How to make peach preserves - just 3 ingredients: peaches, sugar, lemon juice! No pectin required in this peach jam recipe! Make your own peach preserves.

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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:

How to make peach preserves - just 3 ingredients: peaches, sugar, lemon juice! No pectin required in this peach jam recipe! Make your own peach preserves.

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 which I used to transfer them in and out of the boiling water and drain the pot. Remove peaches immediately to a large bowl of cold water. This process is known as blanching the peaches and makes removal of the fuzzy skins really easy.

How to make peach preserves - just 3 ingredients: peaches, sugar, lemon juice! No pectin required in this peach jam recipe! Make your own peach preserves.Peaches in a bowl filled with water

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.

How to make peach preserves - just 3 ingredients: peaches, sugar, lemon juice! No pectin required in this peach jam recipe! Make your own peach preserves.A peach on a cutting board being cut into fourths

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!

Peaches cut into fourth and peeled in a bowl A bowl of peeled and cut up peaches with sugar on topA lemon being pressed for juice

2. Let peaches sit at room temp with the sugar for about 30min -1 hour, or until sugar is dissolved.

A bowl with country peach preserves

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.

A bowl of soup, with Peach and Sugar

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.

How to make peach preserves - just 3 ingredients: peaches, sugar, lemon juice! No pectin required in this peach jam recipe! Make your own peach preserves.

To sterilize the jars:

  1. 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.

How to make peach preserves - just 3 ingredients: peaches, sugar, lemon juice! No pectin required in this peach jam recipe! Make your own peach preserves.

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.

How to make peach preserves - just 3 ingredients: peaches, sugar, lemon juice! No pectin required in this peach jam recipe! Make your own peach preserves.

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.

How to make peach preserves - just 3 ingredients: peaches, sugar, lemon juice! No pectin required in this peach jam recipe! Make your own peach preserves.

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.

How to make peach preserves - just 3 ingredients: peaches, sugar, lemon juice! No pectin required in this peach jam recipe! Make your own peach preserves.

Natasha's Kitchen Cookbook

Country Peach Preserves

5 from 59 votes
Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 1 day
Total Time: 1 day 40 minutes

Ingredients 

Servings: 5 1/2 (1 pint/16oz) sized jars

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.
Course: Condiments, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Country Peach Preserves
Skill Level: Easy
Cost to Make: $$

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

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Natasha Kravchuk

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Natasha, the blogger behind Natasha's Kitchen (since 2009). My husband and I run this blog together and share only our best, family approved and tested recipes with YOU. Thanks for stopping by! We are so happy you're here.

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Comments

  • Jennie
    June 20, 2013

    Thank you! 🙂

    Reply

  • Jennie
    June 19, 2013

    What about the canning process? Do you not have to process them in a water bath canner like other preserves? Thanks

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      June 19, 2013

      You could if you wanted to, but we’ve always just steamed the jars 🙂

      Reply

  • Beth
    May 19, 2013

    Do you leave them in the pot? Does the peaches react to the metal pot?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      May 19, 2013

      Do you mean when it’s all done? I transfer to glass cans once the preserves are ready. I haven’t had any issues with the peaches reacting to the metal in the pot.

      Reply

  • Natasha
    September 11, 2012

    I just finished making these, deeeeeeeellllicious. It just so happened that someone in church was selling peaches, so we got 15 lbs for $15. It was a whole adventure for me. Somehow my preserves burned when I boiled them third time, I transferred everything to a different pot while all the burnt peaches remained stuck on the bottom of the original pot. Burnt peaches taste like rotten peaches so that was a close one. The final product tastes amazing, nothing like store bought. I even tied cute ribbons around my jars. I will be definitely making these again next year.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 11, 2012

      I’d recommend bringing the pot to a boil over lower heat and stirring more frequently if you are having that issue with it scorching the bottom. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂

      Reply

  • Julia
    September 10, 2012

    Какая прелесть! Увидела это фото на FoodGawker and clicked right over.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 10, 2012

      Awesome! I love food gawker 🙂

      Reply

  • Alena
    September 5, 2012

    So will the preserves have lemony taste?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 5, 2012

      Not at all :), good question Alena.

      Reply

  • Nata
    September 4, 2012

    So sad my preserves didnt turn out as I wanted to… First of all the color is not light like you have it on picture, maybe because I added lemon right after I added sugar, so it got much darker! second it burned a little so it has that taste…and third…. I made 2 batch of it so that means I ruined lots of peaches….so so disapointed…..I do canning sometimes and this just didnt turn out!!! And its all my fault ofcourse!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 5, 2012

      Oh man that’s so sad 🙁 That is a huge bummer! 🙁

      Reply

    • Matt
      October 30, 2013

      Don’t feel lonely, Nata(I know a Nata). I tried to do these this year, and the same thing happened to me around the 3rd or fourth reheat. By the fifth, they were dark brown with lots of little blackened bits in them. They didn’t taste too horrible, but I just ate some and trashed the rest. Next year, I will either try a double boiler or I will wait until the last reheat to add the sugar, or both.

