When I started drinking green smoothies on the regular, I quickly wondered what they would taste like frozen, and started using my popsicle molds to freeze the extra. I quickly ventured into the world of healthy homemade popsicles and I’ve never looked back.

These four colorful recipes are easy to make, fruity and just fun!

4 plastic sleeves filled with healthy homemade popsicles in blue, green, yellow and red.

They make healthy snacks for kids, parents and friends. With no-mess homemade popsicle molds, I can easily toss one into a lunchbox and it acts as a fruit offering plus an ice pack. They are a bit thinner and icier than my Lime Popsicles, perfect for enjoying as you dangle your feet off the side of the dock at the lake.

After my family packed up and moved to Florida, we discovered a love of icy treats to combat the crazy heat of summer. The freezer was packed with popsicles.

It felt necessary for survival with two young toddlers and a lot of hot days. Easy recipes for homemade popsicles were at the top of my Google searches, especially as we ventured into the worlds of sports and providing snacks for the teams, classmates and friendly gatherings.

Tasty Ingredients

I first made these four variations for my daughter’s gymnastics fundraiser. I wanted to do something fun and Florida-esque, and these seemed like a fun way to do that. They were super simple to make and sold out!

When I shared about the fundraiser on Instagram, I got a lot of requests for the recipes. Here’s what I’m putting in mine:

yellow frozen pops in plastic sleeves that say cactus makes perfect.

Yellow: Depending on the ripeness of your pineapple and the color of your mango, these will either be bright yellow or a fun yellow-orange hue. I used water because the other fruits are so sweet they definitely hold their own in the flavor department without needing fruit juice.

  • Orange
  • Mango
  • Pineapple
  • Water
3 red pops in plastic sleeves that say rooting for ya.

Red: Because I didn’t want to pit cherries I bought a frozen pack. Paired with fresh strawberries and bananas, they blended easily. The pomegranate juice was used to make a ruby red color. Feel free to swap the pomegranate juice with cherry, red grape or cranberry. Make sure whatever option you use is 100% fruit juice with no additives.

  • Cherries
  • Strawberries
  • Banana
  • Pomegranate juice
3 blue homemade popsicles in plastic sleeves that say seas the day.

Blue: These were the most fun to experiment with to get the right color, though they do call for a unique ingredient—butterfly pea powder. I found mine on Amazon, yet you might be able to source some locally if you have a specialty food store. While this powder comes blue, I found adding 1/4 tsp of baking soda brings out the rich color I wanted. Science is so cool!

  • Bananas
  • Butterfly pea powder
  • Peaches
  • Baking soda
3 green smoothie pops in plastic sleeves that say born to be wild.

Green: Since I already knew that the best green smoothie created the gorgeous green color I wanted, I just adjusted the recipe and turned it into these! It is the best starter green smoothie around and will turn any smoothie skeptic into a smoothie lover in no time.

  • Spinach
  • Pineapple
  • Mango
  • Banana
  • Water

How to Make Healthy Homemade Popsicles

These tasty treats are quite easy to make. Each color makes about ten popsicles, so feel free to double or triple the ingredients to get the number you need. All you need is a blender, the molds of your choice and a funnel.

  1. Choose the color you want to blend first and gather those ingredients. They can be fresh or frozen, whatever you have on hand. Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until completely smooth.
  2. Carefully pour the blender contents through a funnel into the molds, making sure to stop at the max fill line. Do not overfill!
  3. Store the filled molds in the freezer for at least 4 hours.

If you overfill the molds, they can break open in the freezer as they expand. If your molds don’t come with a small funnel, you should be able to find one at your local grocery store.

Storage Options

light gray funnel, several popsicle sleeves and a red tray full of colorful popsicles on a gray counter top.

Now that you’ve got some gorgeous popsicles, how do you store them? I’ve got two great options when it comes to homemade popsicle molds. You pick the ones that work for you and just make sure you’ve got room in your freezer to store them.

Option 1: For those that can’t or don’t want to clean out molds, go with some disposable popsicle sleeves. These come with a funnel and tell you exactly where to stop filling so your freezer doesn’t become abstract art when it bursts.

Option 2: For those that can wash out and store molds, go with some reusable silicone popsicle molds. They are a bit of an investment since you’ll need a few packs to get started yet they are an environmentally-friendly option.

Now that you’ve got the right sleeves, let’s make some healthy homemade popsicles!

Turn Smoothies into Popsicles

Do you ever blend a smoothie, pour it into a glass then notice about an inch left in the bottom of your blender container? I can never bring myself to just rinse that out, yet it’s not enough for a whole second smoothie!

Grab one of your popsicle molds and a funnel and pour that smoothie remnant into a mold! Then you’ve got 1-2 popsicles that you didn’t even have to work for. They make great post-workout snacks, easy grab n’ go or an after-park treat for the kids.

You can do this with any smoothie recipe, yet a few of my favorites to freeze include the Best Green Smoothie, the Strawberry Banana Smoothie and the Mocha Coffee Smoothie (it’s like a frozen coffee!). You can even just blend your favorite smoothie recipe and then turn it into popsicles to have on hand. It’s amazing.

FAQs

What ingredients are in a popsicle?

You really can put anything in a popsicle. I’ve got four recipes that are color based and use fruits and veggies to achieve brightly colored and flavored results. I love using one sweeter fruit like banana or mango and then pairing it with leafy greens, some kind of citrus or really whatever fruit is in season. Then add the liquid of your choice (you can use water, fruit juice or plant-based milk) and blend until the ingredients are all pureed.

How do you make homemade popsicles that aren’t icy?

To make popsicles that aren’t icy, it’s good to incorporate healthy fat. You can do this using full-fat coconut milk as your liquid or by adding some coconut oil to your blender along with the other ingredients. This will keep the pops from turning into icicles and keep them easy to enjoy when you’re ready.

