How to Turn Pantry Staples Into Vibrant Natural Food Coloring

Lately, I’ve been taken with natural food coloring — and not just because there’s been a lot of conversation about food dyes and safety. I love the wide range of pigments and the artisan look I can get from using fruit, vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, and spices to create a whole spectrum of color in my baking projects — all without artificial or synthetic additives.

Recipes like Molly Yeh’s white chocolate mousse, tinted a soothing pale green from matcha powder, capture the beauty of cooking in color. 2020 F&W Best New Chef Paola Velez uses sumac, a tangy Middle Eastern spice, to flavor and add pops of red color to her Lemony Sumac Pie with Ritz Cracker Crust.

Natural food coloring can even impart color to savory foods. This hamburger bun leaves an astonishing impression thanks to the natural pigments in ube, a vibrant purple yam. Read on to learn how to incorporate natural food colors and dyes into your cooking and baking.

How to buy natural food coloring

Natural versions of food coloring are made from “real,” minimally processed foods. 

You can purchase shelf-stable natural food coloring, plus products like dehydrated powders and extracts, at many grocery stores and online. Brands like Suncore and Color Kitchen produce a wide, colorful range of fruit, flower, and vegetable powders that can be dissolved in cocktails, used to create food colors, or added directly to dyed foods like American Buttercream or cookie dough. Sometimes these prepared versions are a better choice than DIY natural coloring for getting saturated color.

To identify prepared food coloring or dyes, check the ingredient list on the package. Here are common ingredients found in store-bought options. 

• Red/pink: beet, raspberry, strawberry, cherry, red cabbage, hibiscus, paprika, sumac
• Orange: carrot, annatto, sweet potato, calendula, safflower, nasturtium flowers
• Yellow: turmeric, saffron, onion skins, chamomile tea leaves
• Green: matcha, parsley, pandan, spinach, kale, spirulina (green algae), basil, celery
• Blue: red cabbage, blueberry, butterfly pea flower
• Brown: cocoa, coffee, black tea, black sesame, dates
• Purple: purple sweet potato, red cabbage, açai, blackberry, blueberry, black rice
• Black: squid ink, activated charcoal, black sesame seeds, black cocoa, black tea

How to DIY natural food coloring 

The easiest way to create natural food coloring from scratch is to extract color from fresh ingredients. You can do this by steeping or simmering, juicing, or pureeing fresh foods like beets, then straining off the ingredients. Or you can grind dried foods (spices, freeze-dried fruits, or dehydrated vegetables) into fine powders using a spice grinder or food processor. Some powders will dissolve well, while others may include some fine specks that give frostings an artisan feel. 

Here are some of our favorite ways to make our own natural food coloring.

Red

Take a page from F&W food editor Paige Grandjean’s Red Hot Lollipops Pops, and steep hibiscus flowers in water for a vibrant red food coloring.

Pink

Freeze-dried strawberries ground into powder, then directly stirred into frosting and icing, add a punch of color (and bright berry taste!) to these Strawberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Yellow

Saffron adds a soft, lemon-like tint to fluffy mounds of mascarpone whipped cream in this Strawberry-Saffron Cake. Ground turmeric adds a deep golden color to frostings and sauces. 

Green

Pandan leaves, spinach, and basil each similarly benefit from being blended with water, then strained for a concentrated juice that can color cakes, cookies, pasta, and breads.

Blue

Simmer red cabbage, then add baking soda to the simmered water. The red water turns the food color blue — a common hack for dyeing eggs. (Vinegar will maintain the cooking water’s magenta color.) 

Purple

Pulverized freeze-dried blueberries impart a beautiful purple or lavender color when beaten into frostings. They can also be used to infuse Blueberry Gin with flavor and color. 

Black

Because it is processed with alkaline to amplify the intensity of its midnight hue, black cocoa powder is a good choice for achieving a deep, Oreo cookie-like color. Use it to add a nearly-black color to cakes and cookies, as well as sauces.

Tips for using natural food coloring

• Keep in mind that ready-made natural food coloring can be expensive and is not always as vibrant as synthetic options.
• Pay attention to the recipe. If you need to add a lot of powder or liquid to a recipe to reach your desired color, the outcome of your dish might be affected. In those cases, a prepared food-coloring product is your best bet.
• Natural powders and extracts may require special storage and could contain additives unless sourced from reliable suppliers. Make sure to read the package instructions.
• Some ingredients may impart flavors so strong that they clash with the overall flavor profile of the dish. Always start small.
• Homemade colors and powders can fade or become altered due to heat and light — even within a short time.