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    Home » Pickles, Preserves, Etc » Fermentation

    Pickled Grape Leaves Recipe (Fermented)

    Published: Jul 4, 2020 Modified: Mar 15, 2023 by Alan Bergo This post may contain affiliate links 48 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

    It's easy to ferment your own grape leaves at home, and I've done it for years. Read on and I'll explain how to make the best pickled grape leaves you'll ever taste.

    Fermented wild grape leaves recipe

    Have you ever had commercially pickled grape leaves? If you haven't, don't bother, I'm pretty sure they're the reason some people claim not to like grape leaves, or things made with them like dolmades.

    Like plenty of commercial pickled things, I usually find grape leaves from a store shelf overly acidic, like the processor is trying to assassinate the grape leaves with vinegar. This pickled grape leaf recipe is the original one, and an ancient tradition you need to try if you have access to fresh grape leaves. 

    Sure, you could rinse or soak them, but, it's just not the same. If the companies that sell pickled grape leaves would go back to the old way, lacto-fermenting grape leaves with salt and water, I think a lot of people would enjoy them more. Fresh or frozen can work too, but there's something nice about having a few witchy jars around at the ready.

    Wild grape leaves or Vitis riparia
    It's a great time to harvest Vitis riparia. Vitis aestivalis is not as good since the leaves are deeply notched making them hard to stuff.

    Naturally fermented grape leaves are one of the easiest projects I make this time of year, and the leaves are just prime for picking right now. They seem to be just about everywhere I go, and I'm lucky enough to have some right in the backyard about the size of a dinner plate. Absolutely huge.

    As a bonus, picking grape leaves is a great reminder for me to check on the vines that I should come back to in about a month or two to pick wild grapes, the jelly they make being one of the best there is.

    Very large wild grape leaves

    Stuffed, fermented grape leaves make such a good portable, easy-to-transport appetizer, this year I'd planned to serve some at the Midwest Wild Harvest Fest.

    Unfortunately (and rightly so) the festival's been cancelled. The good news is, it gave me a chance to perfect my technique on the grape leaves. I tell you what, the amount of leaves you can fit into a quart jar is really impressive. I fit at least 100 big grape leaves in each one, which means that two humble quart jars of leaves will be enough to make a small appetizer for roughly 170 people in 2021. That's a good yield. 

    Fermented wild grape leaves recipe
    Fermenting wild grape leaves

    The key: removing stems and packing leaves in tight

    The key to the recipe, if it can even be called that, is packing the leaves on top of each other and removing any stems that take up valuable real estate (see my improper technique from 2016 above).

    Afterword, you wrap a handful of leaves up in a packet, stuff them in the jar, eventually helping them keep their place by stuffing in another pack of rolled leaves. After the jar is stuffed, I put a clean stone in the top, add water to cover, and add the salt, either 3% of the total weight of water and leaves, or 1.75 tablespoons per quart jar. From there, they sit outside and do their thing until I need them.

    Foragers tasting with squirrel pate, chicken of the woods tart and stuffed grape leaves, black trumpet butter, wild rice sourdough fermented ramps, venison spread
    One version my 2019 leaves took: filled with chicken of the woods, wild greens, herbs and wild rice flour for a small sampling at my foray with Sam Thayer. I love serving them as a little portable nibble.

    After the fermentation stops at about 2 weeks, the pH has plummeted so the leaves are shelf stable and don't need to be refrigerated. From there, you can take them out of the jar and use them whenever. They're a great thing to have around, especially in the summer when I crave eating cold, pre-prepared vegetable sides and snacks.

