This homemade açaí bowl recipe is made with acai puree, almond milk, banana, and an assortment of berries. My favorite part of this smoothie bowl is that you can make it a classic acai bowl or you can customize it and make it completely your own!
Learn how to make açaí bowls at home! Spoiler alert, it’s super easy. 😉
I know, I’m totally late to the party, BUT, açaí bowls! Amazing.
(Understatement of the century…possibly.)
Technically, I’m no stranger to an açaí bowl. Back a few years ago (before you could find one of these healthy smoothie bowls on almost every single coffee shop, juice bar, smoothie shop, etc.), I had my first açaí bowl at one of those hole-in-the-wall places by the beach.
And now? Well, they’re all trendy and chic and 10-dollars-a-bowl-thank-you-very-much.
Sooo…let’s make them at home instead!
It’s significantly cheaper AND you can do whatever açaí puree to toppings ratio you want (and I want all the toppings…seriously).
Now, I’ve made homemade smoothie bowls before, which are extremely similar to açaí bowls.
Some of my favorites include:
However, as much as I do L-O-V-E a good smoothie bowl, it’s the flavor of the açaí that’s kind of unbeatable. It’s currently my newest obsession.
Plus, there are a lot of health benefits to açaí (I promise, I won’t bore you with those details) and I do love the lighter, healthier aspect to an açaí bowl/smoothie bowl.
I think my favorite part of making an açaí bowl at home is how you can customize it exactly to your liking.
The basic components of an açaí bowl are:
- acai
- banana
- juice or milk
- toppings
While those are the basic ingredients, I also like to add some frozen berries to the mixture as well.
Adding berries serves two purposes:
- It adds a bit of natural sweetness to the açaí puree (especially because I use the unsweetened frozen açaí puree)
- It’s an inexpensive way to make the açaí puree go further
Okay, so partially the reason I’m a little late to the whole making-an-acai-bowl-at-home party is that I didn’t realize you could buy frozen açaí puree.
I can find it now at almost all of my local grocery stores in the freezer section near the frozen berries. It’s Sambazon brand (we actually have a Sambazon store near us and their açaí bowls are 🙌🏻) and they come in individual packets, making them especially handy to whip one up on a moment’s notice (aka, whenever a craving hits).
Now, a lot of specialized stores carry açaí pups or açaí powder, but I have found that the frozen açaí puree is totally the way to go. It’s easy and easy to find.
You can also find açaí juice, which you could use as well. You would either need to make the bowl ahead of time and freeze the puree until it has thickened, or use some ice when you blend the ingredients together. Using the juice as is will create a very liquidy açaí bowl.
Homemade Acai Bowls Tips & Tricks:
- You can use whatever liquid you want to mix with your açaí puree. My two favorite options are all natural apple juice (this definitely makes for a sweeter açaí bowl) and/almond milk (which makes for more of a classic açaí bowl). You can use coconut milk, orange juice, etc.
- To add a bit more body to this homemade açaí bowl, I like to add frozen berries to the mixture. While you can omit the frozen fruit and just make a classic açaí bowl (açaí puree, milk or juice and banana), as mentioned above, adding in frozen fruit stretches the açaí puree to make two bowls instead of one.
- For more protein, you can add in 1-2 Tbsp of peanut butter (or any nut butter). I love a good peanut butter açaí bowl!
- This is a naturally refined sugar free açaí bowl, as well as gluten free. It’s a win/win!
- For the toppings, you can use whatever you want or have on hand–coconut chips, berries, cereal, etc. I opted for fresh berries, granola, and a little bit of honey (you can skip a sweetener, if you want, or you can substitute maple syrup or agave if your prefer).
My not-so-new favorite obsession!
- 1 (100g) packet of frozen açaí puree, unsweetened (I used the one from Sambazon--found it in the frozen fruit section)
- 1/3 cup almond milk (coconut milk, milk, or apple juice would be fine here as well)
- 1 banana, large
- 1 cup mixed berries
- fresh berries
- granola
- coconut chips
- honey, agave, or maple syrup
- In a high powered blender, blend açaí puree, almond milk, banana, and berries together.
Divide puree between two bowls (or one large bowl).
- Top with fresh berries, fresh banana, coconut chip, granola, etc.
Drizzle with honey (or agave or maple syrup).
- Eat immediately.
- Enjoy!
Here are some other recipes you might love:
Updated 2020.
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