Bet you sas these stunning striped juice pops, clicked on the image, didn’t even bother reading the headnote, and rushed straight to the recipe so you could jot down the ingredients to grab from the store…and then you saw beet and carrot juice and thought “What the…?!” We know. Hold on a sec. Let us explain. We swear that what really comes through is the innate sweetness of the root vegetables in marvelous harmony with watermelon and apples rather than any lingering vegetal-ness. Truly. What results is magnificently sweet, unconscionably healthful, and altogether lovely. No one will ever know there’s vegetables as long as you don’t say anything. It can be our little secret.–Renee Schettler Rossi
Striped Juice Pops
Equipment
- Ice pop molds or small Dixie cups, popsicle sticks
Ingredients
For the watermelon-beet juice
- 1 1/2 pounds watermelon (in case you take a ruler to the store, this equates to a rind-on wedge about 5 inches by 4 inches), preferably seedless
- 2 tablespoons red beet juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 teaspoons agave nectar (preferably light, not dark, agave) or runny honey
For the carrot-apple juice
- 1 cup carrot juice
- 1/2 cup apple juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 teaspoons agave nectar (preferably light, not dark, agave) or runny honey
Directions
- To make the juice pops, cut the watermelon flesh from the rind and roughly chop it, removing any seeds. Place it in a blender and process until liquefied. Pour the watermelon mush through a fine-mesh strainer into a small bowl, pressing the pulp with a flexible spatula to extract as much juice as possible. Discard the solids. You should have about 1 cup of watermelon juice. Stir in the beet juice, lime juice, and agave or honey.
- In another bowl, stir together the carrot juice, apple juice, lime juice, and agave or honey.
- Pour the watermelon mixture into a measuring cup and fill each popsicle mold about a quarter full. Insert sticks and freeze until set, about 30 minutes.
- Fill each mold another quarter of the way full with the carrot juice mixture. Return to the freezer and freeze until set, 30 to 45 minutes.
- Repeat once more with each juice mixture to make 4 layers total. Freeze until firm, at least 6 hours or up to overnight.
- To unmold the pops, run hot water over the outsides of the molds for a few seconds, then gently tug on the sticks.
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Recipe Testers’ Reviews
These pops are absolutely inspired, and I am in awe. The flavor is balanced and rich, sweet-tart, a little mineraly, and so cooling to your core. I normally drink juice in the morning, but since the temperature was above 80 degrees twice this week when I awoke, I ditched the glass and enjoyed a pop while I walked the dog. Heaven! Kids will equally enjoy this recipe. If they (or you) need a little extra sweetness to get over the slight carrot essence, swap the lime juice for 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in each of the prepared juice mixtures. This should enhance the sweetness of the fruits and veggies better than the lime, without making them too tart. When adding the sticks, wait until the second layer is almost frozen, otherwise the sticks will not stand up straight — plus, inserting them so deeply into the first layer doesn’t leave much to hold on to. While working, keep the juices refrigerated. This prevents too much melting of the previously frozen layers when building the pops.
These sounded way too healthy, but they turned out to be really tasty. Perfect for summer. The striping is a little fiddly, but either the watermelon or the carrot mixtures would be good for a single-flavor ice pop. It only took about a cup and a half of watermelon to make one cup of juice. This easy recipe is fun for kids to make and eat.
Originally published August 17, 2017
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I’m looking a mold that creates flat, ridge-less popsicles.
There is this system from Zoku.
If someone could tell me where those particular popsicle molds came from it would be much appreciated.
Chris, I’m not sure what the author used, but this popsicle maker is pretty close.
Brilliant. I love both beets and carrots for their sweetness and how it plays off creamy-salty salad dressings/dips or just plain sour cream. But I’d never have thought of this. The recipe is going in my hot weather folder today. Love it!
Excellent, ruthie!