Whether you called them Otter pops or freeze pops, nothing screamed summer like opening up your freezer and seeing packs of those multicolored ice pops!
These homemade freeze pops bring back that nostalgia, but they leave out artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives.
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These homemade freeze pops are super easy to make, and each starts with just four ingredients: frozen fruit, lemon or lime juice, honey, and water. We made strawberry lemonade, peach, mango, pineapple kiwi, blueberry, and dragonfruit raspberry, but any frozen fruit will work!
These are perfect to stock your fridge with this summer, and they're sure to disappear quickly!
If you're looking for a more traditional popsicle, check out our Easy Homemade Mango Popsicles or these Watermelon Berry Popsicles.
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Homemade Freeze Pop Ingredients
For the freeze pops
- Frozen fruit: you can freeze fresh fruit or buy it bagged at the grocery store. We used strawberries, peaches, mango, kiwi, pineapple, blueberries and dragonfruit, but have also experimented with watermelon, cherry, and others. Be sure to let the fruit thaw out a bit on the counter, or microwave it for 30 seconds before blending.
- Lime or lemon juice: we used lemon or lime juice depending on the flavor of pop. Freshly squeezed is always best! These lemon and lime juicers really come in handy when you're squeezing large quantities of juice at a time. We use them almost daily!
- Honey: we like the taste of honey, but it can be a bit overpowering. You can use agave instead, or you can leave it out entirely if you're looking to cut down on sugar and have no issues with a fairly tart popsicle.
- Water: water ensures the pops have that delightful crushed ice style consistency. If you leave the water out, you'll likely have trouble blending everything together as well.
- Mint: we used this for color in our kiwi-pineapple popsicles. It's optional, but we really love how refreshing it tastes, and it quickly became one of our favorite flavors!
How to Make this Homemade Freezer Pops Recipe
STEP 1: Thaw fruit out on the counter for 30 minutes, or microwave for 30 seconds. Add fruit to a blender with water, lemon or lime juice, and honey/agave. Blend until smooth.
STEP 2: Pour into plastic sleeves or reusable silicone ones, using a funnel to make things easier. Freeze for 8 hours, or overnight, and enjoy!
Substitutions and Variations
Frozen fruit: you can also use fresh fruit, but that involves a bit more preparation (peeling, cutting, and then freezing), so we used frozen fruit. If you do use fresh fruit, freeze the fruit spread out an a tray, then transfer to a container so the fruit doesn't stick together in a clump.
Types of fruit: feel free to use your favorites, just keep the ratio the same: 2 cups of fruit, ½ cup of water, 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice, and 2 tablespoons of sweetener. A few other types of fruit you could use: cherry, watermelon, blackberry, cranberries, grapes, apple and more.
What to Serve with Homemade Freeze Pops
These are the perfect palate cleaning dessert for a summer dinner, like these Mediterranean Grilled Tofu or this super easy Melon and Prosciutto Salad.
Equipment
- Disposable Ice Pop Bags: We used disposable for this post to show off the colors and flavors, but there are also several reusable options available.
- Reusable Silicone Ice Pop Bags: They come in multiple colors, so you can coordinate the color & flavor so you always know what you're getting.
- Funnel: We use a collapsable silicone funnel that's super easy to use and store!
- Lemon & lime juicer: These are totally optional but we use them ALL the time!
- Blender: You'll definitely need a blender for this recipe – this is the one we use.
Storage
Once these are frozen, you can keep them in the freezer almost indefinitely, but we doubt they'll make it more than a couple days once your friends and family get their hands on them.
Tips and FAQ
Top tip
Start with a little less than ½ a cup of water: you want to achieve the consistency of a slightly thinner smoothie. It should be pourable, but have a bit of viscosity.
More tips
- Be sure to use a funnel when filling up the popsicle sleeves, otherwise this will get very messy very quickly!
- If you're not comfortable using plastic, you can purchase reusable popsicle sleeves.
- Try not to smush the popsicles too much in the freezer - if they freeze with lots of kinks and bends, they won't come out of the sleeve smoothly and just won't be as fun to eat.
Homemade freezer pops should take about 8 hours to become completely frozen in the freezer.
More summer popsicle recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Tried this recipe?
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📖 Recipe
Homemade Freeze Pops
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4-5 popsicles per flavor 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
These homemade freeze pops will make you feel like a kid again, but they leave out artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives.
Ingredients
For each type of popsicle:
- 2 cups frozen fruit, thawed for 30 minutes at room temperature or 30 seconds in the microwave
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
- 2 tablespoons honey or agave
- Mint leaves for color (for kiwi pineapple flavor)
Strawberry Lemonade (Red):
- 2 cups frozen strawberries
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons honey
Mango (Yellow):
- 2 cups frozen mango
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons agave
Peach (Orange):
- 2 cups frozen peach
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons honey
Kiwi pineapple (Green):
- 1 cup frozen kiwi
- 1 cup frozen pineapple
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons agave
- ¼ cup mint leaves
Blueberry (Purple):
- 2 cups frozen blueberries
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons honey
Dragonfruit raspberry (Pink):
- 1 cup frozen dragonfruit
- 1 cup frozen raspberry
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons agave
Instructions
- Thaw frozen fruit for 3o minutes at room temperature or for 30 seconds in the microwave. Add to a blender with water, lemon or lime juice, and honey. Blend until smooth.
- Pour into popsicle sleeves, using a funnel so you don't make a mess. Move to the freezer and freeze until completely solid - about 8 hours or overnight.
Notes
Disposable Ice Pop Bags: We used disposable for this post to show off the colors and flavors, but there are also several reusable options available.
Reusable Silicone Ice Pop Bags: They come in multiple colors, so you can coordinate the color & flavor so you always know what you're getting.
Be sure to use a funnel when filling up the popsicle sleeves, otherwise this will get very messy very quickly!
Types of fruit: feel free to use your favorites, just keep the ratio the same: 2 cups of fruit, ½ cup of water, 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice, and 2 tablespoons of sweetener. A few other types of fruit you could use: cherry, watermelon, blackberry, cranberries, grapes, apple and more.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Freezer
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 popsicles
- Calories: 146
- Sugar: 27.7 g
- Sodium: 7.9 mg
- Fat: 0.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 38.9 g
- Fiber: 4.7 g
- Protein: 1.1 g
Nishat P says
Why are we using frozen fruit? Can we not use fresh fruit?
Kristina says
Can these be made using the reusable popsicle molds?
Bupe says
Hello, where can I get the disposable ice pop bags?
Katrinna says
Excellent recipe. I made some mixed fruit ones with lime juice that are excellent.
Israelle M says
Hi there! If I don’t freeze them immediately, will they start to taste funny because of the lemon? I’m traveling with them a few hours away so I was thinking of blending and packing them, and freezing them the next day when we get to our destination. Thanks so much for this recipe!
Brent Harrison says
Probably not, but if you could, I'd recommend freezing them first and putting them in a cooler if possible!
Mel says
Do you have to freeze these immediately? Or, once made can they go in the refrigerator overnight and be placed in a freezer the next day?
Lexi says
They should be frozen right away.
Harshi Agrawal says
is frozen fruit a must or can we use fresh fruits? then why are we thawing frozen fruits?
Lou says
Yes this is what I’d like to know
Caroline says
How many pops does one fruit recipe make?
Lexi says
One fruit will make 4-5 pops of this size!
Lou says
Can we use fresh fruit?
Why thaw the frozen fruit?
Katrinna says
This looks so good. How many pops does each batch make?
Lexi says
Each batch makes 4-5 pops!