Dragon Fruit Skin Jelly
Welcome back to another installment of Scrappy Cooking! For this recipe, we will be using the ENTIRE dragon fruit to make a delicious dragon fruit skin jelly!
Dragon fruit, also known as pitaya, is a fruit of several cactus species native to the Americas. It earned its name because of its vibrant, leathery skin with “spikes”. However, the skin usually gets discarded, while the flesh is enjoyed on its own, or as part of a dessert.
If you were hesitant to use dragon fruit in your meals, let me reassure you. It has a lovely, mild flavor, and this dragon fruit skin jelly (or jello, for my American friends) recipe is very simple to make. After seeing this dessert made with gelatin, I KNEW I had to veganize it using agar agar. Happy to report that it works!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Instead of discarding the skin, we will be using it to create this dessert, thereby reducing food waste.
- Introducing a new ingredient to your diet can be daunting, but this recipe makes a familiar favorite out of a novelty fruit!
- As far as desserts go, this one is healthy, made entirely with whole foods (literally!), and low in calories.
- If you’ve missed jelly, agar agar is a great way to make a vegan-friendly version.
- Who says you must sacrifice style for substance? It tastes great and it looks so pretty!
How to Make This Recipe
Peel the very outer shell of the dragon fruit, then remove the skin intact and cut it into large slices, cleaning out the centers thoroughly and saving for a smoothie or another recipe. We will use some of the flesh for this recipe, too!
In a pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil, and add the dragon fruit skin. Cook until the color has integrated with the water, then remove the dragon fruit skin, leaving only the liquid behind.
Add the maple syrup and agar agar. Bring it back to a simmer and stir until agar agar is fully dissolved.
Chop some of the dragon fruit flesh. It’s up to you how much you’d like to add to the dish. Transfer the hot liquid to a container, and add in your chopped dragon fruit.
Place in the freezer for a half-hour or let it rest in the fridge for a few hours until your dessert has solidified into a jelly. Cut it into bite-size pieces and enjoy!
Hack It!
- If you want to infuse your jelly with more flavor, replace water with juice. Dragon fruit skin will still add the lovely color to apple juice, pineapple juice or even orange juice.
- You can also improvise and add more fruit chunks to your jelly, depending on the texture and flavor you are trying to achieve.
- If you have kids, you can make individual jelly cups, or use a fun jelly mold to encourage them to eat this treat!
Store This Recipe
Store in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Other Recipes You’ll Enjoy
- Vegan Dandelion Honey
- Date Seed Coffee
- Strawberry Top Vinegar
- Aquafaba Chocolate Pudding
- Almond Pulp Cheese Ball
For more scrappy recipes, keep an eye on my Instagram, and don’t forget to check out the PlantYou meal planner! With new recipes uploaded every single week, you can enjoy the easy yet diverse whole-food vegan recipes. What’s more, you can customize your weekly plans, and take advantage of the checkable shopping list generated by the app.
And did you hear the exciting news? My debut cookbook is now available to preorder! 140+ plant-based recipes for every occasion!
The Recipe: Dragon Fruit Skin Jelly
Ingredients
- 3 dragon fruits
- 4 cup water
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 3 tsp agar agar
Equipment
- Pot
- knife
- chopping board
- Vegetable peeler
- Jelly container/mold
Instructions
- Peel the very outer shell of the dragon fruit, then remove the skin intact and cut it into large slices, cleaning out the centers thoroughly and saving for a smoothie or other recipe.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil, and add the dragon fruit skins.
- Cook until the color has integrated with the water, then pull out the dragon fruit skin leaving only the liquid behind.
- Add the maple syrup and agar agar and bring to a boil.
- Chop up some dragon fruit flesh (approx. 1 cup).
- Transfer to a container, and add in your chopped dragon fruit.
- Place in the freezer for a half hour and enjoy immediately.
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