Grass Jelly is an herbal jelly dessert. Delicate and refreshing! It's made from the roots and stems of the grass jelly herb (called mesona) and typically served as a combination of jelly and liquid. People mostly purchase this dessert canned and pre-made, but once you try this fresh and elegant homemade version, you'll never go back. Enjoy!

What Is Grass Jelly Made Of?
Grass jelly is an herbal jelly dessert that is very popular in Asia. It's made by boiling the dried stems and leaves of the Mesona plant (which is part of the mint family).
The boiled liquid is dark, warming, and smells amazing.
The boiled liquid can be sweetened and served as is. It's still called "grass jelly" even in the liquid form.
It can also be turned into an actual jelly by using agar agar or gelatin. People also use tapioca starch to do this, but we prefer agar agar powder at home.
Whether you eat it in liquid or jelly form, it is called "grass jelly."
Grass jelly goes by a few other names:
- Mesona
- Leaf Jelly
- Herb Jelly
What Does Grass Jelly Taste Like?
Grass jelly is mild in flavor, but it does have distinct herbal flavor and a slight bitterness. Because it comes from a plant that is part of the mint family, there are very subtle mint-like hints to the herb. It's a very elegant flavor that many love.
Grass jelly is not naturally sweet, so people usually sweeten it with honey or sugar.
How To Serve Grass Jelly
There are many ways to serve grass jelly!
Today's recipe is for the easiest version:
- Combine the liquid form and jelly form together in a cup. This combination can be served chilled (most common) or warm (great on cold days).
Other popular ways of serving grass jelly:
- Grass jelly is also use as a topping in boba drinks. You know how you can pick boba, almond jelly, pudding, etc as drink toppings in boba and tea shops? You can also pick grass jelly.
- Spoon the jelly over crushed ice. Top with syrup (simple syrup, honey syrup, ginger syrup, etc) and other goodies like fresh mochi balls and azuki beans.
Canned Grass Jelly
We ate grass jelly often as kids. It was always the canned version, the only option that existed in Hawaii. I didn't even know that you could make grass jelly at home!
You've seen those grass jelly cans at the Chinese market. White can. Red, blue, or green text depending on the brand. A photo of the grass jelly in the front. It was delicious. Open the can, out pops a bouncy cylinder of jelly. Cut it up, serve it with a bowl of crushed ice. Then eat! A super refreshing summer dessert.
We also purchase canned grass jelly drinks from the supermarket. It was combination of liquid grass jelly and the jelly pieces of grass jelly, all combined into one drink. You had to shake it well and drink with a straw otherwise all the jelly pieces got stuck on the bottom.
Why This Recipe Works
This is a straightforward recipe. The "hardest" part is just figuring out where to buy the dried stems and leaves of the Mesona plant. We purchased ours from Yun Hai - I just learned about this online shops recently. They have some pretty neat Taiwanese products that are otherwise hard to find in the US. We also bought the aiyu jelly seeds from them.
You can also check Chinese markets for the dried herb, though it's not something I commonly see. If you're at the market, try picking up the canned grass jelly so you can compare the homemade and canned products. It's completely different.
After you get the dried herb, just rinse and boil it with water for a few hours to extract all the flavor and goodness from the herb. Then strain and you're left with a big pot of gorgeous, dark herbal liquid. It's intoxicating and the scent is wonderful.
We use half the liquid to make the jelly. We use agar agar to do this (though you can also use gelatin if preferred).
As for the other half of the liquid? We simply sweeten it with honey or sugar. Then we drink a lot of it as a hot herbal tea. But we also save some of the liquid to assemble the "main" grass jelly dessert (that's the photo at the top of this post).
You really get 3 "dishes" out of this one recipe:
- Liquid grass jelly (which you can drink as a tea).
- Jelly grass jelly (the actual jelly which you can cut into cubes or any shape).
- The final/main grass jelly dessert (a combination of the liquid grass jelly and jelly grass jelly combined in a cup or bowl, pictured at the top of this post).
Ingredients
Here's what you'll need:
- Grass jelly herb - We purchased from ours from Yun Hai.
- Water
- Agar agar powder
- Honey or sugar (optional)
Step by Step Directions
Let's get cooking!
Clean the grass jelly herb.
Place the grass jelly herb (aka the dried stems and leaves of the mesona plant) in a big colander. Gently rinse for 30 seconds to clean the herb, then drain.
Boil the grass jelly herb.
Place the drained grass jelly herb in a large pot. Add the water. Place a lid on top. Bring to a boil then turn the heat down to low. Let simmer for 2-3 hours on low heat.
Pro Tip: Make sure the grass jelly herb is fully submerged in the water (feel free to cut/trim the herbs to fit into the pot if needed). The goal is want to extract as much flavor from the herb as possible when cooking.
Cool and strain.
Remove from heat and let the liquid cool. Then strain the liquid and discard the grass jelly herb. (We will use half of this liquid to make the "jelly component," and the other half to make the "liquid component").
Make the jelly component.
Make the jelly component first: measure 8 cups of the liquid and pour that into a medium pot. Add the agar agar powder. Whisk well to dissolve. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Sweeten the jelly component.
