But First, Food

I don’t know about you but back in 2019, I didn’t think much of popping into Pret once (or sometimes even twice!) a day. Fast-forward 6 years and honestly, the cost of living in this post-pandemic world and just my increased awareness of the fact that even ‘freshly made’ food can contain additives and excessive salt, sugar and saturated fat really kicked that habit. I personally prep all of my office day meals ahead of time to save money and to have a healthier option, however even I’m caught short when travelling with work sometimes! On those occasions I’ve often picked up the Blueberry Balance Bowl from Pret. It’s essentially a fancy bircher muesli and it’s pretty tasty, so I decided to have a go at making my own version…

INGREDIENTS

Oat base:

Whole rolled oats (I don’t recommend porridge oats as they disintegrate too much when soaking overnight)

Hemp seed hearts

Frozen blueberries

Blue spirulina powder

Apple

Honey (or agave nectar)

Lime juice (lemon also works)

Kefir (or a plant-based fermented alternative)

Greek yoghurt (or a high-protein plant-based alternative)

Toppings:

Fresh blueberries

Pumpkin seeds (if not pre-toasted, dry fry over a low temperature for 5-7 mins until fragrant)

Coconut flakes

TIPS & NOTES

My initial goal with this wasn’t necessarily to make a version that was going to be significantly healthier than Pret’s because I kind of thought that if I was using similar ingredients, it was really unlikely to be much different. However it did transpire that my version has less sugar and saturated fat and marginally less calories and more protein and fibre. I also wanted to add more blueberries because a ‘Blueberry Balance Bowl’ with 4 sad blueberries on top felt like a misnomer! Rather than a compote, I used frozen blueberries to boost the fibre and real blueberry content at a lower cost and topped the oats with extra fresh blueberries. I also used Greek yoghurt and kefir rather than semi-skimmed milk and coconut milk which reduces the saturated fat and also means you’re getting more natural protein and fermented goodness for your gut. If you’re plant-based you can use a combination of soy milk and yoghurt if vegan kefir isn’t accessible to you.

In terms of the cost, this is based on the quantities I used with the products I typically buy. I’m sure you could do it for less if you, say, bought Aldi’s Greek yoghurt rather than Fage but I didn’t want to ‘fake it’. I also appreciate that you’re having to buy a whole tub or bag of each ingredient, not just the amount needed for this recipe, so my version works best if you a) already buy most of this stuff already, or b) you really love and regularly buy this pot from Pret, so it’s worth the investment. I would also say that to get the same sort of colour as the Pret version, I had to use a very small amount of spirulina powder (no more than 2g), to the point where I think it’s not really adding that much nutritional benefit. That was the only ingredient I had to go out of my way to buy for this recipe and it was pretty pricey. If you’re not bothered about having a blue colour at home, I would skip it.

You can defrost the blueberries by a) leaving overnight in a sieve over a bowl, b) putting them in a sieve, running hot water over it and leaving overnight a bowl for 1 hour, or c) microwaving in 20 second intervals and then sieving.

Finally, I wanted to recreate this as faithfully as possible but, personally, I would increase the oats and add a little flaxseed, plus some extra kefir for them to soak in. This provides more satiety plus gets us to something more like 400-500 calories, which I find to be more satisfying.

Let me know if you try my version of the Pret Blueberry Balance Bowl!