Grapes
Peak season in the Midwest · down 4% this week
This fruit is at its local-harvest peak from August through October, and is generally in stores from July through November. This week it's peak season in the Midwest — buying it in season usually means better quality and, as the regional prices below show, a lower price.
Per a typical 150g serving, scaled from the per-100g figures in USDA FoodData Central (Grapes, red or green (European type, such as Thompson seedless), raw).
- 1 SouthwestCheapest $1.95/lb
- 2 Midwest $2.05/lb
- 3 Northeast $2.26/lb
- 4 Southeast $2.34/lb
- 5 Southcentral $2.50/lb
- 6 Northwest $2.53/lb
Buying grapes in the Southwest saves about 23% versus the Northwest this week.
- How to pick a good one
- Judge the stems first: green and pliable means fresh, brown and brittle means old. Grapes should be firmly attached — if a few fall off when you lift the bunch, the whole thing is past its best. A powdery bloom on the skin is natural and desirable.
- What a good price looks like
- Table grapes run $1.50 to $4 a pound with a wide seasonal swing — cheapest from August through October when the California crop is in, dearest in spring when they come from Chile. Under $2 a pound is a good buy. Red and green seedless are usually within a few cents of each other.
- What you actually get
- A 2 lb bag gives about 6 cups and serves six to eight as fruit. Waste is limited to the stems, around 3%. They keep a week to ten days unwashed in a perforated bag, which is unusually long for fruit at this price.
- How to store it
- Refrigerate unwashed in a perforated bag and wash before eating. They keep one to two weeks, which is unusually long for fruit this sweet.
- In the kitchen
- Grapes do not ripen after picking, so what you taste in the shop is what you get — the colour of the stem tells you more than the colour of the fruit, and a green, pliable stem means recently picked. Frozen grapes are an underrated thing to have in the freezer: they take an hour, need no preparation, and eat like sorbet.
- Getting the most out of it
- Frozen grapes are their own dessert and take no preparation at all. Roasting them alongside chicken or pork is an underused trick — they burst and turn into a sweet-sour pan sauce for free.
- Summer Melon Couscous Salad with Avocado, Grapes and MintRecipe by Foodie Crush~$1.16 / serving 5 in-season
- Broccoli Grape SaladRecipe by The Recipe Critic~$1.39 / serving 3 in-season
- Fruit PizzaRecipe by Pinch of Yum~$1.49 / serving 5 in-season
- Strawberry Kale SaladRecipe by Eating Bird Food~$2.78 / serving 5 in-season
- Berry Delicious Fruit SaladRecipe by Foodie Crush~$2.89 / serving 8 in-season
- Vineyard ChickenRecipe by The Modern Proper~$3.02 / serving 3 in-season
See all 71 recipes with grapes →Filter by diet, time, budget, and macros.
Price from the USDA National Retail Report. Nutrition per typical serving, computed from USDA FoodData Central.
Grapes — FAQ
When can you buy grapes in season?
This fruit is at its local-harvest peak from August through October, and is generally in stores from July through November. This week the Midwest has grapes marked peak season.
What's the price of grapes right now?
As of the week of September 4, 2026, the price of grapes in the Midwest is $2.05/lb, down 4% from last week. It's cheapest in the Southwest at $1.95/lb.
How many calories and how much protein are in grapes?
A typical 150g serving of grapes has about 104 calories, 1.1g protein, 27.2g carbohydrates, 0.3g fat, and 1.4g fiber, per USDA FoodData Central.
What can I make with grapes?
SeasonSort indexes 71 recipes that use grapes, each with its cost per serving computed from this week's prices — starting from about $0.17 a serving. The cheapest are listed on this page, with a link to the full filtered list.