Wondering what goes with blackberries? Learn the best ingredient pairings, meal ideas, popular flavor combinations, and other helpful tips.
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Knowing what goes well with blackberries gives you a starting point for putting meals together using the ingredients you already have on hand.
Whether you want to reduce food waste, get more creative in the kitchen, or improve your cooking skills, it starts with understanding what flavors pair well together.
What Are Blackberries?
Blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries are all members of the rose plant family. Blackberries are small, juicy black fruit studded with tiny seeds. When ripe, they have a sweet, tart flavor. When unripe, they taste sour and bitter.
Helpful Tips
When To Buy
Blackberries are in season from July through September. Look at the seasonal produce guide to see what's in season right now.
What To Look For
Choose blackberries that are deep black, plump, full, and slightly tender. If the berry is red or purple, it's not ripe yet and will taste bitter. When a blackberry is fully ripe, the skin will be dull black, not shiny.
How To Store
Blackberries last between two to three days in the refrigerator. After that time period, they start to rot and turn moldy. Don't wash the blackberries before storing them. Extra moisture leads to spoilage.
Avoid storing blackberries in an airtight container in the fridge because they need proper air circulation to stay fresh. You can just store them in the vented container you bought them in. If not eating them right away, place a paper towel inside the container to absorb extra moisture.
To extend their shelf life, you can freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Once frozen, transfer the frozen blackberries to a sealed freezer-safe bag or airtight container. When frozen, they can keep for up to 9 months.
What Goes Well With Blackberries?
Vegetables
Ginger.
Fruit
Apples, apricots, bananas, blueberries, lemons, limes, mango, melons, nectarines, oranges, peaches, raspberries, strawberries, and watermelon.
Spices
Cinnamon, cloves, and kosher salt (pinch).
Herbs
Mint.
Nuts & Seeds
Almonds and hazelnuts.
Non-Dairy/Dairy
Butter, buttermilk, caramel, goat cheese, cream: coconut cream or cashew cream for dairy-free, cream cheese, ice cream, creme fraiche, mascarpone, sour cream, and yogurt.
Proteins
Pork.
Pantry Items
Brandy, berry liqueurs, Cointreau, cornmeal, chocolate: dark & white, Grand Marnier, honey, oats, sugar: brown and white, vanilla, and merlot red wine.
Popular Blackberry Pairings
- ginger + peaches
- honey + vanilla + yogurt
What To Make With Blackberries
Blackberries can be eaten raw or cooked and are typically used in more sweet ways than savory. However, you can make blackberries into a coulis sauce and serve it over a cooked protein such as pork chops or chicken.
Blackberries are a popular ingredient in fruit compotes, fruit salads, desserts such as cobblers, crumbles, crisps, custards, pies, and sorbets, and baked goods such as galettes, tarts, scones, cakes, or sweet bread.
They can also be used in smoothies or to make infused simple syrups for mocktails and cocktails.
Enjoy fresh blackberries with yogurt and maple tahini nut free granola, overnight chia seed pudding, on top of crispy dairy free waffles or crepes, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Use blackberries as a substitute for blueberries in fluffy blueberry dairy free pancakes, lemon blueberry baked oatmeal, banana blueberry oatmeal muffins, 10 minute blueberry chia jam, or blueberry peach cobbler.
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