3-Ingredient Vegan Gummy Bears Recipe (2024)

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Learning to make your own vegan gummy bears is the easiest thing ever! The results are so fun that you are going to want to make it again and again.

This recipe is super simple and only uses 3 easy ingredients that you can switch up and customize completely to your tastes!

I made this recipe originally for my boyfriend because he is obsessed with gummy bears and fruit snacks and I wanted to try a vegan version. Update: he loved it!

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However, they are truly one of the best Vegan Recipes For Kids!

Not only do kids love eating vegan gummy bears, they can also help make them every step of the way!

From choosing the flavor to helping fill the gummy bear molds and then taking them out of the fridge and popping them out, this recipe is a great way to get kids involved!

If you are going to be making it already for the kids, why not teach them some life skills and have them help?

The best part about making gelatin-free gummies is that you can customize the flavor!

When you buy gummy bears from the store, you are stuck with what you get! But with these fun homemade vegan gummy bears, you can change it up to your heart’s content!

You can also choose the amount and type of sweetener that you put in the vegan gummies recipe!

I choose white sugar, but you can also use agave, maple syrup, or just leave the sweetener off completely and just use the flavor from the juice to sweeten the recipe!

Either way, I know you are going to fall in love with making your vegan own vegan gummy bears for all occasions!

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Are Gummy Bears Vegan?

The short answer is no, gummy bears are not vegan!

The long answer is, no, gummy bears are not vegan, they aren’t even vegetarian!

Gummy bears use gelatin which is made from animal bones. It is most often made by boiling animal bones, but skins, tendons and ligaments can also be used and boiled too.

For whatever reason, I didn’t check ingredients hard enough in the past and I am kind of shocked to find out all of the things I had accidentally eaten that contained gelatin.

There is no such thing as vegetarian gummy bears or vegan ones at the regular store. Some health food stores do carry vegan brands.

Fruit snacks that are popular with the kids also contain gelatin.

Always make sure to check the ingredients to ensure that it is gelatin-free.

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Where To Find Gummy Bear Molds

In order to make your vegan gummy bears, you are going to need to buy a gummy bear mold.

They usually cost about $7-$12 from Amazon and come with a little dropper that allows you to carefully drop the liquid mixture into each tiny bear.

This is the Gummy Bear Mold I Use! It comes with four molds and two droppers so that you can have someone help you or save one for when the first gets lost!

This mold allows you to do Both Gummy Bears And Worms and also comes with a dropper of its own. It comes with a variety of animals, not just bears, so make sure you want that! This is a good choice if you want to make vegan fruit snacks and prefer options other than just the bears.

There are a ton of options on Amazon, but I am very happy with the mold I chose because it came with four molds which allowed me to make pretty many bears all at one time!

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How To Make Vegan Gummy Bears

As I said above, making homemade gummy bears is painfully easy!

It requires only 3 ingredients and just a little bit of your time!

First, you are going to choose what flavors you want.

The flavors in my photo are cranberry, apple, grape, and grapefruit. You can choose literally anything under the sun that is in a liquid form that you want to eat as a gummy!

You are going to need 1 cup of each juice to fill four gummy bear molds so just keep that in mind when buying the juices!

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Believe it or not, 1 cup of liquid will make A LOT of vegan fruit snacks, so you can halve this recipe or even cut it into 1/4’s if you don’t want to waste the mixture when you are done.

You may even want to buy multiple gummy bear molds so you can make a large batch!

The first thing you are going to do is put the fruit juice or liquid of your choice in a small saucepan on the stove.

Then, add in your Agar Agar Powder. This is what is going to make the vegan gummy bears gel up and become solid! Make sure to get powder NOT flakes or else this recipe won’t work well!

You can buy Agar Agar Powder from Amazon or at your local health food store.

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Then, add in your sweetener of your choice. I recommend 2-3 tablespoons of sweetener, but you can use more or less to taste.

You can also use any sweetener you like. You can use granulated sugar, maple syrup, agave and more!

Play it up to your tastes.

Once the mixture comes to a boil, remove it from the heat and let it cool for a few seconds.

Then, transfer it to a small bowl to continue cooling for about 5-10 minutes.

You want the mixture to not be boiling, but not so cooled that it is starting to gel and you have a hard time working with it.

You can cool the gummy bear mixture in the pot you boiled it in, but I find that this takes longer and that transferring it to another container helps!

Then, take out a big plate and put your gummy bear mold on it!

