Nutella Smoothie Bowl is a fabulous rich and creamy yet nutritious breakfast or dessert. This vegan treat is made with whole ingredients, such as bananas, avocado and toasted hazelnuts.
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Why you will love this recipe
- Nutella Smoothie Bowl tastes like the best frozen dessert yet it’s made with 100% whole ingredients.
- It’s super thick, creamy and naturally sweet – the consistency is very close to ice-cream.
- It’s a great way to serve fruit and veggies to picky eaters!
- It can be enjoyed as a fun breakfast, dessert or snack.
- This bowl is a pretty well-balanced meal! There are good carbs from banana, protein from hazelnuts, healthy fats and fiber from nuts and avocado, as well as antioxidants and vitamins from raw cocoa powder.
- It’s super quick to make with minimal cleanup.
- It’s gluten-free, vegan and refined sugar free.
- Make sure to also try my Vanilla Coconut Smoothie Bowl recipe!
Ingredient notes
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Frozen Bananas: frozen banana slices will work the best. You can either freeze slices on a baking tray or slice whole bananas that had been frozen without a peel.
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Frozen Avocados: you will want to take them out of the freezer at least 15 minutes before making the smoothie bowl to soften them a little. Look for frozen avocado chunks near frozen fruit at your grocery store. You can also freeze avocados by placing ripe avocado chunks on a paper lined baking tray and putting it in the freezer. Once the avocados are frozen solid, you can store them in a ziplock bag in the freezer and use as needed.
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Toasted Hazelnuts: See Step 1 below to learn how to toast hazelnuts. I buy whole raw hazelnuts at Trader Joe’s.
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Maple Syrup: use pure maple syrup. Mine is always local from Maine. If you don’t have or like maple syrup, you can swap it for honey, sugar, monk fruit or whatever sweetener you like.
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Plant Milk: I used unsweetened organic soy milk. Almond, coconut, oat or dairy milk will also work.
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Cocoa Powder: I use unsweetened Dutch processed raw cocoa powder because I like its deep chocolaty flavor. Use any cocoa or cacao powder you like.
No frozen bananas? Try this Smoothie Bowl Without Banana instead.
How to make Nutella smoothie bowl
- Toast hazelnuts. Place whole hazelnuts in a dry skillet and toast for 5-10 minutes on medium heat, shaking the pan often. You can also do this in the oven by placing the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roasting them for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Let cool completely before using.Note: I usually toast my hazelnuts ahead of time and keep them in a jar.
- Place all ingredients in a blender. Start with unsweetened plant milk, add frozen banana slices, frozen but lightly thawed avocado chunks, cocoa powder and maple syrup.
- Blend until smooth. I make my smoothie bowl in a Vitamix blender and use the tamper to help break down frozen fruit.
- Transfer to a bowl and serve with your favorite toppings.
Serving and toppings suggestions
The best part of any smoothie bowl are the toppings! This smoothie bowl is wonderfully smooth, creamy and chocolaty but adding fun garnishes is what brings it to a whole new level. It’s all about the variety of textures and flavors.
My winning combo of toppings for this smoothie bowl is:
- Sliced banana: banana and Nutella are a perfect match!
- Toasted hazelnuts: for a bit of crunch and another layer of hazelnut goodness.
- Mini dark chocolate chips: one of my favorite toppings on ANY smoothie bowl!
- Nutella: one tablespoon is plenty. I microwave it for 20-30 seconds until it melts a bit and drizzle it on top of the smoothie bowl. For a vegan version use dairy-free hazelnut chocolate spread.
- Hemp hearts: these super seeds provide a nice boost of healthy omega-3s.
Other toppings that would go well on this smoothie bowl include:
- Fresh raspberries or strawberries (or both!)
- Chia seeds
- Unsweetened shredded coconut
- Chopped almonds or cashews
- Peanut or almond butter
- Granola
- Chocolate chunks or cacao nibs
Tips for making thick and creamy smoothie bowls
The difference between a smoothie and a smoothie bowl is that the first one is drinkable and served in a glass, while the second is meant to be eaten with a spoon. In other words – smoothie bowls are VERY thick smoothies. Think soft serve ice-cream consistency!
Looking for more smoothie bowls? Try this lucious Strawberry Smoothie Bowl, this Oatmeal Smoothie Bowl or my Healthy Snickers Smoothie Bowl.
If you’ve ever tried making a smoothie bowl but ended up with a sad soupy smoothie in a bowl, follow my tips below.
- Go easy on the liquid. This recipe calls for ½ cup of plant milk which is just enough to help your blender cut through frozen fruit. If it looks like your blender is stuck, don’t be tempted to add more milk. Just turn the engine off, stir the contents and keep blending. Repeat as needed. Only add more liquid if absolutely necessary, 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Start with plant milk. It will help with the blending process.
