I have been having my fill of acai bowls since visiting southern California. Originally they come from Brazil, but they are also popular in Hawaii and many American juice bars. I visited one of my raw food friends in California and had the chance to actually make something while on the road in her kitchen. I went in search of acai frozen smoothie mix (as I haven’t seen it yet where I am in Canada) and found some from Sambazon at Whole Foods. (Check their website to find a dealer near you.) It’s about $4.99 for four 100g gram packages. You can use one package for smoothies, or two in acai bowls.
Anyway, these acai bowls are SUPER easy to make and very delicious! The formula is simple: apple juice (or another liquid), frozen acai and banana and topped with granola, fruit and honey or other sweetener. It’s essentially a fruit smoothie granola bowl. You can eat it for breakfast, lunch, after a workout or any time of day. Now these are generally pretty large once you add a bunch of fruit on top of it, so be prepared to make a meal out of it. If not use less fruit topping and less granola for a smaller meal.
If you can’t find frozen acai anywhere near you, you can still make something similar. Try substituting frozen blueberries instead (about 1 cup) and blending that in with the banana and apple juice.
Now onto the delicious recipe!
Acai Banana Berry Bowl Recipe
Serves 1
Bowl Ingredients:
4 oz/ 1/2 cup apple juice (unsweetened if desired)
2 100g packets of frozen Acai (I used Sambazon Original Smoothie Packs)
1 frozen ripe banana (sub a fresh banana if you do not have a high powered blender such as a VitaMix or Blendtec)
Garnish Ingredients:
1/3-1/2 cup low fat granola of choice
1/2 -1 ripe banana, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup strawberries, sliced
handful of blueberries or other berries
Drizzle of honey or agave *optional
Directions:
1. Remove packets of acai and frozen bananas from freezer.
2. Wash and slice the strawberries, slice the banana and wash the blueberries and set aside.
3. Add apple juice to your blender. Break up the frozen acai into smaller pieces and cut the plastic open and pour into blender. Add the banana. Blend on low or pulse to break up the frozen fruit. If you have a VitaMix use the tamper to puree into a soft serve. If you have another type of blender you may have to stop and stir and keep pulsing to combine. Stop blending when smooth.
4. Scrape acai mixture into a bowl.
5. Top acai with granola.
6. Top with bananas, strawberries and blueberries.
7. Serve.
Have you ever had an Acai bowl? What’s your favorite topping?
I was excited to try this recipe but disappointed to see cane juice as a second ingredient in the acai berry pack. Granted it’s “organic evaporated cane juice”, but it still deters me from picking it up from my local Whole Foods. Thanks for the suggestion to use frozen blueberries instead, gonna have to give that a try. 😀
Ok, $4.99 a pack?? So jealous. Here in San Francisco at Whole Food’s the Sambazon is $6.99, and at Real Foods they are $7.99 a pack. I found another brand, Acai Roots at some Whole Foods (the one in SOMA & Haight) for $4.99 a pack, and when I contacted the company they gave me contact info for their distributer in Richmond if I wanted to buy in bulk. And I too, was first introduced to Acai bowls in San Diego, and am so happy they are gaining in popularity her in the City. And I’m willing to bet D’Arcy’s favorite was the place across from the Post Office in Ocean Beach.
That was in the San Diego area, so I’m not sure why it’s more expensive at your whole foods. In Canada it’s $8.99 a pack.
I was hoping to see a photo of the acai palm or the fruit (berry) in your article? Perhaps a list of the vitamins and minerals contained in the fruit. No worries…..checked things out on Wikapedia and a couple of other sites. Sounds interesting. I will have to order some and try a smoothie or bowl full.
Cheers,
Bill C.
Acai is perishable so it’s only sold as juice, frozen puree or a powder. I don’t think putting up a photo of the fruit would be necessary as no one would ever see it in the store like that.
Since moving to San Diego area a few years ago, we have consumed MASS QUANTITIES of Acai bowls. They are SO GOOOOODD!! Are favorites are made by a little mom and pop place in Ocean Beach. They put Honey and Coconut on top in addition to the granola, fresh bananas, strawberries and blueberries :o) Heavenly!!!!!
I have been eating Acai Bowls from 2004 till now. I first discovered them when I moved to Carlsbad Ca. from LA County. One taste and I thought I’d died and gone to heaven…….talk about delicious!! 🙂
I like my Acai & granola topped with lots of chopped up fresh or previously frozen fruit like banana’s, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple & peaches, unsweetened coconut and raw organic honey……Yum yum yum.
..I love this , and its similar to the recipes at Backyard Bowls in Santa Barbara CA. I would LOVE to know how to make the one they w the veggies…:)
I ate there every day for breakfast in Santa Barbara. I think they just blend in some spinach and broccoli to the base.
Looks yummy, as I enjoy my banana, papaw, blueberry and a hint of ginger smoothie