Eating the rainbow is more than just a Skittles commercial plot or bagel trend, but rather the idea that incorporating colorful food into your diet can represent a variety filled, balanced, healthy diet. Now with the popularity of artificial food dye, anything and everything can be not just any color but multiple colors. We can get back to healthy colorful plates with natural food dyes, with each popular color represented below. Dyeing your foods naturally can add healthy fun to any holiday or event.
1. Raspberries
In order to get a nice red color, your first option is raspberries. Puree, strain, then heat in order to make the fruit into an actual dye-like substance. Similar to unnatural dyes, the red may turn more on the pink side when mixed into batter or frosting. Raspberries are still one of the best options for getting as close to red as you can get. Mess around with combinations in order to get deeper or lighter colors.
2. Roasted Beets
One other option for a red dye is roasted beets. This is a bit more difficult since you would need a juicer to extract the liquid from the beets prior to heating the juice, but the end result is worth it. Considering some of the most common foods to dye are baked goods, this will save you from any added sugar that the raspberries may add.
3. Mangoes
Mangoes are the sunshine of fruits, giving meals a pop of color with its bright yellow look. This can be applied to natural food dyes by using the same process as the raspberries but you will be given a nice yellow color with mangoes.
4. Raw Carrots
A veggie counterpart for yellow natural food dye is carrots. Leave that juicer out when you're done with the beets because that is the same process needed to get the carrots to the right consistency. A food processor is another alternative, but it comes down to whatever is more convenient for getting it ready to be heated then used.
5. Turmeric
Turmeric has a wide range of uses, but one of the best ones is as a natural food dye. Turmeric can have a strong taste, so mix it in slowly and stop just as the color that you want begins to appear.
6. Red Cabbage
Although this is specifically red cabbage, it should give you a solid natural blue dye. Cut, boil, strain, and add some baking soda. Suddenly you will have a pretty blue color that you can't even get from a bottle.
7. Spinach
Sneak in your daily dose of green veggies and incorporate natural food dyes all at the same time. Use a juicer with these greens, and consider mixing it with some apple juice in order to avoid any spinach flavor. No one really wants spinach cupcakes.
8. Blueberries
Blueberries will do more than stain your clothes. Blueberries dye just about anything you mix them into once they begin to pop and their juices start to flow everywhere. Mash these guys up and strain them, but the real importance comes from the concentration of the blueberries. Blueberries will actually give you a more purple-blue color depending on what you mix them with.
9. Charcoal Powder
Whether you want to try the latest food trend or reap the health benefits, charcoal powder can add some darkness to your food that you didn't realize you were missing. Black artificial food dye is not even a common one to stumble upon, so adding this trick to your skills can make for some cool holiday decorations or funny cakes.
10. Cocoa Powder
Adding cocoa powder to anything will give it a solid brown or tan color while also adding a hint of chocolate flavor. Go a bit lighter on the mix-in if that is not the flavor that you are going for, but other wise this is one of the tastiest natural food dyes you could ask for. Make it dark chocolate if you want to feel a bit healthier in the process too.
Natural food dyes are a great way to stray from the artificial stuff that is just questionable at best. Experiment with these options the next time you bake a cake or cook up a colorful meal.