DIY Sour Frozen Grapes
It’s That Simple is our series about recipes so easy, you can make them with your eyes closed. Think tiny ingredient lists, laid-back techniques, and results so delicious, you’ll text home about them.
TikTok has led me down some interesting rabbit holes—intricate nail art, water “recipes,” gummy bear chandeliers—but none has been more fruitful than the one I fell through when my feed was suddenly filled with video after video of people seeking the same sold-out snack: Fruit Riot’s sour candy-coated frozen grapes. Slushy, juicy, and tart enough to make your lips pucker. I needed them.
After visits to several grocery stores left me empty-handed, the purveyors of the elusive treat kindly came through with samples of their frozen grapes, along with some pineapple and mango. Our team promptly devoured them in the test kitchen. But when the bags were empty, my craving had only been amplified, and I wondered if I could make more on my own.
Delightfully, the answer is yes. I played with a few ingredients to see what could deliver a wince-worthy sourness and found two great options: food-grade citric acid (available online) and TrueLemon packets (also available online, and at stores like Target and Walmart). After a few rounds in the test kitchen, the citric acid ended up as my favorite. It’s profoundly sour, but you can play with the amount to amp up or mellow out the punchiness. TrueLemon is powdered, crystalized lemon, so it naturally contains citric acid along with lemon oil and lemon juice. It has a more subtle bite along with a floral fruitiness that makes the grapes taste like candy.
To make yours intensely sweet, buy Cotton Candy grapes and opt for TrueLemon powder to mix with the sugar. But if you won the Warhead Challenge in elementary school, green grapes plus the full 3 tsp. citric acid will delight your blown-out taste buds like little else.
After biting into one, our associate director of cooking Emma Laperruque said, “I want a gallon of these in my freezer at all times.” Test kitchen editor Kendra Vaculin was equally gleeful: “As a candy lover, I am often looking for ways to scratch that itch in a way that involves actual fruit, and this method hits.”
Sometimes the algorithm really does deliver. (No offense to WaterTok.) My freezer is now well-stocked with an easily replenished supply of my new favorite snack—and I plan to keep it that way all summer long.
