If you love decorating and coloring foods, food dyes are probably a must-have item in your kitchen! And recently, natural food dyes have become more popular due to concerns about synthetic products. In fact, natural ones are crafted mainly from fruits and vegetables and contain no artificial additives.
However, if you're new to natural food coloring, you might not know what to look for. So to help you out a little, we've narrowed down the 10 best food colorings that are highly rated on Amazon. McCormick's Nature's Inspiration Food Colors is our favorite since it has three colors that are great for mixing. We've also compiled a buying guide with tips that will make your selection process a bit smoother.
Jim Quast (JQ) is a lifelong professional restaurant and corporate R&D chef that loves everything food-related and the tools both big and small to make those great food memories. He's a super huge BBQ, grill, and kitchen gadget fanatic. JQ has spent the last 30+ years trying to figure out what works to make your kitchen life easier and fun. If you can use it to slice it, dice it, cook it, smoke it or store it, he's been there checking it out. Food = Life! https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-quast-59769011/
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Now, let's proceed to choose the best natural food coloring that will meet your baking and cooking needs! In this buying guide, we discuss factors that will help you make an informed decision.
To make sure that your food coloring is truly free from artificial additives, it's always good to check the ingredient list! Natural food colorings should be made only with plant-based ingredients, such as fruit extracts, vegetable extracts, and spices.
For example, red can be derived from beets or tomatoes, yellow often comes from turmeric, and green is usually made from spinach or matcha.
You should also consider products proven to be vegan since vegan food dyes are crafted with plant-based ingredients only.
You can also look for a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) certification, which is a crucial component to ensure safe manufacturing operation. It provides basic information about a product or chemical to assure consumers' safety throughout all phases of manufacturing, storage, usage, and disposal.
If a product is MSDS certified, it's usually non-toxic and less likely to expose you to health hazards. This may not be a common certification in the States, but it's still worth keeping in mind!
Since food colorings are made from natural ingredients, they may take on the flavor of their ingredients and add a taste to your food. For instance, green coloring made from spirulina extract might taste slightly earthy, while red coloring crafted from beet might induce a slightly bitter flavor.
But not all food dyes produce a bad flavor. Some are actually quite sweet and can add an extra zing to your treats!
Some pink or red colorings are made from red dragon fruit, which has a natural sweetness and slight tanginess. When added to desserts or beverages, like ice cream or milkshakes, those colorings add a pop of color and make them tastier.
It's tough to know the flavor of a coloring since you're not able to sample it. But it's useful to look through the review section to see what people think! If you find the product actually has an off-putting taste, simply decrease the amount to reduce its flavor.
Natural food coloring can come in a liquid, gel, or powder form. Liquid coloring is water-based and tends to produce a soft, pastel color. If you're after a darker color, you might have to use a considerable amount, thinning out the consistency of your mixture.
Gel dye contains glycerine and corn syrup and has a thick consistency. It's more concentrated and tends to produce highly-pigmented, strong colors. So you don't really need a lot to get your desired shade. However, due to its thick consistency, gel coloring might be quite hard to blend into thick doughs.
Liquid and gel colorings can be used interchangeably. But, make sure to use less gel since it's much more concentrated. You don't usually have to mix these dyes with water, so you can add them directly to your food. They are ideal for candy, frostings, ice cream, cookies, and even decorating Easter eggs.
With powdered food colorings, you can add them directly to your dry ingredients or mix them with water first. A great advantage of powdered dye is that it doesn't dry out and has a long shelf life.
If you find the color too pale, you can always add more powder without worrying about it changing the consistency. Powdered colors are great for chocolate, icing, dry mixes, and other applications where water is prohibited. It works well for hard candy and lollipops, too.
If you're using food dyes on fat-based ingredients, such as melted chocolate, you might want to look for oil-based food dyes. Usually, water-based food coloring doesn't mix well with fat-based ingredients and might cause them to seize or go crumbly.
Think about how adding water to flour will turn it into a lumpy paste! Adding water to fat-based ingredients will result in the same thing. Therefore, make sure you choose an oil-based food dye as it won't alter the texture of fat-based products.
This basic food coloring collection is a great place to start! It includes blue, pink, and yellow colorings made from plant-based ingredients such as turmeric, spirulina, and annatto extract.
You can also mix them to create your own favorite shades. The product's packaging also shows you how to make mint, lavender, and pumpkin color from the original three, so try them out!
