Blackcurrant substitutes

The most available dark berry, close on colour and sweetness and far off on sharpness.

Best for

jams and preserves, compotes and coulis, pies and crumbles, sauces for game and duck, desserts, cordials

Right colour, right depth of dark fruit, considerably softer and sweeter, which is why the lemon juice matters. Even with it, the dish tastes rounder and jammier and it loses the sharp catch at the back of the throat that blackcurrant has. Blackberries also hold much less pectin, so a jam will set loosely: either boil it several minutes longer, add a grated apple, or use jam sugar. The seeds are larger and more noticeable, so sieve if you are making a coulis.

Blackcurrant liqueur or concentrated syrup, added to a milder fruit to put the actual blackcurrant flavour back.

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.

The same genus as blackcurrant, matching its acidity and its pectin almost exactly, with dark jam added for depth.

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.

The easiest dark berry to find year round, useful mainly for colour and bulk.

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.

The American slip-skin grape, which shares a genuinely similar musky aroma with blackcurrant.

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.

The actual fruit, frozen, which is how most Nordic and British home cooks use blackcurrants for ten months of the year.

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.