      Reply

  • Carrie
    September 3, 2012

    I worked on this recipe all weekend. It’s the first time I tried to can anything. It was a success! I hardly made a mess. The only disappointment I have is that it only yielded 5 pints of preserves. Of course it doesn’t help when I taste tested almost a whole jar worth throughout the whole process. 🙂

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 3, 2012

      Ha ha, excessive taste testing will do that 🙂 I’m so glad you loved it. It’s amazing with waffles… And everything else!

      Reply

  • elena
    September 2, 2012

    Thanks for posting! I love peaches! Will give it a try sometime this week.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      September 2, 2012

      We enjoyed a jar of this on our recent vacation with waffles every morning. It was perfect. Hope you love it!!

      Reply

  • cindy
    August 30, 2012

    I am new to this and looking forward to some great Colorado peach preserves! Can you cool it in the refrigerator or just at room temp?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 30, 2012

      You can but it will warm up your fridge. It’s perfectly safe on the counter with all the sugar preserving it from spoilage. I prefer leaving it on the counter plus it gives it an extra opportunity to evaporate the extra condensation resulting in a thicker consistency in the end.

      Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 30, 2012

      So true! Fresh is best! I’ve never tried better peach preserves. Homemade is definitely better. I love that it’s not overly sweet. It perfect 🙂

      Reply

  • Lea's Cooking
    August 30, 2012

    Yum!!! I love peaches:) Defiantly will try this recipe when I find where to pick peaches. Straight from the tree will taste the best:)

    Reply

  • Mary Anne Pasquella
    August 29, 2012

    This recipe sounds wonderful, and I cannot wait to use it! I just want to clarify your instructions about the lemon juice. Under “Cooking The Preserves”, you mention putting the juice of 1 lemon in at the beginning and at the end of the process. Do you use 2 lemons or just 1? I just want to make sure I’m making the preserves correctly.

    Thank you so much for sharing your recipes with everyone!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 29, 2012

      Oh sorry about that. It’s just juice of 1 lemon and it doesn’t really make a difference when you squeeze it in. I will update the recipe. Thanks!!

      Reply

  • Angela
    August 29, 2012

    This recipe looks awesome! So the preserves will keep at room temp even without boiling? Approx. how long do you think they would be good for?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 29, 2012

      I left them overnight on the counter at room temp and re-boiled them the next morning so at least that long and leave them uncovered or partially covered to allow condensation to escape. You can safely take 3 days to boil and reboil them 5-6 times. After they are canned, they will last a year or longer in the pantry 🙂

      Reply

  • Veronica
    August 28, 2012

    I love that you don’t have to process the filled jars in a water bath at all after–even with taking two days, this seems so much easier! I can handle this! Saving it to try.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 28, 2012

      Yes I’ve definitely made huge messes with the boiling method. This one is a lot cleaner and less room for error 🙂

      Reply

  • Luda
    August 27, 2012

    Sounds delicious, mine turns out runnier. Can’t wait to try yours out. Do you have a recipe for canning cucumbers??

    Reply

  • Puppydogs
    August 27, 2012

    Hi
    When you say 11 lbs of peaches…do you mean before cutting and peeling or after?

    thanks!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 27, 2012

      It’s before peeling and cutting. So it’s 11 lbs at the store 😉

      Reply

  • marina
    August 27, 2012

    gotta go get some peaches! thank you so much for sharing this. I’ve made everything but peach preserves this year. Your posts always come right on time:)

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 27, 2012

      You’ll love it! We took it along on our vacation to serve with waffles. Mmm 🙂

      Reply

  • Moms Purse
    August 26, 2012

    Natasha, the way we sterilize jars is by washing them and than letting them dry in oven at 215 for about 20 min or until completely dry.
    Seems like much easier method, my sister that is a chef gave me this tip.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 27, 2012

      Oh that is a good tip. It would be especially nice if you are doing a lot of canning! Thank you 🙂

      Reply

  • Sarah Z.
    August 26, 2012

    Hi Natasha,
    On one of the last instructions you said repeat step 5, did you mean to repeat boiling it and cooling it 5 times? or which step 5 are you referring to?
    Thanks! It looks great. Can’t wait to try it.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 26, 2012

      Thank you for noticing that Sarah 🙂 It should be step 3 not 5… I updated the post.

      Reply

  • Galina
    August 26, 2012

    mmm looks amazing cant wait to try it and use it for my kiivsky cake!! good job Natasha! can you also post your mom’s blackcurrant jam the one you used for rogaliki some time soon? thanks!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 26, 2012

      Oh that does sound like a great idea to use it on the kiev cake. Thanks for the tip! I probably won’t be able to post blackcurrent jam until next year since it’s out of season 🙁 sorry. Hope you love the peach preserves!

      Reply

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