Concord Grape Pie

Ingredients

• 1 package (2 crusts) refrigerated pie dough (store-bought or homemade), or a double batch of homemade dough
• 4 cups stemmed Concord grapes, skins slipped off and reserved separately
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
• 1 tbsp coarse sugar, for sprinkling
• (Simmer the peeled grape pulp until seeds loosen, then strain out seeds and stir the skins back in before filling the crust.)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Fit one crust into a 9-inch pie dish.
2. In a large bowl, gently toss the stemmed Concord grapes, skins slipped off and reserved separately with the sugar, thickener, spice, lemon juice, and salt until evenly coated.
3. Pour the filling into the crust and dot with the butter pieces.
4. Top with the second crust, forming a lattice top, or cut several vents in a full top crust. Crimp the edges to seal, then brush the top with the beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
5. Bake for 45–55 minutes, until the crust is deep golden and the filling is bubbling through the vents.
6. Cool on a wire rack at least 2 hours before slicing so the filling has time to set.

The Tale of Concord Grape Pie

Story updated September 15, 2026

Concord grape pie's two key ingredients each have a precise origin story. The Concord grape itself was bred in 1849 by Ephraim Wales Bull, a farmer and horticulturist in Concord, Massachusetts, who spent years testing seedlings before settling on the hardy, richly flavored variety that now bears his town's name. The pie came much later and much further west: in 1959, Al and Frieda Hodges, owners of the Redwood Restaurant in Naples, New York, a Finger Lakes town surrounded by Concord grape vineyards, asked their kitchen to invent a dessert that would draw visitors from Rochester. After several tries, a Concord grape pie emerged, and a local baker named Irene Bouchard became so associated with perfecting and popularizing it that she earned the nickname "the grape pie lady," at her peak turning out hundreds of pies a day each October. The pie remains a defining harvest-season tradition of the Finger Lakes, celebrated every fall at the Naples Grape Festival.