There are plenty of vegan food coloring brands out there on the market. And we’ve listed some of the best ones in this guide.
Be sure to go to the very end for a video on vegan food coloring that we think you’ll love.
Let’s get started.
Quick Summary
As we always say, please double-check ingredients before buying and on the packaging – especially if you’ve got food allergies. We do our best to keep our lists as accurate as possible, but things get outdated, and we make mistakes from time to time!
Read Also: Easy to Follow Vegan Grocery List
Watkins Food Coloring
This food coloring is a liquid type.
It’s free from artificial colors and dyes. The colors are derived from pure vegetable juices and spices.
Because these are plant-based colors and free from artificial dyes, sometimes the colors can be a little less vibrant, but they get the job done.
Even though they are derived from plants like beets and spices like turmeric, they don’t leave a taste in your food like using the actual spice or vegetable juice would.
These colorants come in 4 shades. Red, blue, yellow, and green, all of which are available on their website.
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Watkins Red Food Coloring
This color is derived from beet juice.
It does say on their website that for optimal performance on this color, you should mix it with two teaspoons of cream of tartar first and that the color works best in recipes with whole eggs.
However, on its own, it does still have great reviews. People state the color is vibrant the shade range is incredible. From Light pink to bright red, this color does it all.
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Watkins Yellow Food Coloring
This color is derived from turmeric.
Though turmeric is a very strong spice, it does not leave a lingering flavor in this colorant.
Because they use turmeric as the pigment, it is very bright. From pastel yellow to bright and sunny, a few drops of this go a long way.
Glycerin, water, polysorbate 80, turmeric.
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Watkins Blue Food Coloring
This color is derived from spirulina.
Spirulina is actually green in color, so they had to do a little tweaking to make this one happen, but the color payoff is phenomenal.
It gives vibrant blues of every shade, and it doesn’t leave a lingering taste of the powder they used either.
Glycerin, water, trehalose, spirulina extract, sodium citrate.
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Watkins Green Food Coloring
This color is derived from a mix of turmeric and spirulina.
It’s handy having a green already made because sometimes it can be hard to get the blue and yellow just right to the color you want.
This also has no taste despite using two strong spices as its base.
It is noted on their site that with green, the color may change if baked at a temperature higher than 350 degrees.
Water, glycerin, polysorbate 80, trehalose, spirulina extract, turmeric, sodium citrate
Color Garden Pure Natural Food Colors
These colors are 100% plant-based, using fruits and vegetables for pigment.
They are lively, tasteless, and odorless colorants that don’t change the flavor or texture of your foods and beverages.
They come in little packets, kind of like soy sauce at take-out Chinese restaurants, and that is enough color for 1 pound of icing, which is the most common use for these.
They do oxidize quickly, so storing leftovers may not be an option because the color will change.
Unfortunately, these are not baking stable, so they turn dark brown if baked. You can play with it a little bit and maybe get the color to stay a tiny bit, but they haven’t had much success with testing it, so it’s doubtful anyone else will. But you can use this to color loads of stuff, including sugar for sprinkles.
They have a shelf life of about a year. After that, the colors can mold because they’re made from natural ingredients.
Color Garden Red Food Coloring
This color is derived from beet juice. These colors do contain less than 1% ethyl alcohol. By using natural ingredients, these colors are subject to bacteria breeding. The presence of alcohol helps kill that bacteria and allows for the colors to be fresh and have a longer shelf life. You can purchase these packets individually or in the assortment.
Beet Juice, Turmeric, Annatto. All colors contain less than 1% ethyl alcohol to preserve freshness.
Color Garden Orange Food Coloring
Again, I love premixed colors because it can be hard to get that one-to-one ratio and make the perfect color. Especially in this case because the colors come in packets, not droppers.
This color is derived from annatto. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a tropical fruit, and its pulp is used for the dye.
Annatto, Beet Juice, Turmeric. All colors contain less than 1% ethyl alcohol to preserve freshness.
Color Garden Yellow Food Coloring
This color is derived from turmeric, as most yellow dyes are.
And even though that is literally the only ingredient besides alcohol, they still maintain that these will not change the taste or texture of whatever you’re dying.
Turmeric. It contains less than 1% ethyl alcohol to preserve freshness.
Color Garden Green Food Coloring
This premixed green is beautiful.
On their website, they have examples of the colors in use, and this has got to be the prettiest green hue of any brand.
This color is derived from red cabbage and turmeric.
The two of these together create almost an emerald green that looks amazing when decorating.
Red Cabbage Juice, Turmeric, Baking Soda. All colors contain less than 1% ethyl alcohol to preserve freshness.
Color Garden Blue Food Coloring
This color is derived from red cabbage juice.
Because they use red cabbage, which has a very deep saturation, the blue is vivid. But not so vivid that it’s not good for mixing.
On their website, they have absolutely stunning examples of purple.
Red Cabbage Juice, Baking Soda. All colors contain less than 1% ethyl alcohol to preserve freshness
Chefmaster Natural Food Coloring
These are my favorite food colorants because there is so much variety.
Eight colors! They take all the mixing and guesswork away and make baking simple and easy colors.
They are bake stable so that you can use them in cakes and all other baked goods and frostings and toppings.
The formula is lightweight, odorless, and tasteless. So, it won’t stink up the food or change the texture. The fact that these are plant-based blows my mind because they perform like they’re artificial—vibrant and beautiful colors.
They also sell them in large bottles if you’re a baking aficionado.
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Chefmaster Red Food Coloring
This color is derived from beets, lycopene which comes from tomatoes, and red cabbage.
By mixing all of these bright hues together, they’re able to create a red that stands out.
It’s crimson, almost as if you used McCormick or something of that nature.