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Homemade All-Natural Food Coloring recipe

These are fairly easy to make and can be frozen for later use. Just make a double batch and freeze in ice cubes for easier thawing and measuring. 

Author: Milla Ezman
Ingredients
Pink food coloring
  • 3 cups fresh beets
  • 1/2 cup water
Yellow food coloring
  • 1 cup water
  • 3 tbsp dry ground turmeric
Purple food coloring
  • 1 cup blueberries, blackberries or dragon fruit fresh or frozen (thawed)
  • 1 cup water
Green food coloring
  • 1 cup Nettle, dry, fresh or frozen (thawed and drained) can sub with spinach
  • ½ cup water
Blue Food coloring
  • 1/2 head red cabbage
  • 1-2 cups water
  • 1/3 tsp baking soda
Instructions
Pink /Maroon - Beet
  1. For the liquid version: In a blender or food processor, blend the beets and water together until smooth. Strain the beets - the juice is your food coloring. 

    For the dry version: shred or process your beets in a food processor, spread it in a dehydrator, dry to a crisp on the low setting, grind into powder, pass through a stainless-steel strainer to remove larger specs. Store in an airtight container for up to a year.

Yellow - Turmeric
  1. For the liquid version: In a small saucepan, simmer the water and turmeric for 2 to 3 minutes. Allow to fully cool. Play with the concentration of the liquid by increasing or decreasing the amount of turmeric added to the water.

    dry: Or use plain ground turmeric to add to your foods, to turn them yellow.

Blue - Red cabagge
  1. For the liquid version: Cut half of a red cabbage into fairly small chunks, add water (as little as possible), to cover it in your pot. Simmer for 10-15 min on medium with the lid off, occasionally mixing, strain the liquid out and cool - it'll be purple. But when you add the baking soda, it will turn bright blue!

Purple - Dragon fruit, Blueberries or Blackberries.
  1. for a liquid version: In a blender or food processor, blend the blueberries (dragon fruit or blackberries) and water together until smooth. I like to use frozen berries because they have a better color after thawed. Strain, to remove the skins and pulp from the mix so that you have the purple liquid to color your foods.

    For a dry (powdered) version: use organic freeze-dried or dry the blueberries, blackberries or dragon fruit in a dehydrator, then grind into a powder.

Green - Nettle, Spinach
  1. For a liquid food coloring - use fresh or frozen(thawed/drained) spinach or nettle simply juice it or blend and use it as green food coloring. 

    For dry food coloring - use dry spinach or nettle - grind it into a fine powder in a blender or a spice grinder, pass through a stainless-steel strainer to remove larger specs. 

Recipe Notes

***Store your liquid food colorings in an airtight container for up to 6 weeks in the refrigerator or freeze in ice cube trays and thaw before use.

*** Store your dry food colorings in an airtight container for up to a year. 

Add your Homemade All-Natural Food Coloring to icings, frostings or batter. Play with ratios, and always start adding low, and if it's not enough - then add more. 

Cabbage juice is a PH indicator, it will react to solutions of different PH, hence the color change to blue after adding the baking soda. Like magic!