Blackcurrant substitute

Best substitute

Blackberries with lemon juice

Use the same amount by weight, plus 1 tbsp lemon juice per cup as the blackcurrant you are replacing

Best for jams and preserves

Different taste

Blackberries with lemon juice are the practical swap, 1:1 by weight plus a tablespoon of lemon per cup, and they get the deep purple colour and dark fruit sweetness right. What they miss is the musk, that faintly resinous tomato-leaf note that makes blackcurrant unmistakable. If you can get creme de cassis or a blackcurrant cordial, 1 to 2 tablespoons stirred into the finished dish restores it almost completely, and that combination is the closest a home kitchen gets. For jam specifically, red currants match the acid and pectin exactly and set beautifully; they just come out pink instead of near-black. Frozen blackcurrants are widely sold even where fresh are not, and often the answer is simply to buy those.

Other blackcurrant substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Creme de cassis or blackcurrant cordial
Different texture
Use 1 to 2 tbsp for every cup of blackcurrants the recipe calls for
Blackcurrant liqueur or concentrated syrup, added to a milder fruit to put the actual blackcurrant flavour back.
What changes
Best for
sauces and glazes, sorbets and ice cream, desserts and mousses, drinks and cordials, boosting a blackberry or blueberry base
By far the highest-fidelity flavour swap available, because it is made from the fruit itself, and it is best used alongside another berry rather than alone since it brings no bulk or texture. It carries a lot of sugar and, in the case of cassis, alcohol, so cut the recipe's sweetener back and reduce other liquid to match. Add it late and off the heat, since prolonged boiling flattens both the aroma and the colour.
3Red currants with a spoonful of blackberry jam
Different taste
Use the same amount red currants by weight, plus 1 tbsp blackberry jam per cup
The same genus as blackcurrant, matching its acidity and its pectin almost exactly, with dark jam added for depth.
What changes
Best for
jams and jellies, sauces for game and lamb, compotes, tarts, Nordic fruit soups
The best choice when the recipe depends on a firm set, because red currants are one of the few fruits as pectin-rich as blackcurrants and a jelly will set hard without any added pectin. They are just as sour, so the sugar quantity in your recipe stays right. What changes is colour and character: bright translucent red instead of inky purple-black, and a cleaner, brighter sourness without the musk, which is what the spoonful of dark jam is there to suggest.
4Blueberries with lemon juice
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight, plus 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice per cup
The easiest dark berry to find year round, useful mainly for colour and bulk.
What changes
Best for
muffins and cakes, compotes, pancake sauces, desserts where colour matters
Use this when availability is the constraint rather than flavour, because blueberries are the mildest and sweetest berry on the list and the gap is wide. They are markedly less acidic than blackcurrants, so the lemon juice needs to be generous, and even then the result tastes gentle and mellow where blackcurrant is bracing. They are also low in pectin and high in water, so jams stay runny and pie fillings need extra cornstarch. A tablespoon of cassis or blackcurrant cordial transforms them.
5Concord grapes
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
The American slip-skin grape, which shares a genuinely similar musky aroma with blackcurrant.
What changes
Best for
cordials and saft, jellies, fruit soups, sorbets, juice-based recipes
The unexpected entry that works better than any of the ordinary berries on aroma, because Concord grapes carry a strong musky, foxy perfume that lands in a similar register to blackcurrant's resinous note. They are much sweeter and much less acidic, so add lemon juice to taste and cut the sugar substantially. The seeds and slip skins mean you will want to cook and sieve them, which makes this a good option for a cordial, a jelly or a Nordic fruit soup and a poor one for a crumble.
6Frozen blackcurrants
Close match
Use the same amount by weight, straight from frozen
The actual fruit, frozen, which is how most Nordic and British home cooks use blackcurrants for ten months of the year.
What changes
Best for
jams and jellies, cordials and saft, fruit soups, pies and crumbles, compotes, sauces
Check the freezer aisle of any Polish, Russian, Nordic or Eastern European grocer before settling for a substitute, because frozen blackcurrants are widely available even in countries where fresh are impossible to buy, and they cook indistinguishably from fresh. There is no need to thaw them: add them frozen and give the pan an extra couple of minutes. The only difference is that thawed berries are softer, which is irrelevant in anything cooked.

