Whether you love them in peach pie, peach smoothies, or your other favorite peach recipes, knowing how to freeze peaches means you’ll have access to these fruits at their prime rather than settling for out-of-season peaches to get your fix!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple & fast: It barely takes any time at all to get your peaches ready for the freezer. You’ll avoid wasting them and have a better way of putting them in your favorite recipes.
- Fresh peach taste year-round: With in-season peaches always in your freezer, you no longer have to wait during the off-season. That means if you’re craving that peach smoothie in winter, you can have it!
- Healthy & nutritious: While you can buy canned peaches any time, they’re often packaged with too much sugar. By freezing them fresh, you seal in those amazing nutrients that make peaches such a healthy choice.
Ingredients + Notes
- Peaches: Freestone peaches are the best because the pit is so easy to take out without getting stuck in that sweet, juicy flesh. If you can only get clingstone peaches, that’s ok too. You’ll have a little more work to do getting them out.
- Lemon: Adding fresh lemon juice prevents browning. This way, your peaches will still look fresh-picked, even from the freezer.
- Water: Adding water along with that lemon protects your sliced fresh peaches from getting that dreaded freezer burn. You can then enjoy those fresh peach flavors whenever you want them!
Step-by-step Instructions: How To Freeze Peaches
The simplest way to freeze stone fruit is with the skin on (in my opinion). This step-by-step tutorial includes simple steps that will result in tasty peaches you can enjoy any time of the year with the best flavor!
1. Wash the four ripe peaches.
2. Cut the peaches into slices.
- The easiest way to cut peaches is to use a small paring knife. (Make sure it’s a sharp knife!)
- Starting at the top stem end of the peach, cut down the fresh peach to the bottom of the peach and then back up the opposite side.
- Then, twist the peach apart.
- Once you have two peach halves, cut them into slices.
3. Add sliced peaches to a medium bowl (or large bowl).
4. Pour four cups of water and the juice from one lemon (~2 tablespoons of lemon juice) over the peaches.
5. Soak the peaches for about 5 minutes.
6. Drain the peaches using a large colander. (Or you could scoop them out with a slotted spoon one at a time.)
7. Spread the peach slices out on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (Make sure it’s a single layer of peaches. Otherwise, if they are all bunched together, you will end up with clumps of frozen peaches instead of individual frozen peach slices.)
8. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for 4 hours (or longer).
9. Transfer the frozen peaches to a silicone freezer bag or another freezer-safe container. A quart-size freezer container should be large enough. (Sometimes, it’s easiest to use plastic zip-top freezer bags, but the silicone ones work well too. Alternatively, they do make freezer-safe glass containers as well.)
Full Step-by-step Video
How Long Are Frozen Peaches Good For?
Frozen peaches are good for about 9-12 months if kept in the freezer.
Remove as much air from the container as possible to avoid freezer burn. There is an easy way to remove air if you are using a Ziploc plastic bag or a silicone bag like a half-gallon Stasher bag.
- Fill the bag with the frozen peach slices.
- Insert a straw into the bag, leaving several inches outside of the bag.
- Zip the bag closed around the straw, holding the straw and bag where they meet.
- Then, suck the extra air out of the bag using the straw!
- Once it looks like all the air has been removed, slide the straw out and finish zipping it closed.
How To Use Frozen Peaches
If you love peaches, having frozen peaches easily accessible in your freezer makes even the worst day better. You can use them in so many ways to boost your mood with that summery sweetness!
Smoothies
Making a peach smoothie requires no thawing at all. You can toss your frozen peach slices right into the blender and blend until smooth. Add other fruits like berries too!
Mocktails
Make some peach puree, and you can have those sweet, refreshing, summery mocktails whenever you want them. Annoyed that you’re snowed in? Grab those frozen peaches and make a mocktail so you can at least pretend you’re somewhere more tropical.
Desserts
There’s literally no end to how many peachy desserts you can make with your frozen peaches. Make peach ice cream, peach pie, peach crisp, peach cobbler, or even a lusciously warm peach sauce to pour over that ice cream.
Peach Jam
Make breakfast more delightful by making peach jam. Smeared on your favorite toast with butter, you’ll know it’s going to be a great day!
FAQ
The key to freezing peaches so they don’t get all brown on you is to add fresh lemon juice and water. This will keep them at their prime even while frozen.
Frozen peaches will only become a mushy mess if you leave them to thaw out at room temperature. The best way to ensure they hold up is by letting them thaw in the fridge overnight.
Absolutely! In fact, this recipe requires no blanching at all. You only need to soak them in the lemon-water mixture for a few minutes before you drain them and put them in the freezer.
Yes, you can freeze them with the skins on. It’s all a matter of preference, so if you’d prefer not to have the skins on them, you can peel them first.
You can always freeze whole peaches. However, there will be more work for you to do later on. If you’re planning on cutting them up for your pies and other peach recipes, it’s better to do the work now. This way, you can grab them and get busy with what you’re making.
More How-To Recipes
Recipe Card
How To Freeze Peaches
Ingredients
- 4 peaches, sliced
- 4 cups water
- juice from 1 lemon
Instructions
- Wash the peaches.
- Cut the peaches into slices.
- Add sliced peaches to a medium bowl.
- Pour water over peaches and the juice from one lemon (~2 tablespoons of lemon juice).
- Soak the peaches for about 5 minutes.
- Drain the peaches using a colander.
- Spread the peach slices out on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Place the baking sheet in the freezer for 4 hours (or longer).
- Transfer the frozen peaches to a silicone freezer bag or another freezer-safe container. A quart-size freezer container should be large enough. (Sometimes, it's easiest to use plastic zip-top freezer bags, but the silicone ones work well too. Alternatively, they do make freezer-safe glass containers as well.)
Equipment
- Colander
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Great tutorial. Perfect for smoothie prep!
Yes, great for smoothies!