutral flavoured protein powder plus ½ a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Or, swap for another protein powder flavour of your choosing (i.e chocolate), and decide whether you want to keep the matcha or not. Chocolate and matcha actually work really well, but other protein flavours may not.
Buffy blending matcha smoothie in vitamix

What are the benefits of investing in a high-quality blender?

If you’re moving towards a more plant-focussed whole foods diet, a good quality blender is one appliance I think is worth the investment. I wouldn’t swap my Vitamix for anything – it’s the best blender in the world, incredibly durable, and is the type of appliance you pass down, not throw away. Depending on the model you choose, they come with a 5, 7, or 10 year warranty, and even after then, the Vitamix team are incredibly generous with support. I know people who’ve had their Vitamix for 20 years, and have then handed it down to a child, and it’s still going strong.

I didn’t quite realise why my Vitamix was achieving a far superior texture for things like raw tarts until I learnt about the blades. They’re aircraft-grade stainless steel, and are actually blunt by design meaning they pulverise ingredients rather than chop or cut. This means you get that chef-grade smoothness on day 1 as you do 10 years later. The jug meanwhile is designed to systematically fold ingredients back down onto the blades, rather than flick them up annoyingly into the lid. Investing in quality not quantity is a mantra I wholeheartedly believe in.

matcha smoothie bowl with gold spoon, pink cloth and topped with berries, granola and bananaa

Serving and storage

Back to our smoothie bowl, it’s definitely best served straight away, however you can get away with popping it in the freezer for up to an hour without it getting too icy. More than this, and it will set too hard, and also the matcha and banana goes a little brown (a reflection of us losing antioxidant activity).

The best way to serve your smoothie bowl is in a flat style bowl, ideally a repurposed half coconut husk for the ultimate Bali vibes. To make it look it really professional, sprinkle your toppings just on one half of the bowl in a moon shape, rather than over the entire bowl. This way you get to see the inside of the bowl still, and the asymmetric design will make you look like a smoothie bowl pro.

Want more smoothies? Try these:

If you make this Matcha Smoothie Bowl, do let me know. Leave a comment and rating below, or post your version on Instagram, TikTok or Facebook, and tag me @begoodorganics. I can’t wait to hear how you like it!

Vege traybake with cauliflower, beetroot, pumpkin, aioli, and vegan smoky bacon bits

Vege Traybake with Smoky Bacon

Got some dusty looking vege in the fridge? Try this epic one-tray wonder. Golden roasted cauli, pumpkin, and beets, it’s light on the carbs, yet still super hearty. Easy, with minimal wash up, it’s perfect for the mid-week dinner rush.
5 from 1 vote
Servings 4
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • ¼ pumpkin ~800g
  • 1 cauliflower
  • 2 beetroot
  • 12 cloves garlic
  • salt and pepper
  • ½ c vegan grated cheese
  • ½ c vegan smoky bacon
  • 4 handfuls baby spinach
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ c vegan aioli

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 220°C bake (or 200°C fan bake).
  • Chop pumpkin, cauliflower and beetroot into bite size chunks and place on an oven tray with the whole garlic cloves. Drizzle with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper, toss to coat, and bake for 20 minutes.
  • 5 minutes before the veggies are finished, remove from the oven, sprinkle with grated cheese and smoky bacon bits, then put back in the oven for the final 5 minutes.
  • Remove garlic cloves from their skins (leave whole, or chop roughly if you prefer), top with baby spinach, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, then toss together. Serve in bowls topped with a dollop of aioli. Will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days (if so, let the veggies cool slightly before tossing with baby spinach).

Recipe Notes

  • Gluten free: As is.
  • Nut free: As is.
  • Sugar free: As is.
  • Oil free: Roast veggies on a tray lined with baking paper.
  • Weight loss: This recipe is perfect for weight loss as it’s relatively low in carbs and total calories.
  • Keto: Swap the pumpkin for parsnip for an even lower carb / keto version.
  • If you can’t find vegan bacon, use a similar plant-based chorizo or spicy sausage (something with a bit of flavour to it, ideally not a plain tofu sausage).