This Low Carb Acai Smoothie Bowl is an easy way to satisfy that sweet tooth in the morning! It's a healthy low-carb way to enjoy a fruity breakfast packed with nutrients, healthy fats, and flavor. This smoothie bowl recipe is loaded with some of our favorite toppings. Pile on the fresh fruit with low-carb berries, plus nuts, coconut flakes, and seeds. This breakfast is ready in just minutes!
Typically, acai bowls aren't considered low sugar, unfortunately. What you set out to enjoy as a healthy breakfast, sometimes turns out to be loaded with extra sugar.
Açaí berries are naturally very bitter, so companies sweeten the purees with processed sugary syrups to make them tastier. Add in sugary toppings like granola and even some fruits, then suddenly your healthier-for-you smoothie bowl puts you way over your targeted daily value of sugar.
In fact, a typical acai bowl, either homemade or commercially available can contain upwards of 60 grams of sugar in one serving. Yikes! The food news is, we removed excess sugar and brought you this tasty homemade acai bowl - with 15 grams of net carbs and only 12 grams of naturally occurring sugar per serving.
On hot summer days, or randomly when I'm craving a refreshing breakfast this keto smoothie bowl is the move. You should also try our delicious keto berry smoothie, this low carb yogurt bowl, or this keto 'oatmeal'.
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❤️Why you'll love this recipe
- Refreshing & naturally sweet - No unwanted blood sugar spikes here, with the help of a little of our favorite keto-friendly sweetener (affiliate link), we added some sweetness without any extra calories. The fruit and other plant based ingredients make this a great recipe that helps lower your net carb consumption.
- Fiber packed - Each serving packs a whopping 10 whole grams of fiber. This is nearly half of your daily target of 20 grams.
- Low carb, vegan & gluten free - This low carb acai berry bowl is also naturally gluten free, and can easily be made vegan by using a plant based protein powder.
- Quick & easy - With a high powered blender, a few ingredients, and 10 minutes, you can have a refreshing, healthy breakfast in 10 minutes.
- Very customizable - This is a great way to eat an interactive breakfast with family or friends because you can add or remove any toppings, fillers, liquids, or sweeteners as you see fit and suit multiple diet types.
This post was originally published in 2019, but we have since tweaked the recipe and updated the photos as of January 2022! We hope you enjoy the improved look!
🥥Ingredients
Technically, you only need 3 staple ingredients to make acai bowls. We've added a few ingredients to make it extra tasty and nutrient-packed.
✏️Ingredient Notes
- Unsweetened acai fruit - It's very important to make sure there's no added sugar here because this can quickly add up! Many brands add upwards of 10-15 grams of sugar to each 100-gram packet if you purchase them presweetened.
- Peanut butter powder - If you can find it, we love this brand, and it's much lower calorie than eating regular peanut butter. You could of course use your favorite nut butter instead.
- Protein powder - Use your favorite low carb protein powder. We used whey protein, but feel free to use your favorite protein powder.
- Hemp hearts - Also known as hemp seeds
- Fresh & frozen low carb berries - We opt for strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and a few cherries (when seasonally available). You can use your favorite low carb fruits. You will need frozen berries to blend with the acai puree, and fresh berries to top your bowl.
- Milk of choice - We used full fat coconut milk (that comes in a can) for extra fats and a delicious creamy texture. Any unsweetened milk or milk substitute will work here, however. Some popular choices are unsweetened almond milk or unsweetened coconut milk. Skip the sugary fruit juice.
- Sweetener of choice - Anything you prefer here works perfectly, whether that be erythritol, monk fruit, stevia, or allulose to avoid any added glycemic index load.
- Ice - But only if needed to thicken.
- Toppings - We used some coconut flakes, nuts, and hemp hearts. Don't forget the fresh berries & your favorite low carb fruits! Our low carb granola is also a great option.
📖Instructions
We made a Google Web Story for a different way to view the acai bowl instructions.
Prep work:
- Prepare and wash all of your desired toppings ahead of time. Once the acai smoothie mixture is prepared, it's best to consume it right away before it begins to melt.
- Allow the acai puree to sit out at room temperature for a few minutes, or run it under cold water so you can easily remove it from the packaging. Make sure you don't melt it too much, you want it frozen.
- It can be helpful to break the frozen acai puree into a few chunks so it blends easier.
To the blender, add coconut milk, whey protein, peanut butter powder, and sweetener to taste.
