This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
My mom makes the most amazing fruit preserves. We enjoy her garden fruit all year long this way. This peach preserves recipe takes a couple days; a longer process than most of the peach preserve recipes I’ve seen online but its worth the wait. It’s not watery like most of the recipes that rush the process.
This isn’t speed dating. You’ll get to know your peaches over a couple days and and be rewarded with some mighty fine preserves. If you are thinking about Christmas already (as I am), you can make preserves now, slap a label on in December and give them away as gifts to neighbors, co-workers, nursing directors (wink, wink) – I guess this means I can’t eat all of them myself.
Ingredients for Peach Preserves:
11 lbs peaches, rinsed
4 cups white sugar
Juice of 1 medium lemon
What you will need:
- 5-6 pint-sized jars with lids. I purchased them at Walmart.
- Large Stock Pot (20Qt+) with Rack (or purchase a canner)
- Jar lifter to safely transfer the jars
How to Make Peach Preserves / Peach Jam:
To blanch the peaches:
1. Fill 2/3 of a large soup pot with water. Bring to a boil. Add peaches for 30 -45 seconds, then remove with slotted spoon or this OXO strainer
2. Peel the skin (most of them peeled easily by hand, but there were a stubborn few that required a knife), cut the peaches into quarters and remove pits.
Cooking the Preserves:
1. Place all peeled peaches in a large soup pot and squeeze in juice of 1 lemon. Drizzle well with 2 cups sugar, toss and drizzle again with the remaining 1.5-2 cups so the sugar reaches all the peaches. Here’s where you need to use your judgement.
If your peaches are very sweet, you may only need 3 1/2 cups of sugar total. You can add more sugar to taste while its cooking, so don’t panic at this step. You’ll do great!
2. Let peaches sit at room temp with the sugar for about 30min -1 hour, or until sugar is dissolved.
3. Place the pot over the stove uncovered and bring to a light boil, stirring to prevent scorching. Make sure if you see a light boil to stir because the whole pot may not be boiling, just the center. If it stops boiling after you stir it, continue boiling.
Once the whole pot is at a light boil, simmer for 10 minutes and turn off the heat. Let the pot stand uncovered until it is just warm to the touch or reaches room temp.
4. As soon as it cools, repeat step 3. You will bring it to a light boil a total of 5 times. This is why it takes 2 days to make. It’s really easy though. Definitely not rocket science to bring a pot to a boil and give it a few stirs :D.
You can go to work and come home then return it to a boil; there’s no “set” time that you need to be reboiling it. If 2 days doesn’t work for you, by all means, take 3 days. Preserves have plenty of sugar so they won’t spoil at room temp if you leave it on the counter overnight. If you want the preserves to have an even thicker consistency, you can boil it 6 times if you wish.
(Note: the fifth time you boil, bring it to a boil over a little lower heat and stir a few extra times to prevent scorching. Also, it thickens more as it cools.)
5. The last time you bring it to a boil you will want to transfer it to sterilized jars while it’s boiling hot.
To sterilize the jars:
- To sterilize your clean jars: wash them and let them dry in the oven at 215 for about 20 min or until completely dry. Boil the lids 5 min.
2. Transfer your boiling hot preserves to the jars using a glass measuring cup and a funnel (least messy method) leaving about 1/2″ space.
3. Screw the lids on enough to keep a tight seal in place but don’t over-tighten them since air bubbles need to be able to escape.
4. Place packed cans into the canning pot and cover with 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a boil and process 15 minutes. Remove from the pot with jar lifter and leave at room temperature undisturbed for 12-24 hours. You may hear a pop when the jars fully seal. After 24 hours, check that the seal has formed by pushing down on the center of the lid – it should not move at all. If the seal does not form, refrigerate preserves and enjoy within 3 months.
Tada!! You’ll make it and think “hey that wasn’t so bad.” Well, that’s what I thought the first time I made them.
Current Canning Guidelines:
Recipe updated in 2019 to reflect new canning standards. Previously we used the oven method. You can get up to date on the most recent canning guidelines here. It’s a great resource to answer frequently asked canning questions.
Country Peach Preserves
Ingredients
Peach Preserves Ingredients:
- 11 lbs peaches, rinsed
- 4 cups white sugar
- Juice of 1 medium lemon
What you will need:
- 5-6 pint-sized jars with lids.
Instructions
To blanch the peaches:
- Fill 2/3 of a large soup pot with water. Bring to a boil. Add peaches for 30 -45 seconds, then remove with slotted spoon and drain the pot. Remove peaches immediately to a large bowl of cold water.
- Peel the skin, cut the peaches into quarters and remove pits.
Cooking the Preserves:
- Place all peeled peaches in a large soup pot and squeeze in juice of 1 lemon. Drizzle well with 2 cups sugar, toss and drizzle again with the remaining 1.5-2 cups so the sugar reaches all the peaches. If peaches are very sweet, you may only need 3 1/2 cups of sugar total. Add more sugar to taste while its cooking.
- Let peaches sit at room temp with the sugar for about 30 min -1 hour, or until sugar is dissolved.
- Place the pot over the stove uncovered and bring to a light boil, stirring to prevent scorching. Once the whole pot is at a light boil, simmer for 10 minutes and turn off the heat. Let the pot stand uncovered until it is just warm to the touch or reaches room temp.