    Fermented wild grape leaves stuffed with wild fruit, wild rice, greens and nuts
    A vegetarian version from Kuhtaya, Turkey a reader turned me onto. They make a great break from the traditional meat and rice versions. See an example of those here.
    How to ferment wild grape leaves recipe
    Print Recipe
    4.92 from 12 votes

    Fermented Grape Leaves

    The original pickled grape leaf is the lactofermented one. These will make the best stuffed grape leaves.
    Prep Time30 mins
    Fermenting Time14 d
    Course: Appetizer, Snack
    Cuisine: Mediterranean
    Keyword: Fermentation, Wild Grapes
    Author: Alan Bergo

    Equipment

    • 1 qt mason jar, a small clean stone

    Ingredients

    • Fresh grape leaves, as needed large, clean leaves without bug holes and damage
    • 1 Tablespoon Pickling salt you can sub kosher salt, sea salt, or another salt you like, preferably ground fine for easy dissolving. Use 1 Tablespoon salt per wide mouth quart jar.
    • Filtered Water as nneded

    Instructions

    Harvesting

    • When harvesting the grape leaves, be mindful to remove them at the stem so all you have is leaf. Choose clean grape leaves without any foreign matter on them (bird poo, insect eggs, spider webs, etc).
    • Make a stack of grape leaves in your palm until it gets large, then fold them firmly into a roll or packet and stuff them into a quart jar.
    • Repeat this process, stuffing the jar full until the jar is ¾ full. Put a clean stone on top to hold the leaves in place, then cover completely with water.

    Make the brine

    • Pour out the water, mix with the salt to dissolve, then pour back in the jar. (You can also just pour the salt into the jar and shake it, but it takes longer to dissolve.)
    • For a more exact ferment using a scale, see note below.

    2 Week Fermentation

    • Put the jar(s) on a cookie sheet or other small tray to catch any brine that may migrate out and allow to ferment at room temperature.
    • Open the jar occasionally to allow carbon dioxide to escape.
    • Ferment the leaves for 1-2 weeks, depending on your taste. Store the jars in a place out of direct sun with a stable temperature, such as a pantry.
    • Finished fermented grape leaves can be stored, always underneath their liquid, in their jar at room temperature, or they can be water bath canned and stored in a pantry. You can also keep them in the refrigerator where they will last near indefinitely, and don't run the risk of developing pesky kahm yeast.

    Cooking with your leaves

    • Your home-fermented grape leaves will be less salty and tart than commercial grape leaves stored in vinegar brine. But, if you want, you can rinse them before using them to make grape leaf rolls, etc.

    Video

    Notes

    Use Filtered or Boiled Water 
    Do not use tap water, which can be chlorinated and can kill your ferment. If you must use unfiltered water, bring it to a boil to remove chlorine, then cool to room temperature before proceeding.
    Measuring your salt to 3%
    For a more exact ferment, weigh the empty jar, write down the weight, then weigh the jar full of grape eaves and water in grams. Subtract the weight of the empty jar, multiply the weight by .03, and add that many grams of fine salt. Shake the jar to distribute the salt a few times, then allow to sit out and ferment until sour to your liking.
    Storing at room temperature 
    If you don't water bath-can the leaves, you can develop kahm yeast. To prevent kahm yeast, you can bring the liquid to a boil after fermenting, then pour it into the jar, screw on the lid and turn it upside down until cool. The jars should seal and will be shelf stable just like water bath-canned jars. 
    How to ferment wild grape leaves recipe

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Judy Krohn

      July 04, 2020 at 10:23 am

      We have a great abundance of grape leaves this year, as well. I usually make several batches of stuffed leaves during the season (it's my go-to pot luck appetizer for an annual 4th of July party that isn't happening this year). My traditional stuffing is brown rice, currants or raisins, sautéed onion and garlic, pine nuts or slivered almonds, a little cinnamon, lots of fresh mint and some feta cheese). I followed an internet recipe to "can" some leaves so that I could make the dolmas for a winter event--the process was to roll the leaves together in groups of 10 or so, pack them into a jar, cover with a salt-water solution, and do a quick water-bath treatment. It worked great, but I'm going to give your technique a try for a change.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 04, 2020 at 10:42 am

        The sour leaves are so simple. If you want to can them too, you can just boil them with their liquid, pour into jars and turn upside down too, which is better than boiling a water bath in the middle of summer.

