Sour Patch Grapes are a great sour candy fix! With only two ingredients, they taste like you threw grapes into the machines at the Sour Patch Candy factory!
I love using real fruits to make delicious, kid-friendly snacks. These candies, Homemade Fruit Leathers and Homemade Popsicles are just a few amazing options.
Sabrina’s Sour Patch Grapes Recipe
Tart and sweet flavors are a favorite of mine, and given a choice between a bowl of sour candy and ANY other dessert (ok 99% of other desserts) I would choose the sour candy. So when I stumbled across this idea on Pinterest, I had to try it! I knew I would work with my own flavors and recreate the original mix, but I wasn’t prepared for me and my family to all gather around the bowl and devour them with reckless abandon!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1/3 box Jolly Rancher Watermelon Gelatin Dessert Mix* , see note
- 1/3 box Jolly Rancher Green Apple Gelatin Dessert Mix* , see note
- 1/3 box Jello Lemon Mix
- 1/3 box Jello Orange Mix
- 3 pounds green grapes
- toothpicks
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Pour ⅓ of each flavor into small bowls.
- Poke a toothpick in a grape through the spot where the stem was attached.
- Using toothpick, dip in water and roll in mix. (Or just have a bowl of grapes sitting in water).
- Put in fridge for as long as it takes to chill them completely. You can also freeze them overnight.
- Once they are fully chilled or frozen remove the toothpicks.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Blue Berry
- Grape
- Watermelon
- Raspberry
- Black Cherry
- Cranberry
Nutrition
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Table of contents
About this Recipe
Of course, you can use any flavor of jello that you want, but the idea here was to capture the flavors of the candies and the colors. I have also tried other flavors like berry blue, raspberry or grape with awesome success, really you can’t go wrong so feel free to try your favorites. And since originally making this post, I’ve tried making them frozen and they get even better – they’re perfect for the summer!
Alternative Coating Methods
The directions are super simple but there are a few different ways to accomplish the same thing with some pros and cons of each way:
- Use my method with toothpicks
- Cons: My method takes longer than the others and uses toothpicks.
- Positive: Beautiful, even coverage, no messy hands.
- Rinse the grapes, put them in a ziploc back and pour desired flavor in, seal and shake.
- Cons: Messy uneven coverage, no beautiful presentation.
- Positive: Done in literally seconds.
- Roll each grape through the mix by hand after rinsing.
- Cons: Messy hands, imperfect coverage, still takes a heck of a long time, if not as long as mine.
- Positives: Prettier than #2
Ingredients Note
When I originally made this recipe, I used the special edition Jolly Rancher Jello flavors of watermelon and green apple because they add more punchy tartness and a bright color. However, they have since been discontinued, so you’ll need to substitute them. Jello makes a regular watermelon flavor but for the apple you can use lime to keep them green or just use another flavor you like.
Can this be made ahead of time?
Yes, Sour Patch Grapes can be made ahead of time.
Nutritional Facts
How to Store
- Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2–3 days.
- Freezing Option: You can also freeze them for a frozen treat. The texture will change slightly.
Related Posts
More Fun, Fruity Treats
The following photos were used in previous versions of this post:
I can’t get over how fun and playful these are! What a cool and different treat! And I bet yummy too!
Are you serious! I LOoooooooVE Sour patches and literally have to stop myself from buying them on every grocery visit. I would definitely try them, these looks so cute and delicious. I can already feel the lemon, orange and green apple flavors 🙂
Me too! I avoid looking at the candy section just so I don’t see them!
OMG this is one of the cleverest ideas ever! I don’t know who would be more impatient to eat them, my nephews or me 🙂
What a fantastic idea! Love this.
What a creative recipe! My kiddo has such a sweet tooth. This is such a great sneaky mom, get your kids to eat their fruits a vegetables trick!
Cool idea!!! I love this! Sour patch kids were my favourite candies as a kid! Pinning!
Thanks for the pin!
Love sour candy and these would be so much better for the kids! Yum!
What a wonderfully fun idea! I’d love to make these with my daughter – she’d have a blast, although she might not be patient with the waiting part. 🙂
Thanks Byron! The waiting was the hardest part!
What a fun idea! This would be cute for kids parties
So clever! My jaws start to tingle just thinking about those sour patch candies
Looks like a great recipe to try for whenever I have all my lil cousins over! So bright! And pretty!
Thanks so much Noor!
great idea! perfect for movie nights 🙂
Your sour grape candies are so perfectly beautiful! Good enough to eat!!
This is awesome! My kids are going to freak out when I make this for them. They LOVE sour patch kids so I can’t wait to try this. THanks for sharing.
My pleasure!
Those look great. I’m anxious to try them. Thank you for the inspiration
My pleasure Marisa!
What a fantastic idea!!! Frozen grapes and a crunchy coating, sounds scrumptious. I’m not a candy eater, but I could definitely go for these:)
Thanks Leslie! We’ve made them a half dozen times since this post. They’re a permanent fixture in our fridge!
My mouth is seriously puckered and watering right now. lol. Sour Patch were one of my childhood favorites too (ok still are).
Mine too 🙂
Fun, colorful, and delicious! Does it get any better?!
It would be awesome if I had some right now! 🙂 I haven’t made them in a couple of weeks and now I am craving them again!
These look so sweet and delicious,Thanks for sharing.
I kept seeing this on pinterest and I wondered what it tasted like. I’ll have to try it!
Wow! You randomly came across one of my pins?! That is so exciting! I hope you love it!