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I find that putting the mold on a large plate is a good way to transfer the vegan gummy bears to the fridge in order to cool.

Use the little dropper that comes with the mold and carefully drop a little gummy mixture into each bear.

This is easier than it sounds, but does take a little bit of time. Not too long to hate it, but it is a slower process!

Once you fill up the molds, transfer them to the fridge to cool for 10-20 minutes.

If you aren’t sure, try popping one of the Agar Agar gummies out and see if it retains its shape.

The mixture will gel fairly quickly and the vegan fruit snacks are ready to eat in around 10-15 minutes after being popped into the fridge!

Then, repeat until you have enough flavors! I generally boil 2-3 pots of gummy mixture at one time so they can all cool while I work on the first flavor!

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How To Store The Vegan Gummy Bears

Storing the vegan gummy bears is super easy! Simply place them in an air-tight container in the fridge and they should keep for 3-5 days!

You can also freeze the vegan fruit snacks for 2-3 months in a freezer-safe container!

To eat, simply let them thaw out on the counter until they are room temperature! Then you can enjoy!

I recommend making a large batch so that you can save some or at least have some for a few days! Despite there being quite a few bears, the bears are small so the finished amount using 4 molds isn’t quite that much!

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Did You Try This Recipe?

If so, I would love to keep in touch! I enjoy seeing photos and comments about the recipes that you make! You can follow me on Instagram and I will repost your goodies in my stories and comment on it too! Just tag me at @wowitsveggie and hashtag #wowitsveggie. I can’t wait to see what you make!

Yield: 200 gummy bears

3-Ingredient Vegan Gummy Bears

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Learning how to make your own homemade vegan gummy bears is so easy! You can customize the flavor with pretty much any liquid you like as well as the sweetener that you would like to use! This vegan gummy bears recipe is perfect for kids and adults alike.

Prep Time20 minutes

Additional Time10 minutes

Total Time30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup fruit juice [or any liquid of your choice]
  • 2 teaspoons Agar Agar powder [NOT flakes!]
  • 2-3 tablespoons sweetener [sugar/maple syrup/agave]

Instructions

  1. Place your Gummy Bear Mold on a large plate and set aside.
  2. In a small saucepan, place juice, sweetener, and Agar Agar Powder and bring to a boil. This usually takes about 5 minutes. Remove from heat after boiling for 1 minute and let the mixture cool down for about 5-10 minutes. I find that putting it into another bowl to cool helps it cool faster. You just don't want the vegan gummy bear mixture to be scalding hot when you pour it into the mold! But not cool enough that it starts to harden completely.
  3. Using the dropper included in your gummy bear mold, drop the liquid into the little bears until the mold is filled up.
  4. Transfer the large plate with the filled mold to the fridge and let it harden for 10-20 minutes.
  5. Once vegan gummy bears are hardened, take the mold out of the fridge and pop them out onto a plate or into a container.
  6. Repeat this process with each flavor!

Notes

  • One cup of juice or liquid makes a lot of bears! If you are only using one tray, you may only use 1/3 of the liquid and have a lot left over. You can halve this recipe if you only bought one package and want to make a lot of different flavors without wasting, or you can reserve the rest of the gelled mixture for another dessert!
  • This recipe makes 200 bears [each mold that I linked makes 50 bears] 200 seems like a lot, but it ends up being no more than 1.5 to 2 cups of vegan gummy bears once they are hardened because they are quite small and tiny. You may want to make multiple batches of 200 if you are going to want to eat them by the handful!
  • Nutrition Information

    Yield

    4

    Serving Size

    1

    Amount Per ServingCalories 49Total Fat 0gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 0mgSodium 37mgCarbohydrates 12gFiber 0gSugar 11gProtein 0g

    3-Ingredient Vegan Gummy Bears Recipe (2024)

    FAQs

    What are the 3 main ingredients in gummy bears? ›

    Gummy bear
    Gummy bears produced by Haribo, the first company to manufacture gummy bears
    TypeGummy candy
    Place of originGermany
    Created byHans Riegel Sr.
    Main ingredientsGelatin, sugar, glucose syrup, starch, flavoring, food coloring, citric acid
    1 more row

    What are vegan gummies made of? ›

    Agar agar is a thickener made from algae! This vegan gummy bears recipe is made vegan by the use of agar agar powder. Traditionally gummies are made with gelatin which is a thickener derived from animal bones, but instead we're using agar agar!

