Healthy, delicious, and refreshing, nothing beats this awesome acai bowl recipe! It’s made with just four ingredients that come together in minutes.
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Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Nutrient-dense: Berries, bananas, and acai complement each other for a sweet treat that healthily fuels your day with only natural sugar from these fruits.
- Quick & Easy: Açaí bowls are so easy to make and quick, too. You’ll have yours ready in minutes!
- Customizable: Add your favorite toppings and mix-ins. Whether you’re craving something sweet or need an extra protein boost, this bowl can be tailored to suit your needs.
What Is Açai?
Acai berries (Euterpe oleracea) come from the acai palm tree in South America. In case you’re wondering, you say it like “AH-sigh-EE.”
The dark purple berries from this tree have long been used for medicinal purposes. While a bit earthy in flavor, acai berries are still sweet enough to make them a delicious choice. Acai’s popularity in health and wellness circles is largely due to its impressive nutritional profile.
Nutrition For Wellness
In case you haven’t noticed, I’m all about how diet can positively impact your mood. Açai is a good source of vitamin A. It is packed with antioxidants ready to combat free radicals [1]. In animal studies, acai has been shown to have an antidepressant effect. It has also been shown to have anti-aging capabilities in the brain. [2]
Ingredients + Notes
With this homemade acai bowl recipe, you’ll have a great start to any day. The best part is that it takes only a few minutes to prepare, and then you can enjoy it!
- Açai: As for the acai, it’s almost impossible to find it fresh. It grows in the Amazon rainforest and goes bad quickly after picking. That’s why you need to choose the frozen acai puree. If you can’t find that at your local grocery store, the acai powder will also work in this recipe.
- Milk: I used almond milk in this recipe, but I always recommend using whatever you have on hand. In a pinch, you can also make your own homemade almond milk, easy cashew milk, or the best hemp milk recipe.
A full list of ingredients with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
How To Make An Acai Bowl
It might sound exotic, but the best acai smoothie bowl is super simple to make. Here’s how!
- Add all ingredients into a high-speed blender (or food processor) and blend on medium-high speed using the tamper to push the frozen fruit down. Blend until smooth.
- Scoop the acai smoothie mixture into a bowl, serve with your favorite toppings, and enjoy!
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Acai Bowl Serving Ideas + Toppings
While your acai bowl will be tasty as-is, adding more to the top makes it even better. Also, enjoying it paired with a tasty Blueberry Muffin or Raspberry Scone is also encouraged!
- Nut Butter: Give your acai bowl a bit more of a protein punch. While you can certainly blend some protein powder in with the mixture, one of my favorite things is to top it with a drizzle of nut butter. Use peanut butter, almond butter, or whatever you like!
- Seeds: For even more nutrition and a contrast of texture, hemp hearts or pumpkin seeds are amazing additions to your acai breakfast bowl.
- Nuts: Crush up pistachios, walnuts, or any of your other favorites and sprinkle them on top!
- Fresh berries: Fresh berries enhance this beautiful breakfast with even more antioxidants. The difference in textures from fresh on top of the frozen acai mixture is wonderful.
- Cacao nibs: These berry flavors are spectacular with a little chocolatey taste. Cacao nibs are a healthy way to get that flavor along with some extra antioxidants.
- Coconut shreds: You can find both sweetened and unsweetened coconut flakes, so be sure to pick the right one for you.
Storage Tips
Smoothie bowls really are best enjoyed fresh! If you don’t think you’ll finish it though, then freezing the extra in an ice cube tray is your best option. It will make a great addition to the next smoothie you make!
FAQ
An acai bowl is made from pureed frozen acai berries blended with other fruits. In this recipe, I use frozen bananas and a mixture of frozen berries plus almond milk to give it that smoothie-like texture. You can then top it off any way you like for added flavor and nutrition.
Acai berries are full of plant compounds and antioxidants. These have such great health benefits for your whole body overall. You get fiber and healthy fats in acai. Often, it’s said that these berries from the Amazon are more nutritious than blueberries and any other berry out there.
You’ll love acai berries if you’re looking to cut down on sugar, even from natural sugars. They have almost zero grams of sugar in a 100-gram serving!
There is absolutely nothing wrong with eating acai every day. This fruit is exceptionally good for you. And in the form of a smoothie bowl, it tastes amazing. The benefits you get from eating these berries will make you want to keep eating them, though the taste brings you back to this healthy breakfast every morning.
Plus, since you can top it in so many ways, it can be different every single time you make it!
If you tried this Healthy Açai Bowl Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Recipe
Açai Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
- 1 frozen acai puree, unsweetened
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
Instructions
- Add all ingredients into a high-speed blender (or food processor) and blend on low-medium speed using the tamper to push the frozen fruit down.
- Scoop the acai smoothie mixture into a bowl, serve with your favorite toppings, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
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References
[1] Lichtenthäler, R., Rodrigues, R. B., Maia, J. G., Papagiannopoulos, M., Fabricius, H., & Marx, F. (2005). Total oxidant scavenging capacities of Euterpe oleracea Mart. (Açaí) fruits. International journal of food sciences and nutrition, 56(1), 53–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/09637480500082082
[2] Souza-Monteiro, J. R., Arrifano, G. P. F., Queiroz, A. I. D. G., Mello, B. S. F., Custódio, C. S., Macêdo, D. S., Hamoy, M., Paraense, R. S. O., Bittencourt, L. O., Lima, R. R., Burbano, R. R., Rogez, H., Maia, C. F., Macchi, B. M., do Nascimento, J. L. M., & Crespo-López, M. E. (2019). Antidepressant and Antiaging Effects of Açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) in Mice. Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity, 2019, 3614960. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/3614960
This was incredibly easy to make and tasty!
Thanks so much!
Gonna have to try your shakes they look so delicious. Thanks.
Thanks!