Old Fashioned Canned Peaches.
These old-fashioned canned peaches are a simple way to preserve fresh summer peaches so you can enjoy them throughout the year. These peaches are delicious straight from the jar, served over overnight sourdough pancakes or waffles, or used to make a sourdough peach cobbler when fresh peaches are out of season. I love having food preservation recipes like this on our pantry shelves because they give us an easy way to enjoy the flavor of summer during the winter months. This recipe uses a light sugar syrup, but you can also can peaches with diluted apple juice or plain water if you prefer to reduce or skip the added sugar.
Quick Look: How To Can Peaches
- ⏱️ Prep Time: 30 minutes
- 🍳 Cook Time: 30 minutes
- 🕒 Total Time: 60 minutes
- 👥 Servings: 16-24 quarts
- 📊 Calories: ~128 kcal per serving (based on nutrition panel)
- 🔥 Cook Method: Camp chef stove in a waterbath canner
- 👩🍳 Flavor Profile: Sweet, juicy peaches with a bright, fresh summer flavor and tender texture.
- ⭐ Difficulty: Quick and easy
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- A simple way to preserve peaches: Canning lets you enjoy ripe summer peaches long after peach season is over.
- Great for stocking your pantry: A batch of home-canned peaches gives you a ready-to-use fruit that can be enjoyed throughout the winter. If your interested in other recipes check out my recipe on how to can apples
- Perfect for desserts: Use canned peaches for peach cobbler, peach pie, pancakes, waffles, or serve them with my best vanilla ice cream recipe.
- Choose your syrup: You can use a light sugar syrup, diluted apple juice, or plain water depending on how sweet you want your peaches.
- A beginner-friendly canning project: Once the peaches are blanched and peeled, the rest of the process is straightforward—fill the jars, cover them with syrup, and process them in a boiling water-bath canner.
- A great way to preserve bulk peaches: If you purchase peaches by the case, glean fruit from a local orchard, or have a large peach harvest, canning allows you to preserve a lot of fruit at once.
Ingredients
- Fresh raw peaches - can be ordered organic from Azure Standard for around $2.00 a pound
For a full list of ingredients needed to make this recipe, see the recipe card below.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.
How To Can Peaches
Step 1: Prepare equipment and blanch peaches. Wash your jars and let them air-dry. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, prepare a bowl of ice water, and heat your syrup in a separate pot. Blanch the peaches in batches, then transfer them to the ice water.
Step 2: Peel the peaches. Let the peaches cool for a few minutes, then slip the skins off with your hands.
Step 3: Cut and pit the peaches. Cut the peaches in half, remove the pits, and slice them into smaller pieces if desired.
Step 4: Fill the jars. Pack the peaches into the jars and cover with hot syrup, leaving the recommended headspace. Wipe the rims clean and add the lids and rings.
Step 5: Process the jars. Place the jars in a boiling water-bath canner and process according to the recipe's processing time and current canning guidelines. Remove the jars with a jar lifter and let them cool undisturbed.
Step 6: Cool and store. Once the jars have cooled and sealed, remove the rings, wash any sticky residue from the jars, and store them in a cool, dark pantry.
Tips For How To Can Peaches
- Choose ripe but firm peaches so they hold their shape during processing.
- Freestone peaches are easiest to prepare because the pits come out more easily.
- Blanch peaches just long enough for the skins to loosen; avoid overcooking them.
- Work quickly when peeling peaches to keep them from browning.
- Pack the jars snugly, but don't crush the peaches.
- Wipe jar rims clean before adding the lids to help ensure a good seal.
- Let jars cool undisturbed after processing and check the seals before storing.
- Store sealed jars in a cool, dark place and refrigerate any jars that do not seal.
Freestone peaches are especially easy to can because the pits come out easily, but any ripe, firm peach can be used.
Peaches are usually peeled before canning because the skins can become tough and slippery during processing.
Yes. Peaches can be canned using water or fruit juice instead of a sugar syrup. Sugar is primarily used for sweetness and does not provide the safety of the canning process.
Peaches can darken when exposed to air. Work quickly after cutting and use an appropriate canning liquid to help maintain their color.
Properly canned and sealed peaches are best used within about one year for quality, although properly stored home-canned foods can remain safe longer when the seal remains intact and recommended processing methods were followed.
Yes! Home-canned peaches are perfect for making peach cobbler, especially when fresh peaches are out of season.
Blanching makes the skins much easier to remove and helps prepare the peaches for packing into jars.
Peaches may float because of trapped air, the natural density of the fruit, or how tightly the jars were packed. Floating does not necessarily mean the peaches are unsafe.
Other Recipes Like This
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How To Can Peaches
Equipment
- Pairing Knife – for cutting peaches in half to fit into jars
- 2 Large Pots – one for blanching the peaches in, and one for heating up the syrup
- Large Bowl - for cooling off the peaches after blanching
- Slotted spoon
- 1 Wide Mouth Quart Canning Jars
- Canning Lids
- Water Bath Canner
- jar lifter
- Camp Chef Outdoor Stove – for outdoor canning.
Ingredients
- 1 bushel peaches about 50 pounds
- 2 gallons water
- 4 cups sugar
Instructions
Prepare Equipment
- Wash all of your jars and allow to air dry.
- Fill a large pot half full with hot water. Bring to a boil on the stovetop over medium-high heat.
- Place cold water and ice cubes if you have some available, in a large bowl.
- Mix up 4 cups of sugar and 2 gallons of water in another pot on the stove and start heating it over medium heat. This will be the syrup to pour over your peaches. If you want to make them sugar free, you can use 2 cans of apple juice concentrate and 2 gallons of water, or you can use just plain hot water too.
Prepare Raw Peaches
- Once the water on the stove is at a boil, turn down to a simmer and gently drop peaches into the water. Leave them in the water to “blanch” for about 2-3 minutes or until the peeling is just starting to come off (see video below).
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the peaches and place them immediately into the ice cold water to stop the cooking. You don’t want them to be mushy, just cooked long enough so the peels will come off easily.
- Continue blanching the peaches until you run out of room in your cold water bowl. You can keep you hot water at a slow simmer until you have room to blanch more peaches.
- Let peaches cool in the cold water for a few minutes, and peel them by just slipping the peelings off with your hand. I rarely have to use a knife.
- Cut the peeled peaches in half using a pairing knife. Remove the pits and place two pits in the bottom of each quart jar, or one pit if you're using pint jars (this will help preserve flavor and freshness).
- Put the peach halves into the jars, and cover with the hot syrup. You can also slice peaches into smaller pieces if desired.
Canning Process
- Wipe rim of the jar with a damp cloth to make sure there is no sticky juice on them.
- Place lids and rings on the top of the jars and hand tighten.
- Place jars in a boiling water-canner and process for 20 minutes.
- For more about the water bath canning process, see video below.
- Remove hot jars from canner using jar lifter and allow to cool at room temperature for a few hours and seal. If you're doing more than one canner load of peaches, it is best to add a little cold water to the canner before you put another round of cold jars into the boiling hot water. This will help prevent any jars from breaking. You don't want to lose any of those precious peaches after all that hard work.
- Remove rings, wash outside of jars if they are sticky, and then store on your pantry shelves.
Notes
- Use ripe but firm peaches for the best texture.
- Freestone peaches are easiest to peel and pit.
- Blanch peaches just long enough for the skins to loosen.
- Pack peaches snugly but don't crush them.
- Wipe jar rims clean before adding lids and rings.
- Let jars cool completely before removing the rings and storing.
- Follow current tested canning guidelines for safe processing times and headspace.
thanks for the helpful tips!
Love having fresh canned fruit. Great flavors