Quick answer: Blue spirulina and butterfly pea flower are two ways to colour food blue using ingredients from nature. Blue spirulina works particularly well in cold foods and drinks, while butterfly pea flower can turn a drink blue and change towards purple or pink when you add lemon. The colour can shift depending on what you mix it with, opening up all sorts of shades to play with.
There’s something about blue food that makes everyone look twice! It might be a beautiful smoothie bowl on an ordinary Tuesday, a blue latte handed across the table, or a child coming home from a birthday party with a huge grin and a bright blue tongue.
If you’re making the party food, you might find yourself looking at a bottle of blue colouring and wondering whether ingredients from nature could be just as much fun. Happily, yes, and there’s plenty to try beyond birthday cake. It takes a little experimenting, but that’s part of the fun.
And the fun doesn’t have to stop with food. If you’ve ever watched a child mix colours into playdough, you’ll know the colour itself can be the best part!
Which ingredients make food blue naturally?
The two ingredients to know are blue spirulina and butterfly pea flower. Both can colour food and drinks blue, and you can buy them separately or together in a blend.
Blue spirulina is usually sold as a powder. Stir it into a pale smoothie, yoghurt, overnight oats, chilled dessert or icing when you want the food itself to turn a vivid blue. Its colour can soften with prolonged heat or in an acidic recipe.
Butterfly pea flower can be steeped to make a blue infusion. Use the liquid in tea, lattes, lemonade or rice; you can even freeze it into blue ice cubes. Add lemon or lime and it can change towards purple or pink.
You can use blue spirulina and butterfly pea flower separately, but Mindful Foods Stardust Blue combines them in one powder. Stir it into smoothies, milk drinks, yoghurt or icing, starting with a little and building up the colour and flavour.
Want to try natural blue food colouring at home?
Mindful Foods Stardust Blue
Best for: Blue smoothies, breakfast bowls, lattes, yoghurt and icing.
It brings butterfly pea flower and 25% blue spirulina together in one jar, along with elderberry and ginger. There’s no need to buy two separate blue ingredients just to try a blue smoothie or a swirl of icing.
The four-ingredient blend is made in Australia and comes in a reusable glass jar. It has the flavour of a food blend, so add a little at a time until you like both the colour and taste.
An easy first try: Blend a little Stardust Blue into a pale banana smoothie or stir it into plant milk. Taste it, then add more until you like the colour and flavour.
What can you make with natural blue food colouring?
Stardust Blue is easy to stir into pale foods and drinks. Start with a little, then build up the colour and flavour you like.
✓ Smoothies and smoothie bowls: Blend Stardust Blue into a pale banana smoothie, then add fruit and seeds on top.
✓ Yoghurt, overnight oats and chia pudding: Stir in a little of the blend, or leave a blue swirl running through it.
✓ Icing and frosting: Colour pale icing for cupcakes, biscuits or a birthday cake. Try the icing on pancakes or waffles too.
✓ Frozen treats: Try it in banana nice cream, yoghurt pops, ice cream or homemade ice blocks.
✓ Lattes and milk drinks: Stir the blend into milk or plant milk, hot or cold.
There are a few more ways to play with blue, whether you use Stardust Blue or whole food-grade butterfly pea flowers:
✓ Tea, lemonade, mocktails and cocktails: Stir a little Stardust Blue into a drink and see how you like the colour and flavour. For a clearer blue drink and a more noticeable change when you add lemon, steep whole food-grade butterfly pea flowers and use the strained infusion.
✓ Blue ice cubes: Mix a little Stardust Blue into water, freeze, and drop the cubes into a drink. You can also freeze a strained butterfly pea flower infusion for clearer blue cubes.
✓ Rice and noodles: Experiment with a little Stardust Blue in the cooking liquid, starting with a small batch. A butterfly pea flower infusion is another option if you want to colour the liquid first.
Tip: Making something for a special occasion? Test the colour in a small portion of the actual recipe first. It may look different in yoghurt, berry smoothies or baked cakes than it does in water.
Your blue might be bright and vivid or soft like the sea. That’s part of the fun of making it yourself.
For colourful play, too: Try mixing a little Stardust Blue into water for a shallow blue “ocean” sensory tray with cups and scoops. Or add a little to your favourite homemade playdough recipe and see what shade you get as you knead. A cooled butterfly pea flower infusion could work in place of some of the water in either activity, too. Start with a small batch to see how you like the colour and texture.
For more rolling, mixing and sea-creature making, explore Biome’s playdough collection. If your child still tastes play materials, choose a suitable taste-safe recipe and supervise play; food-grade colour alone doesn’t make finished playdough edible.