Add frozen berries.
Next, add the frozen acai and blend. You may need to use your blender's tamper tool to help move the ingredients around in the blender since the mixture will be very thick.
Add the mixture to bowls, then top with preferred toppings. Enjoy right away!
✨Substitutions & variations:
- Protein packed - Add an extra scoop of protein for more protein! You can also add nuts like pepitas, or seeds like sesame seeds and chia seeds for more protein and nutrients.
- Probiotic boost - Want more gut healthy ingredients? Add Greek yogurt instead of any liquid to the smoothie, or even add some kombucha or your favorite probiotic supplement.
- Vegan - This bowl is so easy to prepare vegan. Just make sure to use vegan protein powder, because all of the other ingredients are already plant based.
- Toasted toppings - Feeling fancy? Try toasting your coconut flakes, hemp hearts, and nuts in some coconut oil with some cinnamon in a cast iron skillet on the stove. You could also whip up a batch of some keto granola, add sugar free chocolate chips, or a nut butter drizzle.
- Add veggies - Now, hear us out, but we don't see why you couldn't add any frozen veggies like frozen cauliflower rice for more low carb filler and nutrients. It has a very neutral flavor!
- "Healthy-ish" - Not counting carbs or sugar as closely but still want healthier sweeteners? Sweeten to taste with maple syrup, honey, or agave nectar. If not counting carbs, feel free to add as much fruit (and any variety) you want!
- Higher fat content - Add a scoop of peanut butter or almond butter, or some MCT oil or coconut oil for more fat content.
💬Frequently asked questions:
We haven't tried this yet ourselves, but we imagine that you could substitute 1 tablespoon of acai powder for every one 100 gram packs of acai puree.
Try adding about 125 grams of ice per 1 tablespoon of acai powder to give this smoothie the texture it needs. You may also need to add more nut milk if you try this method.
If you give this method a try, let us know how it goes!
🍓Equipment
There's not much equipment you will need for this recipe, aside from a high-powered blender for best results. This is the blender we use and absolutely love!
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🧊Storage
This acai bowl is definitely best enjoyed right away, but it can be refrigerated or frozen. Refrigerate covered for up to 2.5 hours, or freeze indefinitely without toppings, and blend puree again before topping and serving.
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📖 Recipe
Keto Acai Bowl (Smoothie Bowl)
Ingredients
Acai smoothie base:
- 2.5 ounces full fat coconut milk (or more for a softer acai base)
- 36 grams granular erythritol (or keto sweetener of choice)
- 30 grams unsweetened whey protein (about one scoop, and you can use any preferred protein powder)
- 15 grams peanut butter powder (about 2 tablespoons, and you can use any nut butter of choice)
- 200 grams unsweetened acai puree (about 2 packages)
- 8 ounces frozen mixed berries (we used low carb berries - raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries and cherries)
Toppings:
- 10 grams mixed fresh berries
- 10 grams hemp hearts
- 10 grams slivered almonds
- 3 grams unsweetened coconut chips
- Ice (if needed to thicken)
Instructions
- Add all ingredients for the acai smoothie base to the blender, with the frozen ingredients being added last. Blend until smooth, using a tampering tool if necessary to completely blend the mixture. Add ice and/or liquid to achieve desired texture.
- Put acai mixture into bowls and then top with desired toppings. Enjoy!
- Enjoy right away for best results. Refrigerate for up to 2.5 hours or freeze the smoothie base mixture for up to 6 months, and reblend when time to serve.
Notes
- For best results, thaw acai puree gently to remove it easily from the package. You can also break it into small blocks so it blends easier.
- Prepare your toppings before preparing the smoothie base so you can quickly top then enjoy the bowl.
- Please note, this bowl is perfect for customization to fit your specific needs. Because of this, making alterations to the provided serving suggestion will alter the nutrition facts, so please track your intake accordingly.
- The net carbs on this bowl are slightly higher to fit a keto diet at 15 grams, but, we routinely fit this in as a part of our breakfasts because of the awesome nutrient profile, source of fiber, fat, and flavor. If you're strictly counting carbs, you can keep your carbs low the rest of your meals to fit this in. 🙂
- Detailed instructions about variations can be found in the body of the post.
- Sweeten to taste.
- Add ice to thicken the smoothie base if desired, or use more milk of choice to thin.
Nutrition
These nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy and are only estimates. We cannot guarantee the accuracy.
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