Then turn the heat down to low. Gently sweeten the mixture with honey or sugar. Add a tablespoon at a time until you reach the amount of preferred sweetness.
Let the jelly component set.
Whisk and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Then pour into a clean pan (or tray or pot) and let cool. Then place in the fridge to let it set for 2-3 hours.
Make the liquid component.
Make the liquid component next: pour the remaining liquid into a medium pot and bring to a boil. Sweeten with honey or sugar (use as much or as little as you'd like).
Note: You can then drink some of this hot liquid as a "grass jelly tea." Just pour it into a cup and drink as is. It is delicious on cold days.
Make sure to save some of liquid for the final grass jelly dessert. Set aside and let cool.
Assemble the complete grass jelly dessert.
Then prepare the complete grass jelly dessert. Remove the jelly from the refrigerator. Scoop or cut the grass jelly into cubes and place into a dessert bowl. Pour the grass jelly liquid (which you made in Step 7) over the jelly cubes.
Serve chilled. Eat with a spoon and enjoy ^_^
FAQs and Tips
The liquid component will keep in the fridge for up to a week. The prepared jelly component will keep 3-4 days, refrigerated in sealed container. Don't combine the jelly components and the liquid component until right before you eat.
You can sweeten this dessert with honey or sugar, it is a personal preference. You can also sweeten it with as much or as little as you like. I know some people who like to sweeten only the liquid part (and leave the jelly unsweetened) Or vice versa. There's no right or wrong, but you'll want to sweeten at least one component to really make the dessert taste "complete."
We prefer using agar agar powder...we use agar agar in many desserts! This is a personal preference. But you can also use gelatin, just make sure to follow the ratios of powder to liquid listed on the box instructions.
If you like the jelly component more firm, then increase the ratio of agar agar powder to the grass jelly liquid. Do the opposite if you prefer the jelly more loose/wobbly. Read more about agar agar desserts and measurements in this post.
We typically use half the grass jelly liquid to make the jelly component and half to make the liquid component. But if you want more or less of one or the other, just adjust accordingly.
Don't throw out the dried grass jelly herb after the 2-3 hours of cooking. Did you know you can extra more flavor from it? We often reuse "leftover" dried grass jelly herb the next day by re-brewing the grass jelly herb with a ton of water. We keep it simmering on the stove all day long and drink endless cups of brewed grass jelly. Ladle into your cup and drink. Enjoy and repeat.
Grass Jelly Recipe
See below and enjoy ^_^
Grass Jelly
Grass Jelly is an herbal jelly dessert. Delicate and refreshing! It’s made from the roots and stems of the grass jelly herb (called mesona) and typically served as a combination of jelly and liquid. People mostly purchase this dessert canned and pre-made, but once you try this fresh and elegant homemade version, you’ll never go back. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 4 ounces grass jelly herb (the roots and stems of the mesona plant)
- 20 cups water
- 10 grams agar agar powder
- Honey or sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Place the grass jelly herb in a big colander. Gently rinse for 30 seconds to clean the herb, then drain.
- Place the drained herbs in a large pot. Add the water. Place a lid on top. Bring to a boil then turn the heat down to low. Let simmer for 2-3 hours on low heat.
- Remove from heat and let the liquid cool. Then strain the liquid and discard the grass jelly herb. (We will use half of this liquid to make the "jelly component," and the other half to make the "liquid component").
- Make the jelly component first: measure 8 cups of the liquid and pour that into a medium pot. Add the agar agar powder. Whisk well to dissolve. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Then turn the heat down to low. Gently sweeten the mixture with honey or sugar. Add a tablespoon at a time until you reach the amount of preferred sweetness.
- Whisk and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Then pour into a clean pan (or tray or pot) and let cool. Then place in the fridge to let it set for 2-3 hours.
- Make the liquid component next: pour the remaining liquid into a medium pot and bring to a boil. Sweeten with honey or sugar (use as much or as little as you'd like). You can then drink this hot liquid as a "grass jelly tea." It is delicious on cold days. Make sure to save some of liquid for the final grass jelly dessert. Set aside and let cool.
- Then prepare the complete grass jelly dessert. Remove the jelly from the refrigerator. Scoop or cut the grass jelly into cubes and place into a dessert bowl. Pour the grass jelly liquid (which you made in Step 7) over the jelly cubes. Serve chilled. Eat with a spoon and enjoy ^_^
Notes
- We typically use half the grass jelly liquid to make the jelly component and half to make the liquid component. If you prefer more or less of one or the other, just adjust accordingly.
- On cold days, we often brew the dried grass jelly herb with a ton of water. We keep it simmering on the stove all day long and just drink endless cups of brewed grass jelly.
- If you like the jelly component more firm, then increase the ratio of agar agar powder to the grass jelly liquid. Do the opposite if you prefer the jelly more loose/wobbly. Read more about agar agar desserts and measurements in this post.
I always had grass jelly from the can, and had no idea that one could make it from scratch. We would eat it with maple syrup as the sweetener.
Yuck! I hate grass jelly. LOL! Although I like most other gelatin desserts -- jello, kanten, yokan, Chinese almond jelly/jello, haupia, etc. etc. I guess it is the medicinal herbal taste that gets to me.
But I normally will eat (and like) almost anything!