Happy Sunday, everyone! I just returned home from a lovely bachelorette weekend in Asheville celebrating my friend, Katie, the soon to be bride. In honor of the occasion, I decided it was high time I gave this vegan jello shot thing a try.
Jello shots are arguably the most perfect party treat. Tasty and boozy, but not too strong, these babies will have even your most conservative guests calling out, “Shots, shots, shots, shots, shots!” (Singing to the tune of LMFAO, of course)
The first step is to remove the pulpy flesh part of the limes. This is a tedious task, but once you get the hang of it, it’s not so bad. Begin by cutting the lime in half and squeezing out as much juice as possible. You’ll need a quarter cup for this recipe, but you’re probably going to end up with way more than that, which means that this is the perfect opportunity to also try a Mexican Martini.
The trick is to peel large pieces of the flesh out by starting at the corners of the lime. It helps if you flip the lime inside out, too, and it especially helps if you have an assistant like my fabulous sister-in-law, Caroline!
Once you’ve got your limes ready, balance them on a mini cupcake pan so that they form little cups and make the vegan cosmopolitan jello using cranberry juice, lime juice, agave, vodka, cointreau, and agar powder. Unlike a typical jello shot, these are made with fruit juices and agave instead of lots of refined sugar. The agar powder is the vegan substitute for the gelatin.
When your jello mixture is ready, pour it into the lime halves, filling them all the way to the top. At this point, your jello mixture will be completely liquid, don’t worry, it will solidify in the fridge.
It took about two hours for the jello to set completely. A sharp serrated knife will work best for cutting the jello shots into quarters and your final product will be a total show stopper!
- 10-12 limes
- 1 cup cranberry juice
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice (strained to remove pulp)
- ¼ cup agave nectar
- ¾ cup vodka
- ¼ cup cointreau
- 1¼ tsp. agar powder
- Make sure that all of your ingredients are at room temperature.
- Slice your limes in half long ways and squeeze out lime juice. Save ¼ cup of lime juice for this recipe.
- Flip the lime inside out. Starting at one end, use your finger or a spoon to peel the flesh of the lime away from the rind. After most of the flesh is removed, scrape out the inside with a spoon to remove any remaining pulp.
- Flip the lime half back to its original shape and balance open side up on a mini cupcake pan.
- Whisk together the cranberry juice, agave and lime juice in a small pot.
- Sprinkle the agar powder on top and allow it to soak in for 5 minutes.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce heat. Allow the mixture to simmer for about 3 minutes until the agar powder is completely dissolved.
- Remove from heat and stir in the vodka and cointreau.
- Pour the jello mixture into each lime half. You'll want them filled as close to the top as possible without overflowing.
- Transfer to the refrigerator and allow to set for about 2 hours.
- Once set, cut each lime half in half again. To do this, place the limes jello side down and use a sharp serrated knife to cut through the rind. If your jello shot comes out of the lime, it needs more time in the fridge.
- Serve and enjoy!
These turned out GREAT! Better than the non-vegan version in EVERY way! Thanks for bringing them to the weekend!
Thanks for being my assistant!!!!
These are AWESOME! And yours turned out perfectly. I’d love to give this a shot (no pun intended 😉 ) in the near future!
when you mix in the vodka, should the mixture be hot?
also when you pour the vodka into the cups, does the mixture have to be hot or cold?
sorry this is quite late since you posted this a white ago, but i just came across it
The vodka should be room temp when you add it. THe mixture itself should still be hot. Once you put it in the fridge and the whole mixture cools, the jello shots will start to solidify. Does that help? Let me know if you have any other questions!
Okay. Let me clarify a little further. You want your mixture to be hot. The reason I recommend keeping the liquors at room temp rather than cold (like from the refrigerator) is that unlike regular jello, agar will actually start to set at room temp. So, if your mixture were to cool to room temp before you poured it into your cups, you would run into trouble. Basically, you want your mixture hot or at least warmer than room temp until you pour it into your containers.
I was so excited to make these. Unfortunately they were a complete failure.
They hadn’t set up after three hours in the fridge, so I left them overnight, and they still fall right out of the lime peel when I flip them over to slice them from the back. I had only marginally better success slicing them from the top, but the agar mixture was still really soft, not at all clear and firm like the pictures look. It’s like they didn’t really set at all.
What I could have done wrong (?):
I made my own cranberry juice (far less sugar)
I allowed the simmered mix to cool slightly in a cool water bath (to preserve the alcohol), but it was still hot when I poured it into the peels.
I may just try adding more agar powder. I remember using it in microbiology and our discs never had slimy agar mix.
Oh no! So sorry to hear they didn’t firm up. I would also try adding more powder, but I can’t really identify why they didn’t turn out. You did use agar powder, not flakes, right?
I hope you are able to fix them. Good luck!
I did use agar powder. I’m going to try a different bag next time to see if maybe the batch I used was bad.
Definitely going to try again!
Can the Agar flakes be used? Would you just use more?? Or did I just buy this stuff for nothing!
Smh -_- I can’t get agar powder in my town!!
Hi Melissa, I’ve never tried it myself, but my research indicates that you can substitute agar flakes for agar powder. 1 tsp agar powder = 1 tbsp agar flakes. Let me know how it goes!!
Can I make these 24 hours in advance by keeping them in the fridge ?
Yes! The longer they have on the fridge, the better.
That’s awesome !! Thanks !!!
When I made these last Year, the only bad part was the lime rind giving the shots a super bitter taste. I’m planning on remaking these for my friend’s birthday on Friday, I’m just going to put them in regular shot cup things.
But I’m trying to figure out…how many shots does this recipe make? I might need to make a few more since I haven’t seen her in so long.
Cheers!
These look amazing…I want to make them for a bunch of non-vegans. What is the texture like? Is there a difference between this and gelatin?
Hi, I couldn’t get agar powder, but have arrowroot (tapioca starch) I was wondering what ratio I would need to replace it with?
Hi! Unfortunately, nothing really works like agar does…trust me I’ve tried and you just end up with a goopy mess.
Hi Elisabeth, I am planning to make this for the weekend party. How many will this serve or how many half lemons can it create? I am going to use the dixie shot cups for this.
20-24
I’m certain you made a mistake in the ingredients. It should be 1-1/4 TBSP.
of agar
Hi James! If using agar powder it should be teaspoons. If using flakes, you’re right, it should be tablespoons. Thanks for the comment!
I don’t know what happened but these didn’t set! They’ve been in the fridge all night (made them yesterday) and still not done.
I’m resisting to throw them out since I used grey goose but i don’t know what to do to fix them
Help!
Oh no! Can you mix in more agar agar powder. That should do it. So I’d pour it all back together, reheat and add more agar agar. Good luck!
Note to self…there is a big difference between agar POWDER and agar FLAKES…sigh. First batch was runny but yummy. Finger crossed for the second batch! At least I don’t have to re-scoop those limes.