How To Easily Make Real Fruit Popsicles

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Make these real fruit popsicles this summer for a healthy treat your kids will love. I made these for 4th of July, but of course, they’re a refreshing healthy treat (without any added sugar) any time you need a cool-down this summer.

popsicles with real fruit - solid colored, layered, and swirled - strawberry and blueberry

Tools Needed To Make Popsicles with Real Fruit

Immersion Blender – You’ll need to blend the fruit into a puree before pouring it into the popsicle mold. I’ve found the immers i on blender to be the easiest tool, but you could also use a food processor.
Popsicle Mold – It took me a long time to find a popsicle mold that I was happy using. I wanted a plastic free BPA-free mold, with the classic wood popsicle sticks. And I found this silicone popsicle mold that I love. It has four slots for popsicles, but there are others with more slots if you’re feeding a bigger crowd (and have the space in your freezer).

Ingredients needed to Make Popsicles with Real Fruit

Fruit – I’ve used both fresh and frozen fruit with this recipe. Use what you have!
Lime Juice – The lime juice in the recipe enhances the natural sweetness of the fruit. You could easily swap the lime juice for lemon juice.
Salt – Adding a pinch of salt to the fruit puree will also increase the sweetness. Add a tiny bit and taste the difference.

How to make Real Fruit Popsicles

Step 1: Make the fruit puree for the popsicles

strawberry fruit puree for popsicles — Strawberry fruit puree for popsicles

If you’re using fresh fruit, just blend the fruit and add the lime juice and salt.

If you’re using frozen fruit, first you’ll need to thaw the fruit (either at room temperature overnight or with a microwave in about one minute). Then you’ll add the lime juice and salt.

If you’d like multiple colors or flavors in one popsicle, you’ll need two fruits and you’ll want to keep them separate.

STEP 2: Pour the puree into your popsicle mold

If you use this popsicle mold, you’ll have a nifty silicone funnel to use when you’re pouring the puree.

For a solid colored popsicle and one flavor, just pour your puree into the mold.
If you’d like a layered popsicle with multiple flavors, you’ll alternate your two (or more) fruits.
If you want the multiple colors swirled together, swirl the popsicle stick around for a few seconds after you pour the puree into the mold.

STEP 3: Cover the popsicle mold, add the popsicle sticks in the slots and freeze

real fruit puree in popsicle mold with lid on and sticks in slots

Put the cover on your mold and slide the popsicle sticks through the holes provided, then transfer to the freezer. You’ll need to leave it standing just as it is for 5-6 hours to make sure they’re fully hardened.

Step 4: Remove your popsicles from the mold, and put them in the storage bags (or eat them right away).

Strawberry & coconut milk “swirl” popsicle

Layered look – Blueberry, coconut milk, strawberry popsicle

Once the popsicles are frozen you can remove them from the mold. You should be able to wiggle the popsicle and get it out of the mold by pulling on the popsicle stick, but if you’re having trouble, just run hot water on the outside of the mold for 10-15 seconds (no longer or the popsicle will melt) and wiggle it out of there.

Is This a Good Popsicle Recipe for Kids?

Yes! My kids always love helping make these popsicles (and they really like eating them when they’re done). I say any chance you get to include your kids in the process, do it.

Here are a few ideas of how kids can help make these popsicles.

The kids can help with picking out the fruit at the Farmer’s Market or grocery store.
Let them help you pour the fruit puree in the molds.
Let your kids be taste testers to decide if more lime juice is needed in the fruit puree.
Kids can stick the popsicle sticks through the slots (with assistance for young kids) and find a place in the freezer to let them sit while they harden.

Recipe Tips & FAQ

HOW DO I STORE REAL FRUIT POPSICLES?

This popsicle mold I bought came with awesome popsicle storage bags. They have a sticky seal (similar to an envelope and you fold it over to seal it).

HOW LONG DO POPSICLES TAKE TO MAKE AND FREEZE?

Blending the fruit takes about 5 minutes, pouring the fruit into the mold takes about 2 minutes. The time it takes for the popsicles to harden in the freezer is about 5-6 hours. So make a batch in the morning for a refreshing afternoon summer treat.

HOW TO GET POPSICLES OUT OF THE MOLD?

If the popsicles don’t just slide out of the mold, I recommend running the outside of the mold under hot water for 10-15 seconds, and then wiggling them back and forth until they slide out. Be careful, though. If you keep them under the hot water too long they’ll start to melt.

More healthy summer treats your whole family will love

Looking for a chocolate dessert that won’t melt in the summer heat, try this five minute chocolate pudding!
Easy (No Bake) Peanut Butter Protein Balls
Dairy Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
38 Popsicle Recipes Your Whole Family Will Love

Real Fruit Popsicles

Yield: 4 popsicles

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 hours

Total Time: 5 hours 10 minutes

These real fruit popsicles are a refreshing summer treat that will cool you down on a hot summer day. Perfect for all ages!

Ingredients

3 cups fresh or frozen fruit
Juice of 1 lime
Pinch of salt

Instructions

If you're using frozen fruit, thaw the fruit first (heat it in a microwave for a minute or move to the fridge the night before you want to use it).
Blend your fruit with an immersion blender and add the lime juice and salt.
Put the lid on and slide the popsicle sticks into the holes provided with your mold.
Set upright in your freezer for 5-6 hours, or until frozen.
Remove from the mold and put in plastic storage bags, or eat them right away.

Notes

- For a layered look, use multiple fruits (and coconut milk if you'd like white in there) and put one type of fruit in at a time.
- For a swirled look, just move the popsicle stick around a bit.
- To remove the popsicles from the mold, you should be able to wiggle them around and get them to come out. But if they don't, run the outside of the mold under hot water for 10-15 seconds just to loosen them. Then wiggle them out.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 148Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 41mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 2gSugar: 6gProtein: 2g

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2 Comments

Tyler Johnson says:

August 20, 2019 at 8:44 am

That’s good to know that homemade popsicles can be healthy. I would think that would be a good way to get your kids to eat more fruit, or even vegetables if you could sneak them in. I’ll have to consider getting some fruit puree to make some popsicles with.

1. Megan says:
  
  August 20, 2019 at 12:19 pm
  
  Yes definitely! It’s easy to make fruit puree from fresh or frozen fruit. Just blend it up :). Thanks for stopping by.