You will want a spoon to eat this Avocado & Cacao Smoothie Bowl. The blended avocado gives this smoothie a light and airy texture similar to chocolate mousse. Top it off with your favorite fruit, nuts, and seeds for an easy breakfast or snack.
This smoothie is not overly sweet where you can easily enjoy it for breakfast. I personally don't love starting my day with sweet food. I have found that if I eat something super sweet in the morning, I will end up craving sweets all day long. This smoothie, while it is sweet, it's a subtle sweetness and it leaves me feeling satisfied knowing I just ate lots of good healthy fats and veggies.
The inspiration behind this smoothie was from Daily Harvest. While I have never bought any of their products, mostly due to the cost, I have had friends buy their smoothies and say the Cacao + Avocado was their absolute favorite. I was intrigued but still didn't want to spend the money, so I came up with my own recipe. The ingredients are similar with a few changes. The recipe I came up with reminds me of this chocolate avocado mousse I would buy from Organic Avenue when I lived in New York City. I still dream about that mousse....
A couple notes about Avocado & Cacao Smoothie Bowl:
Popular smoothie toppings
- Bee pollen
- Hemp seeds
- Cacao nibs
- Toasted or raw shredded coconut
- Fresh fruit like kiwi, strawberries, raspberries or bananas
- Nuts such as crushed almonds or walnuts
- Chia seeds
- Flaxseeds
- A drizzle of nut butter like almond, cashew or peptic
How to thicken a smoothie without banana
Frozen zucchini
This recipe calls for frozen zucchini. Fresh zucchini works too but I recommend adding a cup of ice to the recipe. How I freeze zucchini is slicing it into ½ inch rounds and steam for about two minutes or about half way cooked. Place the zucchini in a freezer safe container and freeze in the freezer.
Frozen cauliflower
Another great away to thicken up a smoothie without banana is with frozen cauliflower. Steam the chopped cauliflower and then place in a freezer safe container. Allow the cauliflower to freeze completely then add the smoothies just like a banana. The cauliflower will also give you a veggie boost!
cacao powder vs. cocoa powder:
If you are wondering what the differences between cacao and cocoa powder are, check out my Chocolate Pudding post where I go into detail about the process of making these two food products. And if you are wondering if you can use cocoa powder instead of cacao in this recipe, the answer is yes! While I do promote using cacao because of the nutritional benefits, cocoa powder will taste just as yummy!
Which blender is best for smoothies?
Vitamix blender
I have been using a Vitamix Blender for years. They are so incredibly powerful and never fail me when I have a smoothie with lots of frozen fruit or little liquid. I recommend one for every chef to have in their kitchen!
Looking for more smoothie recipes? Check out my Tropical Smoothie or Chai Charger Smoothie
Avocado & Cacao Smoothie Bowl
Ingredients
- ½ avocado
- 1 cup zucchini, frozen about 1 small zucchini
- 4 dates, pitted preferrably medjool dates
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp hemp seeds
- 1 tsp flaxseeds
- 1 tsp chia seeds
- ¾ cup nut milk
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until ultra smooth
- Pour into a bowl and top with your favorite toppings. Enjoy!
This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on one of those links and make a purchase, I may make a commission off your sale. If you do decide to buy, thank you. This allows me to keep making healthy recipes!
Recipe updated 01/05/2021
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