Homemade Natural Blue Food Coloring
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Today I am sharing something that I never thought I would make: a Homemade Natural Blue Food Coloring Recipe.
Natural blue food coloring is one of the hardest colors to make naturally—but there are a few options that actually work and one of them costs very little to make.
Most of the time I try to keep things simple in the kitchen since my life is really busy, but sometimes I like to have a little extra fun with food to make our whole food/allergy-friendly kitchen more interesting, especially true when our kids were little.
But artificial food coloring is just a no go for me.
There are a few ways to make natural blue food coloring. Some work better than others depending on what you need it for.
- Red cabbage – the best DIY method (explained below)
- Blue spirulina – the most vibrant blue, great for frosting and smoothies
- Butterfly pea flower – a bright blue that changes color depending on acidity
Below, I’ll show you how to make blue food coloring at home using red cabbage, plus tips for getting the best color.
Why I Made This Blue Food Coloring
Our boys skated in a local charity hockey league and for their season finale, the team members were going to receive a cupcake decorated with frosting to match their uniforms.
It would have been simple if they'd been on a green, red, or yellow team, but blue?!
I had a good Carob Muffin recipe that I could use for healthy cupcakes and then the green source from these Mint Fat Bombs would work, and turmeric is great for yellow and beets work for pink. But blue?
I initially told my boys not to get their hopes up, but I figured something out and I think you'll love it too.
Reasons to Avoid Artificial Food Colors
We all know that those artificial food colors are not healthy. I mean, who thinks that eating something fake is good for you?
Here are some things to consider. Artificial food colorings:
- are suspected of having links to behavioral and health problems.
- can have aluminum in them. When you see, “FD & C Yellow Aluminum Lake” on an ingredient label, you can know that you will be eating aluminum. There is discussion about this form not being as toxic as other forms, but I would prefer to take no chances here.
- can contain barium or zirconium.
How to Use This Natural Blue Color
You could use this natural blue food coloring for any of the following:
- dying Easter eggs
- paper mache projects
- crafts
- fun creative food ideas (blue mashed potatoes, anyone?)
How to Make Natural Blue Food Coloring (Red Cabbage Method)
Here are the basic instructions with some process images. For the complete information, scroll to the printable recipe card.
- Boil cabbage
- Reserve water
- Add baking soda to the water
Photo 1: Reserved cabbage water.
Photo 2: The final result: homemade natural blue food coloring.
Money Saving Tip: Use filtered water for cooking the cabbage and then, though it is pretty well boiled, you can still eat the leftover veggies for dinner. Try topping them with Moroccan Vinaigrette and Chaat Masala.
Recipe Notes
- Natural food coloring is prone to fading quickly. If your color isn't that deep to begin with, you won't have much margin for fading.
- Don't try to make this blue too dark by adding a bunch of baking soda to the water if you're using it for food, or you'll end up with baking soda-flavored food.
- The color in the cabbage juice itself is not particularly sensitive to temperature, but the mixture of the baking soda with the juice is. So you will want to add the color after the food item has cooled, or else only add it to food items that will not be heated.
- If you're making frosting, note that this method creates a softer, more muted blue—blue spirulina typically will create a brighter result.
When Natural Blue Food Coloring Won't Work Well
Natural blue food coloring is very sensitive to pH:
- Acidic ingredients in your recipe (like lemon juice or yogurt) will turn it purple
- Using too much baking soda can push it toward green
- Heat can dull the color
For best results, add the coloring after cooking and use it in neutral or slightly alkaline foods.
Homemade Natural Blue Food Coloring
Ingredients
- Half-head red cabbage (yes, I said “red cabbage!”)
- Water
- Baking Soda
Instructions
- Wash the cabbage and cut out the stem.
- Chop into small pieces.
- Place cabbage pieces in a pot and add water until the cabbage is covered.
- Simmer for 10 minutes and then drain.
- The resulting liquid will be purplish (see photo #1 above).
- Gradually add baking soda, ½ teaspoon at a time, until you get a nice blue hue (see photo #2, above). Be careful, because the baking soda will add flavor to the coloring. If you are using the color for something you will be eating then you need to be especially careful how much you add. Since it is the alkaline quality of the baking soda that causes the red cabbage juice to turn blue, you can also add spinach juice, green tea, or another alkaline ingredient.
Notes
- The color in the cabbage juice itself is not particularly sensitive to temperature, but the mixture of the baking soda with the juice is. So you will want to add the color after the food item has cooled, or else only add it to food items that will not be heated.
- Natural food coloring is prone to fading quickly. And the if your color isn't that deep to begin with, you won't have much margin for fading.
- Don't try to make this blue too dark by adding a bunch of baking soda to the water if you're using it for food, or you'll end up with baking soda-flavored foo
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It may vary depending on ingredient brands, substitutions, and preparation methods. Optional ingredients are not included. Net carbs are typically calculated by subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols (such as erythritol) from total carbohydrates. This information should not be relied upon for medical or nutritional purposes.
Don't Feel Like DIYing?
