Easy Pitaya Smoothie Bowl Recipe

My motivation in creating this recipe was to find a cheaper way to enjoy a pitaya bowl everyday. A pitaya bowl can cost anywhere from $10-15 at a juice store, and this was simply not something I could afford everyday. That being said, I crave a pitaya bowl everyday. Every single day. It tastes amazing, looks pretty, and makes getting your daily fruit servings in so much easier.

To give a quick cost breakdown, the pink dragon fruit that I buy frozen costs around $4-5 per bag. Typically, a bag of this dragon fruit fulfills my recipe for 5 pitaya bowls! That is about $1 for the dragon fruit of one bowl. I estimate the banana/strawberries for one bowl to also be about $1. That's $2 for the base of the bowl. Depending on your toppings, this cost will of course go up maybe one to two dollars per bowl, but this is not much. Cutting the costs of each pitaya bowl has brought the cost of getting one every day of the week from $80 to about $20-25 when making them myself.

Not only did I find this recipe to be more economical, but I also noticed that the antioxidants I was getting from a daily pitaya bowl were boosting my immunity. I found that I was getting sick way less after adding a smoothie bowl into my lifestyle. During my freshman year of college when I was eating little fruits and veggies, I was sick literally once a month for the entire year. However, I began making pitaya bowls for myself everyday as a sophomore. I only got sick ONCE the entire year, which was a huge boost in my health from the previous year. I also noticed differences in my skin. I had less blemishes and my skin had a healthier color and glow to it. Upon researching health benefits of pitaya, I saw that the fruit's amazing antioxidants were most likely responsible for the changes I had noticed in my health and skin. Some other benefits that I did not know about were the antioxidants' abilities to prevent cancer and aging. Knowing these benefits has kept me motivated to keep pitaya bowls as a part of my routine.

Not only do the many benefits of pitaya motivate me to incorporate it into my lifestyle, but also its gorgeous color. It can make any recipe a bright pink color and just makes eating much more enjoyable. I have experimented with using pitaya in many recipes, but this classic pitaya bowl was my first and forever will be my favorite. This is my recipe for a pitaya bowl exactly like the ones sold at popping juice stores. It includes my spin on it (recommendations of freezing and toppings) to get the absolute best texture and taste. Just look at the beautiful pink color of the base and you will be ready to start blending-

Where to Buy PINK DragonFruit (pink flesh is hard to find!!):

Let's get into the recipe.

PREPARATION

Chop 1 banana & 1/2 cup of strawberries.

Place into quart size bag and FREEZE.

THE MAKING

Place frozen banana/strawberries, 1/2 cup of pink flesh dragon fruit into a blender. Any blender works! I don't have the fanciest blender, so I have to mash my ingredients to the bottom a few times.

Add 1/2 to 1 cup of water. I try to add as little water as possible because I like my bowl to have a more solid texture.

BLEND.

Add ice cubes to thicken and increase volume.

Pour into a bowl and FREEZE 5-10 minutes to further solidify texture.

THE TOPPINGS

Top with coconut flakes, chia seeds, granola (my favorites are Bear Naked vanilla granola or Kellogg’s Happy Inside Coconut Crunch Breakfast Cereal). I also prefer the get HEB's large coconut flakes from the natural section because they are very crisp and fresh!

You can also add whatever fresh fruit that your heart desires (banana slices, kiwi, strawberries etc).

Most important step: Drizzle light agave nectar to sweeten. This can be found at pretty much any grocery store and makes this bowl taste so amazing.

Don't forget to snap a photo before you devour!

ENJOY