Wholefully » Recipe Index » How to Freeze » How to Freeze Peaches

How to Freeze Peaches

Overhead of open freezer bag filled with individually frozen peach slices.

There are certain fruits that just aren’t worth purchasing out of season, and peaches are one of them. Off-season peaches are mealy and flavorless, which is a shame, because a perfectly ripe peach in season is one of the most delectable, sweet, and flavorful fruits on the planet. So what’s a peach-loving person to do? Freeze them while they’re in season!

Peaches freeze beautifully, and they retain their color and flavor well. Frozen peaches work wonderfully in smoothies, crisps and crumbles, oatmeal, and even jam! Let’s show you how to freeze fresh peaches.

Are there different kinds of peaches?

Sure are! There are two main types of peaches—freestone and clingstone. This refers to how much the flesh of the peach “clings” to the pit. When you’re eating them fresh, it doesn’t much matter what kind you get, but if you are processing peaches for freezing, you want to look for freestone peaches. This makes it easy to remove the pit from the peaches and will make quick work for you! If you ask the farmer, market, or orchard, they should know what kind of peaches they have.

Protip: Which peaches to use?

For preserving, you’ll want to track down freestone peaches, which will make your processing go much more quickly!

How do you remove pits from peaches?

With freestone peaches, it’s a breeze to remove the pits! Here’s how:

Collage of images showing how to pit a peach in 4 steps.
  1. Use a knife and slice into the peach along the peach line.
  2. Work the knife all the way around, following the line.
  3. Twist the two peach halves apart.
  4. Pull the pit out.

How do I freeze peaches whole?

To freeze peaches whole, just slide them into a freezer bag and squeeze out as much air as you can. Easy peasy! The (big!) downside of this is that you have to wait for the entire peach to defrost to remove the pit. No tossing a whole peach into the blender for a smoothie.

I prefer to do sliced peaches because they are the most versatile, but pitted peach halves are a nice compromise. They are simpler to freeze than sliced, but faster to defrost than whole!

Teach me how to freeze peaches!

Prepare the Peaches.

Wash your peaches, and then prepare them how you’d like them to be frozen.

The skin on frozen peaches is fine to eat—I like to keep it on for smoothies. And if you want peeled peaches, just run the frozen peaches under water for a few seconds, and the skin should slip right off.

Want to save this recipe?

I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!

But if you prefer to peel them before freezing, here’s how:

  1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.
  2. Drop ripe peaches into the boiling water a few at a time, and let blanch for 1-2 minutes, or until the skins start to peel off.
  3. Using a slotted spoon or sieve, fish out the peaches and immediately plunge into the bowl of ice water.
  4. Once the peaches have cooled, peel off the skins.

Treat the Peaches to Prevent Browning

Like apples and avocados, peaches tend to turn brown when they are exposed to air. To prevent them turning brown, it’s as easy as treating the peaches with either a lemon juice and water mixture, an ascorbic acid and water mix, or a produce protector like Fruit Fresh.

Protip: What about sugar?

If you want to sweeten your frozen peaches, add the sugar now. Unsweetened is our preferred way to freeze peaches!

Close-up of individually frozen peach slices on a baking sheet.

Freeze.

Now all that is left to do is to place the peaches in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze until solid, and then transfer the peaches to a freezer container. Label and then freeze until use.

Take a peek in my freezer, and you’ll see an assortment of glass containers and plastic bags holding my frozen fruit. Here are the ways I store frozen peaches:

  1. Glass Food Storage Containers—I love that these are reusable, and they stack so nicely in a chest or upright freezer. The downside is that they are a little spendier, and they take up the most space.
  2. Glass Canning Jars—We use glass jars for everything in our house, so it’s no surprise that we use them for freezing, too! Note that only the jars with straight sides are suitable for freezing.
  3. Zip-top Freezer Bags—I don’t always love single-use plastics, but freezer bags are affordable and space-saving, so I do use them from time to time. When you seal them, squeeze out as much air as possible to help the peaches last longer.
  4. Vacuum Sealing Bags—These are also single-use plastic, but they take up even less space than the zip-top bags. I only recommend these if you plan to use the whole bag at once, because it is hard to reseal the bags.

Can I use frozen peaches to make jam later?

Absolutely! This is my favorite canning hack—frozen fruit works great for jam, and freezing your peaches first gives you more flexibility for when you do your jamming. Peach season is the hottest time of the year here, so it’s nice to be able to have preserves simmering on the stove all afternoon on a cooler day.

Overhead of three freezer bags filled with individually frozen peach slices lying on their sides. The bags are labeled "Peaches!"

How else can I use frozen peaches?

Frozen peaches are super versatile! Like all frozen fruit, the texture of frozen peaches is different than that of fresh. But they hold their flavor, and that’s the most important part! Here are some of my favorite ways to use frozen peaches:

  • Make a smoothie. Drop them into one of our more than two dozen smoothie recipes!
  • Peach crisp. Use frozen peach slices to make our single serving peach crisp. You can also use them in peach cobblers or peach pies.
  • Mix them into overnight oats. Take any of our 15 amazing overnight oats recipes and add some chopped peaches for a fruity boost.
  • Make some peach jam! Jars of this jam make for beautiful gifts, but be sure to save some for yourself, too!
 

