Epic Concord Grape Pie

This Epic Concord Grape Pie is just one in a treasure trove of passed down recipes in my Mom’s vintage recipe box. It’s typewritten and there’s no record of who gave it to her. Because she passed away when I was in my early 20s, there’s no way to ask her. However, growing up, we had a grapevine and I remember helping my mom make this pie at the end of the summer or early fall.

Now, most of my friends and even my own husband and kids never heard of Concord grape pie. Actually, any kind of grape pie for that matter. You may not have either. I reassured them that it is absolutely delicious and not unlike blueberry pie in texture. Can you imagine the bright taste of grape jam in a pie? That’s what this pie tastes like. They’re not readily available in grocery stores but farmer’s markets typically have them, or a small, hometown market. Since both of our daughters were home for the holiday weekend, and our grapes are ready to harvest, I decided to pull this recipe card and bake it as a special treat. Elise even volunteered to help me so we had fun making it together!

What’s So Special About Concord Grapes

Concord grapes can be eaten off the vine but they have seeds. The skins have the flavor of the grape jam that you smear on classic pb & j sandwiches. The pulp of Concord grapes is firm in texture and very tart. We don’t spray our grapevine since we grow our fruits and vegetables organically, but if you buy them, definitely make sure you wash them well. You easily do this by following the directions here.

How to Make Concord Grape Pie

Do you know a phrase I really hate? Easy as pie. That’s laughable because I don’t think homemade pie is especially easy to nail at all. You could always take a shortcut and buy a store-bought crust and skip most of the work. However, a homemade tender and flaky pie crust is melt in your mouth delicious and worth the time. My finished pies don’t really look like a celebrity chef baked them, but they’re still tasty!

The bulk of the work in this recipe is removing the grape skins and straining the pulp. It’s not hard work, and if the grapes are fresh from the vine, your fingers won’t even turn purple. It does take more time than opening a can of pie filling, though.

Filling Ingredients:

• 3 cups of Concord grapes
• 1 cup of sugar
• 3 tablespoons of flour
• 1 tablespoon of bottled lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of melted butter

Step by Step Directions to Epic Concord Grape Pie

• Wash, drain and stem 3 cups of Concord grapes.
• Preheat your oven to 425.
• Remove the skins by gently squeezing the grapes over a bowl or saucepan. Since the pulp is firm in these grapes, you won’t need to squeeze hard.
• Simmer the pulp in a saucepan for 5-10 minutes. Do not add any water to the pan.

• Once heated for the cooking time, you’ll notice some of the seeds already coming out of the pulp. At this point, ladle the grape pulp into a sieve. Press the pulp through the sieve to remove the rest of the seeds.

• Combine the strained pulp with the skins.
• Add 1 cup of sugar, 3 tablespoons of flour, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of melted butter to the pulp mixture.
• Pour into a 9-inch pie crust. My recipe below uses butter instead of shortening and is easily made it a food processor.

• Cover with a top crust or strips of pie crust and bake 10 minutes at 425.
• Reduce the heat to 350 and bake an additional 30 minutes until the crust is lightly browned.

Homemade Pie Crust

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons ice water

1. Place flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor.
2. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles course meal.
3. With the processor running, add ice water little by little until the dough holds together but is not sticky. When you squeeze the dough, it shouldn’t be crumbly.
4. Turn out the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap and flatten into a circle. Wrap and chill for at least an hour.

Watch the video!

This concord grape pie is epic on its own, but it’s divine when served with a scoop of vanilla bean or peanut butter swirl ice cream! If you bake it, I’d love to know what you think!