Simple, three ingredient peach preserves are one of the tastiest ways to enjoy peach season all year round. No pectin needed.
We absolutely love making homemade peach jam and peach preserves at our house. There is nothing better than the way it perfectly captures the taste of fresh fruit in the summer time, and it’s a great way to use summer’s peach bounty.
Slather preserves over a warm slice of sourdough bread, sourdough bagels, or fresh milled whole wheat biscuits. They are perfect when paired with sourdough buttermilk pancakes, or Greek yogurt and granola for breakfast, or even spooned over homemade ice cream for the ultimate summer treat.
Whether you have backyard peach trees, visit a local farm, or take advantage of the ripe peaches at your local market or grocery store, these easy peach preserves are a must make this season. I promise you won’t regret it!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy – This easy recipe only requires three ingredients and is so simple to make. Plus, it is canning optional, so no need to be intimidated by the process if that’s not a route you want to go.
Taste of fresh peaches – Peach preserves are the best way to capture everything you love about summer, into a jar of peach jam that will get you through even the coldest of winter days.
Home food preservation – If you are just getting into home food preservation, this water bath canning recipe is a great way to get started.
Ingredients
Peaches – Preferably very ripe peaches for the best flavor.
Sugar – You can also substitute with honey or maple syrup. You may need to add pectin if using one of these alternatives, since it adds liquid.
Lemon juice – Bottled or fresh lemon juice will work. This helps add acidity to the recipe to ensure safe water bath canning.
Cinnamon – While it is optional, this quick addition adds a yummy, warm, spiced flavor and a rich color to the final product.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Tools You May Need
- Water bath canner or large pot
- Canning funnel
- Jar lifter
How to Make Peach Preserves
Step 1: In a large pot, fill with water and place over high heat. Wash the peaches. Using a knife, add a cross to the bottom of them. This helps make peeling easier so the skins slip right off. Once it has come to a boil, add in peaches and boil for about 30 seconds.
Step 2: Move peaches to an ice water bath, then peel.
Step 3: Slice peeled peaches in half to remove the pits, then place into a pot over low-medium heat.
Step 4: Smash with a spoon, potato masher, or use an immersion blender. The difference between jam and preserves is how thick and chunky it is. For perfectly smooth jam, use an immersion blender. Preserves have more peach chunks and a chunkier texture.
Step 5: Add sugar and lemon juice and stir well. Simmer until the desired thickness is achieved. Stir in cinnamon to taste if desired. Add to jars and enjoy immediately or can for later use.
Canning Peach Jam
Step 1: Wash and clean your jars, lids, and rings with hot soapy water. Set aside. Place jars in warm water until ready to fill. Fill jars using a funnel, leaving 1/4″ head space. Wipe the rims of the canning jars clean using a damp, clean rag.
Step 2: Center lid onto the jar and secure the ring to finger tip tightness. This means that you screw it on tight, but tighten it without forcing it. Turning it too tightly will prevent the air bubbles from escaping. If the band is too tight and the air is trapped in the jar, it can cause spoilage and you will have trouble sealing.
Step 3: Gently place the jars into the water bath canner and turn heat on high, covered. Once the canner has come to a full, rolling boil, start the timer to 10 minutes, cover with lid, and allow the canner to work its magic.
Step 4: When the timer is up, turn off the heat and remove the lid. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Using the jar lifter, lift jars out carefully and place on a towel on the counter. Leave for 12-24 hours without touching. You may hear the jars start popping as they seal. It is okay if you do not hear any popping sounds. Once the 12-24 hours are up, check the seals. If they are sealed, clean the outside of the jars and label. If they have not sealed, you can reprocess them.
Tips
- If you want a smooth jam, use an immersion blender. You can also use a regular blender, but an immersion blender is much easier.
- For old-fashioned peach preserves, you can just mash the peaches with a potato masher, which will leave it a little chunky and rustic.
- You can make instant pot peach jam after blanching and peeling the peaches by placing the ingredients in the instant pot. Set to high pressure for one minute. Allow it to release naturally for about 10 minutes. Then remove the lid and turn on the sauté function, allowing it to simmer and thicken, stirring occasionally.
- Did you know that all jam can be freezer jam? Make peach freezer jam by just placing the jam in the freezer after making it, rather than canning it.
- I like to add a little cinnamon to this recipe as it really complements the peaches. It also makes the jam a lot darker in color, which is why you will notice the difference in the photos of the batches. Some had cinnamon and others did not.
Canning Safety Tips
- Consult an elevation chart and increase the processing time for elevations above 1,000 feet.
- Make sure all of your jars, lids, and bands have been washed thoroughly with hot soapy water.
- For water bath canning recipes that process 10 minutes or longer, you do not need to sterilize the jars ahead of time.
- To ensure your jars don’t break, you want to make sure the water in the canner and the jars are around the same temperature when adding the filled jars to the water bath. So if you are adding hot jam to the jars, you want your jars to be warm before filling. Place them in the water bath to warm up the water before filling.
- Make sure not to start the timer until the water has come to a full boil.
Recipe FAQs
The main difference is the thickness and chunkiness of the peaches. Peach jam tends to have a smoother texture, while preserves have some peach chunks remaining. The texture of your finished product can be adjusted based on personal preference.
You can cook it down to evaporate some of the water, or you can use pectin to help thicken it.
Yes. Technically, sugar is not what makes jam or preserves safe for canning, but rather the acidity and water bath canning process.
However, reducing the sugar can compromise the set, especially if using pectin. If you want to make a low sugar version, I would suggest using Pomona’s pectin or Ball’s low sugar pectin.
