It only takes one good acai bowl to get hooked on this trendy smoothie sensation. Whether you just ordered one at a juice shop for the first time or you're a long-time fan of this breakfast treat, once you enjoy the refreshing pleasure of eating your smoothie by spoon, there's no turning back. What's more, you don't even have to leave your house to enjoy one. When you understand how to make a bowl at home, you can have a thick, spoonable smoothie anytime you like.

The Formula: Acai, Liquid, Fruit, Extras, and Toppings

When it comes to making your own acai bowl at home, you only need four main components, plus toppings. Here's a basic formula to follow.

1. Acai: Frozen acai puree is available to buy in individual packs. Simply warm these packs under running water, snip off the plastic, and dump the contents into your blender for your smoothie base.

2. Liquid: You could use juice, milk, non-dairy almond or coconut milk, coconut water, or even plain water to get things moving in the blender and attain the thick consistency of an acai bowl.

3. Frozen fruit: Whether you add frozen blueberries, a frozen banana, frozen mangoes, or some of each, the fruits you add to your acai base and liquids will impact your final bowl's flavors.

4. Extras: Depending on your goals and preferences, you may want to consider adding leafy vegetables like kale or spinach, nuts, seeds, nut butters, and powders like cacao powder or maca powder to your acai bowl.

5. Toppings: One of the most fun parts of this trend is adding the toppings. Not only do you get a full bowl of smoothie to scoop up and enjoy, but you get delicious add-ons like granola, coconut, extra fruit, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit.

Once you understand the basic components of making acai bowls, the fun part is coming up with different combinations to see what you enjoy. Experiment and explore the possibilities by mixing different flavors.

One Recipe to Try

Before you branch out to explore new combinations, you may want to try tested recipes that you can count on to work well. This basic acai bowl recipe comes together in minutes and yields a thick, dark, nicely sweetened acai mixture that's easy to love. Just combine apple juice, frozen blueberries, one frozen banana, and one frozen pack of acai with chopped kale and a little matcha green tea powder to make this bowl. Then top it off with your choice of toppings.

Are you ready to start bringing the beauty of acai bowls into your home kitchen? If so, use the formula and example above to get started. You may even want to go beyond acai and create other smoothie bowls like a kale apple smoothie bowl or an all-green variety. By mixing up your morning routine with a thicker, spoonable smoothie, you'll be treating yourself and starting your day off right.