        Reply
    2. Stephen Linne

      July 04, 2020 at 10:27 am

      How long and at what temp to water bath can? For dill pickles they are now recommending 180 to preserve the crispness.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 04, 2020 at 10:40 am

        Water bath isn't even necessary as they're shelf stable as-is underneath the liquid. Crispness is not an issue either with grape leaves as they won't break down that much from cooking--they're very sturdy. Boil them at 212F to your hearts content per qt jar specifications.

        Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 04, 2020 at 10:43 am

        Also see my response to Judy below--you don't even need to boil per se, just turn the jars upside down after hot packing. The pH is very low.

        Reply
    3. Judy Johnson

      July 04, 2020 at 10:56 am

      Can you use wild grape leaves or just domesticated?

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 04, 2020 at 12:35 pm

        Any grape leaf will work, but for the wild species I know near you I prefer Vitis riparia to aestevalis as the latter has larger grooves that make the leaf look lobed, which means stuffing can easily fall out.

        Reply
    4. Bill McDuff

      July 04, 2020 at 2:53 pm

      5 stars
      Alan, Thanks for the recipe and post. We have lots of wild grapes in our local parks so I'll be giving this a try. A little trick I use when prepared solution for fermenting is to put the salt in a jar and boil some water stir until desolved and then add to the jar with the ingredients when it has cooled down.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 05, 2020 at 9:02 am

        Great tip!

        Reply
    5. Pam Trenholm

      July 04, 2020 at 5:03 pm

      5 stars
      Is the water boiling as it is added to the jar?

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 05, 2020 at 9:01 am

        If you want to pack them hot and turn upside down to can without boiling in a water bath, yes. This concentrates the pressure made from the water and heat and forces the jars to hermetically seal without having to undergo boiling in water. Since the pH is so low that you could literally preserve something in the grape leaf brine, botulism is a non-issue.

        Reply
    6. Joe Wiercinski

      July 05, 2020 at 9:02 am

      I'm not sure why the subject of grape leaves appeals to me but it does. Grape leaves as food is more Mediterranean than Polish. My grandmother used them to line crocks that she filled with dill pickles she fermented in the cellar at our farm. A friend with Lebanese family roots, once gave me some grape leaves his aunts/grandmother/wife had stuffed with ground lamb. Delicious!! There are too damn many homecrafts from the past to make us feel nostalgic and we'll never do all of them, will we?. And yet, someday

      Reply
      • Pam Trenholm

        July 05, 2020 at 3:18 pm

        Interesting about lining the crock with grape leaves when doing the pickles that way. An old lady told me once, years ago, to always fold a grape leaf over each jar of dills before filling with the boiling dill brine. Sooo, I have always done that 🙂

        Reply
      • Libby Baker

        July 09, 2020 at 4:07 pm

        We always make dill pickles with a wild grape leaf tucked in. passed down from at least my great grandmother's time they stay crisper with them, i was told. I love brining grape leaves. I also like to chew on the little tendrils, as they are tangy. I wonder if adding some to the jars would add a nice flavor.

        Reply
        • Alan Bergo

          July 09, 2020 at 5:27 pm

          The tendrils are one of my favorite parts of the plant. They could be brined all by themselves but it's a lot of work for a small bite.

          Reply
    7. pete hautman

      July 05, 2020 at 5:12 pm

      Thanks for this, Alan. I use a lot of grape leaves. I usually stack and freeze them, then make dolmas throughout the year. I really like this fermenting approach and will be gathering leaves tomorrow! My back yard is loaded with them, and they are perfect right now.

      Reply
    8. Randall Thompson

      July 06, 2020 at 10:39 am

      Can you ferment cabbage this way, too?

