One of the greatest joys of my kitchen is watching my kids devour and truly enjoy real, nourishing food, especially when it’s not particularly kid-friendly in most people’s eyes.
I’m proud of them for being counter-cultural.
The second best kitchen moments in the Kimball household?
Successfully making fun food that looks like other kids’ food but is devoid of synthetics and yucky ingredients and watching my kids enjoy that.
It’s good for them to feel normal sometimes, too.
Homemade Jello Recipe with 100% Fruit Juice
The first time I tried this technique, I thought I must have missed a step.
Not because it didn’t work, but because it was SO easy that I kind of can’t believe people pay for premixed fruity gelatin in boxes. That jiggly sugar water with artificial flavors and colors is as close to candy as anything else. No thank you!
These homemade snacks are not only fun but healthy. Gelatin is a huge boost for hair, skin, nail, and joint health – you won’t get that in a box of artificial powder. 😉
Why Should You Make Homemade Gelatin?
Store-bought jiggly snacks whether premade or in powder form, are high in sugar and full of artificial colors and flavors.
The bottom line on sugar is that either white sugar is an empty food that gives us nothing healthy (and therefore, why bother – except for taste, and certainly in moderation) OR sugar is a toxic poison causing any number of physical and emotional diseases and ailments.
Either way, it’s worth cutting down in your diet.
RELATED: 6 strategies to reduce sugar in your child’s diet.
Artificial food dyes are synthetic colors made from propylparaben, propylene glycol, and petroleum! Yes, parabens and petroleum. Some dyes are even said to be carcinogens – cancer-causing substances.
Also something worth cutting down on, or cutting out entirely!
When you make your own gelatin, you control the ingredients, this recipe has no artificial colors and no added sugars!
Healthy Snacks Preschoolers Can Make
This easy homemade gelatin recipe is in the beginner level of my Kids Cook Real Food™ course. That’s right, beginner! It’s so easy preschoolers can make it! (With a little help from mom or an older sibling with the stove portion of course!)
Want to learn how even the tiniest kids can contribute to the family?
Get the free download that will give you recipes and ideas that even little kids can make!
This recipe is easily adapted to make gelatin squares or fruit “gummies” with real fruit!
Can’t see the video? Click to watch “Kids Cooking: Homemade Jello” on YouTube.
Healthy Homemade Gelatin Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 c. fruit juice, divided into 3 cups and 1 cup
- 2 Tbs. gelatin (Use the coupon KS10 for 10% off!)
Directions
- If you have a 4-cup measuring cup with a lid, you can use that to make the gelatin. Otherwise, you’ll need any container that can hold 4 cups.
- Measure 3 cups of fruit juice and pour it into a medium pot.
- Turn the stove on to medium heat (adult or older kid job).
- Measure 1 cup of fruit juice. Pour into a large bowl.
- Whisk the gelatin into 1 cup of juice until it is uniform.
Step 5: Whisk the gelatin into 1 cup of juice until it is uniform. - When you see steam rising off the juice warming on the stove, it’s hot enough. You don’t have to boil it.
- Pour the hot juice into the cold gelatin/juice mixture (adult job or guided job).
- Whisk thoroughly (but slowly so you don’t splash hot juice). This might be an adult job, guided job, or kid job depending on the maturity of the child.
- You can leave the gelatin in one big bowl or pour it into individual bowls at this point.
- Chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and eat cold with a spoon.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Find more cooking videos for kids here!
If you had fun with this recipe, check out our online cooking course!
What You Should Do Next:
1. Subscribe to the Healthy Parenting Handbook Newsletter
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3. Enroll in the Online Cooking Course for Kids:
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About Katie Kimball
Katie Kimball, CSME, creator of Kids Cook Real Food™ and CEO of Kitchen Stewardship®, LLC, is passionate about connecting families around healthy food. As a trusted educator and author of 8 real food cookbooks, she’s been featured on media outlets like ABC, NBC and First for Women magazine and contributes periodically on the FOX Network.
Since 2009, busy moms have looked to Katie as a trusted authority and advocate for children’s health, and she often partners with health experts and medical practitioners to stay on the cutting edge. In 2016 she created the Wall Street Journal recommended best online kids cooking course, Kids Cook Real Food™, helping thousands of families around the world learn to cook. She is actively masterminding the Kids’ Meal Revolution, with a goal of every child learning to cook.
A mom of 4 kids from Michigan, she is also a Certified Stress Mastery Educator, member of the American Institute of Stress and trained speaker through Bo Eason’s Personal Story Power.