An Acai Recipe That's Delicious, Healthy, & Easy to Prepare
One of the things we love most about travel is discovering new foods. For us, exploring the world is as much about tasting its many flavors as meeting its people or experiencing its geographic diversity. During our recent travels in Brazil, acai was one of our favorite discoveries. We would laze around in the afternoon after kiteboarding lessons enjoying big bowls of acai topped with banana, granola, and honey. Part superfood/part guilt-free indulgence, acai bowls are perfect for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or a tasty dessert. Lately, we’ve been making a lot of acai bowls as it’s delicious, healthy and easy to prepare. That said, we’d like to share our favorite acai bowl recipe because we don't want to keep this treat all to ourselves!
For those unfamiliar, acai is a purple grape-like berry that grows on acai palms commonly found in the rainforests of South America. High in antioxidants, fiber, calcium, and heart-healthy omega 3’s, I like to think of acai as a superfood dressed up like dessert. We’re talking the Ferrari of the superfood world. Think fruit smoothie rather than kale, flaxseed, or cockroach milk (yes, I hear that’s becoming a thing).
Popular in Brazil for many years, you can’t drive far without running into a trendy acai bar serving up delicious bowls of smoothie-like acai served up with fresh fruit, granola, honey and an endless variety of other delights. Acai bowls come in many forms from mildly sweet to truly decadent. Our simple - yet delicious - recipe comes courtesy of Lisa, owner of Beekite Brazil. Lisa’s three-year-old son, Leo, introduced us to Lisa’s version of acai one afternoon. Running around Beekite’s open-air restaurant singing “ah-sigh-ee, ah-sigh-ee,” Leo was clearly hooked. Good enough for a picky three-year-old, it’s definitely proven good enough for us. Mildly sweet, it’s the type of acai recipe that makes for a good breakfast, snack, or dessert.
Acai Bowl Recipe
Description
A classic acai recipe that’s simple, delicious, and full of nutrients. If you’ve never tried an acai bowl before, it’s the perfect introduction, which makes for a great breakfast, afternoon snack, or dessert. We buy the Sambazon Pure Unsweetened packs, which come in 4x100g servings and can be found in the frozen section at Whole Foods. The pint-sized Magic Bullet blender (great for travel) is ideal for blending it all together - super quick to use and clean up, and the perfect size for one serving
Ingredients
- 200 grams frozen acai (We use Sambazon Pure Unsweetenend)
- 2 medium bananas
- 1/2 - 1 cup of your favorite granola
- 1 tablespoon of honey (adjust to taste for desired sweetness)
- ¼ cup milk
Instructions
Run two 100 gram packs of frozen acai under water for a minute or two, then break into chunks (Use a mallet or even a sturdy coffee cup - this can be especially therapeutic if you've had a bad day) and add the frozen chunks to the blender. Chop 1 banana and place on top of the acai.
Add 1 tbsp of honey, 1/4 cup milk, and blend the mixture.
Pour into your favorite bowl, and top with sliced banana, granola, and a drizzle of honey (optional). That's it!
Notes
Want to adapt our recipe to create your perfect acai bowl? Consider adding more honey to make it sweeter or swap out bananas for mango, blueberries, kiwi, strawberries, or any of your other favorite fruits. Top with nuts, coconut, bee pollen, or whatever you're craving that day. The fun thing is that you can get creative!
We hope you enjoy this recipe. Have any questions? Give us a shout in the comments section.