What fun! A health supplement in a totally fun package. You’ve got Kombucha with its beneficial acids, detoxing properties, and probiotics; raw honey as an enzyme-rich anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral healing food; and gelatin acting as a digestive aid and a mineral-rich protein sparer. What’s not to love?
Kombucha jello is cold and sweet and sour with a kick from the carbonation. Not to mention pretty and a great conversation starter. 🙂
Truth be told, I took these yesterday to a church potluck. Some merely thought them “interesting”, but others loved them. To each his own, right? Personally, I’m in the camp of loving them.
A few notes:
1. I make Kombucha with green tea, not black, thus it’s lighter color, and (I think) milder flavor. Your jello color may be different according to the tea and sweetener you use. You can use first or second ferment Kombucha. My Kombucha recipe/methods are detailed here on the blog, or in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Fermenting Foods, or in my Lacto-Fermentation eCourse or eBook.
2. This particular batch of Kombucha was definitely sour so I felt sweetening with honey was a must; you may not need to sweeten your jello at all if your Kombucha is “perfectly” sweetened.
3. Good quality gelatin is a must! I use the high-quality grass-fed Great Lakes gelatin.
4. These jello squares are GAPS friendly — provided the Kombucha is fermented long enough to reduce sugar to nil.
5. Use other fermented beverages like water kefir or homemade soda to make jello, too!
6. Want to make your own Kombucha at home, but need a scoby (starter)? Here’s the one I recommend.
Kombucha Jello
Ingredients
- 4 cups Kombucha
- 1/8 to 1/4 cup raw honey or more to taste (optional)
- 5 tablespoons sustainably-sourced gelatin (certified glyphosate-free)
Instructions
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In a large measuring cup or bowl, sweeten Kombucha to taste with raw honey.
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Put 2 cups of the Kombucha in a pot on the stove.
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Sprinkle gelatin all over.
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Whisk in well until smooth with no lumps.
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Turn on heat to low and heat until thickened — it takes almost no time at all and the Kombucha should barely even get warm. (This is what you want — no heat to destroy enzymes or probiotics.)
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Remove from heat.
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Add the thickened Kombucha to the rest.
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Stir well.
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Pour into pan(s) — you don’t need to grease them or anything.
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Chill for a couple hours, or until set.
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Cut into squares and serve.
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Keep refrigerated.
Enjoy this Kombucha Jello! And be sure to let me know what you think. You may also enjoy these Detoxifying Herbal Gelatin Gummies (THM-friendly!).
New to our GAPS series? Get up to speed by browsing past posts in this series or reading what the GAPS diet is.
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I was told not to use honey with kombucha because it is anti bacterial and could kill the probiotics in it. Is there another sweetener you would suggest?
Mary — You can use any other sweetener you’d like. 🙂
However, just for the sake of argument, here’s how I feel about using honey in fermented beverages. 🙂
https://traditionalcookingschool.com/2010/03/26/q-a-honey-in-fermented-beverages/
Maple syrup
You can use honey to make kombucha- it’s called Jun.
Thanks for posting this. I have a hard time imagining putting my booch into a metal pan since everything I’ve read says to steer clear of anything metal. I even take off my rings when I bottle it! But I’ve also watched people brew it with honey, brew it with chlorinated water and GMO beet sugar too…So I imagine it’s pretty flexible…! I just had to separate and compost some pretty ugly SCOBY’s last brew, so my new batch may take a while, but I look forward to making these soon. My kids LOVE anything that resembles jello and can be eaten cold out of the fridge on hot days. I love that it’s healthy. THANKS!!
Courtney — What you could do is line the stainless steel pan with parchment paper. Then just as soon as possible, cut the jello into cubes and transfer to a glass dish for storage.
Or just use a glass baking pan, like pyrex
I just made this and realized that I heated the kombucha in a stainless steel pot and whisked it with a stainless steel whisk!!!! Thankfully, I did pour it into a glass 9×13. Not sure what I should do next time… maybe a double boiler with a glass bowl and wooden spoon???
