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Learn all the tips and tricks for how to freeze peaches to stock your freezer with the star of summer fruit. Freezing fresh peaches is so easy and can be done without sugar, which makes them great to use in desserts, smoothies, or snacks.
From canning peaches to dehydrating peaches to ginger beer mocktails, peaches are best when they’re allowed to be the star of the show. Unfussy, and appreciated.
And the easiest way to preserve this summer fruit is through freezing. Lucky for you, freezing ripe peaches couldn’t be easier. Let’s take on peach season together!
If you’re looking for more peach recipes, check out our Peach Preserves, Peach Freezer Jam, Homemade Peach Ice Cream, Peach Syrup, and Peach Compote.
TOOLS FOR FREEZING Peaches
- Rimmed baking sheet
- Parchment, waxed paper, or Silpat
- Reusable freezer bags, single-use freezer bags, or wide-mouth mason jars
- Strainer/colander
- Lemon juice, citric acid, or ascorbic acid
How to Freeze Peaches
*I’ll walk you through it here with some photos and tips, and you’ll also find a printable recipe card at the bottom of the post with exact measurements, etc. You can click “jump to recipe” to skip down.
Prep:
- Fill a mixing bowl with cool water and lemon juice.
- Fill a medium mixing bowl with water and ice.
- Add a piece of parchment paper or waxed paper to a rimmed baking sheet.
Use a paring knife and cut the peach around the middle to separate. Remove the pit. If you’re dealing with cling peaches, check out this post on How to Cut a Peach to easily cut around the pit.
Add one layer of peach halves at a time to a pot of boiling water for about 60 seconds. Once you can see the skin starting to come away from the flesh, it’s time to take them out.
Remove using a slotted spoon and place the peaches in the ice water for 1 minute. Use the slotted spoon to remove the peaches from the ice bath. Grab one of the peaches and gently peel the skin back.
Slice the peach halves into quarters, and place them in the lemon water for a few seconds.
Scoop the peaches out of the lemon water, and place them in a strainer/colander to allow the peach slices to drain a bit.
Place the peaches on the parchment in a single layer, ensuring they’re not touching each other.
Freeze for 4-6 hours. Break apart any clumps that have formed on the baking sheet and transfer the peaches to freezer-proof storage. Remove as much air as possible from the freezer bags before storing the peaches in the freezer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Frozen peaches with the skin still on are perfect in smoothies (related: Make and Freeze Smoothie Packets), yogurt (related: Easy Instant Pot Yogurt), muffins, and fruit crisps/cobblers.
Leaving the skin on when freezing fresh peaches is the absolute easiest way to freeze them. There is no blanching required. You just slice and freeze! And the best part is, if you allow frozen peaches to thaw just a little bit, the skin will slide right off. YEP!
That being said if you want to peel the peaches before freezing, check out our tutorial on How to Peel Peaches.
You sure can! If you’re leaving the skin on your frozen peaches, there is no need to blanch ahead of time.
If left untreated, freshly cut peaches will oxidize (brown) when thawed.
To prevent that, you simply need to treat them with some form of citrus – lemon juice, citric acid, ascorbic acid, ground-up vitamin C tablets (yep, seriously), or Fruit Fresh.
Your frozen peaches will last for six months in a regular freezer or 12 months in a deep freeze.
Yes, as long as you intend to use them within 4-6 weeks – OR – you leave the skins on while freezing.
Untreated peaches in the freezer longer than t4-6 weeks will brown over time.
You can allow peaches to defrost overnight in the fridge or for a few hours at room temperature.
If you need them defrosted quickly, transfer the frozen peaches to a strainer and run lukewarm water over them until they have softened.
You can also put them in a microwave-safe bowl and defrost them by microwaving them for 30 seconds at a time until they have softened.
In some recipes, you can use them directly from the freezer without defrosting.
Any kind of peach will freeze well. Using freestone peaches will make the cutting process easier, but you can also freeze clingstone peaches once they have been sliced.
White and donut peaches will freeze well but they are more susceptible to browning during the thawing process.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- Use ripe peaches for best results. Peaches that aren’t ripe will soften once frozen, but they will still not have a lot of natural sweetness.
- You can freeze peaches whole if you would prefer. Keep in mind you’ll need to remove the pit once they have thawed and prior to use.
- You don’t need to pat the peaches dry before freezing them but do allow them time to sit in the colander to drain excess water.
How To Use Frozen Peaches
Frozen peaches are great in recipes where the fruit will need to be softened in the end result. Frozen and then thawed peaches will not hold up as well as fresh peaches.
Using frozen peaches makes a lot of sense in recipes like homemade peach ice cream, peach freezer jam, peach syrup, peach compote, creamy peach popsicles, ginger peach iced tea, crumbles, and crisps.
MORE HOW TO Freeze Produce POSTS You’ll Want to Check Out
Freezing Peaches
Ingredients
- 4 cups cool water {for lemon water}
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- water for boiling
- ice
- peaches
Instructions
- Fill a mixing bowl with cool water and lemon juice.4 cups cool water, 3 tbsp lemon juice
- Fill a medium mixing bowl with water and ice.ice
- Add a piece of parchment paper or waxed paper to a rimmed baking sheet.
- Use a paring knife and cut the peach around the middle to separate. Remove the pit.peaches
- Add one layer of peaches at a time to a pot of boiling water for about 60 seconds. Once you can see the skin starting to come away from the flesh, it’s time to take them out.water for boiling
- Remove using a slotted spoon and place in the ice bath for 1 minute. Use the slotted spoon to remove the peaches from the ice bath. Grab one of the peaches and gently peel the skin back.
- Slice the cooled peach halves into quarters, and place them in the lemon water for a few seconds.
- Scoop out and place peach slices in a strainer/colander to allow the peach slices to drain a bit.
- Place the peaches on the parchment, ensuring they're not touching each other.
- Freeze for 4-6 hours.
- Break apart any clumps that have formed on the baking sheet and transfer the peaches to freezer-proof storage.
Notes
- Frozen peaches will last for six months in a regular freezer or 12 months in a deep freeze.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ok, so I processed peaches different ways according to this web pg. But now, many are floating in the jars. Why? I attempted to stuff the jars with the peaches.
To clarify, you first froze peaches and then canned them?