Fun and fruity vegan jello with the perfect jello texture. Super easy to make and perfect for use in other desserts or to eat as is.
Wow, it took me quite a long time to nail this vegan jello recipe.
I’m not much of a jello person really, which is good because it’s not something you find vegan varieties of very often. Usually jello’s use gelatine which is a by-product of the meat industry.
But I decided to rise to the challenge of making a vegan jello because I wanted to make a Christmas Trifle!
And in South Africa a Christmas Trifle almost always contains jello. Or what we call ‘jelly’. Green and red jelly/jello to be precise. You know, lovely Christmas colors.
Everything I read online told me that agar agar was the magic ingredient in vegan jello. So off I went to find some.
An organic/health food store had some in stock, but only the flakes version (and at first I didn’t know there was any other version to get!).
So off I went and tried to make a recipe that I found that used 2 tablespoons of agar agar along with fruit juice and a little sugar. Well…. if jello is meant to be a rock hard brick, then sure.
But there was no jiggle in that jello and that’s just not jello in my view.
So… back to the drawing board.
I found a recipe that said to use half fruit juice and half water and only ½ teaspoon of agar agar. Needless to say that is a HUGE difference.
But when I tried it that way my jello didn’t set at all.
Again…back to the drawing board. And that’s when I found out from this article that agar agar is either in flakes OR in powder form. When it’s in the flake form you need up to 3 times as much as if it was in the powder form.
OH! Now I see. The penny droppeth.
So I then used the same recipe but adjusted for the fact that I was using agar agar flakes and not powder, so used 1 ½ teaspoons instead of ½ teaspoon and then the magic happened. Perfectly textured, delicious tasting jello!
Absolutely perfect to use in any recipe calling for jello – like my Trifle – or to enjoy as is!
So remember this lovely people! Agar agar powder is up to 3 times as strong as agar agar flakes. So if the recipe calls for powder and you have flakes, use up to 3 times as much. Easy as that. Update: I have since made this recipe using agar agar powder and found it takes a little more than ½ tsp, so the calculation is close but not exact! Directions for both found inside the recipe card.
You will love this vegan jello, it is exactly like the ‘real thing’! It’s:
- Fruity
- Jiggly
- Perfectly textured
- Sweet
- Perfect for use in desserts
- Only 4-ingredients!
Enjoy it as a dessert or use it in a recipe that requires jello. You can mix and match flavors just by switching out the fruit juice you use. Pretty cool.
Let me know in the comments what you think of this vegan jello and rate the recipe too, thanks! And if you’re going to use it in another dessert recipe, let me know where you’ll use it.
Other than in a trifle I’m not sure what else I would put it in. Oh wait, vegan jello shots of course! But eating it as is, is pretty fun too.
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Jello
Ingredients
For Red Jello:
- 1 ½ teaspoons Agar Agar Flakes or if using Agar Agar Powder, use ¾ teaspoon
- 1 cup Red Grape Juice (240ml) 100% fruit juice
- 1 cup Water (240ml)
- ¼ cup White Granulated Sugar (50g)
For Green Jello:
- 1 ½ teaspoons Agar Agar Flakes or if using Agar Agar Powder, use ¾ teaspoon
- 1 cup Green Apple Juice (240ml) 100% fruit juice
- 1 cup Water (240ml)
- ¼ cup White Granulated Sugar (50g)
- A few drops Green Food Color optional*
Instructions
- For the red jello: Add the agar agar flakes or powder, water, fruit juice and sugar to a pot on the stove. Bring to the boil stirring regularly. Allow to boil for 2 minutes.
- Pour out into serving bowls or glasses.
- Refrigerate to set.
- For the green jello: Follow the steps as above, but after boiling for 2 minutes, remove from the heat and stir in the green food coloring. Pour into serving bowls or glasses and refrigerate to set.
Video
Notes
- The green food coloring is added in to get the green color because green apple juice is more cloudy in color than green. However, if you don’t like using food coloring you can omit this step. Some brands of green food coloring I’ve used up to ¼ teaspoon of color before it gets to the right shade, other brands are stronger and I’ve only needed a couple of drops, so go slow if you’re adding it in.
- Each batch (green or red) makes around 2 cups of jello.
- To make jello shots, check out our recipe for Vegan Jello Shots.
- Adapted from Manjula’s Kitchen
It is beautiful to find a recipe with agar-agar. In Argentina I could buy the boxes to make fruit jellies based on agar-agar.
Awesome!