Homemade Sugar Free Kool-Aid or basically fruit punch without sugar and with nothing artificial is a mother's dream!
What does your family regularly drink in your house? Milk, dairy free milk, water, soda, flavored water, seltzer, tea, coffee, chocolate milk, juice? So many choices but finding a beverage that children will enjoy that doesn't have sugar or at least some form of sweetness is no easy task.
What about you? Is it difficult to drink plain water and you need flavor? This is a perfect option as it also has no calories and herbal tea is good for you!
In my house the options have always been simply water and milk and occasionally I purchase a fruit juice that has no added sugar. Recently my hubby bought me a soda stream to make my own seltzer water which I drink daily. I've even made a few kid friendly drinks like Shirley Temples and Healthier Homemade Egg Nog as well as Sugar-Free Hot Chocolate that are kid approved in my house.
But really they've been asking for something they can have at least at dinner that isn't milk or water so I was allowing them to have naturally sweet juice. But juice fills them up at dinner and although it has natural sugar in it from the juice I was finding they were asking for it more and more choosing the juice over the milk or plain water. That bugged me so I decided to try a new approach, hence you have this recipe!
3 Ingredients and a few minutes of your time and you have a TRULY naturally sugar free beverage that your kids and you won't get a sugar high from.
Now I must share this ONE fact with you: My daughter HATES tea, any and every kind no matter how I've tried to get her to enjoy it. Hates it with a passion and I've no idea why. So this very fact will surprise you but I secretly made this beverage and DID NOT, I Repeat, DID NOT tell her how it was made. AND.SHE.LOVES.IT.
Now if she discovers me making this beverage she most certainly will say she won't like it or doesn't want to drink it anymore, but I will hopefully not have to deal with it by making it when she is in the shower or not at home. I will find a way!
Have hope that if you have picky children, they will love this drink too!
This is also a perfect option for someone who hates to drink plain water and needs a little flavor, no calories at all!
Notes:
- I chose Bigelow in Wild Blueberry and used Berry flavored stevia.
- Other liquid stevia options to try: Grape, Apricot, Watermelon, Orange, Lemon.
- You can always use plain stevia or another sweetener or choice as well, but these are great sugar free alternatives.
- You can also adjust the sweetness. 4 Droppers full was plenty sweet for the 8 cups of water here but you can taste and decide if it's sweet enough. Always use less then add more as you see fit. Enjoy!
Homemade Sugar-Free Kool Aid {Fruit Punch with No Artificial Sweeteners}
Ingredients
- 4 tea bags Herbal Flavored Decaffeinated Tea
- 4 cups boiling water
- 4 cups cold water
- 4 full droppers liquid flavored stevia
Instructions
- Place tea bags in a large mason jar.
- Pour boiling water into mason jar and allow tea to steep for 15 minutes.
- Remove tea bags and add cold water and stevia.
- Stir to combine and refrigerate.
Nutrition
About Brenda
Brenda Bennett is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified Sugar Detox Coach, certified Keto Coach and certified Life Coach. She has been Sugar Free & Refined carb free for 17 years and has written 2 cookbooks, Sugar-Free Mom, and Naturally Keto and her 3rd book The 30-Day Sugar Elimination Diet, is a four part program to help you detox from sugar, eliminate cravings, balance blood sugar and lose weight all while eating a delicious, nutrient dense whole foods. Meal plan offers two tracks to follow, low carb or keto. She is the founder of the Sugar Free Fresh Start course and Sugar Free Tribe weight loss membership. Learn more.
Teresa Brown
This tastes very perfumy to me. Is that from the tea? (I’m not a tea drinker)
Brenda Bennett
It's most likely the tea flavor you used.
noname
Stevia is an artificial sweetener. Extracted directly from a plant using negligible processing, it is a natural sweetener, which is what I think you meant, but it is definitely not sucrose, fructose, glucose, maltose or any other defined sugar. This makes it is an artificial sweetener, just the same as any sugar alcohol like sorbitol, maltitol, xylitol, etc. and, healthwise, is on par with aspartame, acesulphame or any other chemical substitute.
Stevia is only truly healthy for diabetics as a direct substitute for sugar, as it can lead to kidney damage from over-use and is a known endochrine disruptor.
The safest alternative sweetener to sucrose (even among other sugars) is sucralose, which is nearly chemically identical to sucrose except for three hydroxyl groups being traded for Chlorine atoms, making it nearly undigestible. Most sucralose passes right through our digestive system and what little is absorbed is quickly broken down and passed in urine. It does not provide any calories at all but is a defined artificial sweetener.
