Herbal Gelatin – Immune Boosting Herbs in Finger Gelatin
Herbal gelatin is an easy way to get herbal medicine into those who might not take tea or tinctures. It combines anti-viral and antibacterial herbs with unflavored gelatin, juice, and honey for a throat soothing treat.
After I came up with this recipe, I discovered that James Green came up with a similar idea in The Herbal Medicine-Maker’s Handbook. Sandwiched between the suppositories and the syrups, he relates the serendipitous tale of how he discovered herbal jello.
He was aiming glycerin-gelatin suppositories, but ended up with soft set gelatin instead. With tasting, he discovered that a spoonful of jello helps the medicine go down, and continued to experiment.
My version uses herbal tea, his uses herbal tinctures. I start with a juice and plain gelatin base, he uses box jello. I’ll share both recipes, and you can decide which herbal gelatin works best for you.
Always check for any drug interactions if you are on medication. Most common culinary herbs are pretty safe, but there are a lot of meds out there so it’s best to double check with a health care professional.
Which Herbs Boost the Immune System?
Many herbs boost the immune system, but not all of them are “jello-friendly”. For instance, I know garlic jello is not going to fly.
You can check out “25 Immune Boosting Herbs and Spices” for ideas, or pick up a package of your favorite immune boosting herbal tea blend.
For ease of use, I grabbed some Ceylon cinnamon sticks and dried ginger root, some mint leaves and echinacea tea. I encourage you to experiment with different combinations.
The boys, not too surprisingly, liked the apple/cinnamon/ginger best, but I’ll keep experimenting. I think this is a fun way to get more herbs into our diet.
You could also use immune boosting herbs in spiced elderberry wine for a grown up version. 😉
Making Herbal Gelatin with Juice and Herbal Tea
This herbal gelatin combines anti-viral and antibacterial herbs with unflavored gelatin, fruit juice, and honey for a throat soothing treat.
Honey is good medicine, and a natural throat soother and cough remedy. If you want to preserve the enzymes in raw honey, make sure your gelatin blend isn’t boiling when you mix the honey in.
Gelatin provides easy to digest protein when stomachs are unsettled, and plain gelatin is a low histamine food. Gelatin and collagen dietary supplements may promote a healthy gut, skin, joints, bones, hair, and nails.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons plus one teaspoon of unflavored gelatin – Perfect Supplements Gelatin is Pasture Raised and certified Glyphosate Free. You could also substitute agar agar as a vegetarian alternative.
- 1 cup cold fruit juice
- 3 cups fruit juice, heated with herbs or 2 cups hot fruit juice plus one cup tea
- 2 tablespoons honey, optional
*Possible fruit/herb combinations include:
Apple/Cinnamon/Ginger – 1 cup cold apple cider, 3 cups hot apple cider simmered with 2 cinnamon sticks and 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger root or 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
Apple-Carrot/Echinacea – 1 cup cold apple cider, 2 cups carrot juice, 1 cup echinacea tea
Apple-Carrot/Ginger – 1 cup cold apple cider, 2 cups carrot juice plus 1 cup apple cider, simmered with 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger root or 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
Apple/Mint – 1 cup cold apple cider, 2 cups hot apple cider, 1 cup peppermint tea
Pomegranate/Lemon Balm – 1 cup cold pomegranate juice, 2 cups hot pomegranate juice, 1 cup lemon balm tea
Orange/Ginger – 1 cup cold orange (or carrot) juice, 3 cups hot orange juice simmered with 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger root or 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
Directions
Prepare hot ingredients – If using juice with herbs, place juice and herbs in medium sauce pot and simmer for 10 minutes. If using tea, brew tea and let steep for 10 minutes, covered, then mix with juice in sauce pot and heat to boiling.
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Sprinkle gelatin over cold juice in large bowl; let stand 1 minute. Add hot juice and stir until gelatin dissolves completely, about 5 minutes. Stir in honey if desired.
Pour into 13x9x2 inch pan. (Half batches can be molded in a bread pan or 9×9 pan.)
Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours. To serve, cut into 1 inch cubes. Makes about 9 dozen pieces.
Making Herbal Jello with Box Gelatin and Tincture
This recipe is adapted from The Herbal Medicine Maker’s Handbook. Simple Mixes offers fruit flavored gelatin without artificial colors or flavors, or you can use your box jello of choice.
