Red, White, and Blue Ice Cubes

These Red, White, and Blue Ice Cubes are made with all natural ingredients and are the perfect addition to your 4th of July drinks. They're also fun for celebrating your favorite sports teams whose colors are red, white, and blue!

Even though summer officially starts on June 20, I don't feel like it truly kicks off until the 4th of July.

I think this is due to the fact that as a kid, I was always in school until the very end of June. So when the 4th of July hit, I knew I could finally relax.

Now that I'm an adult, I like to relax with a cold drink. And these red, white, and blue ice cubes are the perfect cold drink addition for all your 4th of July festivities!

Though there are tons of different ways to make red, white, and blue ice cubes, I wanted to use all natural ingredients for mine. I was able to do so and still managed to achieve incredibly vibrant colors!

How to Make Layered Ice Cubes

Making layered ice cubes is easy; it just takes a bit more time than making the typical ice cube since you have to let each layer freeze before pouring in the next.

I recommend letting the first two layers freeze for at least 1 ½ hours and then letting the cubes freeze for another 3 hours after adding the final layer.

Red, White, and Blue Ice Cubes

The biggest challenge with these ice cubes was deciding what to use for the various layers to get vibrant red, white, and blue colors.

No matter what you use, it's likely that the colors will bleed into the drink as the ice cubes melt (hence my blue soda water). These cubes are more of a fun novelty perfect for celebrating the holiday.

Here's what I used for each color:

Red: I used a mixture of strawberries and water.

White: I used coconut milk. It freezes well, but note that as it melts in the ice cube, it may leave little white specks in your liquid.

Blue: I used Blue Butterfly Pea Flower Powder as it's the best natural blue food coloring I've been able to find.

Equipment Needed

Of course, you need an ice cube tray to make layered ice cubes. It seems obvious, but a lot of people don't actually have ice cube trays anymore since ice makers in freezers are so common.

My recipe uses a standard-size 14-cube ice cube tray, but if yours is a different size, you should be fine. You'll just want to eyeball it to fill the tray cavities ⅓ of the way for each layer.

I recommend using an ice cube tray with a cover, like this one, as that will keep your cubes safe and sound until you're ready to use. (the trays I used in this post are great for easy release, but they have a little lip on them that doesn't lend itself to pretty ice cubes- I had to cut it off).

If you're planning to use blue butterfly pea powder for the blue layer, you'll need to purchase that, too. This is the one I've used.

For the white layer, you'll need a can of coconut milk (I used light as I think it freezes a bit better) and strawberries for the red layer.

I used a blender to puree my strawberries and water together, but you can also use a food processor or if you have neither, you can mash them together as best you can.

Red Layer

Making the red layer of the ice cube was the easiest decision for me; I used strawberries!

Put 3 large strawberries and ⅓ cup of water in a blender or food processor, and process until pureed together.

This will give you a bright and vibrant red liquid.

Spoon a little more than a ½ tablespoon into each cavity of a standard-size ice cube tray. You want the cavities to be about ⅓ of the way filled.

Put tray in freezer for at least 1 ½ hours until frozen solid.

White Layer

Rather than just doing a clear layer, I wanted a bright white layer. For this, I used coconut milk.

You can use any kind of coconut milk, but I find light freezes best, so that's what I used.

Pour a little more than ½ tablespoon coconut milk over the red layer and place in the freezer for another 1 ½+ hours.

If you prefer not to use coconut milk and/or you don't want the white specks in your drink as the cubes melt, you can certainly use just plain water for the white layer.

It won't be as vibrantly white/matte, but it will work for red, white, and blue ice cubes!

Blue Layer

Making foods naturally blue is always a bit of a challenge. You might think blueberries will work well, but blueberries typically turn things more purple than they do blue (like in my blueberry vodka lemonade).

I decided to use blue butterfly pea flower powder for a natural blue ice cube dye. I just mixed it with water.

Look at how crazy blue that is!

Again, pour a little more than ½ tablespoon of blue liquid over the white, or all the way to the top of the trays.

I recommend popping the trays in the freezer for at least 2 ½ hours this time to ensure the ice cubes freeze properly and are ready to use.

Of course, you can also keep them in the freezer overnight or even a couple of weeks (so long as the trays are covered).

And then add to the drinks of your choice and enjoy!

Drinks to Serve Ice Cubes In

The red, white, and blue ice cubes are obviously going to be seen best when served in clear drinks, but remember they will add a little bit of color and flavor to whatever liquid is in the glass.

They add fun to water, but also vodka sodas, gin and tonics, lemonade, and any other lightly colored cocktail or drink.

What Do the Ice Cubes Taste Like?

Because the ice cubes are made with real ingredients, they may change the flavor of your drink slightly.

Of course, the red layer tastes like strawberry and the white layer like coconut.

If you've never had blue butterfly pea flower powder, it has a slightly earthy/green tea-like taste that's fairly light.

Other Occasions for Ice Cubes

Though of course these red, white, and blue ice cubes are perfect for the 4th of July, they're also good for so many other occasions.

If you're a Patriots fan, use these ice cubes in your Super Bowl cocktails!

Other teams whose colors are red, white, and blue include New York Giants, Buffalo Bills, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, and probably a bunch more I can't remember because I'm not the biggest sports fan in the world.

Other Ways to Make Red, White, and Blue Ice Cubes

If you want to make red, white, and blue ice cubes, but prefer to use other ingredients that bleed less or have different flavor, there are lots of ways to make them!

• Use food dye (though this will definitely bleed a lot)
• Use red, white, and blue colored Gatorade
• Use red, white, and blue Jello
• Use finely chopped strawberries and sliced blueberries

Now that you know how to make red, white, and blue ice cubes, you can make any kind of layered ice cubes for any holiday!

I'm thinking red and green for Christmas, rainbow for Pride, and pink and red for Valentine's Day. Still trying to figure out how I'll achieve orange and black for Halloween!

I hope everyone has a very happy 4th of July weekend!

📖 Recipe