Name: The BEST Acai Breakfast Bowl (in 5 Minutes!)
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 1 package frozen acai puree ((100 grams, 7 oz), OR sub with 3/4 cup frozen mixed berries (105 grams) + 2 Tablespoons acai powder); 1 banana (sliced and frozen); 3/4 cup plant-based milk ((180 ml) I used oat milk but any will do!)

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Just 3 ingredients and 5 minutes for this Vegan Acai Breakfast Bowl, served with toppings like yogurt, granola, nuts, and fruits for a healthy smoothie bowl!

Close-up of vegan acai breakfast bowl with sliced banana, strawberries, blueberries, and granola.

Why You Will Love This Recipe

🌈 Antioxidant Boost: A vibrant bowl packed with nutrients!
🌱 Effortless Vegan: Simple, plant-based goodness done in 5 minutes.
🥣 Customizable: Play with toppings and make it uniquely yours!
🤤 Guilt-Free Indulgence: Decadence meets wholesome goodness!
🌞 Energizing Bliss: Start your day right with a delicious blend that keeps you fueled till lunch.

What is Acai Bowl Made Of? (Acai Bowl Ingredients)

Acai: The star ingredient of this vegan acai breakfast bowl! Use either unsweetened frozen acai packets (acai berry puree packs).
- If you can’t find frozen acai puree, you can sub with frozen mixed berries + acai powder. This is also more affordable! They will taste different: fruiter, a bit more sour, and they have more texture than acai packs; but they’re great subs!
Banana (Sliced and Frozen): Creamy and naturally sweet, they bring a delightful texture and fruity goodness to your bowl.
Plant-Based Milk: Creamy addition to help things blend easier. I used oat milk here but any kind (e.g. soy milk, almond milk, cashew milk, rice milk, etc) will do!

Ingredients for a vegan acai bowl with labels on a white background.

Are acai bowls vegan?

The only ingredient I will check for in an acai bowl is whether they use cow’s milk or plant-based milk. The other ingredients are fruits so as long as plant-based milk is used, the acai bowls will be vegan.

So in short, they are not always vegans but they could very easily be made vegan!

How to Make Acai Breakfast Bowl?

Add: Add all ingredients to a high-powered blender, ensuring frozen fruits don’t clump. If they clump, let them thaw on the counter for about 15 minutes until you can break them apart by hand or with a butter knife.

Blend: Blend for 2-3 minutes until smooth. If your blender does not come with a tamper, pause to stir then re-blend if necessary.

Frozen sliced bananas in a small blender.

Frozen sliced banana with acai puree chips in a small blender.

Toppings Time: Transfer to a bowl. Add your favorite toppings to decorate and add texture! Some options are vegan yogurt, granola, nuts & seeds, and a mix of fresh and dried fruits. Enjoy your homemade açaí bowl!

Using Frozen Acai Puree vs Acai Powder

If you’re using acai powder, add some frozen fruit for more of that berry flavor. Mixed berries will usually make your acai bowl more fruity and adds texture, but also a bit more sour. Feel free to add a bit of liquid sweetener or sweetened yogurt (such as vanilla yogurt) to balance this out.

The pictures below show the acai bowl using frozen berries so you can see for yourself! The texture is very similar, but the color and the taste differ slightly.

Frozen sliced banana in a small transparent blender.

Frozen mixed berries put on top of frozen banana in a transparent blender cup.

Acai Bowl Toppings

Here are some delicious vegan toppings for your homemade acai smoothie bowl!

Fresh fruits – think strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, kiwi, apples, or even more banana! Though honestly, any kind of fruit would be great in acai breakfast bowls!
Dried fruits – from the usual raisins to dried figs or apricots!
Yogurt – adds creaminess to your acai yogurt bowl
Granola – btw check out my Granola Yogurt Cups if you’re a fan of granola
Maple syrup or agave syrup
Nuts and Seeds
Nut butter – peanut butter, almond butter, whatever is your favorite!
- Check out my Vegan Nutella (with Dates) recipe if you’d like a chocolatey twist!
Vegan jam/jelly
Coconut flakes or cacao nibs
- Speaking of cacao, you might like this Nutella Acai Bowl or this Chocolate Chips Baked Oats recipe.

