Homemade Strawberry Rhubarb jello is NOT the jello from your childhood. It’s WAAAAAAY better. And it’s made with wholesome, real ingredients. Not only that, it’s easy to make. Prepare to fall in love with jello all over again!
I don’t know about you, but as a kid, I loved jello! But as an adult? Meh. That powdery stuff Mom whipped up from a small cardboard box just doesn’t taste right. It doesn’t taste like REAL FOOD.
Enter homemade strawberry rhubarb jello. This stuff is a game changer. It’s not like the stuff we ate as a kid. It’s delicious and good for you. Mmmm.
For this batch of jello, I used strawberries and rhubarb as both are in season right now. But, you can use ANY fruit you want. It doesn’t even have to be fresh–you can use frozen.
(If you’re pinched for time, you can omit the whole fruit and just use fruit juice for a super simple jello that you can whip up in minutes.)
Ingredients
- 3.5 cups of fruit (in this case I used roughly half each of strawberries and rhubarb)
- 2 cups apple (or other) juice
- 2/3 cup honey (or more or less to taste)
- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons gelatin (this is what I use)
- 6-8 drops pure grade Lemon essential oil (this is what I use)
- a pinch of salt (optional)
- Whipped cream for topping (optional)
Directions
Wash, slice and hull fruit. Add fruit to a saucepan with 1/2 cup of water and cook on med-low heat, stirring frequently, until fruit is soft and broken down.
Place a sieve on top of a bowl, and pour the fruit mixture into the sieve. Use a spoon to stir and push the fruit through the sieve, leaving the pulp and seeds behind.
(You’ll want around 2 cups of this fruit puree for this recipe. If your fruit doesn’t make quite enough, add extra apple juice to bring it up to 2 cups.)
Next, pour 1/2 cup apple juice into a small bowl. Add the gelatin and mash it around until all the gelatin is wet. Let sit for a few minutes to allow the gelatin to ‘bloom’. (This will turn it into a big chunk. Don’t panic. That’s what it’s supposed to look like!)
Add the remaining juice, the fruit puree, honey (if using) and salt back to the (rinsed out) saucepan. Add the chunk of gelatin. Stir on med-low to dissolve.
Pour jello into a bowl, or ramekins and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or until set up).
Add whipped cream or topping of your choice or even fresh fruit.
Mmmm. Homemade strawberry rhubarb jello. It hits the spot.
Enjoy.
NOTES:
You can adjust the quantities smaller or larger depending on the amount of jello you’d like to make. ***HOWEVER*** don’t use more than HALF pureed fruit for your liquids or your jello won’t set properly.
You CAN use granulated sugar in place of honey, just make sure you get it completely dissolved into the liquid.
You can use other juices, too. Apple is a mellow flavored juice, so it’s a good choice if you want your fruit puree to stand out. However, I will often use juice that contains the fruit I’m using (ie mixed berry juice for blackberry jello, etc.). Experiment.
You can sub out the fruit puree part and use just juice instead for a fast jello.
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