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Homemade Natural Food Coloring

10 min prep · 30 min cook · Easy · 4 servings
Make a small palette of vibrant natural food colorings from beet, spinach, red cabbage, and turmeric.

Ingredients
1 medium beet, peeled and grated, for pink-red coloring→
2 cups packed fresh spinach, for green coloring→
2 cups chopped red cabbage, for blue-purple coloring→
1 teaspoon ground turmeric, for yellow coloring→
1 cup water, divided→
1 teaspoon lemon juice, optional, to shift the cabbage color toward pink→
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Method
1
Set out four small saucepans or prepare the colors one at a time.
2
For beet coloring, combine the grated beet with 1/4 cup water and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
3
For spinach coloring, combine the spinach with 1/4 cup water and simmer for 5 minutes.
4
For cabbage coloring, simmer the cabbage with 1/4 cup water for 10 minutes; stir in the lemon juice if you want a pinker shade.
5
For yellow coloring, mix the turmeric with the remaining 1/4 cup water and simmer for 2 minutes.
6
Strain each mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing gently to extract the liquid.
7
Return each colored liquid to its saucepan and simmer until reduced to a concentrated, pourable consistency, about 5–10 minutes.
8
Cool completely and transfer each color to a separate clean, covered container.
9
Refrigerate and use within 5 days; add a few drops at a time to food, since the colors may affect flavor.

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