I took a trip to the Los Angeles area recently to visit with my boyfriend and his family. When I was there, I couldn’t help but to notice that Acai Bowls were all the rage around there. We went to Huntington Beach one day where a ton of places were advertising them.
One morning, my boyfriend and I had a reservation to go paddle boarding “early” during the day for us. We didn’t have time to make breakfast so we had to get breakfast on the road and naturally, my boyfriend wanted In-N-Out at 10:30 AM…sigh. Being a lean, green, nutrition fiend that I am, I could not get myself to eat a cheeseburger at that time in the morning (though, yes, I did have one while I was there and it was delicious). Instead, I opted to try one of Jamba Juice’s Acai Bowls. It was delicious and now, I could completely understand why these Acai Bowls are turning out to be the new hot breakfast trend. But after having the Jamba Juice Acai Bowl, I realized how simple it is to make at home. Not only was it easier to make at home, but it was also more cost efficient and healthier. The Jamba Juice Acai Bowl has a ton of calories (530 to be exact), lots of sugar, and can cost up to $7.99. So, why not make a healthier version of it at home? That’s just what I did.
One reason that Jamba Juice is higher in calories is because it uses Acai Juice. I did some research and found that Acai Juice, like many other juices, does not contain the full nutritional value of the fruit. Juices, no matter what kind, are stripped of the fiber of the fruit. That fiber helps you to digest the whole fruit, especially aiding in the digestion of sugars. When the fiber is taken away, the sugar is not easily digested and is thus stored in your body as fat. Additionally, Acai Juice does not contain the same powerful level of antioxidants that whole Acai berries are known for. So, the best way to consume Acai berries is through Acai Powder, which is the whole fruit dried and grounded into a powder.
The Acai Powder that I used is the Navitas Naturals Acai Powder (pictured above). You can find this brand at Whole Foods or Wegman’s. If you are interested in buying some, you can buy it from Amazon online here, Navitas Naturals Organic Acai Powder, for a little over $19 for 4 ounces.
As you can see, Acai Powder is absolutely NOT the cheapest thing in the entire world. It is pretty damn expensive. So in that case, I will make my Acai Bowl as a treat to myself but not as an everyday breakfast. You could definitely make the recipe without the Acai powder every single time, and it would still be delicious, healthy, and more cost savvy!
I decided to try and make my own copycat version of the Jamba Juice Acai Primo Bowl that I had, which you can check out here. The bowl at Jamba Juice is made by blending together Acai juice, soymilk, blueberries, strawberries, and bananas. It is then topped with granola, fresh bananas and berries, coconut flakes, and honey.
To make my own healthier version, I blended together some Acai powder, almond milk, frozen blueberries and strawberries, and a banana. I topped it with some fresh bananas and berries, coconut flakes, and some KIND Healthy Peanut Butter Grains Clusters. I try not to use too much of the granola (or “cluster’s”) because most granolas have a lot of added sugar, so I just use it to add a little bit of crunch to the smoothie bowl. The smoothie bowl turned out great! It is amazingly yummy without all the added calories and sugars that Jamba Juice has in theirs. The copycat Jamba Juice Acai Bowl recipe is a healthy success! Try it out for yourself!Feel free to make this recipe your own and add any desired toppings and switch around some ingredients for others. Make your own versions and see what you like best! Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Berry Acai Bowl
Ingredients
Smoothie
- 2/3 cup Frozen Blueberries
- 2/3 cup Frozen Strawberries
- 1/2 Banana
- 3/4-1 cup Almond Milk or milk of your choice
- 1 teaspoon Acai Powder
Toppings
- 1/2 Banana sliced
- Fresh blueberries
- Fresh strawberries sliced
- Granola of your choice
- Coconut Flakes
Instructions
- Put all the smoothie ingredients into a blender
- If the mixture is having trouble blending, add more Almond Milk or water
- Blend until the smoothie is smooth
- Pour the smoothie mixture into a bowl
- Top with desired ingredients
- Serve and enjoy!
