How to Make a Healthy Popsicle Recipe

Last Updated on September 25, 2022 by Ellen Christian

Do you know how to make a healthy popsicle recipe that your kids will really enjoy? There is just something about summer that screams popsicles.   I don’t really like buying the popsicles in the store because they are normally loaded with artificial food coloring, artificial flavors, and artificial sweeteners.  It is so much healthier to make them myself at home. Thankfully, there are lots of healthy popsicle ideas to choose from.

How to Make a Healthy Popsicle Recipe

There are a lot of different ways you can make healthy popsicles at home. It’s not so much what you put into the popsicle, but what you don’t put into the popsicle that matters. How you ultimately end up making them will depend on what you have at home and what you and the kids enjoy. 

Most of the popsicles in the stores are brightly colored, which we know as adults is from artificial food dyes. If your kids are used to neon blue popsicles with sprinkles, they may initially be resistant to trying a healthy popsicle recipe. Just have patience and you’ll find that they enjoy these as well.

Get them interested in trying a more healthy version by letting them help make the popsicles. For a fun family trip, take the kids to a pick your own berry spot and let them pick the berries to make the popsicles with.

A healthy popsicle has only a few basic ingredients. You’ll also need some sort of popsicle mold and sticks. 

How to make popsicles with juice

You will need some sort of liquid base for the popsicle. You can start with fruit juice, yogurt, applesauce, or some sort of fruit puree. I enjoy pineapple juice as a base in my popsicles. I love the hint of sweetness that pineapple gives.

Healthy popsicle recipes with yogurt

If you start with yogurt, I recommend Greek yogurt because it has a higher fat content which will give you a creamier popsicle. If you want something slightly less healthy as a treat, you can begin with pudding as a popsicle base – just please make sure it is homemade and doesn’t have any artificial ingredients in it.

Whole fruit popsicles

One of my favorite things to add to popsicles is fresh fruit. Strawberries, blueberries, kiwis, peaches, nectarines, grapes, etc. You may need to slice these in pieces depending on how large the popsicle mold is. I like adding more than one type of fruit in my popsicles. Strawberries and bananas are one of my favorite combinations. Try pureeing Greek yogurt with fresh strawberries or peaches.

Or, why not try this Mango Popsicle Recipe.

Healthy popsicle recipes with no sugar

You really shouldn’t need any type of sweetener added into your popsicles. Fresh fruit is really quite sweet on its own. If you absolutely have to add some type of sweetener, add a few drops of liquid stevia with the popsicle base and stir well.

Gourmet popsicle recipes

If you want to enjoy a healthy popsicle for yourself, you can make a Popsicle base from cold coffee, cold green tea, or cold herbal tea. If you’re using coffee, try adding a little bit of stevia and fresh cream or milk as the base. You can stir in a tiny bit of chocolate syrup if you’re feeling truly decadent. If you want your popsicles on the sweet side, you can mix your favorite tea with fruit juice.

Tips for making healthy popsicle recipes

• Water freezes harder than juice or add-ins. Have you ever bitten an ice cube? If you don’t add in a bit of juice or another type of add into your popsicle, they will be very hard and difficult to bite.
• The more extras you add into your popsicle, the longer it will take to freeze. Experiment the first few times you make popsicles until you know how long each type takes.

Here is a favorite healthy popsicle recipe from last summer. We use a no salt ice cream maker to make homemade ice cream during the summer.

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