Patriotic Jello Jars
With layers of berry blue jello, red cherry jello, and white chocolate pudding, these easy patriotic jello jars are the perfect summer treat to enjoy this 4th of July.
Adults like to play with their food, too!
This patriotic jello jars recipe is a great way to show off your love of the red, white, and blue and have family and friends amazed at your creativity.
Every summer, I used to make rainbow jello jars for the kids. It is kind of our fun way to kick off the beginning of the season. I usually make a dozen (because that is what canning jars come in) and the kids ration those puppies out like they’re gold! A year or two ago I posted a pic of our rainbow jars on Facebook and got a LOT of comments from folks asking me how I did them. So I thought I’d share a little tutorial with you on patriotic jello jars that would be fun to have for your July 4th celebrations.
They may look tricky, but I promise they’re so easy to make. You just have to be patient and let each layer chill before adding the next. But other than that, all it takes is a little mixing. I love the flavor and texture of the creamy white chocolate pudding layer combined with the sweet and refreshing jello.
Whichever ones you do, patriotic jello jars or rainbow jello jars, it makes you look cool in the eyes of your kids and is fun to do together – or even by yourself!
Recipe Ingredients
- Six 8-ounce jars
- Blue jello
- Red jello
- White chocolate pudding mix
How to Make Patriotic Jello Jars
To mix up your jello, get a cup of water really hot either by boiling it or heating it in the microwave.
To the super hot water (a.k.a. boiling water), stir in your jello until completely dissolved.
If you want yours blue blue blue like mine, add a few drops of blue food coloring because the stuff in the box turns out more sky blue than American blue.
Now, we want our gelatin to set rather quickly so we can move on with things. The speed set method on the box says to mix up ice and ice water until you have a cup, then add that.
Divide it evenly among your six jars.
You’ll end up adding 1/3 of a cup into each jar if you want to be precise but I just prefer eyeballing it.
Put your tops on the jars and place them in the fridge until set (about half an hour).
Once that is set up a little, mix up your white chocolate pudding. I just use a quart jar to mix mine in.
Pour your pudding powder into the jar with the milk and shake.
But don’t shake it too much because we want it mixed but still soft.
Now add a little layer to each of your jars.
Now we need to return these to the fridge for another 30 minutes or so.
I always save the boxes my canning jars come in because they make storing them so easy.
The original boxes are great to use when shuttling rainbow jello jars back and forth to the fridge. I just put the entire tray in there for half an hour.
After 30 minutes, mix up your red layer just as you did the blue.
Carefully spoon the red jello onto the top of the pudding.
You can pour all other layers but the layer on top of your pudding needs to be spooned on to avoid disturbing the pudding.
We don’t want disturbed pudding. No telling what it would do! 😉
Yummy and pretty!
Now return this to the fridge for at least another 30 minutes or until ready to serve.
Happy Fourth of July!
Serve cold and add the topping of your choice or just serve as they are. They taste so good with a dollop of whipped cream, y’all.
You and your kin are in for a delicious fun treat!
Now that you have these patriotic jello jars, set aside some time and make the rainbow jello jars. I added those as a bonus if you wanted to see that recipe. Instructions for both are below!
Storage
I recommend enjoying these the day you make them. However, the jello jars should be fine in the fridge for up to 4 days. The layers might just slowly mix together the longer they sit in the fridge.
Recipe Notes
- If you want a way to make the blue food coloring at home check out this tutorial here.
- Have you heard of rainbow whipped jello jars? It’s similar to this jello jar recipe. However, you leave the jello in the measuring cup to set, and then you beat it with a hand mixer on high speed for 2 minutes. Then you distribute between the jars and repeat the process for every layer.
- Did you know you can make alcoholic rainbow jello jars? Add 4 ounces of vodka to each layer and then follow the instructions as listed.
- Any blue and red jello flavors will work, like blue raspberry and strawberry gelatin.
- Add some patriotic sprinkles on top of the whipped cream for a festive touch.
- Take this recipe and adapt it for other holidays. For example, substitute the blue for green lime jello for Christmas jello jars.
You may also enjoy these recipes for the 4th of July:
7 Fast and Festive Recipes for the 4th of July
Oreo Cookie Balls for the 4th of July
Ingredients
- 1 3-ounce box berry blue jello
- 1 3-ounce box cherry jello
- 1 3.3-ounce box instant white chocolate pudding
- blue food coloring
Instructions
- In a 2 or 4-cup glass measuring cup, combine one cup of boiling water and the blue gelatin powder. Stir constantly until dissolved. Add a few drops of blue food coloring until a patriotic blue is reached. Add enough ice to bring the water level up to two cups and stir until ice is completely dissolved. Divide gelatin evenly among the six jars (about 1/3 of a cup in each jar). Can use a canning funnel to make this less messy.1 3-ounce box berry blue jello, blue food coloring
- Place jars in the original divider box they were purchased in (if you still have it) and put them in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
- Mix up the white chocolate pudding according to the box. Divide it evenly among the jars by spooning it on top of the blue layer. Cover jars again and return to the refrigerator for 30 minutes or until the pudding is set.1 3.3-ounce box instant white chocolate pudding
- Remove gelatin jars from the fridge and remove the lids. Mix up the red gelatin just as you did the blue and carefully spoon it on top of the white chocolate pudding. All other layers can be poured but this one needs to be spooned on top to avoid disturbing the pudding. Once all red gelatin is used, place the lids on the jars again and return to the refrigerator until ready to serve.1 3-ounce box cherry jello
Ingredients
- 5 3-ounce boxes different flavored jello
Instructions
- In a 2 or 4-cup glass measuring cup, combine one cup of boiling water and the first gelatin powder. Stir constantly until dissolved. Add enough ice to bring the water level up to two cups and stir until ice is completely dissolved. Divide gelatin evenly among the 12 jars. Can use a canning funnel to make this less messy.5 3-ounce boxes different flavored jello
- Place jars in the original divider box they were purchased in (if you still have it) and put them in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Repeat until all five colors are used and jars are full. Great summer fun for the kids!
Your life is a limited edition. Enjoy it now!
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I am making these with the kids today!
Which is the 4th, forgot to mention that. =)
I’m making these for Oliver’s 1st birthday!
Aww, Happy Birthday Oliver and Happy 4th of July!!! Give him a big hug for me Liz!!
I thank you for this jello recipe. I believe I will make this July 4th. I also plan to make the Yahoo ice cream recipe of your also.
I hope you have a wonderful 4th of July celebration Barbara!!
Christy,
I LOVE this idea 🙂 My sister-in-law always makes ribbon salad, which is very time consuming, I can’t wait to share THIS idea with her! Thank You!!
This is so darned cute! I pinned it so I wouldn’t forget it. I’m thinking this is going to be on the to do list for this weekend………. and maybe on vacation too!
My company is the advertising agency for Jell-O, and I’m writing to you to see if you might be able to grant us permission to link Southern Plate’s Patriotic Jell-O Jars blog post on Jell-O’s Facebook page.
We LOVE the idea, what with the holiday and the Olympics coming up, and we’d love to include a photo (or a thumbnail with the link to the blog entry on Southern Plate). We are happy to include whatever credits would be necessary.
I just spent an hour perusing all the other recipes (my Mama’s side is Southern) on the site, and now I am incredibly hungry. You’ve inspired me for a whirlwind weekend of comfort cooking! Thank you for sharing such wonderful food and helping to create such delicious memories for our family.