    How much pectin to use for gummies? ›

    Fruit Gummies with High Methoxyl Pectin

    1/2 cup sugar. 2 tablespoons High Methoxyl Pectin. 1 tablespoon lemon juice (or citric acid) Optional: Natural food coloring.

    Can I make gummies without a mold? ›

    You can use fun and fancy shaped little molds, but you don't have to! I have used the smaller shapes, but I also love using a regular ice cube silicone mold too. If you don't have trays like this, don't worry! You can use a glass dish with sides and cut out the gummies into squares.

    How long do homemade gummy bears last? ›

    Let the gummy bears set for 1~2 hours in the refrigerator. Pop out the gummy bears from the mold. Place them in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 7 days. You can pack the gummies to-go or in lunch boxes at room temperature for a few hours without them becoming too soft.

    What is the difference between vegan gummies and regular gummies? ›

    The secret behind these gummies is the use of a gelatin substitute. Regular gummies use something called gelatin, which comes from animals. On the other hand, vegan gummies are made with plant-based alternatives.

    Are vegan gummies healthier? ›

    Vegan candies are healthier than conventional candies, which are made with ingredients like animal fat, corn syrup, and artificial colors. But what about taste? Vegan candies use familiar ingredients like sugar, honey, and molasses from sugar cane or beets.

    Is gelatin in gummies vegan? ›

    Unfortunately, most commercial gummy bears contain gelatin – which is made from ground cartilage, bones, and other areas of pigs. For vegans, that means lots of gummy sweets are definitely not vegan-friendly.

    What does vinegar do to gummy bears? ›

    The gummy bear we put in vinegar did expand, but lost all of its gummy bear shape and just became a blob. We believe that the acid in the vinegar dissolved the gummy bear completely. The answer to our gummy bear experiment was simple. Osmosis!

    Why are my homemade gummies so soft? ›

    When the gummy is too soft it generally means that the amount of gelatin in the recipe is too low, or the ratio of water is too high.

    Why are my homemade gummies wet? ›

    Citric acid is extremely water soluble. If you apply the citric acid, sugar mix when you remove the gummies from the mold, it will pull the moisture out of your gelatin causing it to melt the sugar making the candy wet and sticky.

    What happens if you use too much pectin in a recipe? ›

    You will need approximately half the amount of pectin that is indicated by your recipe. Please be careful when adding pectin as too much will leave you with a set that is too solid and it is not possible to rectify this so always add less than you think is necessary and test the set and then add more if required.

    Why won't my pectin gummies set? ›

    If the sugar in the recipe is correct and it is still fluid once cooled then there is an issue with the acidity in the recipe. Make sure your recipe reaches 3.6 or lower on the pH scale. This is the prime pH for allowing pectin to set. To make a sugar free pectin gummy, you will need amidated LM pectin.

    Can you use pectin instead of gelatin in gummies? ›

    Can you use pectin instead of gelatin? Yep! You can in fact substitute pectin for gelatin, you just need to keep in mind the different textures and where they were derived from, but both will act as a gelling agent for your formula.

    What ingredient is in gummies? ›

    Gummy candies are made mostly of corn syrup, sucrose, gelatin, starch and water. In addition, minor amounts of coloring and flavoring agents are used. Food acids such as citric acid and malic acid are also added in order to give a tart flavor to gummies.

    What is the gross ingredient in gummy bears? ›

    Gelatin. Added to a variety of yogurts, Jell-O products and confections such as gummy bears, fruit snacks and jelly babies, gelatin is about 50 percent boiled pig skin and 25 percent cow bones.

    What is the main ingredient in Haribo gummy bears? ›

    GLUCOSE SYRUP (FROM WHEAT OR CORN), SUGAR, GELATIN, DEXTROSE (FROM WHEAT OR CORN), CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF: CITRIC ACID, ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL FLAVORS, PALM OIL, PALM KERNEL OIL, CARNAUBA WAX, WHITE BEESWAX, YELLOW BEESWAX, YELLOW 5, RED 40, BLUE 1. MAY CONTAIN: WHEAT, TRACES OF MILK.

    What part of the pig is in gummy bears? ›

    Two of the major ingredients in gummy candies are gelatin and carnauba wax. Gelatin is made from the cartilage, bones, hooves, or skin of slaughtered pigs, and sometimes other animals. “Carnauba wax, a key ingredient in car wax that produces a brilliant shine, is also found in gummy bears and fruit-flavored snacks.

    References

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