Easy to make jelly ice lollipops with fresh fruit. Healthy & budget-friendly alternative to traditional dairy ice cream lollies. Great summer dessert for everyone young in heart!

This recipe is a happy coincidence between trying to make my Chia & Fruit Jelly, speeding up the process in the freezer, because it wasn’t setting and wanting to make a refreshing summer dessert, lighter than traditional ice cream.

Whether you want to call this jelly ice lolly, jelly ice pop or jello popsicle, it’s the same delicious treat that can be served straight from the freezer.

It’s super simple to make and takes next to no time to prepare. This type of jelly sets a lot quicker than a regular jelly in the fridge, which normally take about 2-4 hrs to set in the fridge.

Why make this recipe?

Easy & quick recipe to make
Very budget friendly (you can use only the jelly cubes and water)
Healthier and less calories than dairy ice cream lollies – under 130 calories per lolly

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What exactly is jelly ice lolly?

I guess the best way to describe this recipe is to say that it’s a hybrid between jelly (jello) and ice lolly (popsicle or ice-cream) because it’s basically slightly firmer version of jelly that’s been frozen.

My top tips on making this recipe successfully the first time round

Keep ice cubes in the freezer or very cold water in the fridge to add to the jelly after the initial stage when the jelly cubes are melted by the boiling water.

Leave the jelly at least partially set in the fridge first, before placing it to the freezer. This will make the jelly more stable (and the gelatine more developed) and prevent the jelly, like ice-cream to crystalize in the freezer.

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Any specialist equipment needed?

You will need a lollipop mould for this recipe, but these can be easily picked up in any supermarket or general kitchen store.

Time Saving Tip

To help you to freeze the jelly faster, use ice cubes for the second part of the water amount. This will cool down the jelly faster.

Ingredients

Jelly – Concentrated Jelly Cubes

For this recipe, I’ve been using concentrated jelly cubes (like Hartley’s Jelly) which already contain flavour – mine was strawberry, sugar and gelatine.

Water

If you wanted to make the jelly flavour stronger, you could use fruit juice and swap it for about half of the liquid amount. You’ll still need boiling water to dissolve the jelly cubes first.

Lemon Juice – Optional

Lemon juice is completely optional, but you can add a few drops if you feel that the jelly flavour is not sharp enough. Don’t add too much, though because the citric acid works against the gelatine and can prevent it from setting properly.

Fresh Fruit – optional

You absolutely can make this jello popsicles recipe with just the jelly cubes and water, but I think it’s nice to add a bit of fresh fruit. Use anything you have, few fruit slices will go a long way. I’ve added some kiwi slices and blueberries.

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How to make jelly ice lolly recipe

Cut up the jelly into smaller cubes and place in a large measuring jug.

Boil water and pour 150 ml ( or 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons – about half of the total quantity of water) over the jelly cubes. Stir in and let completely dissolve.

Measure another 150 ml (or 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) of cold water and pour it into the rest of the jelly. Leave to cool down a bit.

If using fruit, prepare it by slicing bigger fruit into smaller pieces (longer thinner pieces are better than a chunky ones).

Arrange the fruit into the lollypops moulds. I stuck mine to the sides of the lollypop moulds and then added more after I poured in the jelly.

Stir the jelly before pouring and then carefully pour over the fruit. Add more fruit if you have the space.

Close the moulds with the lollipop sticks (or lids) and place them in the fridge first for about 1 hour. This will allow the gelatin to set the fruit water at least partially and it will be also more stable in the freezer.

After about 1 hour, place the lollipop mould in the freezer and leave it to freeze completely. This could take another 1-2 hrs, depending on your freezer.

When you want to serve the jelly ice lolly, remove them from the freezer and quickly submerge them into hot (boiling) water. This will melt the top layer of the lollipop and help them to pop out from the mould. If you don’t do this, you might have problems getting these out.

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Allergies & dietary requirements

This jelly ice lolly recipe is dairy free, nut free and gluten free, but it’s not suitable for vegetarian or vegan diet as it contains gelatine.

Batch Size

This will depends on how big your ice lolly moulds are, but I’ve made 4 large lollies from this recipe size.

Can I scale up or down this recipe?

Yes, you can make 1/2 of this recipe if you want to. Equally, you can double or triple the amount if you wish. Unless you want to make just one flavour, I’d suggest to buy different jelly flavours and make several batches, rather than doing one large one.

Can jelly lollies be made in advance?

Yes, absolutely! The jelly ice lollies (or jello popsicles if you like….) need time to set properly. First they should set in a fridge temperature for 1-2 hour and then let to freeze in the freezer.

The jelly setting process can take a while, so it’s worth making the popsicles well ahead of when you actually need them.

How to store jelly ice lollies

You can keep the jelly in the freezer for up to 6 months, although I’d advise to eat them within 1-3 months.