Not everything natural is good (arsenic is 100% natural) and not everything artificial is bad. The word 'artificial' has been usurped as a buzzword and dog whistle to represent some people's uncertainty and fear about what they don't know and aren't willing to put in the effort to unlearn the falsehoods they've been taught.
Laura
You have any info you can cite for this information you shared?
CJ
Clarity is always a good thing, but touting the sucralose as a savior-sweetener is misguided. In chemistry, even the smallest changes can completely alter what the end result is. You can drink ethanol (booze), but methanol will kill you - one carbon molecule makes the difference. Same with water and hydrogen peroxide.
That said, a recent study has shows than sucralose (also known as Splenda) is genotoxic - it damages DNAs. Here’s the study: https://news.ncsu.edu/2023/05/genotoxic-chemical-in-sweetener/
It also has been found to contribute to leaky gut and autoimmune dysfunction.
Everything has its pros and cons, but Stevia sure hasn’t had that type of long-term negative effect up to this point and I, personally, no longer mess with sucralose.
Tanya
Does this have to be refrigerated?
Carole Tutic
I can't wait to try this. Thank you for a great recipe! Love your site so much!
Carole Tutic
Could I turn this into a JELLO if I added unflavored gelatin? This is a great recipe! Thank you!
Brenda
Sure!
Christopher Kidwell
The issue is most likely because of the bitter taste of the average tea on the markets today. I personally do not like bitter tea which is what tea without some form of sweetener 9 times out of 10 is.
The Blueberry and Acai berry is covering up the bitter tea taste.
It could also just be that your daughter is one of those who likes X until she finds out it is Y, but that is rare.
pam
NOW Foods has very consistent products.
I buy 8 oz of liquid Stevia by NOW Foods from Supplement Warehouse. It is about $14.00. Other websites charges much as double for same. I use 2 spoonfuls of this for 1/2 gallon of black cherry kool aid, it makes it very sweet. They also have powdered but with that you use a lot more to achieve the same results.
samadhi
What brand of liquid stevia did you use for this recipe? I have many different brands of liquid stevia and the droppers are different measurements. Thanks!!
Brenda
This brand is the Sweetleaf version, I believe it is linked in the recipe. Just click on the stevia to see it. You could measure 1/2 a teaspoon then taste and adjust.
Bruce
That looks great. I too am just starting a sugar-free diet & saw you mentioned powdered Stevia.
Powdered stevia is a hit & miss experiment. You need to be very careful about what type of stevia you buy. Many of them are loaded with preservatives & fillers that dilute the quality of the stevia & make it dangerous for some people. When buying powdered stevia, always get the purest form. The purest form is over 90% Rebaudiana. It is significantly more expensive, but it is free of harmful things such as Maltodextrin - which is bad for those trying stevia for weight-loss purposes and for diabetics. It is also connected to certain diseases. If you are looking for gluten-free stevia, be careful there as well, as even some pure stevias are not gluten-free.
Read the labels of the stevia you want to buy & try to stick with South American brands & avoid almost all Chinese brands.
The easiest way to know that the stevia is pure is the ratio of it VS sugar. Stevia in the Raw (loaded with preservatives & fillers) requires about 1/2 cup of that stevia (due to fillers) to be the equivalent of 1 cup of sugar. Pure stevia only requires a TEASPOON to equal one entire cup of sugar - and a teaspoon may be too sweet for some.
Using powdered stevia also has a learning curve. I recommend for this lovely recipe Brenda shared with us, using 1/4 teaspoon of stevia to dissolve in the warm/hot 4 cups of water she recommends. Stir consistently & try to let it sit for few hours before drinking - otherwise it may taste strange as it needs time to dissolve.
And for those who want a slight tart to their fruit drink, add a teaspoon of Organic Apple Cider Vinegar before serving/storing this recipe. If you want the tart to be stronger, add 1 teaspoon increments until you have the desired flavor. Don't overdo it. ACV is very strong - and not being careful can ruin the entire thing.
Do it right, and it can really compliment Brenda's recipe.
Cait
whats the difference between liquid and powdered stevia? Ive never seen it in liquid form? Can I use the other stuff?
Lori
Will this lower my electorlites
Stacy
What a great simple recipe! I have a whole cupboard of herbal teas and flavored stevia. Love this flavor combo. I'm thinking these would make great popsicles too and slushes in the summer. Just found your blog and really enjoy the recipes. I pinned this recipe.
Brenda
Thanks Stacy!
Sarah
About how many droppersful do you think each 60ml bottle has approximately?