Peeling peaches for canning is not a safety issue, but rather a texture issue. Many people find that the texture of the skins is not very desirable and prefer taking them off.
No. The acid from the lemon juice reacts with the natural pectin in the fruit to thicken it. It also helps ensure safety for water bath canning.
Wait 12-24 before determining that it hasn’t set for sure. Sometimes it takes this long for it to really thicken to a jam consistency.
If it has not set the first time, open all of the jars and put the jam back in a pot over low/medium heat.
Add a little more pectin. The amount you add will be determined by how much jam needs to be reprocessed.
Bring to a boil and stir well for 5-10 minutes.
Once it has reached the desired thickness, add to cleaned jars, wipe the rims, and add lids and rings.
Reprocess in a water bath canner for 10 minutes plus more for your elevation.
If all else fails, you can call it peach sauce, which is still delicious!
You don’t technically need a special pot to water bath can. A large deep pot with a matching lid that can hold jars with two inches of water above the jars will work. It will also need to have something to prevent the jars from touching the bottom of the pot, such as canning rings or a wire trivet placed at the bottom.
Store canned jars in a cool, dark place for a long shelf life – up to 18 months.
Freeze for up to one year in an air-tight container. This could be a jar, but make sure to leave a good amount of headspace so the jar doesn’t break when the liquid expands, or use a freezer safe plastic bag. After 6 months, the quality of freezer jam starts to decrease.
You can store preserves in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
Another option is the freeze dryer. After processing so many cans of jam, I decided to freeze dry the rest in my freeze dryer. We will later rehydrate it and turn it into peach sauce. This will last up to 25 years.
More Ways To Preserve The Harvest from the Farmhouse
- Homemade Strawberry Jam Sweetened with Honey
- Water Glassing Eggs
- Homemade Fermented Pickles
- 30+ Recipes That Use Up Eggs
- 12 Easy Fermented Vegetable Recipes
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Peach Preserves
Equipment
- 1 water bath canner or a large pot
Ingredients
- 8 pounds peaches
- 3 cups sugar
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Cinnamon, optional
Instructions
- In a large pot, fill with water and place over high heat.
- Wash peaches.
- Using a knife, add a cross to the bottom of them.
- Once it has come to a boil, add in peaches and boil for about 30 seconds.
- Move peaches to an ice water bath, then peel.
- Slice peaches at least in half to remove the pits, then place back into a pot over low-medium heat.
- Smash with a spoon, potato masher, or use an immersion blender.
- Add sugar and lemon juice and stir well.
- Simmer until the desired thickness is achieved.
- Stir in cinnamon to taste, if desired.
Canning Peach Jam
- Wash and clean jars, lids, and rings with hot soapy water. Set aside. Place jars in warm water until ready to fill.
- Fill jars using a funnel, leaving 1/4″ head space.
- Wipe the rims clean using a damp, clean rag.
- Center lid onto the jar and secure the ring to finger tip tightness.
- Gently place the jars into the water bath canner and turn heat on high, covered.
- Once the canner has come to a full, rolling boil, start the timer to 10 minutes, cover with lid, and allow the canner to work its magic.
- When the timer is up, turn off the heat and remove the lid. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
- Using the jar lifter, lift jars out carefully and place on a towel on the counter. Leave for 12-24 hours without touching. You may hear the jars start popping as they seal. It is okay if you do not hear any popping either.
- Once the 12-24 hours are up, check the seals. If they are sealed, clean the outside of the jars and label.
Notes
- If you want a smooth jam, use an immersion blender. You can also use a regular blender, but an immersion blender is much easier.
- For old-fashioned peach preserves, you can just mash the peaches with a potato masher, which will leave it a little chunky and rustic.
- You can make instant pot peach jam after blanching and peeling the peaches by placing the ingredients in the instant pot. Set to high pressure for one minute. Allow it to release naturally for about 10 minutes. Then remove the lid and turn on the sauté function, allowing it to simmer and thicken, stirring occasionally.
- Did you know that all jam can be freezer jam? Make peach freezer jam by just placing the jam in the freezer after making it, rather than canning it.
- I like to add a little cinnamon to this recipe as it really complements the peaches. It also makes the jam a lot darker in color, which is why you will notice the difference in the photos of the batches. Some had cinnamon and others did not.
- Consult an elevation chart and increase the processing time for elevations above 1,000 feet.
- Make sure all of your jars, lids, and bands have been washed thoroughly with hot soapy water.
- For water bath canning recipes that process 10 minutes or longer, you do not need to sterilize the jars ahead of time.
- To ensure your jars don’t break, you want to make sure the water in the canner and the jars are around the same temperature when adding the filled jars to the water bath. So if you are adding hot jam to the jars, you want your jars to be warm before filling. Place them in the water bath to warm up the water before filling.
- Make sure not to start the timer until the water has come to a full boil.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Do you have a substitute can you use instead of sugar. Trying to avoid sugar.
Not for this jam recipe. Sorry!
Could fresh peaches that were vacuum packed and frozen be used?
Yes!
So simple to make….
If doing a water bath on an induction stove, do you need to add more time? I know that making hard boiled eggs is different on my induction than it was on my regular stove.
No, keep the same time!
Although I haven’t used the preserves yet, I did a little taste test before canning and it tasted, and smelled, delicious. My only complaint is that I used 8lbs of peaches per the recipe and it made a lot more than the 7 half pints the recipe says it makes. I ended up with about 14 half pints! Which really isn’t a complaint, just an observation. Can’t wait to eat it and gift it!
I would like to make some freezer jam. To be sure I just make the recipe put it in clean jars with lids then into the freezer? Will it last a fairly long time? Thank you Lisa
Yes, that is correct!