Homemade Jello Cups Made from Fresh Fruit

Packaged in reusable containers, these homemade jello cups are a great addition to school lunches or after school snacks. It’s made from whole food ingredients and is an easy way to get more fresh fruit into your kiddos. The great part? You can use whatever fruit you have easy access to!

Wondering what fruit is in season and when? Check out this list of seasonal fruits!

Kids love the jiggly, wiggly nature of gelatin but the ready-made Jell-O cups come with that doggone disposable plastic packaging and some ingredients you might be trying to shy away from. 

Homemade Jello Cups with Real Fruit

You’ll only need a few ingredients to make these easy fruit jello cups, but you’ll need to plan ahead a little bit. It will take the gelatin several hours in the fridge to firm up. 

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Ingredients

Fruit — Any sort of soft fruit will work: Strawberries, Peaches, Blueberries, Watermelon…any fruit that will easily liquefy in a blender is fair game. The images you see here include strawberry, watermelon, and peach gelatin. If you can your own fruit, YES, you can use those. You can also choose your favorite 100% juice and use that in place of the fruit.

Sweetener — This can be an optional ingredient. Use it if you feel like the fruit isn’t sweet enough on its own; skip it if it’s not needed. Use your favorite brand of granulated cane sugar (I prefer organic) or try it with honey. 

Gelatin — Use the off-the-shelf Knox brand gelatin or opt for a higher grade grass-fed gelatin. This is the ingredient that gels the fruit. It is NOT vegetarian. Agar agar is usually used as a gelatin substitute but I haven’t tried this recipe using that method. If you do, please chime in and let us know how it goes. 

Making the Gelatin

Start by preparing the fruit. Cut it into chunks and process in a blender or food process until it’s liquified. Transfer fruit puree to a small mixing bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the surface to soften. 

Bring one cup of water to a boil and whisk it into the fruit mixture, breaking up any lumps. Transfer to desired containers. Opt for lidded containers if you want these homemade jello cups to be portable, or just divide into small custard cups if you’ll eat them at home. 

Related: 10 Kinds of Berries to Grow in your Backyard

★ Did you make this homemade jello recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below! ★

Homemade Jello

Homemade jello is incredibly easy to make, has ingredients you can feel great about, and with a little "outside the box" thinking, you can still enjoy the convenience of taking it with you--without using plastic.

4.86 from 7 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes minutes

Inactive Time: 3 hours hours

Total Time: 3 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Loriel Adams

Ingredients

• 1 cup fruit puree
• 1 tablespoon gelatin
• 2 - 3 tablespoons granulated sugar or honey optional
• 1 cup water boiling

Instructions

• To make puree, process soft fruit in a high powered blender along with the optional sweetener if you're using that.
  2 - 3 tablespoons granulated sugar or honey, 1 cup fruit puree
• Measure one cup of puree into a mixing bowl and sprinkle gelatin on top of it.
  1 tablespoon gelatin
• Bring water to a boil and pour it over the bowl of pureed fruit and gelatin. Whisk until there are no clumps and the gelatin is completely dissolved.
  1 cup water
• Transfer to desired containers and set in the refrigerator to chill (2-4 hours).
• This homemade jello will keep in the fridge for up to a week.

Notes

• Any sort of soft fruit will work: Strawberries, Peaches, Blueberries, Watermelon...any fruit that will easily liquefy in a blender is fair game. The images you see here include strawberry, watermelon, and peach gelatin. If you can your own fruit, YES, you can use those. You can also choose your favorite 100% juice and use that in place of the fruit.
• Use the off-the-shelf Knox brand gelatin or opt for a higher grade grass-fed gelatin. This is the ingredient that gels the fruit. It is NOT vegetarian. Agar agar is usually used as a gelatin substitute but I haven't tried this recipe using that method. If you do, please chime in and let us know how it goes. 

Nutrition

Calories: 67kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 0.3g | Saturated Fat: 0.1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.04g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 7mg | Potassium: 108mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 690IU | Vitamin C: 23mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 0.1mg

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