Overhead of open freezer bag filled with individually frozen peach slices.

How to Freeze Peaches

Save the fresh flavors of summer by learning how to freeze peaches! We'll stock your freezer with fresh peaches to use in crisps, smoothies, and oatmeal.
4.40 from 203 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Canning Recipes
Cuisine: General
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Additional Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 44kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds freestone peaches
  • Anti-browning treatment Fruit Fresh or diluted lemon juice—1 tablespoon lemon juice per cup of water

Instructions

  • Wash and pit your peaches. Cut into halves or slices.
  • Treat your peaches with either Fruit Fresh or diluted lemon juice.
  • Spread the peaches in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Freeze until solid.
  • Transfer peaches to a freezer bag or container.

Video

Notes

  • This can be done with any amount of peaches. Just be sure to keep them in a single layer in the initial freeze, which may require working in batches.
  • To remove the skin of the frozen peaches, run them under water for a few seconds, and the skin should slip right off.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup slices | Calories: 44kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 1g | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 10g

4.40 from 203 votes (203 ratings without comment)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




16 Comments

  1. Hi there Cassie,

    Thank you for this great article!

    I am going to freeze my peaches whole – first time doing so lol. They are very ripe, so hoping I can save some by freezing them.

    How long will it take for a peach to defrost after frozen? And would I put in the fridge or just out on the counter?

    Say I want to pull out just a few, just wondering how long it will take before we can eat 😊

    Thanks a bunch!
    Jennifer

    1. Hi Jennifer! You can definitely freeze your peaches whole. The only downside is waiting for it to defrost enough to remove the pit before using it. That’s why we like freezing them in halves—you don’t have to go through extra work to slice them (especially if they’re already over ripe), but you can still throw them right into the blender for a smoothie without having to wait for any defrosting! How long it will take to defrost really depends, but we do recommend doing it in the fridge for safety reasons. But using them from frozen will always be fastest which is why we’re always glad we took the time upfront to remove the pits!

  2. What options do I have if I am allergic to lemon and the fruit fresh? I have peaches I want to freeze after I slice them.

    1. Hi Kathy! Another option we’ve used before is ascorbic acid mixed with water. Ascorbic acid is the vitamin that’s present in citrus that keeps foods from browning. If that’s not what you’re allergic to, then it would be a good alternative!

  3. I had 25# of Georgia peaches from The Peach Truck ordered. They came just before I moved to another residence. So followed online advice and froze them whole. The problem I am finding, when thawing in the refrigerator, they are tasty but mushy and overly juicy. Some are a bit brownish. I can see using them for smoothies but would have liked to make a peach crisp. If I do, I know that I will not know how to guage the right ratio of thickening such as cornstarch to peaches. Am afraid it will be a mess.
    Got any ideas?

    1. Hi Joanne! Frozen peaches definitely don’t maintain the same texture after defrosting. That’s why they’re great for smoothies, oatmeal, baking, etc. We usually freeze ours sliced, but yours should still work. In our Peach Crisp recipe, we recommend thawing frozen peaches in the refrigerator and then draining the excess liquid before proceeding with the recipe. By removing the extra juices, you shouldn’t need to adjust the thickener. We think the brownish peaches could just be due to oxidation, but because they were frozen whole, it’s harder to know what kind of shape they were in before they went into the freezer. If anything looks or smells bad after defrosting, trust your nose and don’t use it!

  4. A branch broke off – overloaded – and I suddenly had too many peaches. Since I’m still struggling with Long Covid, using these was not going to happen. I wondered if I could just do a lazy freeze like I do with tomatoes, slipping the skins easily after, and thanks to you, the peaches won’t go to waste. Thanks!

  5. The top of the page describes how to blanch the peaches before freezing. But the actual directions don’t indicate whether you should blanch before cutting and freezing. Help!

    1. Hi, John! That step is optional and only if you want to peel the peaches before freezing. We almost never do that because the peels slip right off once they’re defrosted, so we just freeze them with the skins on!

  6. What do you mean, “Treat your peaches with either Fruit Fresh or diluted lemon juice” ? How do you treat them? Brush it on? Dunk them?

    1. Hi, Jen! You can add about a tablespoon of lemon juice to a cup of water and gently stir the slices to coat them. That will be enough treatment to keep them from browning!

  7. I had to pick peaches before they were ripe, the birds were eating some off of a lot of them so best to leave those for the birds and remove the rest, even the unripened ones. I’m so glad I can freeze them whole, it’s WAAAAAY to hot to try to do any canning or cobblers right now and I’m like a limp dish rag picking them in the heat here so I don’t even want to unpit them

    My question is, do I have to let them ripen before freezing them whole?