Sugar-Free Jello Recipe: Homemade Gelatin With Raspberries and Lemon

Quick answer: Soften 2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin in 1 cup of cold water, stir in 1 cup of boiling water and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, pour over raspberries and chill 4 hours. It has no added sugar and about 22 calories per cup. Gelatin is protein, but we found no trial showing it helps with weight loss.

Sugar-free jello is easy to make at home, and you control what goes in it. This sugar free jello recipe uses unflavored gelatin, lemon juice and raspberries, with no added sugar and no sweetener unless you want one. Below you will find the steps, a few easy versions, and an honest look at what gelatin does and does not do for fullness and weight.

Sugar-free jello versions at a glance

Version	What changes	Calories per cup	Note
Lemon and raspberries (this recipe)	Fruit and lemon give the flavor	About 22	No added sugar, no sweetener
Add a sweetener	Sweeter, to taste	Depends on the sweetener	We do not count it in our numbers
Add a layer of Greek yogurt	A creamy layer	About 37 more for 1/4 cup of plain nonfat Greek yogurt (USDA)	Adds protein, about 6 g
Boxed sugar-free mix	Made with the brand's sweetener and flavor	Check the label	We cannot compare brands

Calories are from USDA FoodData Central and are estimates for the recipe below. A "cup" here is one of the four servings.

Sugar free jello recipe: how to make it

This sugar free jello recipe starts with plain gelatin: sprinkle it over cold water so it can soften (this is called blooming), then dissolve it in boiling water. The recipe card below has the full steps and photos.

• Cold water first. Sprinkling the powder over cold water lets it soften before it dissolves.
• Then boiling water. Stir for a minute or two until no grains remain.
• Chill at least four hours for a firm sugar free jello. Lowcarbhoser says 3 to 4 hours and Wholesome Yum says 4 to 6 hours or overnight, so four hours is a safe minimum.

Sugar free jello and Greek yogurt recipe: a creamy version

For a creamier dessert, spoon plain Greek yogurt over the set gelatin. USDA data lists 1/4 cup of plain nonfat Greek yogurt at about 37 calories and 6 g of protein. We keep it as a separate layer: spoon it on top once the gelatin has set, rather than stirring it into the hot mixture. For a full yogurt breakfast, see our Greek yogurt parfait recipe.

Tips and mistakes: why your gelatin may not set

• The wrong fruit. Some fresh fruits contain enzymes that cut gelatin into fragments too small to form a gel. Pineapple has bromelain, kiwi has actinidin, fig has ficain and papaya has papain, and the dessert never sets. Cooking or canning deactivates them, so canned pineapple works.
• Not enough time. Give it at least four hours.
• Too much liquid. Measure the water carefully.
• If it is still runny. Wholesome Yum suggests warming it gently until liquid, stirring in more bloomed gelatin and chilling again.

Serving ideas

• In cups or jars. Set it right in the serving cups, as in the recipe, and top with a few extra raspberries.
• Cut into cubes. Set it in a small dish instead, then cut it into cubes for a snack.
• Layer it. Spoon plain Greek yogurt over the set gelatin for a two-layer dessert.
• Make it ahead. It needs four hours or more to set, so make it the evening before.

Can gelatin help you feel full?

Gelatin is protein, and some small studies have looked at whether it keeps people full. Here is what we found, and the limits:

• A 2009 trial (PMID 19185957) gave 24 healthy adults custard breakfasts made with different proteins. Gelatin breakfasts were about 40% more satiating than casein, soy or whey breakfasts, and lunch intake was about 20% lower.
• A 2009 study in a respiration chamber (PMID 19864402) found hunger was suppressed 44% more with a low-protein gelatin diet than with casein. The authors note that gelatin is an incomplete protein, and protein balance was more negative.
• An 8-week trial in 72 healthy adults (PMID 21272400) found that a gelatin-milk protein diet did not give more benefit for weight loss than milk protein diets.
• A small 2008 study (PMID 18319637) found that a 20 g gelatin meal raised the gut hormone GLP-1 and insulin in 22 people. The authors suggest this might help satiety, but the study did not test it.

All of these used gelatin in meals or lab diets, not a low-calorie jello dessert. So we cannot say that eating this jello will make you feel full or help you lose weight. USDA data lists an envelope of gelatin (about 7 g) at about 6 g of protein, so a cup of this jello has about 3 g. It is a light snack, not a protein source.

Sugar free jello and sweeteners

This recipe has none, but many boxed mixes and homemade recipes use non-sugar sweeteners. A 2019 BMJ systematic review (PMID 30602577) found evidence of very low and low certainty for a small benefit on body mass index in adults, no evidence of an effect in people actively trying to lose weight, and no differences for most other outcomes. The authors say most studies were small and short, so confidence is limited. We could not read the World Health Organization page on this topic, so we do not quote it.

The ingredient list tells you which sweetener a product uses. If you want to avoid sweeteners, the fruit and lemon in this recipe are enough.

Safety and good to know

• Not vegetarian. Gelatin comes from animals, so this recipe is not vegetarian or vegan.
• Allergies and medical diets. If you have a health condition, follow a special diet or are pregnant, ask your healthcare professional before eating it often.
• Keep it cold. Store it covered in the fridge at 40°F (4°C) or below, and do not leave it out for more than 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F). We did not test how long it keeps.

How we researched this

• Recipe pages: we read three sugar-free jello pages on October 18, 2026 (Lowcarbhoser, Wholesome Yum and Chelsea Allard) and write our own recipe and steps.
• Gelatin and fruit enzymes: we read the Wikipedia article on gelatin desserts.
• Studies: targeted PubMed searches on October 18, 2026 for gelatin with satiety, appetite or food intake, and for non-sugar sweeteners with body weight. We read the abstracts and cite only what they say. The automatic search returned only unrelated studies, so we did not use it.
• Nutrition: values come from USDA FoodData Central. The 1/4 oz (7.09 g) envelope is an assumption based on common packaging: check yours. Sweeteners are not counted.
• Not tested by us: we did not test any effect of gelatin on fullness or weight.

This article is general information. It is not medical advice, and it does not replace a conversation with your doctor or a registered dietitian. Nutrition values are estimates.