These Red, White and Blue Cupcakes are a festive, fun treat perfect for patriotic holidays like the Fourth of July or Memorial Day. With vibrant stripes of red and blue Jello inside fluffy white cupcakes, each bite is as cheerful as a firework show. Topped with light whipped frosting and festive sprinkles, they’re easy to make with a boxed mix and a fun surprise once you take a bite.
Perfect for hosting a backyard BBQ, heading to a potluck, or just celebrating with the kids, these Jello-filled patriotic cupcakes are a guaranteed hit. The best part? You only need a few simple ingredients, and no piping bag required.
Jump to:
- Why You Will Love These Poke Cupcakes
- Ingredients
- Substitutions and Variations
- How to Make Red, White and Blue Cupcakes
- More Recipes You Will Love
- How to Store Poke Cupcakes
- What to Serve with Red, White and Blue Cupcakes
- Top Tips
- Frequently Asked Questions About Making Poke Cupcakes
- More Recipes You Will Love
- Red, White and Blue Cupcakes Recipe
We love making festive desserts, here are some other patriotic treats you might want to try: Red, White and Blue Dump Cake, Red, White and Blue Poke Cake, Red, White and Blue Trifle and our Red, White and Blue Fruit Cups. And for a festive cocktail try our Bomb Pop Cocktail.
Why You Will Love These Poke Cupcakes
- Colorful and Festive: They’re an eye-catching centerpiece for patriotic celebrations.
- Kid-Friendly and Fun: The Jello poke technique is easy and interactive.
- Light and Fluffy: Thanks to the whipped topping, the frosting is creamy without being heavy.
- Make-Ahead Friendly: Chill in the fridge and frost just before serving.
- Semi-Homemade Ease: Boxed cake mix keeps things simple without sacrificing flavor.
Ingredients
With just a quick trip to the grocery store, you will be ready to make this simple recipe.
See the recipe card below for the exact quantities of each ingredient.
- White Cake Mix: Acts as the white color for this dessert. You can use whatever is your favorite flavor.
- Blue Jello: Provides our blue color and adds sweetness.
- Red Jello: Gives our pop of red color.
- Boiling Water: Dissolves the Jello.
- Cold Water: Helps to start the setting process of the Jello.
- Cool Whip: An easy way to frost the cupcakes.
For this easy recipe, you'll want to have on hand a 12-cavity muffin tin, measuring cups and spoons, kettle and a wire rack.
Substitutions and Variations
Here are some helpful ideas for you to change these red, white and blue cupcakes.
- Cake Mix: Swap in a yellow cake mix or vanilla mix if that’s what you have or prefer.
- Jello Flavors: You can use raspberry or cherry for the red and berry blue or regular blue raspberry for the blue.
- Whipped Topping: Use stabilized whipped cream, homemade whipped cream in replace of store-bought.
- Frosting Options: For a richer topping, you could use cream cheese frosting or homemade buttercream frosting. Leave it as white frosting or add some gel food coloring and make a blue frosting or red frosting, or all 3 and mix it up!
- Sprinkles: Use themed or metallic sprinkles for a different vibe (stars, glitter sugar).
- Flavor Enhancer: Add a pinch of salt and pure vanilla extract to your batter when mixing for a lightly intensified flavor.
- Liquid Food Coloring: Divide your batter into 3 separate bowls and use blue food coloring for one, and red food colouring for the other. Add blue batter, white batter, then red batter into your muffin tray and make layered patriotic cupcakes.
How to Make Red, White and Blue Cupcakes
Look at how simple it is to make this fun patriotic dessert.
Preheat oven to 350F and line a 12-tin cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Spray with non-stock spray, if desired and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl prepare cupcake batter according to cake mix box directions.
Add 5 tablespoons batter into each of the muffin cups in prepared cupcake pan (you might have a small amount of waste). Bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center of the cupcakes with moist crumbs.
Set on a wire rack and cool slightly, then poke 4 holes in each cupcake about ½ to 1cm in diameter (I used a chopstick) about ¾ of the way into the cupcakes.
Prepare blue Jello in a small bowl or spouted measuring cup by adding 1.5-ounce Jello mixture (half of a small box), followed by ½ cup hot water. Stir until dissolved then add ¼ cup cold water.
Repeat for the red Jello.
Carefully spoon Jello mixtures into alternating holes, pouring one color into each hole. Each cupcake will have two blue holes and two red holes.
Refrigerate cupcakes for 60 minutes to allow Jello to set.
Add Cool Whip and any patriotic sprinkles when ready to serve.
Hint: Use a chopstick or end of a wooden spoon—avoid going all the way through the cupcake to prevent leaks.
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How to Store Poke Cupcakes
Here are some ways to store these fluffy cupcakes.