Many reviewers liked that it didn't add any weird tastes to their food at all. While most people found the colors lovely, some reviewers had to use a lot to get vivid hues. Nonetheless, various buyers appreciated that the powder form of these colorings made them easy to work with. Another plus point was the resealable packaging.
This assorted food coloring set from Watkins provides you with red, yellow, green, and blue. They are all crafted from vegetable juices and spices, such as turmeric and spirulina extracts. And you'll find no traces of artificial colors here!
For some buyers, the colors were quite pale. So to create deeper shades, they had to add more coloring. Nonetheless, most buyers were pleased with the natural ingredients. They added that the colorings didn't affect the flavor of their foods. Plus, the dyes come in plastic squeeze bottles that were mess-free and easy to use.
This product is made with only one ingredient - red dragon fruit -that has a natural, vibrant pink hue. While there is no added sugar, dragon fruit itself is mildly sweet. It would be a great addition to your smoothies, juices, ice cream, or cakes.
A few buyers noted that the powder came in all clumped up and was tough to break apart, but many were in love with the vivid, gorgeous color that surely added some aesthetics and uniqueness to their foods. They further noted that the powder had a slightly tart, slightly sweet flavor that gave their foods some extra zing.
Blue undeniably adds a distinct, enchanting twist to food. But since there are only a few blue foods in nature, most people assume that blue can only be obtained from artificial coloring. However, this natural coloring creates a blue color that can change to purple!
The main ingredient is butterfly pea flower, which is widely used in Chinese and Ayurvedic traditional medicine and can provide you with various health benefits, including boosting your mood and reducing anxiety.
Reviewers loved that just a small amount of powder added a gorgeous hue to their foods and drinks. On top of that, it just has a subtle, earthy flavor that was not at all off-putting. Reviewers also confirmed that a squeeze of lemon or other citrus fruit changes the blue color into a vibrant violet!
This set of food colorings contains eight different liquid colorings, including pink, yellow, green, violet, and so on. Since they are water-based, they dissolve easily into foods and produce strong colors. Plus, these colorings are highly concentrated, so a few drops are probably enough to color a large cake.
On top of that, all the ingredients are certified Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), meaning that they are non-toxic. The manufacturer doesn't list all of the ingredients in the product's description, but you can contact them directly for the MSDS report and a detailed ingredient list.
Some complained that the consistency was a bit too watery. Nevertheless, reviewers were contented with vivid, highly pigmented colors. They used the colorings for frostings and melted chocolate and found the results fantastic. Besides, the colorings didn't add any noticeable flavor to their food.
This set includes nine oil and water-based food colorings made purely from fruit extracts, spices, and colors, so you don't have to worry about any artificial ingredients. And since all nine are basic shades, there is no limit to the colors you can create!
A few buyers said it added a discernable taste to their food. Nonetheless, many reviewers liked that the vibrant colors made their foods pop with color. Plus, they appreciated that the powders blended into batters and frostings seamlessly without causing any streaking.
This set contains red, yellow, orange, and magic blackberry. They are made only with plant-based ingredients, such as beets, red cabbage, and carrots, and don't contain any artificial ingredients. Plus, they come in single-use packets.
The majority of reviewers were happy with the set, as it contained all the primary colors that were easy to mix. Plus, the colors were actually vivid, unlike other natural food coloring products.
Out of the four colors, people were particularly in love with the magic blackberry color. They mentioned that it turned blue with baking soda or pink with lemon juice.
These coloring powders are made from natural vegetable juices, spices, and fruit extracts, and they have received the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) certification. On top of that, the colorings are oil- and water-based, so they won't cause chocolate or candy to seize.
Some people mentioned that they had to use a lot of powder to get a deep color. Still, many reviewers liked that they were easy to use and didn't alter the consistency of their frosting. Thanks to the non-toxic, natural ingredients, reviewers also felt safe when their kids played around with these colorings.
Some buyers were not that impressed with these colorings, saying that they looked too muted. Nevertheless, various reviews mentioned that the colorings worked well for light, pastel colors. Besides, they didn't add any weird tastes or affect the quality of their foods.
This collection of food dyes offers red, yellow, and blue. They are made from 100 percent plant-based ingredients and are non-GMO. Therefore, they have been proven not to contain any artificial dyes or additives.
Buyers found the colors to be very natural. Plus, they noted that the colorings didn't alter the consistency of frosting and blended into food beautifully.
Now that you have decided on a food coloring, the next step is to think about what to use it on. Here are some ideas for you!
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