Ingredients
- 1 3-ounce box fruit flavored jello
- 1 cup boiling water
- 4 ounces of herbal tincture – Earthley’s Elderberry Elixir is a great option for this recipe
- 4 ounces cold water
Directions
- In a medium bowl, pour 1 cup boiling water over the gelatin powder. Stir until powder is completely dissolved.
- Add the tincture and stir well, then add the cold water and stir well.
- Pour the gelatin mixture into a 9×9 pan or your molds of choice. Allow to set in the refrigerator for 4 hours, or overnight.
- Cut into 24 equal pieces to deliver a 5 ml dose of tincture per serving.
Storage and Use of Herbal Gelatin
For best quality, store in the refrigerator and use within a week. Like any gelatin made with natural juice, the natural fruit sugar and acidity offers some preservation properties, but the flavor is best when it’s fresh.
As for dosage, all the herbs used are those that are generally recognized as safe when consumed at food level dosages, so think about how much fruit juice or tea is appropriate for your child’s age/size. Fruit juice still has a fair amount of sugar, so you don’t want them to eat a whole pan of gelatin in one sitting.
Herb potency varies, as does the amount of compounds infused, so there’s no practical way to dose as specific amounts. It’s in the “soothing supplement” category rather than “heavy duty meds” category.
PrintHerbal Gelatin Made with Juice & Herbal tea
A kid-friendly way to get the power of immune boosting herbs in your diet.
- Yield: 9 dozen 1x
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons plus one teaspoon of unflavored gelatin
- 1 cup cold fruit juice*
- 3 cups fruit juice, heated with herbs or 2 cups hot fruit juice plus one cup tea*
- 2 tablespoons honey, optional
Instructions
- Prepare hot ingredients – If using juice with herbs, place juice and herbs in medium saucepot and simmer for 10 minutes. If using tea, brew tea and let steep for 10 minutes, covered, then mix with juice in sauce pot and heat to boiling.
- Sprinkle gelatin over cold juice in large bowl; let stand 1 minute. Add hot juice and stir until gelatin dissolves completely, about 5 minutes. Stir in honey if desired. Pour into 13x9x2 inch pan. (Half batches can be molded in a bread pan or 9×9 pan.)
- Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours. To serve, cut into 1 inch cubes. Makes about 9 dozen.
Notes
Possible fruit/herb combinations include
- Apple/Cinnamon/Ginger – 1 cup cold apple cider, 3 cups hot apple cider simmered with 2 cinnamon sticks and 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger root or 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
- Apple-Carrot/Echinacea – 1 cup cold apple cider, 2 cups carrot juice, 1 cup echinacea tea
- Apple-Carrot/Ginger – 1 cup cold apple cider, 2 cups carrot juice plus 1 cup apple cider, simmered with 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger root or 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
- Apple/Mint – 1 cup cold apple cider, 2 cups hot apple cider, 1 cup peppermint tea
- Pomegranate/Lemon Balm – 1 cup cold pomegranate juice, 2 cups hot pomegranate juice, 1 cup lemon balm tea
- Orange/Ginger – 1 cup cold orange (or carrot) juice, 3 cups hot orange juice simmered with 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger root or 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
Herbal Jello made with Box Gelatin & Tincture
Pair your favorite jello flavor with immune boosting herbs.
Ingredients
- 1 3–ounce box fruit flavored jello
- 1 cup boiling water
- 4 ounces of herbal tincture
- 4 ounces cold water
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, pour 1 cup boiling water over the gelatin powder. Stir until powder is completely dissolved.
- Add the tincture and stir well, then add the cold water and stir well.
- Pour the gelatin mixture into a 9×9 pan or your molds of choice. Allow to set in the refrigerator for 4 hours, or overnight.
- Cut into 24 equal pieces to deliver a 5 ml dose of tincture per serving.
More Home Remedies
for Cold and Flu Season
Treat and prevent cold & flu naturally.
Let me know if you try these recipes and which herb combinations you use.
You may also enjoy “11 Best Medicinal Herbs to Grow (Herb Garden & Wildcrafted)“.
This article is written by Laurie Neverman. Laurie is a lifelong learner with a passion for natural remedies and holistic healing. She’s successfully improved her eyesight, cleared her psoriasis, and gotten off of prescription medication.
Last updated in 2022.