Save Money by Blending up an Acai Bowl Recipe at Home
Skip the pricey cafes and make this beautiful acai bowl recipe at home.
Love fresh fruit smoothies or smoothie bowls as a delicious treat?!
You’ve gotta try making creamy smoothie acai bowls or smoothie bowls at home topped with yummy nut and granola toppings. Smoothie bowls are a great way to use up fruit that is about to go bad to avoid food waste. Each person can customize their own bowl as a fun breakfast recipe or snack idea.
Acai berries are found in South America and are packed with antioxidants & vitamins.
Sometimes referred to as “purple gold” for their superfood qualities, Acai berries are high in fiber & calcium. Luckily, frozen packets of acai are easy to find in grocery stores within the frozen fruit section.
Save money by making frozen smoothie bowls at home and avoiding spendy juice bars or food trucks!
My teens often ask to buy acai bowls at our neighborhood juice bar. The only downside is that they can be pricey at $10-$15 per bowl. We decided to try making our own Instagram-worthy version for the entire family at home and LOVED the result. The most fun part is adding the topping according to taste.
If you’re looking for a yummy granola recommendation, I am using this Bear Naked brand in the cocoa & cashew butter flavor, and wow – it’s delicious!
Tips for making this easy acai bowl recipe:
- Use frozen fruit and yogurt for a thicker consistency. The point of smoothie bowls is to be kinda thick like sorbet. To get this consistency, start with frozen fruit. You can add a little juice or milk instead of yogurt but be careful not to add too much. You can freeze fresh fruit first, or buy it already frozen in the store.
- Use a high-powered blender like Vitamix or a food processor for best results. Frozen fruit can be trickier to whip up, and I’ve successfully done it using either of those machines.
- Consider other frozen fruits! We enjoy acai berry packets that can be found in the frozen fruit aisle. However, this idea can be adapted to your family, and you can use lots of different frozen fruits such as strawberries, pineapple, mango, raspberries, blueberries, etc.
- Check out the bulk food bins of your grocery store for toppings! You can buy small amounts of items like chia seeds, granola, nuts, or dried coconut if you don’t want to buy full packages of those items.
Acai Berry Smoothie Bowls
yield: 2 SERVINGS
prep time: 10 MINUTES
total time: 10 MINUTES
Creamy frozen acai packets with your choice of berries, nuts, and granola toppings.
Ingredients
- 2 - 3.5 oz. packs of frozen acai or frozen strawberries
- 1 frozen banana sliced & frozen
- 1/4 cup yogurt
- any desired topping such as: granola, dried coconut, sliced fruit, chia seeds, etc.
Directions
1
Place frozen fruit and yogurt into a blender or food processor.
2
Blend on medium for a minute or so, and stop to scrape down sides a couple of times. Keep blending until creamy, and pour into 2 small bowls.
3
Add toppings as desired, and enjoy!
We are BERRY obsessed with DIY acai smoothie bowls!
I love all these beautiful fruit flavors and textures. It’s a feast for the eyes too, isn’t it? This could be a fun after-school snack, breakfast, or special treat. You could make a green smoothie bowl and include spinach and avocado for a different variation.
Curious about my vintage lotus bowls? I collect them at thrift shops, but you can check Etsy.com to grab some for yourself!
Here’s how my teammate Sara serves up her favorite acai bowl:
“I like to add Perfect Keto Nut Butter on top and the açaí makes it harden almost immediately like ice cream. It tastes so good and the consistency reminds me of a chocolate peanut butter swirl with the big chunks of swirl.”
We make these as a healthy treat for our kids all the time! If we ever have fruit that’s about to go bad I freeze it to save for these
I add frozen cauliflower to smoothies and my kids have no idea!
Great idea !! I normally shove all the spinach I can into that blender 😂 cauliflower is next
I used frozen riced cauliflower and you can’t even tell!
I love that idea- thanks!
These look so yummy! I’ll have to try them! We have done something similar using frozen bananas as a base topped with strawberries and raisins.. but these look prettier!
Thanks so much!
Where did you get those beautiful bowls?!
Aw thanks! Those are vintage fluted milk glass. They were a gift and the set came from an estate sale – ❤️
Also can work with yogurt if you want to cut back on the sweetness. I’m going to incorporate this idea with yogurt in a small mason jar, thanks! And yes, these kinds of healthy options are so expensive when bought individually!
Sure – nice idea 👍
I also buy the açaí pouches from Costco and use those with frozen bananas.
Yes love those also!
Buy a yonana and it will make the perfect consistency using frozen fruit and veggies! We love love our yonana
Yes! We talk about that here, Lee!
We put a can of coconut milk in the refrigerator. We use only the solid part and put it in the blender first to whip it up and then add frozen fruit. I’m thinking if you did this and used berries, it would probably be keto (not certain)? But we have also used bananas and pineapples.
Looks yummy! Where can I get good frozen fruit? I like Trader Joes for pineapple tidbits, but I don’t know where to get good berries that aren’t sour.
Thanks so much! Many readers have said they love Costco for frozen fruit. 🙂
Thanks! I will try this out soon!
They had these Açaí bowls at a CrossFit event for $13.00 each. My son’s gf bought one for me. It was sooo good! Thank you for this post. I’m going to make my own now.
Yay!! That’s a great idea – enjoy!