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.
Without further ado, here is our list of the 10 best natural food coloring products highly recommended by reviewers on Amazon. Hopefully, you'll find your best match here!
$5.98
Amount | 0.17 oz. each |
---|---|
Type | Powder |
Main ingredients | Plants, vegetables, seeds, glucose syrup solids |
$6.99
Amount | 1.2 oz. each |
---|---|
Type | Liquid |
Main ingredients | Vegetable juice, spices, glycerin |
$18.99
Amount | 5 oz. |
---|---|
Type | Powder |
Main ingredients | Red dragon fruit powder |
$18.99
Amount | 8 oz. |
---|---|
Type | Powder |
Main ingredients | Butterfly pea flower |
$8.98
Amount | 0.44 oz. each |
---|---|
Type | Liquid |
Main ingredients | Sorbitol, glycerin |
$14.99
Amount | 0.52 oz. each |
---|---|
Type | Powder |
Main ingredients | Fruit extract, food spices |
$9.99
Amount | 0.07 oz. each |
---|---|
Type | Powder |
Main ingredients | Vegetable juice, beta carotene |
$14.49
Amount | 0.52 oz. each |
---|---|
Type | Powder |
Main ingredients | Fruit extracts, vegetable extract, food spices, food colors |
$28.96
Amount | 0.37 oz. each |
---|---|
Type | Gel |
Main ingredients | Glycerin, fruit powder |
$10.05
Amount | 0.42 oz. each |
---|---|
Main ingredients | Glycerin, deionized water, vegetable extract |
Type | Gel |
Image | 1 ![]() McCormick | 2 ![]() Watkins | 3 ![]() Suncore Foods | 4 ![]() WIXAR NATURALS | 5 ![]() ValueTalks | 6 ![]() Jelife | 7 ![]() Supernatural | 8 ![]() DaCool | 9 ![]() Chefmaster | 10 ![]() India Tree |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Nature's Inspiration Food Colors | Assorted Food Coloring | Pink Pitaya Supercolor Powder | Blue Butterfly Pea Powder | Food Coloring | Natural Powder Food Coloring | Food Colors | Food Color Powder | Natural Liqua-Gel Food Coloring Kit | Nature's Colors Decorating Set |
Features | Three Basic Colors for Mixing | Liquid Food Coloring Set With Four Principal Colors | Red Dragon Fruit for a Vibrant Pink Color | Blue Food Coloring With a Color Changing Effect | Water-Based Food Colorings Made from MSDS-Certified Ingredients | An Extensive Set of Food Colorings | Plant-Based Food Coloring Powders | Water- and Oil-Based Food Colorings Great for Candy and Chocolate | Gel Food Colorings Great for Light Colors | Plant-Based Dyes Verified by the Non-GMO Project |
Price | $5.98 | $6.99 | $18.99 | $18.99 | $8.98 | $14.99 | $9.99 | $14.49 | $28.96 | $10.05 |
Amount | 0.17 oz. each | 1.2 oz. each | 5 oz. | 8 oz. | 0.44 oz. each | 0.52 oz. each | 0.07 oz. each | 0.52 oz. each | 0.37 oz. each | 0.42 oz. each |
Type | Powder | Liquid | Powder | Powder | Liquid | Powder | Powder | Powder | Gel | Glycerin, deionized water, vegetable extract |
Main ingredients | Plants, vegetables, seeds, glucose syrup solids | Vegetable juice, spices, glycerin | Red dragon fruit powder | Butterfly pea flower | Sorbitol, glycerin | Fruit extract, food spices | Vegetable juice, beta carotene | Fruit extracts, vegetable extract, food spices, food colors | Glycerin, fruit powder | Gel |
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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.
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.
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!
Natural food colorings are a great alternative to synthetic ones. However, it's hard to choose a natural product since you'll have to consider various factors, including the ingredients and flavors.
Don't forget to consider the pros and cons of powders, gels, and liquids in order to choose the right product for you!
Author: Thuy Nguyen
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