What Are Acai Bowls? Get the Scoop on the Healthy, Delicious Breakfast
Everyone’s talking about acai bowls these days. And when you find out what they are, it’s hard to be surprised about their popularity on social media. Taking the foodie world by storm, acai bowls are a triple threat: nutritious, delicious and ridiculously photogenic.
Let’s start with the foundation of an acai bowl—the acai berry itself. Packed with antioxidants, fiber and heart-healthy fats, the South American fruit is widely touted as a superfood. And for good reason. An acai berry is a great pick for anyone looking to add more of those nutritional benefits to their regular diet.
Unfortunately, fresh acai berries are difficult to get here in North America. However, we do have the options of buying frozen acai puree and acai berry powder —both of which work tremendously well for crafting an acai bowl.
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Now, let’s talk about the mix-ins. A basic acai bowl recipe usually consists of mixing the acai puree or powder with fruits like fresh berries and bananas, along with your choice of nut butter, granola, and sweetener. Some people also opt to blend in seeds, nuts or oats. Others add in some non-dairy milk.
Blended with these natural ingredients, the acai helps magically transform this concoction into the best upgraded smoothie bowl you ever had. Thick and creamy to taste, this blend almost calls to mind ice cream—or even nice cream, the healthy version of ice cream.
Much like nice cream, acai bowls can be both healthy enough and filling enough to eat for breakfast—of course depending on what you put in it and on it. (Sorry, but overloading your acai bowl with chocolate chips and tons of maple syrup will render it more of a dessert.)
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But speaking of what you put on an acai bowl, let’s move to toppings next. This is the part where foodies get really creative.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRlruKhhW2G/Due to acai bowls’ creamy consistency, they withstand toppings very well. Unlike a thinner smoothie or a juice, the toppings rarely sink down in the acai bowls.
So this is an optimal chance to add more nutritious benefits to your already healthy breakfast (or lunch, or dinner, or midnight snack…). You can top it with heart healthy nuts, freshly sliced fruits, or chia seeds for some extra fiber and protein.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRlSwy5Bxwk/Just be careful with how much of each topping you add. Trust us—it’s easy to go overboard here, but everything is truly better for you in moderation. And that includes acai bowl toppings.
But health benefits and tastiness aside, let’s be honest, acai bowls are optimal for gorgeous photos as well.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRiQl7rjF98/
Who’s ready to break out the blender?
