Sour Patch Grapes – Healthier than the Candy!

24 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

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!

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!

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Sour Patch Grapes – Healthier than the Candy!

With only two ingredients, these candied grapes come together in seconds and taste like you threw deliciously tart green grapes into the machines at the Sour Patch Candy factory!
Yield 24 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Course Snack
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 1/3 box Jolly Rancher Watermelon Mix* , see note
  • 1/3 box Jolly Rancher Green Apple Mix* , 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

*The Jolly Rancher flavors are limited edition and may no longer be available.
Some alternate ideas that will be tart and brightly colored:
  • Blue Berry
  • Grape
  • Watermelon
  • Raspberry
  • Black Cherry
  • Cranberry

Nutrition

Calories: 39kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 2mg | Potassium: 108mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 37IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg

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

Nutrition Facts
Sour Patch Grapes – Healthier than the Candy!
Amount Per Serving
Calories 39 Calories from Fat 9
% Daily Value*
Fat 1g2%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Sodium 2mg0%
Potassium 108mg3%
Carbohydrates 10g3%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 9g10%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 37IU1%
Vitamin C 2mg2%
Calcium 6mg1%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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.

More Fun, Fruity Treats

Close up on candy coated grapes

The following photos were used in previous versions of this post:

Collage of colorful candy coated grapes in bowls
Collage of sour candy covered grapes in bowl

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. I absolutely adore this recipe since finding it! I LOVE sour candy and always feel guilty for eating it. For those looking for an extra sour kick (I know I did), add some citric acid to the jello powder. Just a sprinkle of CA will do as it’s very tart. I had some Citric Acid on hand because I use it for preserving/canning vegetables. You can usually find it in the preserving section of your local target or Walmart. Hope this tip helps those of you looking for your sour fix!

      1. Ron, what I’m going to try is just an 1/8 tsp per box, whisk up good, dip finger in water then in mix and taste, if it needs more, add another 1/8 and so on to your liking. Start really small, cuz remember, you can always add more in, but you can’t take it out 🙂

    1. Thanks for the citric acid tip! This recipe attracted me immediately but sometimes even the sour candies aren’t sour enough for me, so I devour a ton at a time—then the guilt hits, LOL. Will definitely try with CA 🙂

  2. I tried these because my kids love sour patch kids, but my kids didn’t like these.  They just tasted like sugary powder on the outside.  The look beautiful but we didn’t like them.

  3. Love this idea, we are having a Watermelon theme party for my 1 yr old granddaughter next month, I am going to try green and watermelon colors and arrange in a bowl to look like watermelon.

  4. Our Dillons didn’t have many Jolly Rancher flavors, but I went with a Jello Brand Berry Blue and it was by far our favorite! We also tried lemon, orange, cherry and Jolly Rancher Green Apple, and the best were Green Apple and Berry Blue. If we make again, will probably just use those flavors!

  5. So much fun and easy !!! I used red grapes because of the resveratrol in the skin. Blue raspberry gelatin would be tasty. This recipe is great thanks for sharing it!! 

    1. I’ve never tried it so I can’t really say but as long as it has the same powdery consistency, I would think it would still work. Obviously, the taste will be a bit different because of being sugar free. Let me know if you decide to try.

      1. I use sugar free jello. You have to use more jello packets because there is way less powder in the sugar free packs.
        I like them 🙂

    1. I don’t think it would with them being already frozen. I would suggest just dipping your frozen grapes into the mix and treat it like FunDip, haha!

  6. What a cute, quick, easy and unique recipe! This is great for parties and I love the comments about VODKA. I’d be lying if I wasn’t already thinking the same!

  7. Planning to make these for my two-year-old’s birthday party this weekend. I saw you said they keep in the fridge in an airtight container for almost a week. Did you use a shallow container or is a deep one fine. I’m worried about them getting mushy and stuck together. Thanks for the idea. We’re going for a space themed party and my daughter will love eating these sparkly little “planets.”

    1. Such a cute party idea!! We ate them so fast so the container was smaller because there weren’t many left. My suggestion would be to place parchment or wax paper between the layers if you’re using a larger container. That might help to maintain the coating and ensure they don’t get squished.

  8. So as I’m sitting here eating my way through a bag of Jolly Rancher’s, I’m thinking I need to try these!!!

  9. The jello powder wasn’t sour at all unfortunately 🙁 so I added some citric acid powder… lol that soooooo solved it. Oh and frozen works great! I actually did this the first time with frozen because I ALWAYS have a huge bag of frozen grapes in my freezer and they get kinda sticky during the freezing process so it helps the coating stick and you can eat them frozen right away!

  10. These look super good! Gonna try them today 🙂 how long do they keep in the freezer? Not that i’m expecting them to last long or anything … 😉

    1. We’ve kept them in there for a few weeks. For testing, haha. Usually they’re gone in a day or two!

  11. Didn’t see the update about how the frozen grapes turned out. Are they better in the fridge of the freezer?

  12. So glad I came across this awesome idea. My grandson asked me the other day if we could make sour candy. Since we are trying to keep him off candy, thisvis an excellent alternative. Making them this week with him.

  13. It would be interesting to try this with Cotton Candy grapes. I love them frozen! Guess I’ll have to wait until August to o try those also.

  14. I am so going to try this with blueberries and serve them frozen! I’m so excited about this!! Thank you for the idea!!

  15. Wow!!!! I tried these with my boyfriend’s son this weekend. Talk about an instant hit! Even my boyfriend loved him- he said this is the most genious “healthy” snack he’s seen. Thanks so much for such an amazing idea!!!

