How to Make All-Natural Food Coloring

Serves: 7

Cook Time: 30mins

Summary

Why rely on artificial food coloring when nature provides everything you need for vibrant, healthy dyes? With a little chemistry and some common kitchen ingredients, you can create a full spectrum of natural food coloring.

Ingredients

3 Medium Beets (Pink)

3 Large Carrots (Orange)

2 Cups Fresh Spinach Leaves (Green)

½ Head Red Cabbage (Purple And Blue)

½ Tsp Baking Soda (Turns Cabbage Dye Blue)

2 Tbsp Ground Turmeric (Yellow)

2 Tbsp Ground Paprika (Red)

Water

Directions

Pink: Beets

Chop 3 beets, simmer them in water for 25 minutes, purée, and strain. For a deeper color, simmer longer to concentrate the pigment.

Beets owe their vibrant pink-red color to betalains, a class of water-soluble pigments. Betalains remain stable at a wide range of pH levels, making them a reliable choice for food coloring.

Orange: Carrots

Chop and simmer carrots, like beets, then strain the liquid for a bright orange dye. Make sure you use fresh carrots for the brightest results—older carrots may lose some vibrancy.

Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, a pigment that gives them their orange hue. Beta-carotene is fat-soluble, so if you’re adding this dye to something with fat (like frosting), the color will disperse even better.

Yellow: Turmeric

Method: Simmer ground turmeric in water to release its bold, golden color. But, be careful—turmeric stains EVERYTHING, so handle with care!

Turmeric’s yellow hue comes from curcumin, a fat-soluble compound with potent coloring properties. Curcumin is also stable under heat, making it great for both baked and stovetop dishes.

Green: Spinach

Simmer spinach leaves, purée, and strain the mixture to extract the green pigment.

Why it works: Spinach contains chlorophyll, the pigment responsible for its green color. While chlorophyll isn’t as stable as some other pigments (heat and light can dull it), it still works beautifully in recipes that don’t require long cooking times.

Purple & Blue: Red Cabbage Magic

Simmer red cabbage for a purple dye, or add a pinch of baking soda to the purple liquid to turn it blue. For a more dramatic color shift, experiment with lemon juice (to deepen the purple) or more baking soda (to intensify the blue).

Red cabbage is packed with anthocyanins, water-soluble pigments that change color depending on the pH. In an acidic environment, they appear purple; when exposed to a basic substance (like baking soda), they shift to blue.

Red: Paprika

Simmer ground paprika in water to extract its warm, deep red color.

Paprika’s red comes from carotenoids, specifically capsanthin and capsorubin, which are fat-soluble pigments.

Notes

1. For More Color

Natural food dyes tend to produce softer, pastel hues compared to artificial food coloring. This is because plant-based pigments are less concentrated.

If you’re aiming for a more vibrant, saturated color, you can: Use More Dye, and add extra natural coloring to your recipe until you reach the desired intensity (keep in mind that this may slightly affect the flavor). Or, concentrate the pigments by simmering your dye longer to reduce the liquid and intensify the color. In recipes like frosting, you can layer the color. Start with a small amount of dye and gradually add more, mixing well between additions.

3. Flavor Considerations

Unlike artificial dyes, natural colors bring subtle flavors with them—beet dye is earthy, turmeric is slightly bitter, and paprika has a smoky kick. Balance your recipe accordingly.