This creamy and silky smooth 5-ingredient coconut jelly is my paleo copycat version of the popular Melo Melo coconut pudding dessert, but made without dairy and refined sugar!
What is Melo Melo?
My mom and I share a love of creamy, not-too-sweet, coconut-flavored desserts, and a few months ago she introduced me to the magic that is Melo Melo. She told me about a local Chinese market that makes home deliveries of Asian groceries in the SF Bay Area, and how one of the items that she adds to her orders to reach the $60 minimum for free delivery is a fantastic coconut jelly dessert from an Asian dessert mini-empire in Southern California called Melo Melo. Each jar of Melo Melo’s coconut dessert costs $7.99(!) but my mom assured me that it’s well worth the price. Melo Melo, she exclaimed, is super delicious.
She was right. Once I tried Melo Melo’s coconut jelly, I was completely hooked. Melo Melo’s creamy coconut water jelly has the texture of a fragile silken tofu that breaks as soon as the spoon touches the surface. Although Melo Melo sells a number of coconut jelly varieties featuring different fresh fruit purées, I like the single coconut jelly and double coconut jelly best because I can customize them by pairing them with my favorite fruit combinations.
Dairy-free and paleo Melo Melo copycat
After indulging in far too many jars of Melo Melo, I had to come up with a paleo, dairy-free version—mainly so I could save some money and reuse all the glass Melo Melo containers littering my kitchen counter. Unfortunately, the Melo Melo website is pretty coy about the ingredients—the only two components listed for its coconut jelly are “fresh coconut water and milk,” which didn’t explain how the dessert actually gels or how it’s sweetened.
But after some extensive experimentation, I came up with my own version that may even be an improvement on the original Melo Melo coconut dessert because I use just 5 wholesome ingredients and the end result is even more creamy and coconut-infused than its inspiration!
In fact, my mom shared my paleo coconut jelly puddings with some of her friends (all picky Asian moms) and they told her they preferred my version over Melo Melo’s. Considering the source, that’s high praise!
Can you make it vegan?
Perhaps! I haven’t tried it myself, but I bet you can switch out the gelatin with some agar agar (start with ⅓ to ½ the amount of gelatin) and use agave syrup in place of the honey. Please note that the agar agar will yield a stiffer, more rubbery gel than gelatin! If you have successfully substituted agar agar in this recipe, please leave your version in the comments so others can benefit from your experimentation.
Can you make it keto and low carb?
Yes! My dad has diabetes so I’ve made this coconut jelly with liquid allulose in place of honey numerous times. Because allulose is not quite as sweet as honey, I use ⅓ cup of liquid allulose in the recipe. Both my picky parents like the taste of this keto version and actually prefer it to the honey-sweetened one! I learned about allulose a few years ago from Dr. Peter Attia’s podcast and prefer allulose to other keto sweeteners because it doesn’t have a weird aftertaste.
Tips for making the best coconut jelly dessert
- Quality matters! Buy the best coconut milk and coconut water you can find because your coconut jelly will only be as creamy and coconut-y as the ones you select. I’ve shared my favorite brands in the ingredients section below.
- Don’t boil the coconut milk and water mixture! When you heat up the coconut pudding ingredients on the stovetop, just warm it enough to dissolve the honey and melt the gelatin (~body temperature or 100°F). If the coconut mixture is heated too much, it can separate. It’s natural to have a little separation at the bottom of each jar once it cools, but you should see only about a half-inch of clear gel at the most.
- Make sure you don’t use too much gelatin! One of the reasons folks love Melo Melo is because the texture is so soft and delicate—if you add too much gelatin to it, the texture will be too stiff and more like firm Jell-O than silky Melo Melo.
Ingredients
- Coconut water: Obviously, coconut water from a freshly cracked open young coconut is best but I don’t have that readily available to me. For this recipe, my favorite brand of store-bought coconut water is Taste Nirvana Real Coconut Water in the glass bottles. It has a delicious, fresh coconut flavor and it won’t turn the coconut dessert pink like Harmless Coconut Water.
- Full fat coconut milk: My favorite brand of full-fat coconut milk is Aroy-D in the green tetrapak boxes that can be found at most Asian markets. The coconut milk is super creamy and coconut-y but I just learned that it may not be 100% additive free, despite what it says on the label. Native Forest Brand Simple Organic Coconut Milk is purported to be 100% coconut milk with no additives, but it’s not quite as creamy in my opinion.
- Gelatin: My preferred brand of unflavored powdered gelatin is Great Lakes beef gelatin. Make sure you don’t use collagen peptides instead because your desserts won’t gel.
- Honey: Use a light colored honey to keep the coconut jelly as white as possible.
- Vanilla extract: The coconut flavor is accentuated with vanilla extract!
- Fresh fruit: You can just eat these coconut desserts unadorned, but I love to top them with fruit, like fresh berries or canned tangerine segments packed in 100% juice.
How to make coconut jelly
Bloom the gelatin
Pour ¼ cup of the coconut water into a small bowl. Add the gelatin and whisk until well-incorporated. Set aside to let the gelatin bloom and rehydrate.
Heat up the coconut mixture
In a small saucepan, combine the remaining coconut water, coconut milk, and honey.
Heat the coconut mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently until the honey is dissolved and the coconut milk is hot but not boiling.
Add the gelatin and vanilla
Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the reserved hydrated gelatin and vanilla, making sure there are no lumps.
Strain the coconut mixture
Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a liquid measuring cup to catch any unmelted lumps of gelatin or honey.
Skim off any bubbles on the surface with a fine mesh strainer.
Pour into jars
Then, evenly divide the coconut milk mixture into 6 small (6-ounce) glass jars.
