What Is Grape juice and How Can I Use It?
Wondering what to do with grape juice? This guide covers how to pick it, cook it, store it, and swap it, plus 31 recipes to put it to work.
Key Points
- Sweet pressed grape juice, pasteurized so it stays juice instead of fermenting into wine.
- Bold purple Concord drives jelly and flavor; mild white grape juice suits pale dishes.
- Bakes into cakes and gelatin, reduces into glazes, and poaches fruit without staining.
- White grape juice plus a little vinegar is a strong non-alcoholic white wine substitute.
- Buy 100 percent juice; once opened, refrigerate and use within seven to ten days.
What is grape juice?
Grape juice is the pressed juice of grapes, sold sweet and ready to drink. Most bottles are pasteurized so they will not ferment, which is what keeps grape juice a juice rather than turning into wine.
The two you see most are deep purple Concord and pale green-gold white grape juice. Concord is the bold one, with that jammy "grape" flavor most people picture, while white grape juice is milder and far less likely to stain.
That color difference matters in the kitchen. Concord brings strong flavor and a purple tint, while white grape juice adds sweetness and body without coloring a pale dish.
Ways to Use It
Beyond the glass, grape juice is a quiet baking and dessert workhorse. It firms up Glorious Grape Gelatin, soaks the fruit in fruitcakes, and stirs into batters like Grape Snack Muffins and Grape Applesauce Cake for flavor and moisture.
Concord juice is the base for homemade jelly. Cooked with sugar and pectin, it sets into the classic spread, the way Refrigerator Grape Jelly and Microwave Grape Jelly do without a long water-bath canning session.
Reduced down, grape juice becomes a glaze or a sweet-tart sauce for pork or duck. White grape juice also makes a gentle poaching liquid for pears and other fruit, as in Juice Poached Pears, where it perfumes the fruit without staining it.
It freezes well into sorbet and granita, too. Because it is already sweet, you need little or no added sugar.
Just add a squeeze of lemon so the flavor does not go flat.
Pairing and Common Mistakes
Grape pairs naturally with lemon, apple, cinnamon, ginger, and warm spices, and white grape juice plays especially well with peach and pear. In savory cooking it leans on vinegar and rosemary to keep its sweetness in check.
The most common mistake is grabbing sweetened grape drink or cocktail instead of 100 percent juice. The sugary blends throw off the balance in jelly and sauces and can keep a jelly from setting, so check the label for real juice.
Another slip is reducing it too hard for a glaze. Grape juice is high in natural sugar, so it goes from syrupy to scorched fast over high heat. Keep the heat moderate and pull it when it coats a spoon.
For pale dishes, reach for white grape juice on purpose. Concord will turn a poaching syrup or a light sauce an unmistakable purple, which is great in jelly and wrong on a poached pear.
Substitutes
White grape juice is one of the best non-alcoholic stand-ins for white wine in cooking. Use it splash for splash, then add a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice per cup to bring back the acidity wine would have given.
For Concord, unsweetened cranberry or pomegranate juice gives you a similar deep color and tart-sweet punch, though both run more sour, so taste and adjust the sugar.
In a glaze or sauce, apple juice works when you only need sweetness and body, not grape flavor.
It is milder and paler than Concord.
Buying and Storing
Buy bottles labeled 100 percent juice with no added sugar for the most control in cooking. Concord covers bold flavor and jelly; white grape juice covers everything pale and stands in for wine.
Unopened, shelf-stable bottles keep for many months in the pantry, well past their date if stored cool and dark. Refrigerated cartons follow their printed date.
Once opened, grape juice belongs in the fridge with the cap tight, best used within seven to ten days. After that wild yeast slowly takes over and it begins to ferment, turning fizzy and sour.
Freeze extra in an ice cube tray if you only use a little at a time.
Grape juice appears in more than 30 recipes here, from gelatin and muffins to jelly and poached fruit, which shows how easily it crosses from drink to dessert to sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 cup (253g)Quick facts
Where to find grape juice: Grape juice is usually found in the beverages section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.
Food group: Grape juice is a member of the Fruits and Fruit Juices US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.
- In Chinese
- 葡萄汁
- British (UK) term
- Grape juice
- en français
- jus de raisin
- en español
- jugo de uva
How much does grape juice weigh?
| Amount | Weight |
|---|---|
| 1 cup | 253 grams |
| 1 fl oz | 31 grams |
Related
Fruits and Fruit Juices
Recipes using grape juice
There are 31 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Juice Poached Pears
Juice poached pears bathe firm fresh pears in spiced grape juice with cinnamon and allspice, then drizzle with the reduced syrup. An elegant low-calorie fruit dessert.
Refrigerator Grape Jelly
Sugar-free refrigerator grape jelly made with unsweetened grape juice, unflavored gelatin, and lemon juice. No pectin, no canning, no special equipment. Ready in 35 minutes, keeps for 2 weeks.
Grape Snack Muffins
Whole-wheat grape juice muffins with blue cornmeal, yogurt, and a pinch of nutmeg. Naturally sweetened with concord grape juice, no refined sugar. A wholesome lunchbox snack.
Christmas Memory Fruitcake
Christmas memory fruitcake steams then bakes a bourbon-soaked, dense old-fashioned fruitcake loaded with Brazil nuts, raisins, candied fruit, figs, and warming spices. Heirloom holiday recipe.
Glorious Grape Gelatin
Only 4 ingredients! Grape juice studded with banana slices makes this all-natural dessert delightfully glorious!