Top Tips

Slice your banana before freezing – It makes blending so much easier!

Ripe Bananas – Opt for ripe bananas with dark brown / black spots which add natural sweetness to your banana acai breakfast bowl.

Frozen Acai Puree vs Acai Powder – See the section above for more details.

Two bowls of labelled acai breakfast bowls, one made with frozen acai puree and the other one with acai powder.

Liquid Amount / Using a High-powered Blender – In general, the more liquid you have, the easier it is to blend. If you don’t have a high-powered blender, you can add more liquid but note that this will make the acai breakfast bowl less creamy.

Taste Test – Taste the acai blend before transferring it to the bowl. Adjust sweetness to match your preference!

A bowl of acai bowl vegan with granola and fruits, with the toppings surrounding the acai bowl.

Storage, Meal Prep, and Freezing Instructions

Storage: This vegan acai bowl is best consumed fresh, within 15-20 minutes because otherwise it will melt and lose its creaminess.

If you however, need to store leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Note that it will be more liquidy and it will darken to a brownish color, though it will still be safe to consume.

Meal prep: Prep smoothie packs in advance for a quicker morning assembly. Simply add all the frozen fruits needed for 1 serving to a Ziploc bag. In the morning, just toss the pack in the blender, and you’re good to go!

Freezing: This acai breakfast bowl does NOT freeze well. But for a longer storage, just check out the meal prep notes above.

Two hands holding a bowl of acai yogurt energy bowl with bananas, blueberries, strawberries, and granola as toppings.

FAQ

Acai bowls can be high in calories if additional sugar is added, or if loaded with high-calorie toppings. So the tip is to opt for healthier toppings and be mindful of the portion sizes!

Acai bowls can become sugary when loaded with sweetened toppings like granola, maple syrup/honey, too many sugary fruits, or if using sweetened frozen acai puree packs.

Making sure that your acai bowl does not contain any added sugar would help keep the sugar level lower to make it healthy. This is exactly why I highly recommend making one at home since you have better control of the ingredients.

Absolutely! Acai bowls are an excellent breakfast choice, offering a blend of nutrients, antioxidants, and energy to kickstart your day on a healthy note.

Just be sure that you don’t use too much sugary toppings, and that the frozen acai packs you use do not contain additional sugar to prevent that sugar slump.

Similar to many other foods, it depends on the ingredients used and the toppings added. But in general, acai bowls are rich in antioxidants, fiber, vitamin C, and other minerals (check out this Healthline article for more info). However, since they contain mostly fruits, acai bowls have high sugar content.

Acai itself is low in sugar and has many great health benefits, such as containing high levels of antioxidants, having anti-cancer effects and boosting brain function, as explained in this other Healthline article.

Another interesting point (more about it here, at nutritionfacts.org), is that people find smoothie bowls less filling than eating the same fruits in solid form, but that eating soup is more filling than eating the raw ingredients in solid form. And that boils down to the time it takes to finish them because we take longer to eat soup, but we often gulp down smoothie bowls. So when you’re having an acai bowl, be sure to eat it mindfully so you can get all the nutritional benefits without risking overeating!

Want More Breakfast Recipes?

Check out my overnight oats recipes that are done in under 5 minutes: Frozen Berries Overnight Oats, Biscoff Overnight Oats, and Oreo Overnight Oats.

For a healthier option, try my viral 3-Minute Flax Seed Pudding recipe. Or if you’re feeling like eating a cheesecake for breakfast, try my Overnight Weetabix Cheesecake (Berries + Biscoff variation).

Prefer something dried for brekkie? Then try my 5-Minute Baked Oats without Banana or my Weetabix Cake Loaf recipe.