- As soon as it cools, repeat step 3. You will bring it to a light boil a total of 5 times. Preserves have plenty of sugar so they won't spoil at room temp if you leave it on the counter overnight. If you want the preserves to have an even thicker consistency, you can boil it 6 times if you wish. (Note: the fifth time you boil, bring it to a boil over a little lower heat and stir a few extra times to prevent scorching. Also, it thickens more as it cools.)
- The last time you bring it to a boil you will want to transfer it to sterilized jars while it's boiling hot.
To sterilize the jars: wash them and let them dry in the oven at 215 for about 20 min or until completely dry. Boil the lids 5 min.
- Transfer your boiling hot preserves to the jars using a glass measuring cup and a funnel (least messy method) leaving about 1/2″ space.
- Screw the lids on enough to keep a tight seal in place but don't over-tighten them since air bubbles need to be able to escape.
- Place packed cans into the canning pot and cover with 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a boil and process 15 minutes. Remove from the pot with jar lifter and leave at room temperature undisturbed for 12-24 hours. You may hear a pop when the jars fully seal. After 24 hours, check that the seal has formed by pushing down on the center of the lid - it should not move at all. If the seal does not form, refrigerate preserves and enjoy within 3 months.
Signs of Spoiled Canned Food:
With any type of canning, we follow this advice: “When in doubt, throw it out”
Discard and do not eat or taste any canned food if you notice any of the following:
- the jar is leaking, bulging, or swollen
- the jar looks damaged, cracked, or abnormal
- the jar spurts foam or liquid upon opening
- the canned food is discolored, moldy, mushy, slimy, or smells bad
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Hi there. This is the second time I make your fabulous recipe. Last year, I was at my mom’s and she had all the canning pots and everything I need. Unfortunately, I realize that my largest pot is not big enough to cover my jars of preserves. Just a newbie canning question, but if I have boiled the lids and baked the jars- with boiling preserves being put in the jars, isn’t that sufficient to create a healthy seal?
Hi Gail, according to canning standards, the jars have to be processed in boiling water. I would suggest borrowing a large pot if possible.
Followed the recipe but used about 5 pounds of peaches. The end result was an amazing peach preserve! I’ll definitely do this again!
That’s great to hear, Calvin!
Can I leave the preserves at room temperature overnight in between boils? I know you said two days, but I’m not sure if it needs to be refrigerated if I’m leaving it out overnight.
Hi Anna, yes, once the preserves are at room temperature, you can leave them covered on the counter overnight.
My 11 lbs of whole peaches when peeled, pitted and sliced weigh a little over 7 lbs. Is that about the weight you get or do you measure them by the cup once the peaches are sliced. I do a lot of canning and know how important ingredient measurements can be from a safety standpoint.
Hi Jean, my 11 lbs of peaches were whole peaches.
Mine turned a little amber and taste a little caramelized. Are they ruined if the caramelize?
There could be a lot of factors, it was probably cooked longer than needed. Longer cooking time can deepen the color of the preservatives. Did you use white sugar? Changing the sugar like using brown sugar can affect the color. I would monitor the cooking time and cook at moderate temperature.
I would suggest wiping the rim of the jars to clean them before you put the lids on.
Yes, great suggestion.
When you are bringing it up to a boil each time can you do that with a high heat and then turn down to simmer once boil is achieved? Or what heat should I bring it to a boil on? Thank you
Hi Jen, I would recommend not doing that over high heat. High heat will discolor the peaches faster and make them look brown. You also risk scorching the bottom.
I have used this recipe multiple times and love it! I was wondering if I could add raspberries to this recipe and cook it the same or would I have to adjust ingredients/cooking time?
I’m glad you love ths recipe, Raye! I have not tested adding raspberries to advise.
I had less than half a lug left from my Colorado peaches – about 6 lbs – so I ended up making half a recipe. I did add some cinnamon for my family – and after some of the cooking peaches went “missing” on some pancakes, I ended up with 6 half pint jars that are pretty as a picture on my counter. The texture and color of those peaches are just beautiful! Thank you so much for an amazing process. It is perfection.
You’re so welcome! I’m so glad you loved it, Mary!
The peaches turn amber colored if you extend time between boils. If you want light colored preserves you have to do the five boils and canning within two days.
Love this recipe. Have been using for a couple of years. Thank you for sharing!
You’re very welcome!
I just finished with this recipe last night and I done it in 3 days and it is absolutely delicious. I will definitely be using your family’s recipe again. Thank you for posting it for us.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Angelina! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi. Your recipe calls for 11 lbs of peaches. This includes pits also. Any idea how many cups of pitted peaches to use? I have homegrown peaches that are very small so a lot of the weight is pits. Please help
Hi Sandy! I am not sure, but with a quick online search I found that a full cup of sliced peaches is about half pound (225 grams).
I hope that helps.
Thank you. The peaches are cooking on the stove now. 1st round.
That’s so great!
Hi! While these preserves are absolutely delicious, mine are also a little bit amber. Does this ruin the preserves or will it be just fine? Thank you for the recipe.
Hi Catie, a darker amber color usually means the peaches were cooked for too long at a time or on too high of heat.
This is my first year to try canning. It’s been successful so far. When my mom brought me a ton of peaches I decided to make some preserves. It’s on its first boil and I’m so excited to go through this process! Thank you for posting this recipe!
You’re so welcome! Happy canning!