How To Make Dark Green Icing (5 Shades!)

How To Make Dark Green Icing - 5 Ways

Each formula shows how to make a different shade of dark green using food coloring gel, using 1 cup of buttercream frosting. Note that the liquid food coloring formula (at the end of the post) is based off ½ cup frosting. If you've ever wondered how to make dark green buttercream, here's 5 different shades!

Tip! If you're looking for brighter green icing colors, check out my Christmas Cookie Frosting formulas.

Bonus: Dark Green Icing with Liquid Food Coloring

Getting a really deep, dark green requires a lot of liquid food coloring. So while the color below isn't super dark, it's about as dark as I'd recommend going when using liquid food coloring or you'll start tasting it. For this test, I used McCormick Assorted Liquid Food Coloring.

Liquid Food Coloring: 24 drops blue + 32 drops green + 4 drops yellow + ½ cup buttercream (or royal icing or glaze)

Perfect for: sports cookies, green grass icing, St. Patrick's Day cookies, Christmas tree icing

Mixing Food Coloring

The easiest way to mix food coloring is to scoop the frosting into a bowl and mix with a spoon or rubber spatula until all icing is blended. It is easiest to hold the bowl in one hand and stir it with the other, rather than trying to mix while the bowl is on the counter. Be sure to scrape all the icing from the bottom of the bowl, to ensure no white icing is left.

It is easiest to use a solid bowl (like ceramic) rather than a lightweight plastic.

Frosting Tips & Tricks

• Rather than buy 25 bottles of food coloring, invest in a verstaile set of gel food coloring that you can mix & match! My favorite is the Wilton Color Right System.
• It is easiest to use a solid bowl (like ceramic) rather than a lightweight plastic bowl.
• Avoid lemon extract, as the acidity in this can discolor your frosting (causing it to turn darker or brown).
• Scroll for a printable guide to making dark green using gel food coloring!

How do I make my icing darker?

There are two easy ways to make icing darker:

1. Add more food coloring, of course! Just be careful not taste it as you go to ensure you are not adding so much food coloring that you begin to taste it. If you want your frosting just a tad bit darker, dip a toothpick into the food coloring (rather than dropping it in). This allows you to add a tiny amount and best control the color.
2. Place colored frosting in an airtight container and store in fridge. Allowing the frosting to sit for 1-2 days will allow the colors to deepen. When ready to use, thaw and restir the frosting to smooth it out.

How do I make my icing lighter?

If you've made the frosting darker than you'd like, you can dilute the color.

If you are just trying to achieve a light green color overall, dip a toothpick into the food coloring (rather than dropping it in). This allows you to add a tiny amount and best control the color. For lighter green frosting colors, check out my Christmas Cookie Frosting formulas.

Dark Green Gel Food Color Mixing Chart

Use the red button below to save this dark green mixing chart to your Pinterest board!