Acaí Bowl Recipe
- By Amy Dong
- Updated Aug. 5, 2024
This Acaí Bowl Recipe is healthy, deliciously refreshing, and whips together in seconds. Try this sweet smoothie bowl for breakfast, post-workout fuel, or a healthy dessert!
In This Article
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Why This Recipe Stands Out
If you’ve enjoyed any of our refreshing smoothie recipes, you’ll go bananas for this Acaí Bowl. Here’s why we love this recipe:
- Packed with Antioxidants: Smoothie bowls – particularly acai bowls – are chalk full of vitamins and antioxidants.
- Perfect for Summer: This smoothie bowl hits the spot on a hot summer day just as much as creamy, homemade ice cream.
- Easy To Make: Just 4 ingredients and 5 minutes are all that’s needed for this recipe.
- Versatile: This Acaí Smoothie Bowl Recipe can be adjusted in dozens of ways. The options for toppings are endless, so get creative!
- Beautiful: Not only are smoothie bowls delicious, they’re also totally picture-perfect like this Fresh Fruit Salsa.
What Is Acaí?
Acaí, pronounced ah-SAH-ee, are little berries that resemble grapes or blueberries that grow on the acai palm tree near the Amazon River Delta. While eaten fresh in South America, they are often powdered or frozen in the U.S.
These little berries are known for packing a punch when it comes to antioxidants and nutrition. They tend to be on the tarter side which is why they’re usually paired with honey or banana.
Key Recipe Ingredients
- Acaí Puree- You’ll want to look for unsweetened acaí puree for this recipe. We find that sweetened acai gets too overpowering. You can find acaí puree in the freezer section of many major grocery stores.
- Banana – We use one very ripe banana for this recipe. This sweetens the smoothie and thickens the texture.
- Yogurt – Vanilla Greek yogurt gives this smoothie bowl a perfectly creamy, smooth texture and boosts the protein-content.
- Milk – Just a splash of your favorite kind of milk helps the ingredients to blend nicely. Non-dairy works fine.
Substitutions And Variations
This Acaí Bowl Recipe is a blank canvas for all the toppings and add-ins. Here are some of our favorites:
- Swap the Fruit: Not a fan of bananas? Feel free to replace the frozen banana with frozen pineapple, papaya, or mango like we do in this Tropical Mango Smoothie.
- Add Some Greens: To boost the nutrition even more in this recipe, try adding a bunch of spinach. It may adjust the color a bit but won’t affect the taste. Or you could try this Tropical Green Smoothie.
- Heap on the Toppings: This is where it gets fun. We love topping this acai bowl with berries, granola, coconut flakes, cacao nibs, almond butter, chia seeds, flax seeds, or these Candied Pecans.
Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions
- Add acaí puree, frozen banana, and yogurt to a blender.
- Blend ingredients until smooth, adding a splash of milk as needed.
- Transfer smoothie to bowl and garnish as desired. Enjoy!
For full list of ingredients and instructions, see recipe card below.
How To Prep Ahead
Here’s a few of our key tips on preparing the ingredients for this smoothie:
- Partially Thaw Acai: Blending rock solid acaí puree can be a struggle. So, we highly recommend taking your acai out of the freezer 30 minutes to 1 hour in advance to let it thaw partially.
- Freeze Bananas: While it’s not 100% necessary to use frozen bananas, we love the thicker texture that freezing them gives the smoothie. But if you forget to freeze them, you can always add some ice cubes.
- Get the Toppings Ready: Once you’re done blending your ingredients, you’ll want to enjoy your smoothie bowl as soon as possible. So, get all of your toppings ready ahead of time.
Commonly Asked Questions
If you don’t want the yogurt in your acaí bowl, simply add more milk as needed to help the smoothie blend.
The first key here is to make sure you have a high quality blender (preferably one with a tamper to help push the ingredients down as they blend). Second, start your blender on low speed and slowly work your way up to high to help prevent air bubbles and to avoid blowing the motor. Third, if you’re having trouble getting the ingredients to blend, don’t hesitate to add more milk or yogurt until it blends smoothly.
The best way to easily boost the protein content of your smoothie to make it a full meal is adding a scoop or two of your favorite protein powder. You could also top it with nuts, seeds, nut butters, and higher protein granolas and cereals.
If you replace the Greek yogurt with a plant-based yogurt and use plant milk, then this acaí bowl is completely vegan.
Most grocery stores will have frozen acai puree in the freezer section of your grocery store near the frozen fruit and ice cream. Make sure you look for the unsweetened version.
Did you make this?
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Acaí Bowl
Ingredients
- 7 oz Acai purée, unsweetened frozen pouches, very slightly thawed
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt, vanilla
- 1 small banana, very ripe, frozen, cut into fourths
- Splash of almond milk, or milk of your choice
- Optional: 1-2 tsp agave or honey if a bit more sweetness is preferred
- Topping Suggestions: any fresh sliced berries, kiwi, banana, granola, sliced honey roasted almonds, roasted coconut chips, chia seeds, etc.
Instructions
- In a blender (a smallish one works fine) add the mostly-frozen acaí puree, yogurt, and frozen banana. Blend or pulse just until smooth. Add a bit of almond milk to loosen smoothie, as needed. If desired, add agave or honey.
- Use rubber spatula to fully transfer smoothie mixture into bowl. Garnish as desired. Enjoy immediately.
Notes
- Frozen acaí pouches can now be commonly found in many grocery stores, including Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, near the frozen fruits aisle.
- Acaí bowls are not very sweet on their own, so most of the sweetness will be derived from a very ripe banana and the vanilla yogurt (which also provides a thicker consistency.) Feel free to add a bit of pure agave or honey as a sweetener, if you’d like.
- Try topping your Acai Bowl with these cinnamon sugar Candied Pecans.
Nutrition (per serving)
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