I’ve been on a bit of a healthy snack mission lately. I have a lot of go-to snacks that I make often, but I really wanted to expand my repertoire and come up with some new snacks.
Meghan loves fruity snacks, so I thought homemade fruit roll-ups would be a great place to start. I’ve never been motivated to make my own fruit roll-ups since you can buy fruit-only, no-sugar-added versions and it didn’t seem worth the effort to make them at home.
Until I had the idea to add spinach. I’ve never seen spinach fruit roll-ups for sale at a store and getting some greens at snack time makes it totally worth the effort.
Not that these are difficult, anyway. Actually, homemade fruit-roll ups are easy. Way easier than I ever imagined. All you have to do is make a simple puree and then put it in the oven. Cut them into strips and you’re done. Three easy steps. You can do this. Remember, you’re going to be giving your child extra greens at snack time! Totally worth it.
Homemade tropical spinach fruit roll-ups
- Total Time: 215 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
Description
A tasty and healthy snack full of tropical flavors
Ingredients
- 3 cups cubed pineapple
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 3 large bananas
- 1/4 cup water from the steamer pot
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to its lowest temperature available. (Mine is 170 degrees, others will go as low as 120 degrees)
- In a steamer pot, boil some water. Place spinach and pineapple in steamer basket and steam for about 10 minutes, until the spinach is wilted and the pineapple is soft. Remove from heat.
- In a blender or food processor, combine pineapple, spinach, bananas, 1/4 cup of water from the pot, and lemon juice. Puree to a smooth texture.
- Take 1-2 rimmed baking sheets (I needed 1 1/2 sheets) and line them with parchment paper and lightly oil the paper or spray with cooking spray. Pour the puree on the sheet pan(s) in a very thin layer, about 1/4 inch thick. Bake, with the oven door slightly ajar, for 2-3 hours, until the fruit puree has dried. If you bake it too long, it will turn into chips. (These are actually good, too!)
- Remove the pans from the oven and cut into long strips, the full length of the pan. (I used a pizza cutter). Cut those strips in half, and finish up by rolling them. Store in an airtight glass container. These do not need to be refrigerated. Enjoy!
Notes
Adapted from the Organic Family Cookbook
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 200 minutes
- Category: Snacks
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 58
- Sugar: 4.9g
- Sodium: 5.7mg
- Fat: 0.2g
- Carbohydrates: 14.8g
- Protein: 0.5g
The puree was a beautiful green color, but unfortunately once it dried in the oven it turned murky. The taste, however, is fantastic. You don’t taste the spinach at all, but only the tropical flavors of banana and pineapple. You would never guess that they have no sugar added. I hope you have fun with these!
I tried these too and they have been baking for about 5 hours now at 170 and still very soft 🙁
Bake them at a higher heat maybe? Leave door closed?
How thin did you have the puree? I have only had the opposite problem of them getting too crispy so I can’t imagine what the deal would be. My one thought is you may have not spread it thin enough. Sorry.
I tried these too and they have been baking for about 5 hours now at 170 and still very soft 🙁
I cooked these at 170 for 3 and a half hours and then had to leave the house so I took them out – any ideas what I did wrong? I used two cookie sheets so they were pretty thin!
What was the problem with them? Did they not firm up? Every oven is different, but mine definitely don’t take longer than 3 hours at 170. My thin edges actually get too crispy by 3 hours. The only thing I can think of is that your oven temp is off a bit (or mine is!) and you need to cook them a bit longer. Sorry these didn’t work out for you.
Make fruit rolls on a more or less regular basis. I always add a bit citric acid to it and that (i believe) makes the color stay vibrant
Can’t wait to try these! I’ve made fruit roll ups before but can’t wait to try them with spinach. I just bought an absurd amount of strawberries on sale so I will be using those. We are always in need of new “whole” snacks and adding a veggie is a huge bonus. Thanks!
I think these will be great with strawberries!
Very creative Maryea! I think I need these now but I should pin it for Jackson for later— you really had your thinking cap on with these!
Thanks Julie! I love your teaching line there. 🙂
I don’t have kids but I have a kid-like fiance who will just love these, especially if you don’t taste the spinach. I wonder if strawberries would also work, in place of the pineapple or banana?
Either way, these are a super cool idea and I am loving all your snack recipes – please keep them coming!
I do think strawberries would work. I would definitely keep either the pineapple or banana because they are both super sweet and mask the spinach flavor, but subbing one of them out should be fine.
These are such a great idea!!!! I’m imagining all of the flavor combos that could be possible for snacking.
This is an awesome recipe. What’s the consistency like? Is it easy to chew for a toddler?
I gave some to Luke in small pieces and he did fine with it. He has 8 teeth in the front and 2 molars that are half way through. They are a little softer than the fruit leathers you’d find in the store.
Great! I definitely plan to make them.
I’m in love with these! What a wonderful healthy snacking for the kiddos (and the adults, too!) Adding spinach to “fruit roll ups” is such a fabulous idea. Bookmarking this!
Thanks, Alexis! 🙂
Maryea,
What a fun idea! Two questions: 1. Do you add 1/4 c or 1/2 c of the steaming water. You have 1/4 c in the ingredients list and 1/2 c in the instructions. And, 2. Do you store these in the fridge or just leave them in the pantry? How long do they usually last in your house?
Thanks!
Whoops–it’s 1/4 cup. I’ll go fix that now! These can be stored in the pantry and will keep well for a couple of weeks at least.