Rainbow Ribbon Jello
This rainbow ribbon Jello is one of my grandma’s signature desserts – she always makes it for Easter and other spring and summer parties. She layers the colors of the rainbow, but you could certainly adapt it to whatever colors you’d like!
My grandma on my dad’s side has a number of signature recipes that we can count on showing up at most family gatherings. At Christmas, it’s her famous Decker Cake. During the spring and summer you’ll see her broccoli salad, strawberry pretzel salad and ribbon Jello all at least once. I’m a total sucker for old-school Jello desserts. As a kid, both my mom and grandma would routinely have a bowl of Jello stashed in the fridge for a quick weeknight dessert with some whipped cream on top. It’s a comfort food, for sure, and I love all of the different types of fun desserts that can be made from it. My grandma’s ribbon Jello recipe has four layers of colors with white layers in between. Since I’m a stereotypical first-born that likes things just so, I needed my ribbon to be transformed into a rainbow. Such a picky girl I can be! I took my grandma’s recipe, added more colors, increased the white layer mixture, and voilà! I have a rainbow!
Aren’t old recipes just the best? I love the handwritten ones more than anything!
This is my mom’s written copy of my grandma’s recipe…
When I went to the store to buy my boxes of Jello, I was suddenly aware that I hadn’t shopped for Jello in quite some time. They have some pretty cool flavors now! When I was a kid, orange was, well… Orange. Yellow was always Lemon. This was life, right? Sort of like how the sky is blue. Now they have mango and “island pineapple”! My rainbow Jello got a little tropical kick, love these new flavors!
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Doesn’t it look like I’m about to color Easter eggs?
This is the point where I am completely, totally, 100% honest with you. This recipe takes a long time. Halfway through I realized why my grandma’s recipe only contains four colors. You’ll need to devote the better part of a day to assembling this, but the result is absolutely awesome. The good news is also that once you mix everything together in the beginning, it takes less than 5 minutes to pour on each new layer; the time is just spent waiting for the layers to set up. As long as you don’t have anywhere to run off to, this is an incredibly simple recipe that you can work on while doing other things at home.
I love all of these bright colors and the accompanying bright flavors! This is such a fun dessert for any summer get-together and would be a blast for a child’s birthday party as well. I love the look of the rainbow, but you could use any combination of colors you’d like.
A few notes on the recipe:
- My grandma recommends putting the 9×13-inch pan in the freezer while you mix together your layers so that the first layer will set up quickly in the refrigerator and get you moving on to the next layer faster.
- You can absolutely choose to cut down on the number of colors/layers. If you do so, you just need to scale down the white filling the appropriate amount.
- The Jello colors should not gel sitting out at room temperature, however my very last color (red) started to set before I got it on the white layer. I popped it in the microwave for about 20 seconds to bring it back to a liquid state, let it cool for a few minutes, and then poured it on. It worked just fine!
One year ago: Easy Homemade French Fries
Rainbow Ribbon Jello
Ingredients
For the Jello Layers:
- 6 3-ounce boxes (85g) Jello, 1 each red, orange, yellow, green, blue & purple (or colors of your choice)
- 6 cups (1.5 l) boiling water
- 3 cups (750 ml) cold water
For the White Layers:
- 4 cups (976 ml) milk
- 1 cup (250 ml) boiling water
- 4 envelopes Knox gelatin
- 24 ounces (680.39 ml) vanilla yogurt
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Get 6 small bowls out to start. Mix 1 box of Jello with 1 cup boiling water and ½ cup cold water. Do this with all of the colors at the same time.
- Heat the milk in a saucepan over low heat just until it reaches a lukewarm temperature. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together 1 cup boiling water with the envelopes of Knox gelatin. Whisk together until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Add the warm milk, yogurt, sugar and vanilla extract and whisk until thoroughly combined and completely smooth with no lumps.
- Pour the first color into a 9x13-inch pan and refrigerate until set (about 45 minutes, but can vary depending on the temperature of your fridge and how full it is). Once it's set, very gently pour 1½ cups of the yogurt mixture on top. Return to the refrigerator for 45 minutes, or until set. Repeat with the colors and yogurt mixture until the last color is used (you will have some yogurt mixture leftover). When finished, refrigerate for at least another hour. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve; refrigerate leftovers.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
I would live to make this for my sons 1st birthday. How well does it stay together? If I cut it into pieces will they stay together our slide apart? I am trying to figure out how to serve it that will be kid finger friendly.
