These Trending TikTok 'Jell-O Grapes' Really Do Taste Like Candy

In my house, we love our grapes. Whenever I get a bag of them at the grocery store, they are gone within hours.

My kids are also big Jell-O fans and whenever we go to our local Chinese buffet, they love eating those squares of Jell-O for dessert (before they hit the soft serve ice cream machine, that is).

So, when I saw that there are candy grapes trending on TikTok, I was curious to try it because if anyone says something tastes like candy, I have to see if they are right. If you ask me, nothing tastes like candy other than, well, candy.

And speaking of candy, my kids will go for a box of Nerds, Dots, or Starburst before chocolate any day (why, I have no idea) so I knew they would be the perfect critics for this recipe.

It’s an easy and fun one to try out with your kids and the hardest part is having patience and letting the grapes freeze for a while so they Jell-O can do its thing.

You only need a few things:

Grapes

Ziploc bag, or any container you can freeze.

A box of Jell-O in the flavor of your choice. We used Black Cherry, which I highly recommend if you like cherry flavor. We used the full sugar Jell-O because I wanted the full experience, but many have used the sugar-free variety and said their grapes were fantastic, so the choice is yours.

You simply wash your grapes without wiping them down because you need the water for the Jell-O powder to cling to it. Put the grapes in the desired container, add the Jell-O powder and shake it up. Then, freeze for a few hours.

It looks like most people are using an entire box of Jell-O per bag of grapes but we just did about a cup of grapes and two tablespoons of Jell-O powder. Grapes are expensive and I didn’t want to waste an entire bag of fresh fruit if we didn’t like the combo so I decided to play it safe.

However, the next time we make these I think we will be using the entire bag because they were a lot better than I thought they would be.

They really did taste like candy. They reminded me of a large jelly bean or Dots. If fruity candy is your weakness and you want to change it up, or are trying to cut back, these will take care of that craving.

The fact my kids liked them so much was very telling. They literally would spend all their money on chewy, gummy candy if I let them and I figured they’d be snobs about this but, nope. They passed the teen candy-loving test.

I didn’t think I would like the texture of the Jell-O powder on my teeth — it looks like coarse sugar, but it’s actually very soft and you don’t feel like you are biting into a sugar-coated piece of fruit.

Another option if you don’t like really cold things is to store them in the refrigerator instead of the freezer, or leave them out for a few minutes to warm up before trying them.

Either way, I don’t think you can go wrong with this recipe. They make a great snack, are a healthier alternative to regular candy, and it’s a fun project to do with the kids.

If only my mother had made us this when we were kids instead of those strange Jell-O molds with things like raisins, carrots, and celery in them. I’m still traumatized. Some things just don’t belong with Jell-O … who knew grapes would go so well?