Easy Keto Jello – from scratch!

Homemade sugar-free jello is far easier than you think! With no artificial sweeteners or colors, this keto jello is a fun and healthy dessert recipe.

Add it to your list of must-make keto desserts!

Okay, I had way too much fun creating these adorable keto jello cups. Seriously…way too much fun making them all red, white, and blue for the 4th of July. I admit, I am ridiculously pleased with myself.

It’s astonishingly easy to make sugar free jello at home. And no, I am not talking about buying boxes of pre-made mix. Trust me, people, those contain a whole bunch of junk you don’t want to consume. Aspartame and artificial dyes, to name just a few.

And when you see just how easy it is to make sugar-free jello from scratch, you realize there’s absolutely no need to purchase the junky kind. A few simple ingredients and about 10 minutes is all it takes.

4th of July Jello Cups

I really did have a ball creating these patriotic jello cups. While I am not actually American, my husband and kids are, and making some sort of keto red white and blue dessert each year has become a tradition.

I even have a full keto 4th of July menu plan for those of you on the hunt for more Independence Day recipes.

I was looking for ideas for something fun and easy, and I stumbled across these Fruit and Jello Cups from The First Year Blog. Of course, they’re made with real Jello, so they’re full of sugar. But they are so cute, I just had to find a way to make them keto-friendly.

And of course, I just had to make one that was red, white, and red in honour of Canada Day!

Homemade Jello from scratch

I wasn’t about to use sugar-free Jello packets, so I had to go about making Jello from scratch. It’s astonishingly easy once you realize that Jello is little more than water, color, flavor, sweetener, and gelatin.

I knew I wanted a bright, true blue for the blueberry layer, and real blueberry juice tends to be more purple than blue. But there are a number of good natural food colorings on the market these days. I used about 1/3 of an envelope of blue powder from Color Kitchen, and it worked perfectly.

It’s hard to achieve a true red with some of these natural food dyes. I’ve used beet powder before but I didn’t want my strawberry jello layer to have even a hint of beets in it. So I used 1/2 cup of 100% cranberry juice instead and got a gorgeous true red without much cranberry flavor.

I have a set of fruit flavorings from One on One Flavors, and I simply added a few drops into the mix to get the flavor I wanted. These are highly concentrated candy flavorings so a little goes a long way.

But there are other good natural flavors on the market. I’ve had good luck with Olive Nation for many of my recipes.

How to make sugar-free jello

Making your own sugar free jello from scratch is just as easy as making it from a box mix. No, seriously, it is! The process is almost identical and you can use much better, healthier ingredients. Here’s the low down:

For the color

• If using food coloring, whisk it with the water in a glass measuring cup so you can see the color clearly. Add just a little at a time, whisking in between, until you get the color you want.
• If using juice for color, make sure it’s no sugar added. 100% unsweetened cranberry juice gives a beautiful red with out adding a strong flavor, and 1/2 cup has only 9g of carbs. Split between 4 servings, that adds up to 2.25g per serving.
• You can use other fruit juices but they tend to be much higher in carbs.

For the flavor

• I recommend using extracts and flavorings to achieve the desired flavors, since fruit juices and purees can be quite high in carbs (cranberry juice is the exception).
• Most of these non-standard extracts and flavors are best purchased online, as regular grocery stores don’t carry them.
• I recommend One on One Flavors and Olive Nation brands.
• They all vary in strength so add a little flavoring at a time and taste in between, until it seems right to you.

For the sweetener

Good news! You can use any sweetener you like best, since sugar-free jello doesn’t rely on a particular sweetener for consistency. I recommend powdered or liquid sweeteners because they dissolve more easily. Sweeten to taste.

Adding gelatin

• I recommend using good grassfed gelatin like Great Lakes (the orange can). But the Knox gelatin envelopes will also work. It has more gelling powder so use only one envelope per 2 cups of liquid.
• Bloom the gelatin by sprinkling it over the liquid and letting it sit for a few minutes. Then heat the liquid gently, but don’t let it boil. Whisk until the gelatin dissolves completely.

Let it set

Gelatin desserts like this take about 3 hours to set properly. Refrigerate until firm.

See how easy that is? That’s all it takes to make your own keto sugar-free gelatin!

Then you can add some delicious whipped cream and fresh fruit, and make these adorable keto 4th of July Jello Cups!

Can you make keto jello in advance?

Keto Jello is an easy make-ahead dessert, since there is really nothing in it that will spoil. You can easily make it a few days in advance of serving. It can dry out as it sits in the fridge so cover the top of the cups or container tightly.

If you plan to make these keto jello cups, I recommend making the whipped cream and fruit topping fresh, on the day you plan to serve. It will taste and look much better.

More patriotic keto recipes

• Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries
• Keto Cookie Pizza
• Mini Pancake Skewers
• Keto White Chocolate Mousse
• Red White and Blue Berry Parfaits