Cato's Grape Bread
Cato's grape bread recreates an ancient Roman recipe with feta, cumin, anise, and grape juice baked over fragrant bay leaves. A 2,000-year-old loaf with rustic Mediterranean character.
Purple Pudding
Purple pudding made with blue cornmeal and grape juice, blended smooth with yogurt. A naturally colorful no-bake dessert with a creamy, tangy finish and striking violet hue.
Halloween Witch's Brew
Halloween witch's brew, a kid-friendly non-alcoholic Halloween punch made with grape juice and soda water, garnished with halved grapes that look like floating eyeballs. Ready in 10 minutes.
Turkey Scallopine
Turkey scallopine pounded paper-thin, seared in butter and oil, then finished with a grape juice or vermouth pan sauce and double cream. A 20-minute weeknight answer to schnitzel.
Cato's Grape Bread (Mustaceus)
An ancient Roman bread recipe from Cato the Elder: grape juice, feta, lard, cumin, and anise baked on bay leaves. A fascinating taste of history you can bake at home.
Rosy Grape Jelly
Rosy grape jelly: easy freezer jelly made with cranberry and grape juice, pectin, and sugar. Bright ruby color and bold fruit flavor without cooking down fresh fruit.
Grape & Walnut Candy Rolls
Soutzoukos, traditional Greek and Cypriot grape-walnut candy rolls made by dipping strung walnuts into thickened grape must, then drying for days. An ancient, chewy, fruit-leather classic.
Berkshire Fruit Cake
Berkshire fruit cake packed with raisins, currants, and citron in a spiced molasses batter with cinnamon, cloves, and mace. Baked low and slow for 4.5 hours.
Fruit Cake with O Nuts
Old-fashioned nut-free fruitcake with candied cherries, pineapple, grape jelly, and warm spices. Baked low and slow in three pans. Safe for nut allergies.
Port Wine Jelly
Port wine jelly made with port, fresh grape juice, sugar, and liquid pectin. A jewel-toned preserve that pairs with cheese boards, roasted meats, and holiday gift giving.
Walnut Spread
Ancient Roman walnut spread made with ground walnuts, liquamen (fish sauce), grape juice, olive oil, and cumin. A historical appetizer shaped like a fish and served with bread or crackers.
Orange or Grape Blocks
Orange or grape juice blocks set unsweetened fruit juice with unflavored gelatin into firm, sliceable squares. A sugar-free, diabetic-friendly homemade alternative to gummy candy.
Grape Nut Roll (Soutzouki)
Soutzouki, the traditional Greek grape-and-walnut candy. A chewy grape-juice gel thickened with pectin, studded with whole walnuts and rolled into a log to slice. Naturally fruit-sweet, no candy thermometer needed.
Grilled Sesame Chicken Breasts
Grilled sesame chicken breasts marinate in soy sauce, white grape juice, sesame seeds and ginger, then grill over medium-hot coals. A sweet-savory Asian-inspired summer dinner.
Baked Apples with a Twist
Baked apples stuffed with oats and brown sugar, dusted in cinnamon, and baked in a splash of grape juice until tender and bubbling. A cozy fall dessert with no butter and a warm, spiced finish.
Welch’s Concord Grape Cider
Juice from Concord grapes is packed with potent polyphenyls and research shows that the consumption of Concord grape juice can help promote a healthy heart and may help prevent heart disease and other chronic diseases by improving the body’s ability to deal with oxidative stress.
Old Fashioned Fruit Cake #4
Old fashioned fruit cake with blackberry jam, fig preserves, watermelon rind preserves, candied cherries, pecans, and cocoa. Baked low and slow in a cast iron skillet.
Not Yo' Mamma's Red Beans
Louisiana-style red beans and rice with a bold spice mix and an unexpected addition of grape juice for sweetness. No meat, all flavor, cooked from dried beans.
Sweet Fruit Soup
A chilled Scandinavian-style fruit soup simmered with prunes, raisins, apples, cherries, and citrus, thickened with tapioca and finished with grape juice. Serve cold as a refreshing starter or light dessert.
Citrus Marinated Fruit
Fresh cantaloupe, blueberries, grapes, and strawberries soaked in an orange juice and white wine marinade. Fat-free, naturally sweet, and gorgeous on any brunch or potluck spread.
Liquamen
Liquamen, an ancient Roman fish sauce made from anchovies, oregano, salt, and grape juice. A quick stovetop recreation of the fermented condiment that flavored nearly every dish in ancient Rome.
Microwave Grape Jelly
Microwave grape jelly made in 30 minutes with four ingredients. No canning kettle needed, just grape juice, sugar, pectin, and a quick lemon juice brightener.
Pheasant with Grapes & White Wine Sauce
Oven-braised pheasant in a white wine and stock sauce with peeled grapes stirred in at the end. A classic European game bird dish with an elegant, fruity finish.
Wild Grape Dumplings
Tender buttermilk dumplings steamed in bubbling wild grape juice with whole grapes. An old Appalachian tradition that turns foraged fruit into a warm, purple-stained comfort dessert.
Grape Applesauce Cake
Moist Bundt cake made with applesauce, grape juice, dates, and pecans, spiced with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger. A nostalgic, butter-free cake dusted with powdered sugar.
Heirloom Fruitcake
Heirloom fruitcake packs candied cherries, pineapple, citron, dates, raisins and pecans into a spice-laden batter, baked low and slow then aged a month with wine before serving.
