The beautiful green colour comes from spirulina and chlorella, giving the jello an extra nutrient boost. Made with real food, honey-sweetened, this healthy limeade jello is good for you and suitable for the Paleo and GAPS diets.
Once an occasion to go out with friends, is now my opportunity to promote green vegetables to the kids, evident in what I made on St. Patrick’s Day last year. My kids declared I don’t make enough sweet treats for them. I totally own that. Therefore, this year before St. Patrick’s Day arrives, I embarked on a project to test out a real food green “jello” snack.
Did you know that home-made jello, without the artificial colouring and flavour, can actually be good for you? Let me break it down for you.
Collagen and Gelatin are Essential for Health
What makes the jello gel: gelatin being the broken-down collagen protein is so essential for healthy gut, joints, skins, hair and nails. As we age or when we are ill, our bodies no longer produce enough collagen, so I hope you are eating plenty from your foods – the best source is broth made from bones and connective tissues.
I certainly make an effort to eat and talk a lot about the benefits of collagen and gelatin, and the consumption of soup and broth on this blog.
Related: Collagen-Rich Soup and Broth You Will Love
- Instant Pot Shiitake Ginger Chicken Bone Broth (All Purpose Asian Stock)
- Leftover Turkey Carcass Broth
- Chinese Herbal Healing Oxtail Soup
- Adrenal Support Chinese Herbs And Pig Stomach Soup (四神汤)
Pasture-Raised Bovine Gelatin
For my limeade jello, I used this gelatin made from Brazilian pasture-raised cows, free of hormones, antibiotics, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. (Find my discount code below.)
Related: More Tasty Recipes Using Gelatin
- No-Cook Golden Milk Coconut Mango Pudding (Paleo, AIP, GAPS)
- Healthy Gummy Lego Candy (Paleo, Whole30)
Aquatic Greens: Spirulina and Chlorella
Spirulina and chlorella are fresh water algae, therefore called aquatic greens. In addition to having the most beautiful deep bluish-green colour that is perfect to replace the yucky green food colouring, aquatic greens have some impressive health benefits: from assisting in heavy metal/radiation detox, to being an excellent plant protein and extremely nutrient-dense. The list is so long that I won’t go into details, but I will leave you 2 articles to satisfy your curiosity:
Both spirulina and chlorella powders are readily available in the health food stores. You can choose either one based on the health benefits you prefer. I used an organic aquatic greens of 50/50 blend in this recipe for the pretty green colour. (Find my discount code below.)
Reader Exclusive Discount Code
Use discount code YANG10 for 10% off your entire purchase at Perfect Supplements. Here are the few products you may need:
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Healthy Limeade Jello (GAPS, Paleo)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup grass-fed gelatin (use discount code "YANG10" for 10% off)
- 1/4 tsp organic aquatic greens (use discount code "YANG10" for 10% off)
- 3/4 cup raw honey
- 2-3 lime (depending on size)
- 2 cup hot water
- 1 cup cold water
Instructions
- Dissolve the gelatin in 2 cups of hot water (I love my hot water boiler for 24/7 hot water supply). Alternatively, bring the gelatin and cold water to a boil on the stove, while stirring. It will dissolve all the gelatin once heated up.
- Slightly cool the mixture until warm to the touch, dissolve raw honey in the mixture completely.
- Squeeze the juice of limes into the mixture. (I use this lemon squeezer.)
- Dissolve the aquatic greens (or spirulina or chlorella) into 1 cup of cold water.
- Add the cold green mixture into the lukewarm gelatin mixture. Combine evenly.
- Pour the final mixture into a wide glass container or baking tray. For individual servings, use small cups or ramekins. Place in the fridge for 2-3 hours.
- If using a wide tray to make jello, after the mixture gels, cut into small bite size shape. If using small cups or ramekins, serve directly as jello cups.
Notes
- To preserve the health benefits of raw honey, do not add raw honey in hot water. Warm water will help the honey to dissolve faster than using cold water.
- To preserve the health benefits of aquatic greens, do not add them into hot water directly.
Nutrition
My gelatin clumped by adding it to hot water like the instructions said. My first time using gelatin and now I see other sources say never to add to hot water
Fun tip with gelatin if you add it to a couple tbsp of cool water first and mix,( it will turn into a goo almost) then add to your boiling water. It will prevent gassiness and bloating. Not sure if it will help your dissolving as I always do it this way now. I never have issues. But I do make sure not to add other ingredients until I know it is dissolved (like in my broths).
Hi, I’ve never used aquatic greens before – are they okay for toddlers to eat? I know my son will see these and want to have some! :D
Amazing and beautiful recipe! Thank you, can’t wait to try it out!
These look so delicious and pretty! I looooove jello but always had less of them due to too much sugar. But these are so healthy. I’m going to try soon.
I love anything green and this will be perfect for summer too !
That colour is so amazing! I had no idea it was this easy to make homemade jello!
Major props for achieving that gorgeous color without food coloring! It’s absolutely perfect and the ingredients are so clean!!! Looking forward to trying it!
I made these today, and they taste lovely, but strangely the chlorella (I used pure chlorella powder, very finely powdered) sank to the bottom, so they were basically greyish clear cubes with a great “sand” on the bottom. I’m trying to figure out how to fix this. Maybe it’s necessary to sift the chlorella into the water and wild even more aggressively. Or to work on the temperatures of the two mixtures and make sure they aren’t so far apart before combining. Or maybe I just need a bit more gelatin. I also didn’t use honey, I used ten drops of stevia, so that may well change the overall consistency. I am aiming to get them more like what you’ve got — a lovely green color all the way through. The good thing is, as I said above, what I’ve got now does taste alright… exactly like a lemonade!
“Wild” = whisk
Try liquid chlorophyll. It’s a lot easier to incorporate into the mixture. I use this for detox and as a natural green food coloring for jello or frosting. I get mine off of Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Chlorophyll-Liquid-Drops-6000-All/dp/B097W72BHG/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=2S95Y5UK757OL&keywords=liquid+chlorophyll+organic&qid=1686397850&sprefix=liquid+chlorophyll+%2Caps%2C392&sr=8-3
I just ordered some more gelatin – I can’t wait to try these!
I would never have guessed these were coloured with aquatic greens! What a wonderful idea – they totally look like candies. I have loads of gelatin at home and would love to give these a try! Saving for later :)
I have been wanting to find other recipes for incorporating healthy gelatin into my diet – thank you so much for this delicious looking recipe even my boys will enjoy!
Spirulina and chlorella are much better than the green jello I grew up with! I’m interested to try bovine gelatin.
I love gummies! And these are so pretty!
I’m in absolute love with this texture! I can’t wait to try these.
Oh my… yes, yes! The use of spirulina and chlorella is GENIUS and such a great boost of nutrients!
Now here is a jello I could actually feed my kids!! We’ve just started experimenting with Spriulina….it actually is helping with my son’s detox!! I’d like to use more!!
That’s so awesome to hear! Thanks for sharing.
That is really fun! I have some aquatic greens in the pantry – I think I’ll make this for the girls this week! Thanks!