Learn how to make a Pitaya Bowl with simple ingredients just like smoothie shops in 5 minutes from a registered dietitian!
Similar to acai bowls, the color of pitaya smoothie bowls is what makes them so popular. The toppings are an added bonus. 🤩
And it's the vibrant pink color from pink pitaya fruit (also known as dragon fruit) that gives pitaya bowls and smoothies such a pretty color.
Believe it or not, dragon fruit has a mild taste, so it's actually the coconut milk and tropical fruits that give Pitaya Bowls the tropical flavor that everyone loves! 🏝️
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😍Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Easy Recipe Use a high-speed blender to make smoothie bowls with ease. I've had my Vitamix for more than 5 years now and I still use it almost every day.
- Nutritious Ingredients Pitaya, banana, and mango are full of fiber and a variety of vitamins and minerals, which offer health benefits.
- Simple Ingredients Pitaya sounds like it would be hard to find, but thankfully it has become so popular that you can find it in the freezer section of most grocery stores.
- Kid-Approved My kids love everything about pitaya bowls, from the taste to the color. Still, I'm pretty sure the best part is that they get to add their own toppings. 🙌
🙋♀️Dietitian Tip
While adding yogurt or kefir are easy and convenient ways to add protein to smoothies, not everyone can tolerate dairy.
Thankfully, there are plenty of other ways to add protein to smoothie bowls. Hemp hearts, for instance, provide 10 grams per 3 tablespoons. Chia seeds, granola, and nut butters (whether you blend them in or use them for toppings) add varying amounts of protein as well.
🍍Ingredient Notes
- Pitaya I use frozen bite-sized pieces of pitaya that I found at my local grocery store. I've also seen frozen organic pitaya smoothie packs that are unsweetened, which you can use instead.
- Banana Helps to make smoothie bowls thick and creamy. It also adds natural sweetness, potassium, and fiber. You might have noticed that banana is probably the most common ingredient in smoothie bowls at smoothie shops and it's because of the texture and sweetness that it adds.
- Mango Use frozen mango chunks. Frozen mango helps to give this a creamy texture. Mango is high in fiber, vitamin C, and vitamin A.
- Coconut Milk Non-dairy and gives this pitaya smoothie bowl more of a tropical flavor.
😋Pitaya Bowl Topping Ideas
- Granola In my opinion, no smoothie is complete without adding some crunchy granola to the top of smoothie bowls.
- Cacao Nibs These add a mild chocolate flavor without added sugar.
- Chia Seeds Chia seeds look good (hey, looks matter to most teens, lol 😉 and have a nice flavor. They also contain fiber and omega-3 fatty acids (known as 'healthy fats').
- Peanut Butter From what I've observed, you either love peanut butter on your smoothie bowls or you don't. I love to add peanut butter, while my oldest daughter does not. 😉
- Coconut Flakes They look pretty and add even more coconut flavor to this pitaya bowl.
- Fresh Fruit Banana slices, strawberries, and blueberries are common toppings for smoothie bowls. I've even seen apple chunks as a topping, so feel free to use chunks or slices of your favorite fruit.
👩🍳How to Make a Pitaya Bowl
Here is a summary of how to make a Pitaya Bowl at home. For a complete list of ingredients and instructions, scroll down to the recipe card below.
- Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender and blend until a smooth consistency is reached. It takes me about 50 seconds to achieve the perfect consistency. Use a tamper to keep the ingredients moving.
- Once a thick and smooth consistency is reached, divide evenly between two bowls and top with your favorite toppings. Serve right away and enjoy!
🏝️Helpful Tips
- Fresh dragon fruit can be used if you cut it up and freeze chunks of it before blending.
- If you use almond milk instead of coconut milk, use a little less. This is because coconut milk is thicker than almond milk.
- Use a high-speed blender to get a nice, thick, and smooth consistency.
- Use a tamper that is compatible with your blender to keep the ingredients moving as it blends. If you watch people at smoothie shops make smoothie bowls, you'll see that they use a tamer, too. At least, this has been my observation.
- If you will not be eating this pitaya bowl right away, you can freeze it for later. Just be sure to store in in an airtight freezer-safe container. When you're ready to eat it, microwave it in 20-30 second increments, until it can be eaten with a spoon. Keep a close eye on it as it defrosts to be sure it doesn't melt more than you want it to.
❓Questions You May Have
Pitaya is also known as dragon fruit and has pink or white flesh with black seeds. It is a beautiful tropical fruit that is part of the cactus family. It is grown in Central America and South America.
Pitaya with pink flesh is what's used to give pitaya bowls their famous bright pink color.
Thankfully pitaya isn't only found at Whole Foods, lol!
Fresh pitaya can be found in the produce section of grocery stores, while frozen pitaya can be found in the freezer section near other frozen fruits in most grocery stores.
If your local grocery store has a 'natural foods' freezer section, you may find it there instead of the frozen fruit section.
Use frozen fruit and very little liquid to make a thick smoothie bowl.
Frozen banana is probably the most common smoothie bowl ingredient because it helps to thicken and sweeten smoothies and smoothie bowls. Frozen mango does the same thing, it's just not quite as sweet as very ripe, frozen bananas.
I've also used Greek yogurt or Skyr to thicken smoothie bowls with success. But even with these ingredients, I always use frozen fruit.
This smoothie bowl contains 7 grams of protein as is, which the same amount as one hard-boiled egg or a glass of milk.
The easiest way to add more protein is to choose toppings that contain protein. Chia seeds, hemp hearts, nut butters, or granola can all serve as additional sources of protein.
You can also blend in yogurt (regular, Greek yogurt, or Skyr) to the fruit base for more protein.
Still, if you want to add protein to this pitaya bowl the same way smoothie shops do, blend in vanilla protein powder. You'll likely need to add more liquid when blending in the protein powder.
To help mask the taste of protein powder, consider adding a splash of pineapple juice or orange juice as the extra liquid to help balance out the flavors.
More Easy Recipes
📖 Recipe
Easy Pitaya Bowl
Equipment
- 1 High-speed blender I use a Vitamix
- 1 tamper Use one made for your specific blender. The link provided here is just an example.
Ingredients
- 1 Banana Ripe or very ripe
- 3½ ounces Pitaya (Dragon Fruit) Once packet of frozen pitaya puree
- ¾ cup Mango chunks frozen
- 1½ cups pineapple pieces frozen
- ½ cup light coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons hemp hearts
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to the blender.
- Use the tamper that comes with your blender to keep the ingredients moving and continue to blend until a smooth consistency is reached.
- Divide into two bowls.
- Top with your favorite toppings. Serve and enjoy right away!
Notes
- Serve right away or place in an airtight freezer-safe container and freeze to be enjoyed later.
- Can increase the protein content by blending in yogurt, Greek yogurt, Skyr, or protein powder. For instance, I just blended in one 5.3-ounce container of coconut flavored Skyr which increased the protein content by 7.5 grams per serving. See the recipe post for more specifics on this.
- Topping ideas: granola, chia seeds, peanut butter, mini chocolate chips, coconut flakes, small pieces or slices of fresh fruit, freeze-dried strawberries, macadamia nuts, sliced almonds, or pumpkin seeds.
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