How do you use blue spirulina in food and drinks?
Blue spirulina gets its vivid colour from phycocyanin, a blue pigment found in spirulina. If the spirulina you know is dark green, this is a very different look.
It shows up best against a pale background. Think banana smoothie rather than berry smoothie; white icing rather than chocolate icing. Stir in a little, see what shade you get, then add more if you want a stronger blue.
A blue breakfast bowl with banana slices and strawberries on top? Very cheerful. Keep the blueberries on top too if you want the blue base to show; blending them in can take it towards purple.
For party cupcakes, swirl blue spirulina through pale icing once the cakes have cooled. You can experiment with blue batter, but heat and acidity can soften phycocyanin’s colour, so it may look different after baking.
Tip for blue icing: Mix the powder with a small amount of liquid first so it spreads evenly. Colour a spoonful of icing, then mix up the rest once you like the shade and flavour.
How does butterfly pea flower make blue and colour-changing drinks?
Butterfly pea flower is an edible flower that makes a striking blue infusion. Its petals contain anthocyanins, plant pigments that respond to acidity. Add lemon or lime and you can watch the blue move towards purple or pink.
To try it, steep food-grade butterfly pea flowers, then let the infusion cool if you’re making lemonade, a mocktail or ice cubes. Make it a little stronger if you plan to mix it with other liquids, as they’ll dilute the blue.
For a party, serve the blue drink with lemon wedges on the side and let everyone add their own squeeze. That colour change tends to get a reaction!
Tip for colour-changing drinks: Keep the lemon separate until serving if you want everyone to see the blue-to-purple moment for themselves.
Ready to make something blue?
Start with a smoothie, a latte or a swirl of icing. Mindful Foods Stardust Blue brings butterfly pea flower and blue spirulina together in one jar, ready for your next colour experiment.
Shop Mindful Foods Stardust BlueYou can also browse Biome’s nutrient powders, vegan protein powders, Australian-made supplements and organic pantry staples.
Frequently asked questions about natural blue food colouring
What is the best natural blue food colouring for icing?
Blue spirulina is a good starting point for pale icing. Mix a little powder with a small amount of liquid, then stir it into a spoonful of icing to see the shade. Butterfly pea flower may also work, but its colour can respond to acidic ingredients.
Can I use blue spirulina instead of blue food dye?
Yes, you can try it in cold foods, drinks and icing. Add it gradually and judge the colour in your recipe rather than treating it as an exact drop-for-drop replacement for liquid food dye.
Is blue spirulina the same as green spirulina?
They’re related, but products labelled blue spirulina are generally used for the blue phycocyanin pigment, while whole spirulina powder looks dark green. A blend containing blue spirulina is also different from a jar of pure blue spirulina.
Does blue spirulina provide protein, vitamins or minerals?
Whole spirulina and blue spirulina products have different compositions. The amount of any nutrient depends on the product and serving size, so check its nutrition information if you’re choosing it for more than its colour.
What is butterfly pea flower?
Also called blue pea flower, it’s an edible flower whose petals can be steeped to make a blue infusion. Its colour comes from anthocyanin plant pigments.
Is butterfly pea flower nutritious?
It contains anthocyanin pigments, which have been studied for their properties. That alone doesn’t tell us how much of any nutrient is in your cup or establish a particular benefit from drinking it. Enjoy it for its colour and flavour as part of a varied diet.
What do elderberry and ginger add to Stardust Blue?
They are two of the four listed ingredients, alongside butterfly pea flower and blue spirulina. They make it a blend rather than a pure blue colouring and may affect the flavour. The product information doesn’t give their amounts per serving, so we wouldn’t attribute a specific immune benefit to a spoonful.
Can you bake with natural blue food colouring?
You can experiment, but the colour may look different after baking. Blue spirulina’s pigment is sensitive to heat. If the finished shade matters, try a small test bake or add blue icing afterwards.
Will blueberries make food blue?
Blueberries look beautiful on top of a bowl, but blended into a smoothie or icing they often give a purple shade. For a clearer blue, try blue spirulina in a pale base or a butterfly pea flower infusion.
Is natural food colouring always safer than conventional food colouring?
“Natural” describes where an ingredient comes from; it doesn’t by itself establish that one food colour is safer than another. Choose a food-grade ingredient that suits your recipe and dietary needs.
Related reads
Making a blue smoothie? Read how to make your own nut milk. If you like adding protein powder to smoothies, see why protein powder may cause bloating.
For more ingredients to add to food and drinks, browse Biome’s nutrient powders and fruit powders.