  16. I tried the toothpick method but couldn’t get the jello mix to stick like you did. Any suggestions

    1. Was it patchy or just didn’t stick at all? I might try freezing the grapes a bit before rolling them in the mix (might make them a bit more firm to help with rolling in the mix). You also want to make sure your grape is completely wet before rolling and because the grape is more firm, apply a bit more pressure when rolling it to ensure it gets a good “stick”. If you want to trouble shoot more, feel free to email me at contact @ dinnerthendessert.com

  17. I have a question….do u mix any of these together? If not, how do u get the sweet and the sour in one grape? Is the grape the sweet n each of the mixes r all sour! Would like to màke these with a little one next week over spring break.

    1. You could mix them but I’ve found the the tartness of the jello mix with the sweet of the grape is the perfect combination for that sweet and sour taste. Enjoy!!

  18. I have tried this ten times, frozen grapes, refrigerated grapes, warm grapes. The jello either doesnt stick or sets and then gets mushy what is the Secret?????

    1. Sorry this comment took so long to get to, it ended up in my spam filter somehow! You may be using too much water. Dip the grapes (room temp or fridge temp is fine), let excess water drip off then roll slowly. If you see it soak through the jello quickly its too wet. As you roll it you should see where the powder doesn’t soak through immediately. Then refrigerate until it completely dries out. I’m confused about the sets then gets mushy though, if you want we can troubleshoot via email too? contact @ dinnerthendessert.com

      1. HI!
        I was wondering how much sugar is in these?
        I made small snack bags for my kids,
        I did 1 tbsp of the powder and 10 grapes.

        How much sugar is in the 1 tbsp??
        Thanks!!!!

        1. Sorry, I’m not sure how much sugar is in these. You could probably look at the back of the package and just divide it by how much you’re using to get a ballpark idea.

  19. how do you make your blog so popular I have hade mine for two years and my friends and family only know about it

  20. This is absolutely brilliant! These look so incredibly yummy! The kids will love these 🙂

  21. I would like to add an alternate method. After rinsing the grapes in the colander, shake it a few times and pour the grapes onto a papertowel lined cookie sheet. Dry the colander well and pour the grapes back into it. Slowly sprinkle the jell-o over the grapes, stirring with a wooden spoon as you go. Remove the papertowels from the cookie sheet. Pour the grapes back onto the empty cookie sheet. Put in the freezer or refrigerator until chilled to desired temperature. Green grapes with pineapple jell-o is my favorite although the kids at our end of season lacrosse jamboree loved the TMNT booykasha berry and the watermelon jell-os on green grapes. Thank you for this amazing recipe!!!!

    1. Add a bit more water to the grapes and roll a bit slower. I promise if you do that you’ll see it stick really nicely and you can even sort of mold it into a perfect coating.

      1. This would be great for a child diabetic snack made with sugar free jello. I have 4 type one diabetics…..3 children. great idea…….wonder how I could transport them? Thank you.

        1. Thank you so much! I’ve never transported ours as they seem to quickly disappear before having a chance to even put them away, haha! My suggestion is probably keep them chilled in shallow type containers and transport them in a cooler depending on how long they’ll be out of the fridge. Let me know if how that works or if you came up with a better solution.

  22. Oh my gosh these look so good!!! I love grapes this would be a great way to add in some extra flavor for ithem!

        1. Yes! They are. The jello powder in its concentrated form is quite sour. It contains a form of citric acid (the sour stuff on sour patch kids) which is why in addition to the flavors, it tastes so similar 🙂

    1. I found them at the local Safeway, but worst case scenario they are on Amazon (for way more than I would want to pay though!)

  23. WHILE I Love your recipe idea is it wrong that I’m just as excited for the jolly rancher watermelon jello flavor? How did I miss that? I am going to the store right now as I have a bunch of grapes leftover from the New Years celebration and I can make them today!! Yay!

  24. I really like your method! Less mess is always a good thing! These look so yummy! The perfect snack. 🙂

  25. Just finished making a batch of these and OMG I LOVE THEM!!!!! My boyfriend is a huge sour patch kids fan so i made up a batch for him as a Christmas present! Thank you for sharing! 🙂

  26. These look great on the table with all my Christmas baking and will be used with a fruit tray Christmas Eve. Thanks.

  27. This looks Sooo awesome, I can’t wait to make them. Where does the sour flavor come from? Is it the green grapes that do the trick?

    1. The jello/jolly rancher powder and the green grapes. Tart from the grapes and sour from the powder 🙂 If you want a more muted flavor you can totally use red grapes instead and the only sour flavor will be the powder.

  28. These look beautiful, but I don’t understand what makes them sour. Is the Jolly Rancher gelatin a sweet/sour blend? If not, would Jello brand work? Thanks!

    1. Both Jello and Jolly Rancher work equally well, I just really like the flavors of Jolly Rancher. They both have sour to them. I hope you love it!

  29. How would you store them for later? Airtight container in fridge? I wouldn’t want to ruin them after all that work!

    1. That’s exactly what I did with the second batch. I stored them successfully for almost a week (this was a trial run to know how long they would last). You can also freeze them. They were DELICIOUS frozen!

  30. So.. I just gained 20lbs with the knowledge of this recipe!! Seriously.. This looks amazing .. I can’t wait to try it!!!

  31. Perfect time of the year for this recipe. Grapes are so good and on sale everywhere now. I love that they are so colorful.

  32. omg this is DANGEROUS! (or is it? maybe it’s better for me than the usual candy I nosh, haha!) I am ABSOLUTELY trying this out ASAP.

    1. Sour Patch Kids are basically my weakness. I LOVE sour candy. so these are a nice balance to the handfuls of sour candy!

  33. What a colourful bowl of magic, unfortunately I am unable to get the ingredients for this otherwise I would definitely be giving it a try, so much fun!