Easy Homemade Jello – No Juice, Fake Sugar Or Dyes

This homemade jello could pass as the real thing! It is made with fruit and sweetened with maple syrup instead of artificial ingredients.

We don’t eat jello often in our house. However, we do occasionally eat it, and sometimes we are asked to bring it as a dish somewhere. When we do have jello I always feel guilty opening the packages of sugar, artificial flavors, and dyes. It is a whole bunch of terribly unhealthy ingredients for you for something that isn’t all that wonderful.

Why Homemade Jello?

Often I would find myself making jello when someone was sick with a stomach bug. I don’t know if you have looked at the ingredients in jello, but the first one is sugar, then there is gelatin, and then there are a bunch of weird ingredients and dyes. The sugar and artificial ingredients in jello are the last thing your immune system needs when it is trying to help you recover.

I wanted to make jello but not worry about what I was consuming when I was eating it. I looked online a bunch and tried to find a healthy recipe for jello. While looking I found some recipes for homemade jello, but they all used fruit juices from the store. If you get fruit juice without added sugar or artificial dyes it is at least an improvement from powdered jello, but it still wasn’t what I was looking for. Since I couldn’t find what I wanted, I had to make it myself and I was pleasantly surprised with the results!

What Is In Homemade Jello?

This homemade jello uses just 4 ingredients, the first being real fruit!

• Strawberries – I use frozen strawberries, but I’m sure the recipe would work fine with fresh strawberries as well. If you use frozen strawberries either defrost them ahead of time or cook them down in the pot until they are hot.
• Unflavored Gelatin – I just use the great value brand unflavored gelatin. I would like to get some grass-fed organic gelatin because it has more nutritional value, but I have yet to do so.
• Maple Syrup – I use maple syrup as a sweetener because we try to avoid some processed sugar and use a healthier substitute. However, you could use plain white sugar instead if you aren’t worried about that or don’t have maple syrup.
• Water

Directions:

1. First, cut the strawberries into small pieces. Place the strawberries and one cup of water in a saucepan on the stove. Heat over medium-low heat until hot.

2. While the strawberries are heating, open the packets, or measure out your gelatin and pour it into a bowl.

3. Once the strawberries are hot pour them into a blender and blend until smooth. (You should end up with about 3 cups of liquid)
*I don’t do this, but if you want your jello smooth and there not to be seeds or tiny pieces of strawberries in your jello then strain it through a very fine strainer, or a cheesecloth before going to the next step.

4. Pour the blended strawberries into the gelatin slowly, making sure to stir thoroughly so that there are no clumps of gelatin.

5. Stir in the maple syrup and one cup of cold water.

6. Now add any pieces of fruit if you want chunks of fruit in your jello.

7. Cover, and place in fridge to refrigerate until set, about 3-4 hours.

Variations Of Homemade Jello

• You can make this jello in other flavors as well. Blueberry or orange works the same, I’d just suggest peeling the orange skins off first. I don’t know how fruits with tamer flavors, such as grape would work, let me know if you try it!
• Substitute the maple syrup for white sugar if you don’t have maple syrup. I would suggest using a little more than a 1/4 cup of white sugar though since maple syrup is sweeter than sugar.
• Add some chunks of different fruits or mini marshmallows if you like filling in your jello.
• Use a cup of applesauce instead of the cup of cold water added at the end. Applesauce goes really well in Jello.

How To Store Homemade Jello?

Store this homemade jello covered in the fridge. It can last for up to 7 days.