If you’ve ever been to Hawaii, then you will totally understand my newfound obsession with Acai Bowls. It’s an addiction, and I’m okay with it. I’ve merely made one of these for breakfast every morning for the past week.

If you haven’t been to Hawaii before, then please feel free to fall in love with these tasty breakfast bowls. Acai bowls are essentially fruit smoothies poured into a bowl and topped with various ingredients, like shredded coconut, cacao nibs, granola, fresh fruit, or whatever else you want to put on top.

If I could only have one meal for the rest of my life, it would probably be this Acai Breakfast Bowl. So, you should ALL try it… Immediately. And then promptly let me know how you like it 🙂

Acai Breakfast Bowl [Vegan] [Paleo]

By: Layla Khoury-Hanold of Clean Eating Mag

Serves 1

Ingredients:

Acai Puree:

• 1/2 small banana, frozen
• 1 100-g (3.5-oz) pack frozen unsweetened acai berry pulp (TRY: Sambazon Unsweetened Acai Smoothie Pack; before opening your acai pack, run pack under water for 5 seconds to thaw and break the frozen pulp into smaller pieces.)
• 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or other liquid of your choice)

Toppings:

• 1/4 cup blueberries
• 1/2 kiwi, peeled and sliced or chopped (optional)
• 1/2 small banana, sliced
• 1/4 cup peeled and chopped pineapple or mango (optional)
• 1/4 cup strawberries, sliced
• 1/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut (optional)
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened cacao nibs (optional)
• 1/4 cup granola (optional)
• Drizzle of raw honey or maple (optional)

Directions:

1. Prepare acai purée: In a blender, add banana, acai pulp, strawberries, blueberries and a splash of milk. (TIP: Add to blender in that order as adding softer ingredients first makes it easier on your blender blades.)
2. Blend on low until larger chunks are broken down, then gradually increase speed, adding a splash of milk at a time, and stopping to scrape down sides of blender if needed.
3. When ingredients have mostly come together and all of milk has been added, blend on high for 15 to 20 seconds more.
4. Add toppings: Pour acai purée into a bowl and arrange toppings in stripes of their respective color to form a rainbow: from left to right, arrange blueberries, kiwi, banana, pineapple and strawberries.
5. Sprinkle with granola and drizzle with honey (if using).

Note: Using frozen fruit in the acai purée helps to achieve a thick consistency, but avoid adding ice as it can water down the flavors. For the topping, fresh fruit works best, but frozen and thawed can also work in a pinch.

Find a store that sells the Sambazon Smoothie Packs near you by clicking here. In Austin, I was able to find these smoothie packs at Whole Foods, Sprouts, Wheatsville, and Randall’s for about $5 (for a 4-pack).