How to make popsicles step by step?

Popsicles are actually really easy to make! I pick a few fruits and the liquid I want, combine them in a blender until pureed, then freeze them in molds. They take about four hours to freeze, then you can take them out and enjoy!

5 pops in a variety of colors.

More Popsicle Recipes

I love a good popsicle as much as my kids, and created several recipes to keep the freezer stocked at all times. Grab one of the easy homemade popsicle recipes below and let’s get blending!

Don’t forget to rate + review this recipe once you try some. What colors did you make? How did they turn out? I want to know!

5 from 1 vote

Healthy Homemade Popsicles

Making homemade popsicles can be easy, healthy and convenient. These recipes all use plant-based natural ingredients to nourish your body. Pick which colors you'd like to make from the recipe below. 
Prep: 10 minutes
Freezer Time: 4 hours
Total: 4 hours 10 minutes
Author: Jen Hansard
Course: Smoothie, Snack
Cuisine: Plant-Based, Vegan
Serves: 10

Equipment

Ingredients  

Yellow Popsicles

  • 1 orange peeled
  • 2 cups mango peeled, core removed
  • ½ cup pineapple sliced into chunks
  • ½ cup water

Red Popsicles

  • 1 cup cherries pitted
  • 1 cup strawberries
  • 1 banana peeled
  • 1 cup pomegranate juice

Blue Popsicles

  • 2 bananas peeled and sliced
  • 1 tsp butterfly pea powder
  • 2 peach peeled, core removed
  • ¾ cup coconut milk
  • ¼ tsp baking soda helps it turn blue

Green Popsicles

  • 1 cup spinach fresh
  • ½ cup pineapple sliced into chunks
  • ½ cup mango peeled, core removed
  • 1 banana peeled
  • 1 cup water

Instructions 

  • Pick the color you want to make first. Then blend all ingredients listed under that color together until smooth.
  • Fill popsicle sleeves using a small funnel.
  • Freeze the molds flat for at least 4 hours. Enjoy!

Notes

  • The nutrition facts are for the Green Popsicles. 
    • Yellow Popsicles: 30 calories, 8 carbs, .4g protein, .2g fat, 7g sugar
    • Red Popsicles: 37 cals, 9 carbs, .4g protein, .2g fat, 7g sugar
    • Blue Popsicles: 39 cals, 9 carbs, 1g protein, .5g fat, 6g sugar
  • If making more than 1 color, rinse the blender well between blends to ensure the colors don’t mix. 
  • You can use frozen ingredients for these, but there is no need! You’ll freeze them inside the molds anyway. 
  • For the Red Popsicles: swap the pomegranate juice for red grape juice or cranberry juice. Look for 100% juice with no additives.
  • For the Green Popsicles: swap the spinach with the leafy greens of your choice.
  • For the Blue Popsicles: swap peaches for the stone fruit of your choice or for mango.

Nutrition

Calories: 20kcal, Carbohydrates: 5g, Protein: 0.3g, Fat: 0.1g, Saturated Fat: 0.02g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.02g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.02g, Sodium: 4mg, Potassium: 82mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 383IU, Vitamin C: 9mg, Calcium: 6mg, Iron: 0.1mg
Tried this recipe? Show me!Mention @SimpleGreenSmoothies or tag #SimpleGreenSmoothies!

You might Also Like…

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rating




Comments

    1. Cori-Lynn not at this time, but check back. You never know what kind of rawesome things we’ll have in our store.

    1. They can last a month or more but mine never make it that long! 🙂

  1. I’m curious how you did this as a fundraiser. Was it like a bake sale type set-up?

    1. Hi Sarah,

      It was actually at a basketball game? Have you ever seen students selling chocolate bars at games? In place of chocolate, we went around with a cooler and our green smoothie pops! They sold great + were a huge hit! 🙂

  2. Esse smoothie quando congelado alimenta e refresca nesse verão escaldante, nunca pensei nessa ideia mas vendo essa receita me inspirei para fazer de vários outros sabores, acredito que até as minhas crianças que não tomam smoothie de jeito nenhum vão começar a comer. Adorei!

    1. Hi Vitoria,

      YAY! So excited that these pops can inspire even little ones to give green smoothies a go!

  3. I have tried this before but the smoothie filling turns an unappetizing brown quickly. How did you get yours so vibrant? Thanks!

    1. Hi Alicia,

      Oh no! To help preserve all their nutrients, as well as, that bright green color try adding a small amount of lemon juice to your smoothie!

  4. This is fantastic. I’ve just recently had a change of life and I’ve noticed that good nutrition is a part of a happy healthy life style. This makes me smile. I hope this reaches school across the world.

    1. Hi Anne,

      Oh no! There are plenty of other options on Amazon, Jen liked these specifically for the way the sealed + the included funnel. But don’t let this one variety stop you from picking up another kind!

    1. Hi Adriano,

      Thanks for learning more about these yummy popsicles!

    1. Hi Beth,

      We’re pretty excited about this idea too!

  5. I think this just might be my favourite way of having smoothies and I haven’t even tried it yet! Thank you 🙂

  6. I had no idea these baggies even existed! Got my order in and can’t wait to prepare them. There are many times I don’t want a full smoothie so these grab and go will be just the thing to have instead. Thank you for this fantastic idea and all the great smoothie recipes!

    1. Hi Betty,

      You’re definitely right! These are a great way to save + enjoy any leftover smoothies!

  7. What a fun idea! I will save this and try to get around to creating these – I like this idea! Thank you for sharing

    1. YAY! We loved making these, and hope you will too! Reach back out + let me know how you enjoyed them!