Should You Peel Your Grapes?

Some fruits, like bananas, oranges, and mangos, are designed to be peeled. Still, just because a fruit doesn't have to be have its skin removed doesn't mean that you can't. For example, peeling strawberries is a thing, and it can really enhance their texture. Another fruit that is temptingly peel-able, but isn't usually served that way, is a grape. 

Successfully peeling a grape is difficult yet satisfying. Still, even if cutting one open scratches an itch in the brain, is this a recommended way to eat a grape? If you care about nutrients — and you should — the answer is no. 

The skin of a grape contains the majority of its phytonutrients and antioxidants, including an essential molecule called resveratrol that is believed to help prevent heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer's. With almost all the beneficial nutrients concentrated in the skin and seeds of grapes, peeling them is pretty counterintuitive. Beyond health reasons, chef Vivian Villa, founder of UnButter, says keeping the skin on grapes also helps them last for weeks on end. Peeled grapes will have a much shorter shelf life. "Grapes that are stored peeled do not keep well, since the protective barrier the skin provides is removed," she explains.

Keeping a grape's skin intact is the best way to reap this fruit's nutritional benefits, but saying no to peeling is not a hard and fast rule. There are certainly situations when peeling grapes is not only acceptable but encouraged. "The best time to peel grapes is when a recipe calls for them as an ingredient in a sauce or glaze," expert Vivian Villa says. 

You have to remove grape skins for most grape jam recipes, for instance. (Although they're usually sifted out after cooking rather than peeled.) French Veronique sauce also calls for peeled grapes. Of course, the most common reason to remove grape skins is when you want to make a batch of white wine. Leaving the skins on would leave you with a vat of red wine instead.

Let's say you do have a reason to peel grapes — how do you actually do it? After all, anyone who has tried this knows it can be a tedious and frustrating task. According to Villa, the best way to peel grapes is to start with seedless varieties that are "firm and bouncy." Once you've got your grapes, it's time to cut. "With the tip of a sharp knife at the end, where the stem was, gently lift the skin away," she advises. That's really all there is to it.