Concord Grape Juice substitute

Best substitute

Any dark purple or red grape juice

Use the same amount as the concord grape juice you are replacing

Best for charoset

Close match

Juice pressed from other dark grape varieties, sold as purple grape juice or red grape juice.

Other concord grape juice substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Sweet red wine, port or Lambrusco
Close match
Use the same amount
The alcoholic original that grape juice usually stands in for.
What changes
Kosher sweet red wines are frequently made from Concord grapes themselves, which makes them the nearest thing in flavor of anything on this list.
Best for
charoset, kiddush, brisket braises, pan sauces, poaching fruit
In cooking it is better than juice: the alcohol carries aroma and the tannin gives structure that juice cannot. It is also drier, so a sauce that relied on juice for sweetness will need a teaspoon of sugar or honey per cup. Obviously unsuitable for anyone avoiding alcohol, and much of it cooks off but not all.
3Pomegranate juice
Different taste
Use the same amount plus 1 to 2 teaspoons sugar per cup
Deep ruby, tannic and genuinely fruity, with real acidity behind it.
What changes
Best for
charoset, brisket and lamb sauces, glazes, reductions, spritzers
The color is excellent and the flavor is considerably more tart and astringent than Concord, so anything sweet made with it tastes bright and grown-up rather than candied. That is often an improvement in a savory glaze and a problem in charoset, where the sweetness is doing real work. Sweeten it and taste.
4Blueberry, blackcurrant or black cherry juice
Different taste
Use the same amount
Dark, sweet, purple-black fruit juices, all with more body than most red juices.
What changes
Best for
charoset, sauces, glazes, punch, drinking
Blackcurrant is the closest for depth and intensity but noticeably more tart and perfumed. Black cherry is sweeter than Concord and reads distinctly as cherry, which is lovely in a brisket sauce and unmistakable in charoset. All three give the right purple color, which matters if a dish is meant to look like grape.
5White grape juice with a splash of pomegranate or blackcurrant
Close match
1 cup white grape juice plus 1 to 2 tablespoons dark juice
Match the sweetness with white grape juice and borrow the color from a small amount of something dark.
What changes
Best for
charoset, punch, sauces where color matters, children's kiddush cup
This is the most accurate on sweetness of any substitute, since it is the same fruit, and the tinted result looks convincingly purple. Flavor is milder and less musky than Concord and the added juice contributes a faint berry note. A practical trick when white grape juice is what is in the cupboard.
6Cranberry juice cocktail
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
The most widely stocked tart red juice, already sweetened.
What changes
Best for
punch, sauces, glazes, spritzers
Thinner and much sharper than Concord, and clearly red rather than purple, so it looks and tastes noticeably different in charoset. It works well in a sweet-and-sour brisket sauce where its acidity is useful. Unsweetened cranberry juice is far too sour to swap directly and needs a tablespoon of sugar per cup.
7Grape jelly thinned with hot water
Different texture
2 tablespoons jelly plus ½ cup hot water, plus a squeeze of lemon
Whisk grape jelly into hot water until it dissolves completely, then add lemon juice to cut the sweetness.
What changes
Most grape jelly is made from Concord grapes, which is why this works better than it sounds.
Best for
charoset, sauces, glazes, genuine emergencies
The flavor is surprisingly right because the source fruit is the same, but the texture is slightly syrupy and the sugar level is much higher than juice, so the lemon is not optional. Strain it if the jelly has pectin lumps. Not something to serve in a glass, perfectly good in a cooked dish.

What is Concord Grape Juice?

Concord Grape Juice is Concord grape juice, sold under kosher labels such as Kedem and generally as purple grape juice, is pressed from the American Concord grape, which gives it a deep purple color, a very high natural sweetness and the distinctive musky aroma people recognize as grape flavor.

Cooking tips

For charoset, either grape juice or sweet red wine works at 1:1 and the choice is about who is at the table rather than about flavor. The juice makes a sweeter, blunter paste; the wine makes a sharper one. Add the liquid a spoonful at a time until the apples and nuts just hold together, since too much turns it soupy.
For a sauce or glaze, reduce whatever juice you use by half in a wide pan before you build the sauce. Grape juice straight from the bottle is watery and sugary; reduced, it becomes syrupy and concentrated and tastes far more of grape. This is the single biggest improvement you can make with any substitute.
Concord grape flavor comes from a compound that is destroyed by long boiling, so add juice near the end if the grapey aroma is the point, and reduce it hard at the start if what you want is sweetness and color. Decide which job it is doing before you decide when to add it.
Do not change the juice, add water or cut the sugar in a tested grape jelly or canning recipe. In home canning the set and the safety both depend on the acid and sugar balance of the specific fruit called for, and Concord grapes are unusually acidic. Follow National Center for Home Food Preservation guidance and refrigerate or freeze any batch you improvise instead.
Grape juice stains badly and permanently, on tablecloths and on hands. If you are pouring for a crowd, especially children, that is a practical reason some hosts use white grape juice at the table and keep the purple for cooking.

Frequently asked questions

What is the closest substitute for Concord grape juice?

Any dark purple grape juice, 1:1. It matches the color and sweetness almost exactly and only misses the musky Concord aroma, which reads as slightly cleaner and less candied. Sweet Concord-based kosher red wine is closer still on flavor if alcohol is acceptable.

Can I use grape juice instead of red wine, or the other way around?

Both directions work. Substitute grape juice for sweet red wine 1:1 and expect a sweeter, softer result with no tannic edge, so add a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice per cup to restore some sharpness. Substitute sweet red wine for grape juice 1:1 and add a teaspoon of sugar per cup, since even sweet wine is drier than juice.

What can I use for kiddush if I have no grape juice or wine?

This is a question of religious practice rather than cooking, and the answer depends on your own tradition, so ask your rabbi rather than a recipe site. As a matter of ingredients, pomegranate juice and other dark fruit juices look and taste closest, and some households keep a bottle of grape juice concentrate for exactly this reason.

Can I just leave the grape juice out?

In a punch or a spritzer, yes, and you will need another liquid to replace the volume. In charoset, no, because the juice or wine is what binds the apples and nuts into a paste; use any dark fruit juice instead. In a braise or a glaze, the juice is supplying sweetness and acid together, so replace it rather than dropping it or the sauce will taste flat.

Is Concord grape juice different from ordinary grape juice?

Yes, though most purple grape juice sold in the United States is in fact Concord. Concord grapes have a distinctive musky aroma and unusually high acidity that other varieties lack, which is why they taste like what most Americans think grape flavor is. Juice from other dark varieties is milder and cleaner.

Related substitutes

More beverages substitutes

Concord Grape Juice substitute

Other concord grape juice substitutes

2Sweet red wine, port or Lambrusco

3Pomegranate juice

4Blueberry, blackcurrant or black cherry juice

5White grape juice with a splash of pomegranate or blackcurrant

6Cranberry juice cocktail

7Grape jelly thinned with hot water