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 06, 2020 at 4:43 pm

        Yes you could, but it's not necessary since cabbage already contains a lot of water.

        Reply
    9. Juleigh A Norwood

      July 08, 2020 at 5:52 pm

      Thanks so much for the recipe. Everyone else seems to say they must be kept in the fridge, I have too many jars of lacto ferment in there already. I never fridge my kraut, I let it do its thing on the counter in the dark and eat it from there after 28 days. Are you saying that you let these sit and ferment outside in the sun for 2 weeks, then they can be stored for a year on the shelf?

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 09, 2020 at 8:04 am

        If you store them on the shelf I would boil the brine and pour it over the greens, turn the jars upside down to seal from the heat, or waterbath can them. But yes, I've stored these for over a year with no loss of quality. Absolutely no refrigeration required.

        Reply
    10. Wren

      July 19, 2020 at 12:55 pm

      Thank you so much for the encouragement to just get up and do this. I have stuffed tons of fresh grape leaves, but I have just not gotten around to preserving them for the winter. Which is a lame reason that I regret when the snow starts to fly and I wonder what I was doing all summer.

      I have noticed, at least in my area, that the grapes grown in deep shade are often much more plate-like than then deeply-lobed leaves that I pass over at the forest's edge. Like dandelions, I imagine they're favoring maximizing surface area production so that they can get as much dappled sunlight as possible. Anyway! Thanks again for a great inspiration. Off I go to the shadiest side of the ravine...

      Reply
    11. Edith Cayanan

      July 23, 2020 at 11:39 am

      I heard from mg sisters-in-law that she used grape leaves. I’m not familiar with that. So I search and I found you. I have one tree at my backyard. And a lot of leaves, now I know what I’m going to do with the leaves. Thanks

      Reply
    12. Victoria Cantwell

      August 09, 2020 at 1:24 pm

      I just fermented grape leaves from my property. I took the stone out once finished...one outer leave had a black stain. Could that be from the stone sitting on it? The brine bubbles, the leaves are a light green. Is there any chance of it being a bad batch? I just want to be sure it is safe to cook with...
      First tine fermenting.

      Thanks!

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        August 09, 2020 at 1:27 pm

        Victoria. First, congratulations on attempting your first ferment. The black leaf is probably due to it coming into contact with air, discard that leaf. As the mixture ferments and bubbles, things can rise up, so you need to continually press things down to ensure they’re underneath brine. All the light green leaves should be fine. Once you do it a few times, you’ll get the hang of it.

        Reply
        • Victoria Cantwell

          August 09, 2020 at 2:59 pm

          Thanks! I just picked a bunch more, and am trying again! I had left the jar out 2 weeks, so a bit nervous using them although they do look fine.
          I did have a rock on it, but will pay closer attention to it. There is something a out the word “botulism”, that had me worried I may have messed it up.
          The liquid did still bubble, but was not cloudy, as I have read in other Posts.
          Also, I did release the metal lid every so often, to let air out...does it matter the type of lid? I plan on sharing with my family, and definitely want to be safe...

          Thanks for the great recipe, and quick response! Love your site!

          Reply
    13. Victoria Cantwell

      August 16, 2020 at 6:41 am

      I have another batch that has been sitting for two weeks now...how do I know they are ready? Color? Once done, do I take the stone out, or leave it in the jar? I read that it is safe to store in brine on the shelf?
      Thanks for the recipe, and help!

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        August 16, 2020 at 9:09 am

        You know they're ready as they'll be tart, tasting of Lactobasilii (it's the same bacteria that make sauerkraut) also the color will be off-green. Bubbles are also an indication it is fermenting, but after two weeks the bubbling will slow down. Yes, it's fine to store these on the shelf. You can take the stone out if you like, or use it to weight them down. If I plan on storing them for an extended time I might can them in a water bath.