Refrigerate the coconut jelly
Chill the jars in the fridge for 1 hour uncovered and then add the lids and chill until solid, about 4 hours.
Adorn with fruit
When you are ready to serve, top with fresh fruit if desired!
Eat it up as a snack or dessert!
How do you store the coconut jelly?
If you are lucky enough to have leftovers, these coconut jelly desserts can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. This simple fact also means that you can make these delectable treats ahead of time and serve when needed!
Looking for more Asian-inspired paleo desserts?
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2022).
PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD
Coconut Jelly Dessert (Dairy-Free Melo Melo Copycat)
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut water divided (I like Taste Nirvana brand in the glass bottle)
- 2½ teaspoons unflavored gelatin powder
- 2½ cups full-fat coconut milk I like Aroy-D brand in the tetrapak or Native Forest Simple Organic coconut milk
- ¼ cup honey light colored (or use ⅓ cup liquid allulose to make it keto)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ cups sliced fresh fruit optional
Instructions
- Pour ¼ cup of the coconut water into a small bowl. Add the gelatin and whisk until well-incorporated. Set aside to let the gelatin bloom and rehydrate.
- In a small saucepan, combine the remaining coconut water, coconut milk, and honey. Heat the coconut mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently until the honey is dissolved and the coconut milk is hot but not boiling.
- Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the reserved hydrated gelatin and vanilla, making sure there are no lumps.
- Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a liquid measuring cup to catch any unmelted lumps of gelatin or honey. Skim off any bubbles on the surface with a fine mesh strainer.
- Then, evenly divide the coconut milk mixture into 6 small (6-ounce) glass jars.
- Chill the jars in the fridge for 1 hour uncovered and then add the lids and chill until solid, about 4 hours. When you are ready to serve, top with fresh fruit if desired!
- Store the coconut jelly in sealed containers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Video
Notes
- Quality matters! Buy the best coconut milk and coconut water you can find because your coconut jelly will only be as creamy and coconut-y as ones you select. I’ve shared my favorite brands in the ingredients section.
- Don’t boil the coconut milk and water mixture! When you heat up the coconut pudding ingredients on the stovetop, just warm it enough to dissolve the honey and melt the gelatin (~body temperature or 100°F). If the coconut mixture is heated too much, it can separate. It’s natural to have a little separation at the bottom of each jar once it cools, but you should see only about a half-inch of clear gel at the most.
- Make sure you don’t use too much gelatin! One of the reasons folks love Melo Melo is because the texture is so soft and delicate—if you add too much gelatin to it, the texture will be too stiff and more like firm Jell-O than silky Melo Melo.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Quick question – would this work well with a different sweetener like allulose instead of honey? Allulose comes in white powder form and liquid form. Thanks!
You can try using liquid allulose. Allulose is normally 2/3 less sweet than regular sugar so you might need to add more to taste.
According to the recipe, you are using more than one can/carton of coconut milk?
It’s an odd measurement.
Yes, you are using 2 1/2 cups of coconut milk. You can half the recipe if you want, but you need the correct ratio of coconut milk to coconut water. Please try cooking the recipe before rating it.
As Michelle says, you should really either delete your rating, or update it based on actually cooking the recipe. Many of us find real ratings very helpful in choosing good recipes; fake ratings spoil things for everybody!
Agreed!! It’s the food blog equivalent of rating a product poorly because the mailman was rude when he delivered it!
Coconut milk is sold in cartons and can be home made. It is not exclusive to cans. I appreciate the accurate measurement. I am planning to make this over the weekend and will come back to rate it.
Thanks for the work you put into developing recipes and saving us from loss of costly ingredients AND time, Michelle!
I had never heard of Melo Melo before but this sounded delicious. Me and my 18 month old daughter whipped up a batch before her afternoon nap and we just tried it–five star rating from each of us! This was awesome and so simple!
Yahoo! Thank you!
This is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!! My new favorite dessert / snack! I was out of vanilla extract so used vanilla bean powder instead and it worked so well. Thank you for this incredible recipe!
Is the beef gelatin a must or would unflavored work? I’m struggling to find the beef flavor. Thank you! Your recipe looks delicious! Can’t wait to try!
Beef gelatin is unflavored gelatin. The unflavored gelatin is normally from pork or beef but it is tasteless.
Hey! Answering for you…the gelatin is called beef gelatin because it comes from cow bones and it’s unflavored:)
Fabulous and easy!
I couldn’t find gelatin while in my local store, so I substituted pectin instead. (Afterward I read that pectin sets firmer with sugar, not honey.) The pectin and coconut water made a solid, lumpy gelatin mass, so after adding it to the warm coconut mixture, I blended it in my bullet. Smooth as silk! The flavor was great, and after 5 hours in the fridge, it had the smooth consistency of pudding. Next time I will try gelatin, and I am excited to discover the difference between the two. I for sure will make it again because of the taste, and ease! Gave some to my mother who was delighted it reminded her of custard. Win win!
Yum! This is delicious! Love the creamy texture and so fresh tasting. I forgot to cover the jars after an hour so the top formed a bit of a crust, oops. But still tasty. I topped with blueberries and cinnamon and my husband and kids loved it. I’m going to make this again next weekend for my daughter’s 1st birthday party and put it in mini dessert cups. Thank you so much for the recipe!
I don’t have small glass jars – same results by storing in something else?
Yes, just chill in small coffee cups or other single serve containers.
This is delicious. My husband, who can be picky about deserts, also loved it. I made it just as the recipe describes, and it was super easy and turned out great. I’m going to make another batch this afternoon.
oops I may have slightly over heated it, it wasn’t boiling but it still tasted great! I’ll try again and for those of you who can’t find the gelatin at a store, just get the Knox unflavored gelatin. It’s the stuff jello is made of!