Coconut Jelly (Dairy-Free Melo Melo Copycat)

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.

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 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, and contains no added stabilizers or preservatives.
• Gelatin: My preferred brand of 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 so 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?

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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).

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