Tawny
I get an acai bowl at one of my fave places every weekend. It’s $9. So, I need to start making it at home because I’m craving it more often than one time per week and I’d love to not spend as much on it. Thanks for this post!
leangreennutritionfiend
Hi Tawny! Yes, acai bowls are so expensive! It’s great to be able to make them at home. And you can customize them just the way you like it without all the added sugar that most places use! Hope you enjoy 🙂
Giulia Guerrieri
Agreed!
Mary
Any idea of the nutrition facts on the berry acai bowl?
leangreennutritionfiend
Hi Mary, no I do not know the exact nutrition facts of the berry acai bowl. But I will try and find out and get back to you on it! Thanks! Hope you try the recipe 🙂
jp
i make something similar but also add 2TB of chia and 2TB of hemp seeds. my calculated acai bowl only has 5 grams of sugar per serving(i divide the blended amount into 3 servings) using half a banana, 1 cup blueberries and 4 strawberries and homemade nut milk. now that is just the base. what you top it with will add more nutrition and calories/ sugar. but its a HUGE savings in sugar to DIY bc Nekters bowl has something like 35g of sugar. yikes and Jamba juice blends their acai with juice which they will exchange for milk if you ask.
Lauren
Would love to know the calories of your home made version! Thanks for posting thjs
CJ
Looks so yummy. Do you know if you can the acai in a health food store? I’m from Canada and there are no Wegman’s store here. Thx!
Lizette Picasso
Hi, I will try your recipe, look delicious! Do you have the nutritional info? Thanks!
Renee Ingram
I’m not a strawberry person, what can I substitute?
leangreennutritionfiend
Hi Renee, the beauty of acai bowls is that they really go well with any fruit. You could opt to go for a more tropical fruit bowl using pineapple and mango instead! Or you could just mix some acai, almond milk, banana, almond butter and cacao instead! And if it is only strawberries, you could use just blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries instead! You can really substitute it for any fruit or smoothie ingredient that you like 🙂
Melissa M
I live in Newport Beach California and Jamba Juice is the worst place to get Acai bowls >_< next time you're Southern California check out one of these 3: Banzai Bowls, JuJu, or the ones are Necter.
Taylor S
The only difference at Jamba Juice is the use of 3oz of soymilk & 3oz of an acai concentrate. Otherwise it’s the exact same ingredients in this recipe including a drizzle of honey. Substitute the soymilk for almond milk & it won’t be as overwhelmingly sweet.
leangreennutritionfiend
Hi Taylor, thank you for your comment! Good to know that Jamba Juice will substitute out with healthier ingredients!
Jessie
So delicious!!! Tried this for dinner tonight and it was amazing. I did add just a bit of honey so it was a little sweeter but other than that it is definitely one of my favorite recipes!
leangreennutritionfiend
Hi Jessie, thank you for your comment! I’m glad to hear that you like the recipe!
Daniel
Does the acai powder add any sort of taste or is it mostly for health purposes?
leangreennutritionfiend
Hi Daniel, the acai powder adds a slight berry taste. But the taste will not be too overpowering when it is mixed in with everything else in the smoothie bowl. So, it does add a slight taste but I use it in smoothies mostly for the health benefits! Thank you for your comment and hope you try out the recipe! 🙂
Suzanne
I tried these bowls with my kids (and got the same acai powder off amazon), and they were delicious!
leangreennutritionfiend
Hi Suzanne! Thanks so much for your comment. I am glad that you and your kids liked it! It is such a nice healthy and refreshing breakfast for these hot summer days 🙂
Tanisha Islas
Tried your recipe this morning and I am obsessed. Got tired of spending $7 a couple times a week and decided to try it out! Thanks so much for this recipe!
leangreennutritionfiend
Hi Tanisha, ugh yes, those $7 smoothie bowls really end up putting a dent in the bank account! Thank you for your comment and I’m so glad you like the recipe 🙂