Ideas to Make Your Own Natural Food Coloring

Go Green in 2014: Week 46

We don't really use food coloring in our house, but it can be helpful when it comes to adding a touch of color to your food; cupcake frosting and colored eggs are a couple examples. However, many store-bought food dyes have been linked to various health issues (source). Wouldn't you rather know what is in your food coloring? You certainly will if you make your own!

Here are some ideas for natural, homemade food coloring.

Red

For red or pink food coloring, you can use a number of different red colored foods, but if you're looking for a flavorless dye, beets are your best bet. You can either use juice from canned beets or you can juice the raw vegetable. Raspberries and pomegranates are a couple other ideas, both of which will add a little flavor to your food.

Orange

Some people use orange juice to make natural food coloring, but they don't have much color. Try carrots instead for a nice orange hue. And don't worry about the flavor if you are coloring frosting; carrots are naturally sweet.

Yellow

Use turmeric powder or saffron flowers to make yellow food coloring. The yellow is pretty intense, so start small and add a little at a time. You may also want to taste test each time you add these spices since the flavor could potentially overpower a sweet food.

Green

Spinach will impart a pretty green hue to a natural food coloring. You could either juice them or use a food processor to get your green dye. And as with carrots, spinach will not affect the taste.

Blue (and purple)

To make blue and purple food coloring, try some cabbage. For purple, boil the cabbage until the water is a dark purple, and use this water as a natural dye. To make blue food coloring, slowly stir in a little bit of baking soda at a time until you have the desired hue. The baking soda and cabbage water will react, creating a nice blue.

Have you made natural food coloring before? What did you use to make it? How did it turn out?

Photo courtesy of Flickr / Clever Cupcakes

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Your challenge: This week, consider making your own non-toxic food coloring rather than using store-bought dyes.

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**This post is part of a weekly challenge {Go Green in 2014}, during which the author has challenged herself - and you - to find 52 ways to lead a greener life in 2014. You can follow the weekly posts on this page.**