It’s okay to use metal pots and whisks as long as it’s not coming in contact with the scoby. Using metal on the kombucha itself is harmless. Hope this helps.
Amazing!!! What a creative idea. I’ll be trying this with water kifer as well. I will also infuse my kombucha with hibiscus for extra vit C.
Hi – not sure what I’m missing, but mine never got thick and I used the gelatin you recommend. Heated it so long it’s dead now and still not thick. :o( Any thoughts?
Thank you.
I bought Great Lakes Gelatin on the recommendation of many blogs that said it’s grass-fed. But I don’t see anywhere on the container stating that is so. I wrote to the company and haven’t heard back. Who spread this rumor that it’s grass-fed – or do you know this for a fact?
I think the Great Lakes kosher gelatin is from grass-fed beef. The other may be non-grass-fed or porcine. There are a lot of comments about it on foodrenegade.com.
Do you think this would work with agar?
Margaret — Yes, I think it could, but agar needs to be boiled. I would try boiling it with a small amount of Kombucha. The agar agar packages usually tell the proportions and basic instructions. Then mix with the rest of the Kombucha. It’s worth a try — but not having done it, I can’t say for sure.
How long does kombucha need to brew for the gaps diet? Read that it needs to go a long time, but no one says how long.
I wonder how they would come out if you put them in the dehydrator? Would they make good gummy snacks? You could even put then in silicone molds to get fun shapes!
I wish there were a vegan version without hello. Maybe agar agar.
I was so excited to try this that the first time I made it with some knox gelatin I had in my cupboard. It turned out great and my kids loved it! I rushed out to my local health food store and got some of the Great Lakes gelatin. This time it was really terrible! It smelled bad and seized up making it difficult to stir. There were little white pieces I thought were just bits of undisolved powder but it would not dissolve! As it sat in the fridge it was foamy on top and liquid on the bottom. I just can’t believe it was so hard to work with. Do you think there is something wrong with my container of grass fed gelatin?
I just wanted to say that after my initial failure, I researched and tried again. Much better luck! I figured out that grass fed gelatin firms up immediately when in contact cold liquid. I didn’t take this seriously enough at first and my kombucha was still fairly chilled. Make sure it is room temperature! There are still little solid ‘bits’ that never seem to dissolve, and it does smell pretty bad! Luckily it doesn’t taste bad! 🙂
I will be doing this with flavored water keir. I just ordered my gelatin, and I can’t wait to try this!
Hi there, although these go quickly I am interested in knowing if you know how long they would ‘last’ in the fridge?
Thanks
So mine didn’t really turn to Jello…I’m wondering if I didn’t heat it enough and if I can fix it? (I was worried to heat it too much)
Thank you for the recipe! Looks really good and I will be trying it today with my new batch of Kombucha.
My only concern here is using honey as a sweetener. I study Ayurveda and according to this ancient healing system one should never heat honey because when heated it turns into toxic sludge (heat changes the molecular structure and turns the healing properties into harming).
I am thinking to perhaps avoid the sweetener all together and see how it turns out. Have you tried it that way? If yes what is your take on it?
Thank you for your blog!
Sincerely,
Mara.
I’m curious about the “carb content” and the glycemic index for kombucha. I tasted it once and it was very sweet. I’m borderline diabetic, controlling it with diet, so I wasn’t sure how to fit it into my diet. I’ve heard that the process breaks down the sugars, but I still need to know the details to fit it into my plan. Any info available? Thanks!
I made this yesterday with berry flavored kombucha. Love it!
Do you know if protein powder could be added to this for those wanting to increase their protein intake and have the benefits of kombucha?
Hi Stephanie,
We haven’t tried this. We think it would work. Give it a try! The texture will probably be different. That’s not necessarily bad. 🙂
Millie
Traditional Cooking School Support
What does anyone think about adding a drop or two of essential oil…mint, orange, lemon…?
Hi Amy,
There should be no issues with using a drop or two of essential oil. Do use caution if children will be eating the jello as some oils are not recommended for young children.
~Danielle, TCS Customer Success Team
This was just what I needed. Turned out wonderful first time and I even 1/4’d the recipe.
I will make this again, Thank you