Me too. (Randomly from Pinterest.) When I first started pinning, & pinning parties were “all the rage”?…. We tried basically this. Yours turned out MUch MUCH more beautiful, & I love the flavor combos. Why our brains didn’t go there, I’ll never know. You have re inspired me to try these! I know a certain little girl who can’t enjoy chewy candies, & will go nuts for this version!!! Thank you & can’t wait to try your toothpick method! ….maybe these will be my Easter contribution?
Perfect! I’d love to hear what you think once you try them!
As I was reading the recipe and looking at the pictures, my mouth started watering. LOL! I so want to try these.
AWESOME! I’ve made it three times since this post, haha.
I’ve never heard of these before. Definitely sounds like a candy my family would love to try.
I hope you get to try it! They’re great 🙂
This is a supurb idea. I can get into these.
Thanks!
Thanks for listing the pros and cons of each method! I have to say the results are beautiful! Fun for kids
My pleasure Christie! I know mine had to look pretty but sometimes making it in 10 seconds for a gaggle of kids wins over beauty! Haha.
Well they’re cute too! I bet they do taste good. My son loves the sour candy.
Thanks Rosey!
This is such a great idea! Looks amazing too!
Thanks Anjanette!!
My husband is a Sour Patch Kids fanatic, has to have them every time we go to the movies. He’d die a happy man if I made these for him!
As of tonight I have officially made three batches of them this week! They’re a huge hit!
These are fun! My son loves sour candy
Thanks Veronica!
This is an amazing idea. I will have to try this recipe. My kids will love it.
Thanks Ann! I hope they love it!
Oh wow. This made my mouth water. How awesome is this! I love all things sour, and I really love grapes. This would be great!
Jeanine you should totally try them. I’m eating my way through the second batch of them right now (while saving about a dozen to test how long they keep for) and they are addicting. Also, I tried them frozen, they are amazing frozen too!
I have a funny feeling I would score cool auntie points with this recipe! I love frozen fruit for summer! 🙂
I scored major mom points for them, it was great!
I love Sour Patch Kids! I will have to try this recipe out!
Awesome Toni! I hope you love it!
Oh. My. Gosh. This is genius! I love it!! Pinned!
Yay! Thanks for the pin Des!
These look delicious! My boys would love them for sure.
Aww thanks!
My 5 year old would love these: grapes turned into candy!
My toddler went nuts for them too 🙂
y kids love Sour Patch andy and they would really enjoy this snack. I didn’t know they made a jello!
What an awesome idea! My boys are going to love these! Thanks for sharing early! 🙂
My pleasure Mandee!
These looks like every kids dream! Love the idea of using the grapes!
I know, right? My toddler woke up this morning saying “Mommy you want sparkly grapes?” and when I said no I was told “That’s okay Mommy, I eat them for you!”
I am so impressed with this recipe. This would be perfect for a party table because they are so pretty and are surely a hit with kids and adults.
Thanks Valerie! I’m making them again for my toddler’s birthday party coming up next month in theme appropriate colors.
This is such a fun treat! I was always a fan of Sour Patch kids. This is a really cool way to make a healthier version.
Thanks Liz!
These do look amazing! They are so pretty. I will have to make them because I think we would all love them.
Thanks Maureen!
These are too cute AND they look really good! I’m not much of a sweet fiend, but love fruit so this would be the perfect treat!
Thanks Debra! 🙂
These are on my summer bucket list to do with my kids. They look like something that my boys would love to help make and eat! Do you know how well they keep?
We ate them all within 12 hours, but I am making another batch this week. I will update you!
This was my first question as I read this too! I ran across the article because I was looking for homemade green candies/desserts for a Grinch mason jar Christmas gift. Perhaps it will work if I refrigerate them and include those instructions on the jar?
If you make them, let them dry out in the fridge then layer very carefully I think you’ll be fine! The thing is once they sit for a bit the moisture from the grapes will make the jello powder wet again and they’ll stick. But if it is short term I think you’ll be fine 🙂
What a good idea. My kids will love them.
This is one of the best healthy alternative recipes I’ve seen. I love that you coated the grapes in candy. Now you get that great flavor without nearly as much sugar.
Thanks Dawn! I am starting a new program with my trainer so I decided to kick my sour gummy habit!
This might be the single greatest thing I’ve ever seen on the web. I mean it’s genius. You get a little fruit. You get a little candy.
Aww Stacie, you’re so sweet!
What a fun snack idea. I never would have thought to do that with grapes.
Thanks Ellen 🙂
This is such a great idea and it is yummy. I think my son will really like them he loves sour candy.
Thanks Catherine, I hope he loves them!
Where is the sour part in this recipe?
The jello powder in its pure form is very tart 🙂
I spritzed my grapes with a little lemon juice before putting the jello on, it adds a little more zing if you like sour things!
Great suggestion! Thanks for letting us know!!
Or you can buy food grade citric acid if tounlike the extra sour. Its very cheap online can get a few pounds for under $10. Then add however much you want 🙂
Love this idea! I could use a bowl of these in front of me right now as I’m working. Might have to plan on that for tomorrow 😀
Thanks Chrisy!
Waiting for the update on the froze grapes. I love sour patch kid, but I also love frozen grapes. They look amazing!
So my husband ate them this morning because that is what husbands do. He said they were great. So now I need to make more to try them myself!
Good to know that frozen was good! I’m looking to do these this weekend for some college football tailgating. Have you ever tried vodka in stead of water?
The vodka will evaporate quickly so it may not help the topping stick as well. But I do like your style and would LOVE to know if it works! Have you tried the vodka/gummy bear idea?
You would just have to soak the grapes overnight 😉 they will suck up the vodka.
How did you make jolly ranchers into powder?
Its Jolly Rancher brand jello powder.