Typically, jelly is not vegan because gelatin is used to thicken and make the jelly set. Gelatin is extracted from bones, hides, and pork skins, known collectively as collagen, making it a no-no for any vegan. Most of the jelly crystals found on the supermarket shelf and the powdered or tablet jellies common in homes contain gelatin. Ready to eat jellies too are usually not vegan as they contain carmine, a red dye got from dried, crushed and the boiled cochineal beetles.
 

However, vegans have their options with vegan jelly.

 

Vegan Jellies

In the vegan jelly, gelatin is substituted with agar-agar which has a thickening property and is derived from seaweeds.
 

Carrageenan is another alternative that can be used to thicken and set vegan jellies. Carrageenan is also derived from the sea. You can also consider a product called Vegan Jel (check on Amazon), which is made of vegetable gum, calcium, acid, tapioca dextrin, potassium citrate, and adipic acid.
 

Fruit pectin can also be used to make the jelly type jams as the setting agent. Using pectin is advantageous because fixing your homemade jelly becomes simple.
 

There is more on gelatin alternatives in the “Is Jell-O Vegan?” post.

 

The general advice is that you stay from red colored jellies which usually contains Red 40. Red 40 as we have seen earlier, is non-vegan. Always look up the ingredients online or on the product to be sure you are getting a vegan jelly.

 

Want to fix your vegan homemade jelly? Use this simple process with readily available ingredients and you will be good to go.

 

Are you into jelly?