Mirabelle vs Greengage: What's the Difference?
Short answer: Both are small dessert plums, subspecies of Prunus domestica. Mirabelles are tiny, round, and golden-yellow, very sweet and honeyed, famous in Lorraine for tarts and eau-de-vie. Greengages are slightly larger, green to green-gold, and prized for an exceptionally rich, sweet, almost floral flavour that many rank as the finest of dessert plums. Mirabelles lean small-and-golden; greengages lean green-and-luxuriously-sweet.
| 🟡 Mirabelle | 🟢 Greengage | |
|---|---|---|
| Taste | Sweet and richly aromatic with a bright honey-and-apricot tang and a small freestone; the thin golden skin sometimes carries a red blush and a subtle almond note. | Exceptionally sweet and honeyed with a dense, melting flesh and complex almond-and-apricot notes; the green skin masks a sugar level higher than most purple plums. |
| Type | Stone fruit | Stone fruit |
| Peak season | Summer | Summer |
| Origin | Asia Minor; famously cultivated in Lorraine, northeastern France | Likely Persia/Asia Minor; refined in France as the Reine Claude |
| Calories (per 100 g) | 47 | 46 |
| Sugar (per 100 g) | 10 g | 10 g |
| Vitamin C (per 100 g) | 9 mg | 8 mg |
| Typical price | Mid | Premium |
Mirabelles and greengages are both small, sweet European plums with devoted followings, and both are cultivated forms of the plum species Prunus domestica - so they’re close cousins, separated mostly by colour, size, and character.
The mirabelle is tiny and round, coloured golden-yellow (sometimes with a red-flecked blush), and intensely sweet with a honeyed, gently spicy flavour. It’s strongly associated with the Lorraine region of France, where a large share of the world’s crop becomes tarts, jams, and the celebrated mirabelle eau-de-vie. Their small size and sweetness make them a fleeting late-summer treat.
The greengage is a little larger and stays green to green-gold even when ripe, which can fool people into thinking it’s unripe. Don’t be: a peak greengage is one of the sweetest, most aromatic plums there is, with a rich, almost floral, honeyed depth that connoisseurs rank at the very top of dessert plums. It’s wonderful eaten out of hand and equally good in jam and compote.
So the split is mostly colour and intensity: mirabelle is small and golden; greengage is green and lusciously sweet. Both reward you for catching them at their brief best.
Frequently asked questions
Are mirabelles and greengages both plums?
Yes - both are cultivated forms of the European plum, Prunus domestica, so they're close relatives within the same species. They're distinguished as different subspecies or groups, each with its own size, colour, and flavour profile.
How do I tell them apart by looks?
Colour and size are the quickest cues. Mirabelles are very small - cherry-to-large-grape sized - and golden-yellow, sometimes with a red blush. Greengages are a bit bigger and range from green to yellow-green, occasionally with an amber tint when very ripe.
What are they each best for?
Mirabelles are classic tart and jam fruit and are famously distilled into mirabelle eau-de-vie in Lorraine. Greengages are so richly sweet they're often eaten fresh at peak ripeness, though they also make superb jam and compote.