This grape sorbet contains only grapes and comes together in a few minutes. Just freeze your grapes ahead of time, and you’re good to go. This recipe is vegan (dairy-free, egg-free), grain-free (gluten-free), soy-free, nut-free, and refined sugar-free.
Have you ever eaten frozen grapes? Yes? Ok, have you wondered why they taste sweeter when frozen?
Freezing grapes doesn’t make them sweeter, but it does intensify their flavor. If the grapes are sweet, to begin with, their flavor becomes sweeter. If the grapes are sour, their flavor becomes even sourer after freezing.
This is actually true for almost all fruit. The reason is that fruit contains a lot of water. When fruit, like grapes, are frozen, the water inside crystallizes and expands. This expansion breaks the cellular structure of the grapes (i.e., destroys their cell walls). This process affects the taste of the grapes as our tastebuds are now better able to access the sweet (or sour) taste.
Sweet grapes are excellent for making grape sorbet for another reason – they don’t freeze rock-hard like an ice cube. The inside of the grape tastes actually just like a sorbet. When the water in the grapes starts to freeze, the sugar stays in the liquid. When you freeze grapes in a regular freezer, you end up with some ice and some very sugary liquid, not a rock-solid mass of ice.
So, how exactly do you make grape sorbet at home?
Tips for Making Grape Sorbet
Ingredients
This grape sorbet recipe calls for only two basic ingredients:
- Grapes: cotton candy grapes are my favorite for this recipe because they are incredibly sweet and flavorful. They really taste just like candy. Cotton candy grapes are also seedless (very important here!) and have delicate thin skin. However, any kind of seedless grape, ideally with thin skin, will work in this recipe. In the past, I have also used Thompson seedless grapes, which are widely available. Seedless grapes are best for freezing, but if you only have grapes with seeds in them, you can always cut the seeds out. You might be thinking that you will be blending the grapes anyway, so you don’t need to bother removing the seeds, but grape seeds are sometimes quite bitter and may affect the sorbet flavor.
- Sweetener (optional): if your grapes aren’t really sweet, you may want to use a sweetener. I like to add a little bit of a liquid sweetener because it not only enhances the flavor but also improves the texture and palatability of the sorbet. Any liquid sweetener, such as maple syrup, date syrup, etc., will work here.
How To Make Grape Sorbet in a Vitamix
Making grape sorbet at home is quick and easy. Waiting for the grapes to freeze is what takes the longest.
- Stem the grapes. Separate all the (washed!) grapes from the stem. If the grapes are wet, dry them, so they don’t stick to each other as they freeze. (Fortunately, if they do stick, they are relatively easy to pull apart).
- Freeze the grapes. Transfer the grapes into a sealable bag, and freeze them flat for at least 8 hours or overnight. It takes approximately 5 hours to freeze grapes, but I find that if I freeze them for a little longer, I don’t have to re-freeze the sorbet after blending.
- Blend. Add the frozen grapes and sweetener of choice to a high-speed blender with a tamper and blend until smooth. If the motor is struggling, let the fruit sit for a minute or two to slightly thaw and then blend again. Refrain from adding any liquid. You can also use a food processor, but you will have to stop and scrape down the sides several times until the fruit is fully blended.
How to Serve Grape Sorbet
Because grapes are naturally high in sugar and relatively low in water – compared to a watermelon, for instance, this grape sorbet keeps its scoopable consistency even after freezing. So, you can serve it straight out of the Vitamix or freeze it for a few hours for a firmer consistency. It will get a little bit icy as it freezes, but it will remain scoopable.
How to Store Grape Sorbet
- Freezing: transfer the sorbet to an airtight container and freeze it for up to 1 month. You can serve the sorbet straight out of the freezer or re-blend it right before serving for a softer consistency.
More Vitamix Sorbet Recipes
You can easily turn any frozen fruit into a sorbet with a Vitamix.
- Watermelon sorbet: this quick and easy watermelon sorbet contains nothing but ripe fruit. It’s sweet (even without any added sugar), creamy (even without any added fat), slightly icy, and really refreshing.
If you try any of these recipes, please, leave a comment and rate the recipe below. It always means a lot when you do.
Grape Sorbet
Instructions
- Stem the grapes. Separate all the (washed) grapes from the stem. If the grapes are wet, dry them, so they don't stick to each other as they freeze. (Fortunately, if they do stick, they are relatively easy to pull apart).
- Freeze the grapes. Transfer the grapes into a sealable bag, and freeze them flat for at least 8 hours or overnight. It takes approximately 5 hours to freeze grapes, but I find that if I freeze them for a little longer, I don't have to re-freeze the sorbet after blending.
- Blend. Add the frozen grapes into a food processor or high-speed blender with a tamper and blend until smooth. If the motor is struggling, let the fruit sit for a minute or two to slightly thaw and then blend again. Refrain from adding any liquid.
- Serve/Freeze. Serve the grape sorbet straight out of the food processor (blender). For a firmer consistency, transfer the sorbet to an air-tight container and freeze for 1-2 hours.
- Store. Leftovers keep well in an ice cube tray (or an airtight container) in the freezer for up to 1 month.
I have made grape sorbet many times in past and often snack in frozen grapes only, they are delicious. Cotton candy grapes must be amazing here, we get them for a very short time at the stores only and are quite costly so enjoy them fresh. Beautiful photography
Thank you Silvia! I LOVE frozen grapes and the sorbet is always a hit, especially with my kids. Agreed – cotton candy grapes are expensive but so good 🙂
My sorbet is frozen solid. What happened. My blender didn’t cooperate, so I blended in half portions. Tasted delish. Got a little runny, but I figured when I put it in the freezer it would firm up. Well it did, but too much.
Think I will try this again but use my processor instead and see how it comes out.
What processor did you use? Is your elec 220w?I have a dif time getting good appliances here in Israel with 220w. Any suggestions? Thank you
Hi Nechama – I use the Vitamix food processor (which is an attachment to my Vitamix blender base). The specifications of my blender are 120 V, 50-60 Hz, and 12 Amps. The motor HP is 2.2 HP motor. I am also wondering how cold your freezer is? My freezer is 0°F (-18°C). Anything colder might make the sorbet hard after freezing.
UPDATE: i set the sorbet to soften a bit out of the freezer, then using a knife i cut slices and it was very good. Maybe my grapes were a bit wet when I put them to freeze, so this made them freeze. In any event it was a great recipe. BTW I checked back to your site all the way down and found the equipment.
So happy to hear that, Nechama! Thank you so much for the update!❤️