How to Make Red Food Coloring From Scratch Without Beets

Many people prefer to avoid commercial food colorings, either because of a specific allergy or a general sense that natural colorings are healthier. Some colors are easier to achieve than others. Either turmeric or saffron, for example, will provide a vivid yellow. Beets are commonly used as a natural red coloring, but can stain clothing and kitchen linens quite badly. Other foods such as pomegranate and strawberries can give varying shades of pink and purple-red, but raspberries produce the deepest color aside from beets.

Rinse the raspberries and place them in the small saucepan. Place the saucepan on a burner at low-medium heat, and heat the berries gently until they soften and release their juices.

Scoop the softened berries into a blender, using a flexible spatula to "squeegee" the juice from the pot's bottom and sides. Process the berries to a puree in the blender. Alternately, use an immersion blender to puree the berries in the pot.

Fold several layers of cheesecloth, and line a colander with them. Place the colander over a bowl, and empty the blender or pot into the cheesecloth lining. Again, use the flexible spatula to get all the juice from the blender or pot.

Press firmly with the back of the spatula to extract as much juice as possible from the berries. When all the juice is extracted, pour the juice into a storage jar and refrigerate until needed.