I am a big fan of jello shots—sweet, whimsical, and a little bit of booze … what’s not to love? The only downside is that I usually like to eat as plant-based as I can, so using the traditional method for jello shots made with gelatin (made from boiled animal skin, cartilage, and bones) isn’t something I’m super excited about. I knew that you could also make vegan jello shots, but I hadn’t ever tried it before—until today!! Thankfully, this new method not only worked, but it really wasn’t any different of a process from using the gelatin. So it wasn’t any more difficult to make a vegan version—yay!! 
The difference in making a jello shot vegan is using agar agar powder instead of the gelatin powder. Agar agar is made from red algae and is used in lots of different food items since it has powerful thickening and gelling properties—just the qualities you need to make a great jello shot!
Easy Vegan Jello Shots
-1 cup fruit juice
-3/4 cup vanilla vokda (you can use regular vodka if vanilla doesn’t sound good with your particular juice flavor)
– 2 teaspoons agar agar powder
-silicone mold (I used the bottom of this mold to get a half circle shape)
–gold sprinkles
Heat your juice over medium to high heat until it boils and and sprinkle in your agar agar a little at a time, whisking the mixture as you go until all the powder is dissolved. Agar agar needs a higher heat to activate the gel properties, so make sure your juice comes to a boil before adding.
Pour your juice and powder mix into a bowl and stir in your vodka as well.
Pour your mixture into your molds and let your shots set for 4 hours (or overnight) in the fridge. They should pop out pretty easily and be ready to decorate!
Sprinkle some gold sprinkles on top of your pink domes right before serving and your vegan jello shots are ready to go!
See? Not that different at all from the “regular” process. The texture of these is a little different than a gelatin version (a little more firm), but it’s not something that affected my overall enjoyment. It just took a second to adjust my brain a bit that it was a bit different. Some sources say you can use the agar agar powder at a 1:1 ratio (so probably about 1 teaspoon per cup of liquid for a jello shot), but I would suggest using a bit more if you are going to have a freestanding jello mold situation like I did. You could back off the amount a bit if you are setting your mixture in small cups or another self-contained method. Overall, I think this is a great alternative to the usual gelatin route for plant-based diets. See our jello shot hall-of-fame and find something sweet to make at your next party! xo. Laura
Easy Vegan Jello Shots
Instructions
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Heat your juice over medium to high heat until it boils and and sprinkle in your agar agar a little at a time, whisking the mixture as you go until all the powder is dissolved. Agar agar needs a higher heat to activate the gel properties, so make sure your juice comes to a boil before adding.
-
Pour your juice and powder mix into a bowl and stir in your vodka as well.
-
Pour your mixture into your molds and let your shots set for 4 hours (or overnight) in the fridge. They should pop out pretty easily and be ready to decorate!
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Sprinkle some gold sprinkles on top of your pink domes right before serving and your vegan jello shots are ready to go!
22 Comments
This is so exciting! I become vegetarian before I was 21 and was convinced I would never get to have a jello shot, but now I can! I don’t even drink, but this just seems like so much fun.
Yay! You totally can now!
Laura 🙂
I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS!!! Thank you so much!!!!
Thank you so, so much for posting this! I’ve been drooling over your jello shot recipes, but as a vegan, never found a good alternative. My home bar is about to become even more exciting!
Yes! Give it a try!!
Laura
You guys make the cutest jello shots! I’ve never been a fan of jello shots, but you’re coming close to converting me…
I’ve been hoping y’all would make vegan Jell-O shots! I’ve only used the agar flakes. I wonder if it matters?
Fellow vegan here! Flakes and powder are pretty different, I find the powder blends a lot easier and gives you more consistent results. I think flakes you might need to boil just them first to get the right consistency, which is a pain. I bought powder on Amazon (it was hard to find for me in the grocery stores compared to agar flakes) and have been using it for pies, jello shots, etc. For me, it’s taken some tweaking to find the right ratio for jello shots – maybe it differs which brand of agar you use and what you pour them in to set? The first time I tried to make vegan jello shots a few years ago the consistency was straight up agar plates like I used when I was in college microbio/genetics labs…not great haha. Good luck! I’m interested to see how this recipe and brand of powder works for people 🙂
Omg the bio chem lab agar plates is a perfect description for how these turned out for me. Maybe just 1tsp agar agar powder next time?
I love how adorable the jello shots look, too! My friend is newly vegetarian, so I’m going to make these for her. Her birthday’s coming up as well 🙂 She’s going to love them!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Yay for cruelty-free partying !
Just a little something to bear in mind : since it absorbs water so well, agar agar can speed the digestive track considerably. Not very glamorous, I know, but some people react quite strongly and I thought you should be warned.
Never tried jello shots, but maybe now I will. They look so cool!
https://www.makeandmess.com/
I’ve been vegetarian since I’ve been a teen, and now I’m vegan, so I thought I would never have a jello shot. But now maybe I can try one, hooray! So many fun possibilities 🙂
This is perfect! I was only thinking the other day what kind of party foods I could make that were vegan. Hello vegan vodka jelly shots! Thanks for posting this 🙂
These are the most beautiful, grown-up jello shots! So fancy!
http://pullenscozycorner.com
Oh, that is such a wonderful idea! I’m so into agar agar powder right now. I used it for a coconut cream last year for the first time when we had vegan friends over for dinner. The cream was unbelievably good and really easy to make! Will try your vegan jello shots for our next party, thanks for sharing!!!
Ginger by Choice I food & lifestyle blog
http://www.gingerbychoice.de/en/
Amazing! The pink color is like your blog 😀 It’s very elegant and it seems delicious. Thank you for sharing it!
Note that agar-agar does not work well with very acidic juices such as all things citrus fruits. Cheers to the rest!
Mine didn’t come out ???? maybe cause I used a really acidic juice ?
So excited to try this. My question is – if I were to make some ‘virgin’ for the little ones, would I just substitute juice for the vodka 1:1?
Hello!! What juice did you use? I’d like to get the same color as yours. I was thinking white peach and pink food coloring, but what did you use?
Great recipe! What did you use for the fruit juice tho?