This easy-to-follow tutorial will teach you how to peel peaches like a pro. Skinning peaches is simple and makes snacking, dessert prep, and canning easier.
There are three easy ways to peel peaches and I’ll walk you through each of those methods in this post.
Can You Eat Peach Skin?
Yes, absolutely! Peach skin is edible and delicious. But sometimes you just need or want to peel peaches for desserts, drinks, freezing, or canning.
Related: Canning Peaches, Homemade Peach Ice Cream, Drying Peaches, Peach Compote, How to Freeze Peaches, Peach Freezer Jam, Peach Syrup Recipe, and Ginger Beer Mocktail.
How to Cut Cling Peaches
Peaches come in two main types, freestone and cling.
Freestone – when cut in half, the peach will separate easily from the pit. These make life so much easier!
Cling – the peach flesh will “cling” to the pit, making it very challenging to cut them in half. If you need to peel cling peaches, you’ll want to cut them into slices instead of peach halves before blanching them.
For help with tackling the task of working with the cling variety, check out this post on How to Cut a Peach.
The Easy Way to Peel and Blanch Peaches
*I’m going to walk you through it here with some photos, and you’ll also find a detailed and printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Peeling Peach Halves
Start by washing the fruit. I just run them under water and rub my hands on them to give the outside a scrub. Use a paring knife and cut the peach around the middle to separate. Remove the pit.
If you are working on peeling a lot of peaches at once, it’s a great idea to set up a bowl of cold water treated with 1/4 cup of lemon juice or 1 tbsp of citric acid. This prevents the peaches from oxidizing (browning) while you work.
Set up another large bowl full of ice water. Set that aside for now.
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and add one layer of peaches at a time 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 in an ice bath for 2-3 minutes. Remove a peach half from the ice bath and gently peel the skin back.
Peeling Whole Peaches
While I do think it is easiest to peel halved peaches, peeling them whole is useful information.
Take a paring knife and cut a small “x” in the skin of the peach. You don’t need to cut deeply, just enough to break the skin.
Similar to the process above, you’ll add the peaches to boiling water for 60-90 seconds and then dip them into an ice bath.
Peeling Peaches by Freezing
Leaving the skin on when freezing fresh peaches is the absolute easiest way to peel them. There is no blanching required.
Dip the halved or sliced peaches in lemon juice water and place them cavity side-down (where the pit was) on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Freeze for 4-6 hours.
If you allow the frozen peaches to thaw just a little bit, the skin will slide right off. YEP, it’s that easy!
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- Peaches that are not ripe will not peel easily. You can always blanch and peel one “test” peach to see how easy the skin is to remove.
- Peeled peaches will oxidize after about 10-15 minutes if left out in the air. Either plan to use them soon, or keep them in a lemon juice waterbath.
- Yes, you can use these same methods for blanching and peeling tomatoes. It works like a dream for canning whole tomatoes, canning tomato soup, and canning stewed tomatoes.
How to Peel Peaches
Ingredients
- peaches
- lemon juice or citric acid {optional}
- water
- ice
Instructions
- Prepare a large bowl with ice water. Set aside.
- Start a large saucepan of water boiling on the stove.
- Rinse peaches.
- If you are working on peeling a lot of peaches at once, set up a bowl of cold water treated with 1/4 cup of lemon juice or 1 tbsp of citric acid.
- Use a paring knife and cut the peach around the middle to separate. Remove the pit.
- Add the peaches to the boiling water and cook them until you see the skins start to come off (about 60-90 seconds).
- Use a slotted spoon and remove the peaches and place in the ice water for 2-3 minutes.
- Working with the peaches one at a time, remove any skin that hasn’t already slipped off.
Notes
- Peaches that are not ripe will not peel easily. You can always blanch and peel one “test” peach to see how easy the skin is to remove.
- Peeled peaches will oxidize after about 10-15 minutes if left out in the air. Either plan to use them soon, or keep them in a lemon juice waterbath.
- To peel whole peaches:
- Take a paring knife and cut a small “x” in the skin of the peach. You don’t need to cut deeply, just enough to break the skin.
- Similar to the process above, you’ll add the peaches to boiling water for 60-90 seconds and then dip them into an ice bath.
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