- Use frozen fruit (and veggies). I don’t ever use fresh fruit in my smoothie bowls because they won’t give you the super thick, ice-cream like consistency.
- Use a good blender. As I mentioned before, I love my Vitamix for making smoothie bowls but if you don’t have a super powerful blender, there are some more economical options that will also work great (see the FAQ section below)!
- Be patient. Remember my note about not adding extra liquid? This is super important with smoothie bowls – you may need to stop the blender and move things around a couple times but eventually the smoothie bowl will become creamy and velvety!
Learn more tips in the article on How to Make a Thick Smoothie Bowl.
Recipe FAQs
Smoothie bowls are best when consumed right away. It’s all about the texture! You can store it in the fridge but no more than an hour or two or it will melt too much.
Yes! Freeze it in an airtight container and consume within a couple days. Let it thaw just a little bit so it achieves soft-serve ice-cream consistency.
No. If you want the smoothie bowl to taste like Nutella, I definitely recommend toasting the nuts. I have tested this recipe with raw (untoasted) hazelnuts and found that toasting makes a huge difference in flavor.
Personally, I don’t think it makes a huge difference since this recipe doesn’t use a large amount of nuts. If you want to remove the skins, place hot toasted nuts in a clean cotton kitchen towel, let steam for a minute, then rub off the skins using the towel. They will mostly pop right off!
No. Avocado adds some creaminess and extra nutrients but you won’t be able to taste it at all.
A powerful standup blender, such as Vitamix or Blendec works best for thick smoothie bowls. If you don’t have one, you can also make it in a food processor with great results. Another great economical option is Ninja Smoothie Bowl Maker.
From my experience, no. While bullet type blenders work great for making most smoothies, they tend to get stuck (or even break) with recipes that use very little liquid. I would stick to a powerful standup blender or a food processor.
More smoothie bowl recipes
Recipe
Nutella Smoothie Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup frozen banana slices
- ½ cup frozen avocado chunks lightly thawed for 15 minutes
- ⅓ cup toasted hazelnuts see note below
- 1 tablespoon raw cocoa or cacao powder
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ cup unsweetened plant milk almond, soy, coconut or oat
Optional
- sliced banana
- mini dark chocolate chips
- chopped toasted hazelnuts
- 1 tablespoon Nutella spread (microwaved for 30 seconds to make it pourable)
- hemp hearts
Instructions
- Toast hazelnuts. Place whole hazelnuts in a dry skillet and toast for 5-10 minutes on medium heat, shaking the pan often. You can also do this in the oven by placing the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roasting them for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Let cool completely before using.
- Take the frozen avocado chunks out of the freezer at least 15 minutes before making the smoothie bowl.
- Place all ingredients in a blender. Start with unsweetened plant milk, add frozen banana slices, frozen but lightly thawed avocado chunks, cocoa powder and maple syrup.
- Transfer to a bowl and serve with your favorite toppings. I top mine with mini dark chocolate chips, more toasted hazelnuts, fresh banana slices, 1 tablespoon Nutella (microwaved for 30 seconds to become pourable) and hemp hearts.
Notes
Nutrition
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Meet the Author
Hi, I'm Agnieszka. I'm a mom of three and recipe developer, writer and photographer behind Wholly Tasteful. I love creating comforting, delicious, family-friendly recipes that you can feel good about.
The Sudden Cook says
Hi there the smoothie bowl looks awesome. My kid would love this! Bookmarking for later:)
Jan says
I could eat this everyday and never have an issue with it. So much yumminess in one bowl
Jere Cassidy says
This is a perfect way to get my chocolate fix, but only in a healthier way.
Genevieve says
I love Nutella and I love smoothie bowls so this is a winning combo! This looks amazing!
Addie says
Such a great smoothie bowl recipe! I love that addition of Nutella! Yum.
Jerika says
My youngest son loves Nutella!:) Yum! I'm glad that you used nutella to make this nutritious breakfast. Love that you added bananas, avocado and toasted hazelnuts.:) I couldn't ask for more. Thanks!:)
Keri says
I love Nutella, but I prefer to make my own to avoid all the extra additives. This recipe satisfied all my Nutella cravings. Thank you!
Natalie says
Oh yum! What a lovely smoothie bowl. I'll have to give this a try. This breakfast bowl is calling my name.
Kayla DiMaggio says
This nutella smoothie bowl was so delicious! I loved how easy it was and so creamy and smooth!
amanda says
We love nutella in our house so this was a big win! thanks!
Nora says
Made the smoothie bowl for my daughter today! She loved it! Thanks for the recipe!
nancy says
super tasty and the bananas were hearty! my kid polished it off!