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Homemade Peach Compote is a delicious sauce or topping for ice cream, waffles/pancakes, or enjoy it as a side dish. This tasty homemade condiment is so simple to make with just a few ingredients.
Just so you know, if you make this peach compote your house is going to smell amazing. It’s the scent that candle companies wish they could replicate. It smells like summer and cinnamon.
Even better, it’s so simple to make.
If you’re looking for more peach recipes, check out our Canning Peaches, Peach Preserves, Peach Freezer Jam, Homemade Peach Ice Cream, Peach Syrup, Drying Peaches tutorial, tutorial on How to Freeze Peaches, and our Ginger Beer Mocktail which uses fresh or frozen peaches.
How to Use Compote
Think of compote as a delicious and chunky condiment. You’ll want to put it on vanilla ice cream, Oatmilk Pancakes, Sour Cream, Pancakes, or yogurt (related: Instant Pot Cold Start Yogurt).
Put a scoopful over Gluten-Free Blackberry Crisp and have all the tastes of summer in one bite.
These peaches are the sophisticated older sister dish of our Steamed Apples With Cinnamon.
Which Peaches Are Best to Use For Compote?
Peaches come in two main types, freestone and cling. You can use either or both for this recipe, but for ease of prep, freestone is the way to go.
Freestone – when cut in half, the peach will separate easily from the pit.
Cling – the peach flesh will “cling” to the pit, making it very challenging to cut them in half. If you want to use cling peaches, you’ll want to cut them into slices instead of peach halves before chopping them further.
For help with tackling the task of working with the cling variety, check out this post on How to Cut a Peach.
Can You Freeze Peach Compote?
Yes, absolutely! I freeze ours in our 2-cup Souper Cubes or our 1-cup Souper Cubes. Remove and transfer to freezer storage once they have frozen solid.
To thaw: allow the compote to sit in an air-tight container overnight in the fridge, or for a few hours at room temperature.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- If your peaches are not very ripe or juicy, you can macerate them (AKA “sugar” them) for 20-30 minutes before starting the cooking. This will draw out whatever natural juices they have. Combine the chopped peaches with the 2 tbsp of sugar in the saucepan. Mix and let stand until they look juicy. Cook the peaches and all their juices with the other ingredients. Leave out the 1/4 cup of water unless needed.
- Adjust sweetness to your preference. I encourage you to start with what I recommend but feel free to add more if you prefer a sweeter taste.
- You can peel the peaches if you prefer, but it’s not necessary.
- If you prefer a compote with more syrup, increase the water as it cooks and cook the mixture at a lower temperature.
- If you run out of brown sugar, did you know you could make your own? Check out our tutorial on How to Make Brown Sugar. And if you’re curious, this is our recipe for How to Make Vanilla Extract. There is a free label printable for bottles (you can see it above in the ingredients photo) in that post as well.
- Prep tip: sliced peaches will oxidize after about 10-15 minutes if left out in the air. Either plan to make the compote soon after cutting them, or keep them in a lemon juice waterbath (~3 cups of cold water with 1/4 cup of lemon juice) until you are ready to use them.
More Recipes Like This
Peach Compote
Ingredients
- 4 cups sliced peaches {~5 medium peaches or 4 larger}
- 2 tbsp white sugar
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 cup water {+ more as needed}
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Slice peaches in half, and then each half into quarters. Cut each slice in half, or roughly chop.4 cups sliced peaches
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add all ingredients. Stir to combine.2 tbsp white sugar, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1/4 cup water, 2 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Bring mixture to a boil for 1 minute, stirring often.
- Reduce temperature to medium and allow the mixture to simmer until softened (~25-30 minutes), stirring often so that it doesn't burn.
- Add additional water 1 tbsp at a time as needed to prevent mixture from burning.
- Cool and serve.
Notes
- Makes 2 cups
- You do not need to peel the peaches, but you can if you prefer a skinless texture.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
We had four peaches that were past their prime and I lucked upon this recipe as a food save. Quick and easy and delicious over waffles and just spooned out of the pot. I would recommend against using white peaches given the choice as the resulting liquid turned red enough to remind me of blood. Come to think of it, I may have to free some peaches to use around Halloween!
Oh my gosh, the white peaches comment/Halloween made me laugh!
Glad the rest of it was delicious. 🙂