Hi Niki, The layers stay together, but they are rather high. I usually use a fork to eat this. If you’re serving it to kids and want them to be able to eat it with their fingers, I would probably use a larger pan so that the end product is not so high. Enjoy!
My mom cut it into 1-inch cubes and arranged them on a pretty plate. We are then with our fingers – no mess at all! It stays together unless enterprising kids pull the layers apart. It also doesn’t melt. Had amazing staying power throughout an entire event.
sorry, didn’t like your recipe at all. for first-timers or non-bakers, you need to specify which jello packet – the larger box (which is 2c hot water:2c cold water) or the small box (which is 1c:1c). some stores carry certain flavors only in the large box and some flavors in the small box. after making the rainbow jello, it turns out the recipe calls for the small box of jello, so only buy small boxes (and use 1c hot water, NO cold water at all, and maybe 1tsp of gelatin as well for a more manageable consistency), or half the larger box portion. also, you use vanilla yogurt for your white layers… way too expensive!! and so unnecessary. for 1st-timers like me, better to use the recipes that call for 1- 14oz can of condensed milk mixed with 1c hot water, 2 packs of gelatin, and another 1c of hot water… easy and cheap! no need to waste 4c of milk, no need to use 1c of sugar. time for your recipe took almost an entire day… my new-and-improved recipe (small jello boxes and condensed milk) took only 3 hours to make the entire ribbon jello with 7 layers of colors!
I’m sorry you didn’t care for the recipe; I do, however, specify the size of the Jell-O packet in the recipe above (the 3-ounce size). The yogurt is the way my family has made this recipe for decades, and we like it, however all recipes are certainly open to adaptation and change, so if you feel that a white layer with sweetened condensed milk is more your speed, go for it. I don’t necessarily see ingredients that are used in a recipe as wasted, however, as you indicate the milk is.
If you dont have something nice to say, dont say anything at all is the general rule! To be honest, yes this recipe took a ton of time but it wasnt hard by any means. Im not sure what your budget is but I pauid $1.50 for a 32oz tub of vanilla lowfat yogurt! quite a bargain if you ask me-and i had 8oz left over to enjoy with some fruit/granola! I am a non baker and first timer making anything like this before and mine came out just fine. I made mine for st pattys day (rainbow/pot of gold theme) THANK YOU for sharing your familys recipe it was wonderful
I have seen people make this for parties and always thought it was super complicated but it was really easy. My family loved it.Thank you for sharing. Also, my Sis said you can use a version with condensed milk??? Is this true and have you ever tried it? Btw… I have also made your Buffalo Chicken Dip and now I am required to bring it to every family function. Lol.
Hi Tish, I have seen some versions with sweetened condensed milk as part of the filling, but I have never tried that version. So glad the Buffalo Chicken Dip is a hit with your family!
I was wondering if you could make a cream cheese and cool whip and powdered sugar and make it thin for the white part. I honestly hate the taste of yogurt and I have tried everything to mask it but i never can.. What do you think
Hi Lea, I think that type of filling may be too heavy between thin Jello layers. You honestly can’t even taste yogurt in the filling, it’s sweet and creamy.
I was curious to know, I tried layering my jello and it ended up mixing right into the first layer. I let the first layer set for 45 min. I’m thinking this happened because the second layer was too hot? Dumb I know but I mixed the second jello packet right before pouring it into the mold. So basically for this not to happen mix all packets at once and it should be cool enough to not mix together when ready to layer the next color? Thank you for posting this recipe, it’s gorgeous!
Hi Denise, I’m sorry you had a problem. Yes, you should be mixing all of the colors together at once, in the beginning, as stated in step #1 above. This ensures that the colors are at room temperature when you begin layering.
My pastor’s wife growing up used to make this for every potluck or get together we had at our church. It was one of my favorite desserts to eat growing up. I am hoping to make this for my family sometime and for the church I now go to!
I made this today for my daughter’s tea party. The layers set pretty quickly after the initial layer, about 15-20 min. So that really made it less time consuming than I thought it would be. My pan was a little small too, as one other reviewer noted, I saw this coming though and was able to decrease the amount of liquid in the last few layers to fit all of the colors in my pan still. thanks for the recipe, it is really fun for kids.