What is Blackcurrant?

Blackcurrant is Blackcurrants, called svarta vinbar in Sweden and solbaer in Denmark, are small blue-black berries with an intensely tart, musky, resinous flavour and very high levels of both acid and pectin.

Cooking tips

Blackcurrants are exceptionally high in pectin, so a jam sets fast, usually within 8 to 10 minutes of a hard rolling boil, and you almost never need added pectin. The failure mode is the opposite of most jams: overcook it and you get a rubbery, over-set jam that has to be spooned out in lumps. Start testing early with a cold plate.
They are far too sour to eat raw for most people, and this is the point rather than a flaw. Blackcurrants exist to be cooked with sugar, which is why Nordic kitchens turn them into saft, soups and jams rather than eating them from the bowl. Any substitute needs to be pushed toward that same sour-sweet extreme with lemon juice, not sweetened into mildness.
You do not have to strip the stalks off if the fruit is going to be sieved. For a cordial or a jelly, cook the whole clusters and strain, which saves an hour of fiddly work. For a jam or a crumble, run a fork down the strig or use scissors, since the little stalks stay tough.
The pigment is aggressive. Blackcurrant juice stains hands, wooden spoons and worktops, and it will react with aluminium or unlined copper pans and take on a metallic taste while dulling the colour. Use stainless steel, enamel or glass, and add lemon juice at the end, which keeps the purple bright rather than letting it drift toward brown.
Blackcurrant leaves are usable and traditional. A handful thrown into a syrup or a sorbet base for ten minutes gives a green, aromatic version of the fruit's own musk, and it is a genuine way to add blackcurrant character to a dish made with milder berries if you have access to a bush.

Frequently asked questions

What tastes most like blackcurrant?

Nothing quite does, because the musky, faintly resinous note is specific to the fruit. Blackberries with lemon juice come closest on colour and dark sweetness, red currants match the sharpness and pectin, and Concord grapes are surprisingly close on aroma. The most accurate result comes from combining a milder dark berry with a tablespoon or two of creme de cassis or blackcurrant cordial.

Are blackcurrants and blackberries the same thing?

No. Blackcurrants are small round berries growing in clusters on a Ribes bush, extremely sour and high in pectin, with a musky perfume. Blackberries are the aggregate fruit of a bramble, much larger, sweeter, seedier and lower in pectin. They substitute for one another in cooked dishes with added lemon juice, but they taste and behave differently.

Why can't I buy blackcurrants in the United States?

Blackcurrant cultivation was banned federally in 1911 because Ribes bushes host white pine blister rust, a disease that threatened the timber industry, and although the federal ban was lifted decades ago some states still restrict planting. That history is why blackcurrant is a household flavour across Europe and almost unknown to American palates. Frozen berries and imported cordials are usually easier to find than fresh fruit.

Can I use frozen blackcurrants instead of fresh?

Yes, 1:1, and there is no need to thaw them first. Add them frozen and allow an extra couple of minutes in the pan. Frozen berries are softer once thawed, which makes no difference in a jam, cordial, soup or crumble. For most cooks outside Northern Europe, frozen is the only realistic option and it is not a compromise.

Can I just leave the blackcurrants out?

Not in a dish built around them, such as Nordic solbaersuppe, a blackcurrant saft or a cassis sorbet, where they are the entire flavour. In a mixed berry compote, jam or summer pudding you can leave them out and use more of the other fruits, but add lemon juice and consider a grated apple, since the blackcurrants were providing both the sharpness and much of the setting power.

Related substitutes

More fruits substitutes

Blackcurrant substitute

Other blackcurrant substitutes

2Creme de cassis or blackcurrant cordial

3Red currants with a spoonful of blackberry jam

4Blueberries with lemon juice

5Concord grapes

6Frozen blackcurrants