        Reply
    14. Bonny Renner

      August 18, 2020 at 1:21 pm

      5 stars
      Just made these for the first time following your 3% brine process and I will definitely be making them again. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
    15. BECKY ELLEN CHARNESKIE

      January 21, 2021 at 2:41 pm

      5 stars
      I am so excited!!!!!! I can’t wait for the spring!

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        January 21, 2021 at 3:59 pm

        Be excited. They're so good!!

        Reply
    16. Taissa Decyk

      April 01, 2021 at 8:11 am

      5 stars
      Hello there! I live in Central Florida and have an immense amount of wild grape vines growing in my backyard (as well as other wonderful wild edibles!) I'm very excited to try this.

      However, I'm wondering where exactly do I let them sit? Direct sunlight, indirect, shade? Inside or outside? Warm or cool?

      Thank you!

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        April 01, 2021 at 1:39 pm

        Taissa, I adjusted the recipe a bit to make it more clear. Let me know if it makes sense. Alan

        Reply
    17. Ian

      August 18, 2021 at 7:54 pm

      5 stars
      Love this method-- much better than the more common pickled recipes you see all over the place.

      One of my farmers gifted me with a very large batch of black currant leaves that she harvested, and after infusing some for vinegars, oils & syrups I'm wondering if this method could be adapted for them.

      In your experience, would whole black currant leaf work if fermented in this grape leaf method?

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        August 20, 2021 at 7:57 am

        Glad it worked for you Ian. I can't speak to currant leaves beyond using them to keep pickles crisp.

        Reply
    18. shelly

      October 18, 2021 at 5:02 pm

      i did the recipe. after 2 weeks. my brine is still crystal clear and the leaves are still the color as when i first placed them in the jar.... there are bubbles, but i can't tell if it's from when i packed them or from carbon off gassing. when i went to do my daily burping, it only sounded off gassy the first couple days and none since then. are they safe? should i taste the brine? thanks.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        October 20, 2021 at 1:10 pm

        As long as you see bubbles you're good. Variations in temp, etc will give some variation.

        Reply
    19. Kelly Chadwick

      June 16, 2022 at 12:27 am

      Hi. When you reference storing the grape leaves after they are finished fermenting, what's the difference about how they are stored, if not refrigerated?

      Also, noticed I think you forgot to say to subtract the weight of empty jar from full jar before multiplying.

      Thanks,

      Kelly

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        June 16, 2022 at 7:41 am

        Thanks Kelly, I adjusted that. This recipe is so simple it's complicated. You can store the jars at room temp, but it's better to water bath process them to ward off Kahm yeast.

        Reply
    20. Vivian

      August 26, 2022 at 1:48 pm

      My backyard is crawling with wild grape vines. I just freed a poor little bent dogwood that was almost immersed in vines. So I was hoping to try this on the leaves from my backyard. The problem was the instruction to use leaves "without bug holes or damage." I found none like that! All the leaves had at least tiny holes. I'm wondering why others can find better leaves than I can. Do I have more bugs in my yard?
      What if a leaf has little skeletonized bits? They look like tiny white spots on the leaf. Is it OK to use those?

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        August 26, 2022 at 2:06 pm

        Go to a place where the leaves are better-they've everywhere and easy to find. The leaves in my backyard are shot too, but in other places they're perfect. Holes will make the stuffing fall out and are unsightly.

        Reply
    21. Elœ

      September 06, 2022 at 12:44 pm

      This feels so trivial but I need to know, do you wash the leaves before bundling them in the jar or just use them freshly picked? Thanks.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        September 15, 2022 at 6:27 pm

        Wash them if you can see any visible foreign matter on them. Very often they're perfectly clean and I may use them just like that.

        Reply

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    Chef Alan Bergo

    HI, I'm Alan: James Beard Award-winning Chef, Author, Show Host and Forager. I've been writing about cooking wild food here for over a decade. Let me show you why foraging is the most delicious thing you'll ever do.

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