Making vegan jello without gelatin is so easy. Make your own homemade plant-based jello with just two ingredients! The recipe is incredibly easy, kid-friendly, and so delicious.
Why This Recipe Works
Original jello recipes call for gelatin, which is made by boiling animal bones, skin, and tissues. Agar agar is a great vegan-friendly alternative that can be used for all sorts of recipes that call for gelatin.
It’s the secret ingredient for this vegan jello recipe. It tastes so much like the real thing! It’s sweet, fruity, and perfectly jiggly.
It’s such a great and easy dessert that is ready in no time. I especially love making it on hot summer days but of course it’s great the whole year round.
The actual hands-on preparation time is less than 10 minutes. Pretty awesome, right? Then just let it chill in the fridge for about 2 hours so it can set.
You can easily switch out the fruit juice to your personal looking. You could also mix flavors if you’d like. It’s also a fun recipe to make with kids!
What Goes Into This Recipe
- Fruit Juice – I used apple, cherry, and orange juice, but most fruit juices work really well for this recipe. I also like cranberry and grape juice.
- Agar Agar – it’s a vegetarian substitute for gelatin. You need agar agar powder for this recipe. It’s also available as flakes or as bars. I usually buy it online on Amazon or at our local Asian market, where it’s really cheap. I’ve also seen it a natural food stores, but it’s much more expensive there.
- Green Food Coloring – make sure the food coloring you use is vegan. I recommend using natural food coloring.
- Sugar – I didn’t add any additional sugar to my vegan jello as I think the fruit juice is sweet enough on its own. But if you want it to taste like regular jello, I think adding a bit of sugar might be a good idea. Just add it to the fruit juice before you add the agar agar powder.
How to Make This Recipe
1. Step: Pour the juice into a sauce pan. If using add the sugar and stir. Add the agar agar. Then bring it to a boil on medium heat. When it begins to boil, turn the heat down to low heat and cook for 4 minutes, whisking constantly with a whisk.
2. Step: Pour the mixture into a glass or moulds. Don’t worry it’s totally normal that it hasn’t set yet and is still like juice.
3. Step: Place in the fridge and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
4. Step: Carefully remove it from the jello mold or just enjoy it in the glass or mold without removing it.
Recipe Notes
- Once your jello has set, store it in the fridge. It will turn very liquidly again if stored at room temperature.
- It’s important that your juice agar agar mixture will come to a full boil. Otherwise it won’t set properly.
- Also make sure to constantly stir the mixture as it boils to ensure that the agar agar is evenly distributed. Otherwise some parts of the juice might not contain enough agar agar to set completely.
FAQs:
Could I Also Use Agar Agar Flakes?
I haven’t tried making this recipe with flakes instead if powder. But the basic rule is that you can replace 1 teaspoon of agar agar powder with 1 tablespoon of agar agar flakes. The powder is more concentrated than the flakes.
I think you could replace it with this ratio, but I recommend using powder if possible.
Could I Add Alcohol to my Vegan Jello?
Yes, if you want to make alcoholic jello, you could replace 1/2 cup of fruit juice with vodka for an adult version. Add it together with the fruit juice and then just follow the recipe.
How Long Does The Jello Last?
Stored in an airtight container in the fridge, it will last 4-5 days.
Related Recipes:
- Vegan Cookie Dough Dip
- Vegan Rice Pudding
- Vegan Mug Cake with Cinnamon
- No Bake Cookies with Chocolate and Peanut Butter
- Homemade Vegan Yogurt
I Love To Hear From You!
I hope you like this vegan jello as much as we do around here.
If you give it a try, I’d love to know what you think about it. Just leave me a comment and a star rating below. Your comments really make my day!
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Sina
Vegan Jello
Ingredients
- 2 cups fruit juice
- 1/2 teaspoon agar agar
- 2 tablespoons sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Pour the juice into a sauce pan. If using add the sugar and stir. Add the agar agar. Then bring it to a boil on medium heat. When it begins to boil, turn the heat down to low heat and cook for 4 minutes, whisking constantly with a whisk.
- Pour the mixture into a glass or moulds. Don't worry it's totally normal that it hasn't set yet and is still like juice.
- Place in the fridge and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Carefully remove it from the jello mold or just enjoy it in the glass or mold without removing it.
Notes
- Once your jello has set, store it in the fridge. It will turn very liquidly again if stored at room temperature.
- It's important that your juice agar agar mixture will come to a full boil. Otherwise it won't set properly.
- Also make sure to constantly stir the mixture as it boils to ensure that the agar agar is evenly distributed. Otherwise some parts of the juice might not contain enough agar agar to set completely.
- You should use agar agar powder and not flakes for this recipe. Powder is more concentrated and it can't be replaced one-to-one. The basic rule is that you can replace 1 teaspoon of agar agar powder with 1 tablespoon of agar agar flakes, but I haven't tried it for this recipe yet.
Hello, I wanted to know if the texture is mushy? I made some sea moss gummies and I used agar agar and it turned out mushy.
Hi April,
No, I don’t think it’s mushy. Pretty much like regular jello. :-)