I just made this recipe and wished that I had started with the red as my pan apparently wasn’t deep enough to accomodate the 6 different colours plus the whites. So in the end I have a sorta rainbow from orange through purple…lol…I recommend starting with the red. :D
Hi Michelle,
I am going to make this (hopefully) tomorrow for my son’s 2nd birthday party on Saturday.I’m so excited, this will go perfectly with our Sesame Street theme! Do you know how long it will last in the fridge before it starts to get watery?
Hi Sarah, Usually a few days. Sounds like such a cute birthday party! Enjoy!
I made this yesterday and it turned out like your photo! It just makes you smile : ) An extra bonus was that the layers were setting in 20 minutes and it tasted *delicious*. Thank you for sharing!
My mom used to make this every Labor Day and Christmas (with x-mas colors), but she would use sour cream instead of milk. Your recipe sounds much tastier, I’ll give it a try this Labor Day!
And you’re right, it doesn’t look as good or set the right way without the ‘white’ layer (we tried multiple times).
So adorable!!
Awesome recipe! Such an awesome looking dessert and so easy!
Just curious but… I don’t care for the appearance of the white layer. Will it have the same result if you layer the colored jello right on top of each other?
Hi Andrea, It won’t have the same look or the same flavor, so the result won’t be the same, but you can certainly do it.
How do u get it to not stick to the pan?
Hmm, I don’t think I’ve ever had an issue with Jello sticking to a pan. I just use a knife and spatula to cut it and lift it out of the pan, no issues!
I have no interesting Jell-o tidbits, but my mother has saved handwritten recipes from women in our family and gotten the new women (me, my cousins, etc) to write favorite recipes. When I got married, she gave me a box of handwritten recipes from the women in our family. She’s kept the orginals but made copies and laminated them. My cousins got them, too. Wonderful gift!
Aww, I love this tradition!
I was thinking – and pinned the blog with my idea, lol – This would make a fun treat for our church’s Olympic Opening ceremony party tomorrow, doing the layers in the colors of the rings. Then I saw the bundt pan idea and now I’m completely over the moon. I’ll let you know if I end up making it.
That sounds like a fabulous idea!!
I make this a couple times a year, too. Such a big hit! Your layers look perfect!
Is it a mom thing? haha My mom use to make rainbow Jello without the white layers in between. Loved it!!
My only problem with this particular jello recipe is that, though very pretty to look at, all the flavors are muddled- ironically there is no brightness at all. I wonder if one could use knox gelatine with food coloring and a bottle of flavored extract to achieve the same pretty result with a clear flavor.
Hi Suzanne, I actually really feel like the flavors are so bright and fun! No real muddling at all. I can taste the different flavors and with so many, it’s like a big tropical Jello party in my mouth :)
This was my favorite thing that kids would bring for their birthday treat in elementary school! Love it!
This is such a lovely treat! Any kid would love it, I know my kid will, thank you!!!
Handwritten recipes are priceless. For a bridal shower gift my aunt requested family members write out their favorite recipes on 3×5 cards. She collected them and gave them to me a few weeks before our wedding. The one I treasure is the divinity recipe from my great-grandma that my grandma gave to me from her own collection. I plan to frame it and put it on my kitchen wall some day. My mother made a ribbon jello recipe at Christmas: green layer, red layer, and some sort of cream cheese pineapple mixture in between.
I make this but without the white layers – instead I mix a coloured jello mix with evaporated milk instead of water to make an opaque colour and assemble green, green opaque, yellow, yellow opaque or whatever order you want – but always a clear layer followed by an opaque one of the same colour.
How fun is this!
My mom makes a whipped jello “salad” that has whipped cream, pineapple and cottage cheese in it. It makes an appearance at least once a summer. So yummy!
Hey I’m thinking favorite team colors, a little booze and in layers….The white
yogurt can be switched out with melted vanilla ice cream. Very interesting
thoughts thanks to this post :)
I love old hand written recipes too. This looks like a fun way to brighten up a gloomy day.
Neat! I’ve always wondered how to do this!
Michelle, I’m completely blown away. what a BEAUTIFUL, bright, summery dessert. I love making my mother’s and grandmother’s recipes. It brings them back to life. :)
Oooh, so pretty! Kiddos will love it!