If you'd rather not have to make your own natural blue food coloring or would like an option that will work for an acidic recipe, here is a link to a set of good natural food coloring including blue.
What will YOU use this Natural Blue Food Coloring for?
I have a head of red cabbage in the refrigerator for Easter. I love the pop of color it places on a table beside meats, rices and potatoes. We are dying eggs tomorrow. Thanks for a super tip!
You’re welcome! I am thinking I should do this w/ my kiddos too. Did you see all the great coloring tips on my Easter Roundup post?
So, so funny! I have used red cabbage to make litmus paper as a science experiment but never thought to use it as a food dye! You are flippin’ brilliant! I am likning to this from my blog FB.
Oh, I’m just good at doing research and applying it :-). But thanks so much for the compliment! Stay in touch!
I just did some beautifully naturally colored Easter Eggs, and used the purple (red) cabbage, but instead of baking soda, used vinegar. I don’t think the dye tastes at all like vinegar, so maybe you may want to experiment with that on your future baking? I have some leftover in the fridge that I plan to drink in my protein shakes. 🙂
I think I will. I think the science behind it in the post is very interesting. Why would the vinegar turn it blue if the cabbage is meant to be a pH indicator and blue is the basic result. I’m confused.
Brilliant! I knew how to make purple dye, but I had no idea it was so easy to make blue.
What a great idea, especially as we are moving to more natural living!
Im doing a pirate themed Bday party. I found a recipe for blue punch that looks like the ocean.
However it calls for berry blue koolaid. Any thoughts on using “cabbage water” to color the punch?
I’m concerned about how it would alter the flavor.
It might thin out the color too much, but the water itself didn’t have much flavor. I think the sweetener in the juice would take care of that. But you won’t get a very deep blue but it would be sooo much better for the kids :-).
Have you ever tried the other suggestions over the baking soda–ie, the green tea? Would I put a bag of green tee into the purple water to “steep” or would I be adding regular already-brewed, ready to drink green tea?
My son’s class is having a Light It Up Blue bake sale, and they’ve asked me to make blue sugar cookies. I’m looking for recipes for homemade dye, because blue is a trigger color for my son’s issues. None of the dyes are great for him, but blue in particular brings out the worst of his symptoms. I want something that will work well in cupcakes(they want the actual cake or cookie, not the icing) to be blue, that we can send out as instructions to the moms participating.
Megan, I’m not completely sure what you are asking about the tea, but the reason this works is that the cabbage is a pH indicator. So you need something basic to make the water turn blue. Let me know what you are thinking. I am thinking that you would need to make the color and use that to color the dye, subbing some of the cookie’s liquid w/ the color. Otherwise, there are natural blue dyes on the market. Hope it works!
thanks. I guess I was just wondering if I changed the color using green tea, if it needed to be liquid green tea, or if I could just stick a tea bag in the cabbage water.
I think that green tea would make it brown. But it’s a cheap experiment!
OK i don’t have and don’t by red cabbage is there any thing else i can use my dad will not by it and my project is due on Monday pl z help me pl z
Sorry – I have no other ideas, but what color are you trying to produce? Blueberries will give you more of a purple color. Hope that helps!
That’s so cool! I would never have thought to try red cabbage. I probably would have experimented with blueberries or something like that. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome – how are you doing, Emma? Blueberries make a nice purple :-).
I’m good thanks Adrienne. Just getting back into the swing of things after our summer vacation at the beach. How are you going?
Hi Emma. OK here. Depends on the day. We’ve had a bit too many difficult things happening so I’m trying to hang in there, especially when I don’t feel the best. Guess God thinks I need to learn to lean on Him more….
I’m hoping to use this for Hanukkah cookies. The icing for them is just a beaten egg yolk and water — have you ever used this recipe with that kind of cookie icing? I’m guessing I would probably have to skip the plain water and just mix in the food coloring to keep it darker blue, but will the egg turn it greenish?
Lynn, I have never used if for anything except a white icing. What color is your icing – I assume yellow? If so, then I would think it would become green. Could you do the icing with just the egg white perhaps?
You know, I’m not sure. It comes out either clear or a bit yellowish since it’s egg yolk, but on the baked cookies it just makes them shiny without the food coloring. It’s like an egg wash on bread, but I don’t bake enough to know whether the egg yolk actually stays yellow…. Any ideas for a glaze I can put on the cookies AFTER they’re baked so I don’t have to worry about whether the egg yolk and/or the heat will turn them green?
Hmmm…I know that you can use the egg white to do a glaze. You could also try a 1 cup confectioners’ sugar (You can look at my post on MYO Powdered Sugar Substitute to make a healthier version) and add 2 Tbsp water and 1 T liquid sweetener. The recipe I am looking at calls for that 1 Tbsp to be corn syrup – I am hoping to post a corn syrup sub this coming week. If you plan on making this I can send you the info ahead of time to you! Let me know if this helps! It think you could add the blue food coloring to this to get a glaze. Just eliminate the water :-).
I’d love that! I’m planning on baking on Monday for our Hanukkah party, although I could try the egg white instead of egg yolk and see how that works. Thanks so much!
I’ll email you with the info!