Homemade Rainbow Natural Food Colors

Fresh, chemical & preservative free fruity food colorings!

🍓🍊🍋🥦🍆🍇

Y’all know rainbows are everything around here, so it’s no surprise I wanted to experiment with making my own homemade natural food colors.

The are actually quite easy to make, and while it can be a bit time consuming (and messy 🙈) to make all six colors, if you do larger batches you can freeze them for later use.

I used the technique found in Raiza Costa’s natural food coloring video, but added a few additional ingredients to some of the colors for a more vibrant hue.

RED ❤️ Homemade Food Coloring

1. raspberries
2. beets

ORANGE 🧡 Homemade Food Coloring

1. carrots
2. oranges

YELLOW 💛 Homemade Food Coloring

1. mangoes
2. turmeric (fresh or powdered)

GREEN 💚 Homemade Food Coloring

1. spinach
2. kiwis
3. spirulina

BLUE 💙 Homemade Food Coloring

1. purple cabbage
2. baking soda

PURPLE 💜 Homemade Food Coloring

1. blackberries
2. blueberries

Natural Food Colors Instructions

1. For each of the colors (except blue) add the respective ingredients to a blender and blend until liquified. Use a cheesecloth or nut bag to squeeze out the pulp so only the colored juice remains. The amount you need will depend on how much food coloring you want, plus how vibrant, so experiment with quantities that work for you. (Just note a little can go a long way!)
2. For the blue, cut up the purple cabbage and add to a pot with some water. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the liquid is a rich, purple color. Drain so only the liquid remains and stir in 1/2-1 TBSP of baking soda (depending on amount of liquid) and watch it magically turn blue!

NOTES

1. Store in the freezer in small cups or ice cube trays and simply pop them out and thaw when ready to use.
2. BONUS: Don’t throw away the pulp and scraps after you juice the fruits and veggies for their color — save them to use in juices and smoothies!
3. Since these are natural food colors, I recommend only using them in raw foods/desserts — baking or heat may cause discoloration of some of these natural ingredients. These are great for coloring coconut whipped cream, white frostings, or the homemade rainbow chips in this Dunkaroos dip recipe!

Note: The original version of this recipe was posted to my former blog, Simple Unsweet, in 2016.