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Home » Recipes » Blackberry recipes: from cocktails to BBQs

Published: Jul 16, 2021 · Modified: Oct 6, 2024 by Veronica T

Blackberry recipes: from cocktails to BBQs

Blackberries are tart and sweet and absolutely delicious when ripened on the vine. Use them up in these seasonal recipes. If your blackberries are bitter, sugar (among other things) will temper it.

Ripe blackberries in a bowl on a purple napkin
Jump to:
  • Beverages
  • Meat & blackberries
  • Sides & salads
  • Desserts
  • Jams
  • Blackberry guide: everything you need to know

Beverages

Fruit adds natural sweetness to beverages and can end up overly sweet. Blackberries rarely have that problem because they add tartness (and sometimes bitterness) to drinks.

2 glasses of frozen riesling with blackberries
Blackberry friesling (frozen riesling)
A mason jar of a blackberry chocolate mojito smoothie topped with blackberries
Chocolate blackberry mojito smoothie
Blackberry whiskey smash with bulleit bourbon in the background
Black-beery whiskey smash
A cup of hot chocolate with blackberries and marshmallows
Blackberry hot chocolate
2 glasses of blackberry jalapeno margaritas
Jalapeno blackberry margarita
A smoothie with Earl Grey tea and blackberries - recipe by Rhubarbarians
Earl grey tea blackberry smoothie
Mulled blackberry cider - recipe by Rhubarbarians
Mulled blackberry cider
A pitcher of blackberry lemonade by House of Nash Eats
Blackberry lemonade
Blackberry fig bourbon punch

Meat & blackberries

Savory dishes often benefit from a sweet element. Take a couple of classic examples like turkey + cranberry sauce or pork + apples. Blackberries are one of the most common fruits to accompany gamey meats like venison and duck.

If making a sauce to go with meat, consider straining out the seeds after it cooks down (even if the recipe doesn't tell you to do so). As the liquid in the sauce reduces, the ratio of seeds-to-sauce increases and can end up distracting.

Blackberry basil pizza slices
Blackberry basil pizza
A plate of grilled chicken thighs covered in bbq sauce
Blackberry BBQ sauce & grilled chicken
Tacos with fish and blackberry salsa by Plating Pixels
Blackened fish tacos with blackberry salsa
Roasted duck on a tray by "She Keeps a Lovely Home"
Roasted duck with blackberry & balsamic sauce
Pork sliders with blackberry bbq sauce and Herbs de Provence - recipe by Home & Plate
Pork sliders with blackberry bbq sauce
Pork tenderloin with blackberry mint port sauce by Nutmeg Nanny
Pork tenderloin with blackberry mint port sauce

Sides & salads

Almost any cheese pairs well with both the sweet and bitter elements in blackberries, from a hard aged manchego to a soft brie or goat cheese.

Salads with blackberries are also delicious, but beware of the bitterness. As mentioned in "Why are blackberries bitter & how to fix it," when blackberries are picked before fully ripening on the vine, they can be quite bitter.

Adding bitterness to a salad with bitter greens can be overwhelming, but perfectly ok on salads with non-bitter greens.

Blackberry brie grilled cheese
Blackberry brie grilled cheese
Cornbread with blackberries and serrano chile peppers - recipe by Whitney Bond
Blackberry serrano cornbread
Blackberries and cheese on skewers - recipe by The Organic Kitchen
Blackberry & aged cheese skewers
Eggplant recipes in season - purple kale, aubergine and blackberry salad by Green Kitchen Stories
Kale eggplant blackberry salad
Peaches, plums, apricots on a salad with blackberry dressing
Stone fruit salad with blackberry dressing
Sweet potato cakes with blackberry salsa by How Sweet It Is
Sweet potato cakes with blackberry salsa
Blackberry apricot salad by Dinner at the Zoo
Blackberry apricot salad

Desserts

If you often feel that sweet desserts are one-dimensional, try using blackberries for added complexity. Their tartness adds an unexpected element to the usual sweet treat.

A scone with blackberries and a white chocolate glaze
Blackberry lavender white chocolate scones
A bowl with a blackberry crumble and cookie topping
Blackberry cookie crumble
Blackberry lemon blondies stacked on each other, on a wire rack
Blackberry lemon blondies
creme brulee topped with blackberries
Creme brulee with cardamom blackberries
Muffins with blackberry frosting
Blackberry spice muffin bites
Slices of blackberry pie
Gluten-free blackberry bourbon pie
A plate of shortbread topped with whipped cream and blackberry coulis
Blackberry coulis over shortbread
A slice of blackberry coconut tart
Blackberry coconut tart
A bowl with 3 scoops of blackberry ice cream
Blackberry ice cream
Chocolate cake with blackberry buttercream frosting
Chocolate layer cake with blackberry buttercream
A slice of blackberry cheesecake - recipe by Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt
Blackberry cheesecake
Bars with blackberry custard filling topped with fresh blackberries - recipe by Beyond the Chicken Coop
Blackberry pie bars
Blackberry lime cupcakes - recipe by The Baking Fairy
Blackberry lime cupcakes (vegan)
Blackberry turnovers on a marble counter
Blackberry turnovers
Blackberry cream puffs with chocolate
Blackberry cream puffs
Blackberry lime oatmeal muffins - recipe by Simply Quinoa
Blackberry lime oatmeal muffins
Blackberry cobbler - recipe by Homemade Food Junkie
Blackberry cobbler

Jams

Straight-up blackberry jam is delicious, but you can also customize it to your liking. If blackberries are too tart, try adding in another type of fruit. If you don't like crunching on the seeds, you can strain them out for a seedless jam.

A jar of blackberry chia jam
Instant pot blackberry chia jam
A jar of blackberry jam, recipe by Beyond The Chicken Coop
Seedless blackberry jam
A spoonful of homemade blackberry & blueberry jam by She Keeps a Lovely Home
Small batch blue & blackberry jam

Blackberry guide: everything you need to know

The blackberry guide covers buying, storing, and why farmers markets & UPicks are go-to source for the best tasting berries. If you run into bitter blackberries, find out the causes & remedies in the supplemental guide.

Check out all of the produce guides, or the collections by month.

If you're wondering what else is currently in season, check out my calendars to see what produce is in season each month (and coming up soon).

Seasonal calendars
Get a full list of fruits & vegetables in season for each month.
See what's in season
January produce in season on a table
  • Strawberries in baskets on a farm, with text May produce guide & recipes
    A practical produce guide, May 2025
  • Kabobs over the grill with text, "produce & recipe guide for June"
    The practical produce guide - June 2025
  • The practical produce guide: July 2025
  • Produce & recipe guide for what's in season in August, with figs
    The practical produce guide for August, 2025
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Karen Blanton-Northcutt says

    August 31, 2021 at 1:51 pm

    How do you get the tartness out of blackberries for making a cobbler?

    Reply
    • Vee says

      August 31, 2021 at 3:06 pm

      Tartness is a subset of sourness (if that helps any of your research efforts). This can be 'fixed' simply by adding extra sugar to your cobbler. Hope that helps - let me know how it turns out.

      Reply

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About the Food Geek

Welcome, I'm Veronica, your resident food geek - experienced recipe developer and gardener. My goal is to help you enjoy eating at home by knowing what fruits & vegetables are currently in season and the best ways to use them. To do that, I've put together seasonal produce guides and recipes with practical advice.

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