The essential ingredients that justify the adjective are red summer berries such as redcurrant, blackcurrant, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, bilberries and stoned black cherries.

Grüne Grütze, a green variant, is made from apple, gooseberries, kiwifruit and rhubarb by a Danish producer.

[7] In blaue Grütze, the blue variant, blackberries, bilberries, plums, blackcurrant, and grapes are usually used.

In Poland, parts of Russia, the Baltic states, Finland, and Ukraine, kissel is known as a dessert similar to rødgrød.

[9] In Southern Brazil, sagu is a popular dessert made with tapioca pearls, sugar and red wine, mainly appreciated by Italian and German-origin families.