- Refrigerator: Once cooled, place unfrosted cupcakes in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
- Freezer: Alternatively, you can place it in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
- Make Ahead: These are a great make ahead recipe, you can pull the cupcakes out of the fridge, poke the holes in the cupcakes, prepare your Jello and then allow them set in the fridge.
What to Serve with Red, White and Blue Cupcakes
Serve this delicious dessert with your favorite patriotic treats or cocktails. Here are a few festive ideas to pair with these poke cupcakes.
- Simple Berry Salad: Keeps the red, white, and blue theme going with a lighter side.
- Red, White, and Blue Desserts: Our red, white, and blue trifle, red, white, and blue fruit cups, red white and blue dump cake are fun and festive treats to bring to your gatherings!
- Pies: Pies are a classic dessert to bring to any backyard party. Make a blueberry pie, strawberry pie, or a blended pie for a patriotic red, white and blue pie. Our homemade pie crust is the best base for any pie.
- Bomb Pop Cocktail: A great patriotic cocktail to keep with the festive theme.
- Strawberry Hennessy Lemonade: A fun cocktail for adult gatherings.
- Homemade Lemonade: Our honey strawberry lemonade is a refreshing drink to complement the sweet berries.
Top Tips
Here are some of our best tips to help you make these poke cupcakes.
- Pour Slowly: Spoon or pour the Jello gently to avoid oversaturating or mixing the colors.
- Cool Completely: Make sure the unfrosted cupcakes are fully cooled before poking. If you are on a clock to get these prepped, you can put them in the fridge to cool them.
- Refrigerate after Jello: Give them at least 60 minutes in the fridge to soak in the color and firm up.
Frequently Asked Questions About Making Poke Cupcakes
Do you have questions about making our red, white and blue cupcakes?
Absolutely. We have a recipe for a Red, White and Blue Poke Cake that you can follow along with for exactly how to make it.
Yes, you can make the cupcakes and leave them unfrosted in the fridge for a few days before serving. We recommend frosting and decorating them shortly before serving since sprinkles can start to melt and the colors will bleed.
More Recipes You Will Love
Check out some more of our recipes you will want to try!
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Red, White and Blue Cupcakes Recipe
Equipment
- 12-Tin Muffin Tray
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Kettle
- Wire Rack
Ingredients
- 1 14- ounce box white cake mix plus box ingredients
- 1.5- ounce blue Jello ½ box
- 1.5- ounce red Jello ½ box
- 1 cup boiling water divided
- ½ cup cold water divided
- ½ 8- ounce tub frozen Cool Whip thawed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a 12-tin cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Spray with non-stock spray, if desired and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl prepare cupcake batter according to cake mix box directions.
- Add 5 tablespoons batter into each of the muffin cups in prepared cupcake pan (you might have a small amount of waste). Bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center of the cupcakes with moist crumbs.
- Set on a wire rack and cool slightly, then poke 4 holes in each cupcake about ½ to 1cm in diameter (I used a chopstick) about ¾ of the way into the cupcakes.
- Prepare blue Jello in a small bowl or spouted measuring cup by adding 1.5-ounce Jello mixture (half of a small box), followed by ½ cup hot water. Stir until dissolved then add ¼ cup cold water.
- Repeat for the red Jello.
- Carefully spoon Jello mixtures into alternating holes, pouring one color into each hole. Each cupcake will have two blue holes and two red holes.
- Refrigerate cupcakes for 60 minutes to allow Jello to set.
- Add Cool Whip and any patriotic sprinkles when ready to serve.
Notes
- Use a chopstick or end of a wooden spoon—avoid going all the way through the cupcake to prevent leaks.
- Spoon or pour the Jello gently to avoid oversaturating or mixing the colors.
- Make sure the unfrosted cupcakes are fully cooled before poking. If you are on a clock to get these prepped, you can put them in the fridge to cool them.
- Give them at least 60 minutes in the fridge to soak in the color and firm up.
Nutrition
We would be so grateful for you to leave us a rating and review on any recipes you try. If you make any alterations, let us know how they turned out.
Madhu says
These sound so fun and festive! How do you get the Jello stripes to stay so neat inside the cupcake? Would love to try this for our holiday party!
Eva Filer says
Pouring slow is the best way! Use a container that keeps you nice and steady.
Abi says
Love this patriotic cupcakes, what an amazing idea!!
Eva Filer says
Thanks - they are fun ones for any time of year, really!
Karin says
Perfect red white and blue dessert but you can use any colors you like! My son picked purple and blue and they turned out great. We had so much fun making them together. TFS
Eva Filer says
Oh that is a perfect combination too. You really can customize it to your favorite colors or flavors. Thanks for the feedback.
Eva Filer says
These are so delicious and moist- the sweetness from the Jello balances well with the light frosting too.