A jar of peach jam sits on a folded dishtowel, surrounded by fresh peaches

Ripe, fresh peaches are such a wonderful gift of summerโ€”and homemade peach jam is one of the very best ways to savor that wonderful peach flavor all year long!

Canning peach jam is incredibly easyโ€”it’s a perfect recipe for a beginning canner! You can be done, start to finish, with a batch of peach jam in less than an hour, and the resulting jam is just perfect slathered on toast, drizzled on top of ice cream, orโ€”ahemโ€”eaten by the spoonful! Let’s get canning.

Jam drips off a spoon, back into its jar

How do you choose the best peaches for peach jam?

The best peaches for canning are the best peaches for eating! Grab yourself fresh, in-season peaches that are ripe, tender, juicy, and sweet. Those peaches will make for the most flavorful jam. Just make sure to grab only yellow peaches. White-fleshed peaches are too low in acid to can safely in a waterbath canner.

Protip: Frozen fruit works too

Frozen peaches also work great for jam! When summertime gets a bit too busy to can jam, I freeze fruit and instead can my jams when life slows down (and the kitchen isn’t so hot) during the fall and winter.

NEW! ONLINE VIDEO COURSE

A Beginner’s Guide to Canning Salsa

Come out of this course with six jars of homemade salsa and a heap of canning confidence!

  • Learn what tools and supplies you need to stock your kitchen
  • Master all the techniques you need to can food safely
  • Overcome any fear you have about canning
  • Cook along with a canning expert with over 25 years of home canning experience

How do you make peach jam?

Peach jam is a very simple preserve to makeโ€”we promise you can do it! Here are the steps:
A collage of images shows the step by step instructions for making peach jam

  1. Peel, pit, and roughly chop peaches.
  2. Add peaches and lemon juice to a heavy-bottom pan (we like a cast-iron enameled Dutch oven). Mash the peaches in a pan with a potato masher.
  3. Stir in pectin.
  4. Bring mixture to a full, rolling boil that can’t be stirred down.
  5. Add in granulated sugar, stirring to combine. Boil hard for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Skim off any foam.
  6. Voila, you made jam! Now follow our instructions in the recipe below to safely preserve the jam for shelf-stable storage.
Two filled half pint canning jars are stacked on top of each other

Can I make peach jam with low- or no-sugar? Or with sweeteners like honey or maple syrup?

When canning, it’s important to follow a well-tested recipe for food safety reasonsโ€”our recipe below comes directly from the makers of Ballยฎ home canning products, so you can trust it’ll be safe for you and your family.

If you are interested in making lower sugar peach jam, we recommend you check out these well-tested recipes: Peach Low Sugar Jam (which has a honey option) or Peach No Sugar Jamโ€”both are recipes that you can feel confident in canning.

A spoon rests in a jar of rosy-orange jam

Can you make peach jam without a canner?

Don’t let not having a specific boiling water bath canner pot stop you from canning! Any large stock pot works for canning just as long as a canning rack or trivet can fit in the bottom, the pot has a lid, and the pot is deep enough that jars can be covered by at least an inch of water.

Do you have to peel peaches before making peach jam?

You don’t have to from a food safety standpointโ€”it’s perfectly safe to make peach jam with the peels still onโ€”but we highly recommend you take them off. The texture of peach peels can change dramatically during the canning process and can leave you with unpleasant chunks of tough or slimy peel in your jam.

What’s the best way to peel peaches?

A collage showing the four steps required to peel peaches.
  1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Fill a large bowl with cold water and ice. Using a sharp knife, cut an “X” into the bottom of each peach.
  2. Plunge the ripe peaches into the boiling water for 20-30 seconds.
  3. Remove with slotted spoon, and immediately plunge into the bowl of ice water to stop cooking.
  4. The peel should already start to slip off of the chilled peaches, but just use your fingers to remove it the rest of the way.

Protip: Peeling peaches

If the peels aren’t slipping off your peaches easily, it can either be because you didn’t blanch them quite long enough or your peaches aren’t ripe enough.

What are the best jars for canning peach jam?

We’re all about the jelly jars when it comes to canning jams! These 8 ounce jars are the perfect size for jamโ€”either eating it yourself or gifting to friends and family. In these photos, we’re using Ballยฎ Smooth Sided 8 Ounce Regular Mouth Jars.

Bourbon peach jam sits in a half pint jar, surrounded by fresh peaches

Okay, now I have a bunch of fresh peach jam! What should I do with it?

A pantry full of jams and jellies is a wonderful toolkit for fun meals, treats, and dishes! Here’s some of our favorite ways to use jam:

  • Obviously on toast, bagels, English muffins, biscuits, and other bakery goodiesโ€”you can’t miss with this classic use!
  • Inside Shortbread Thumbprint Cookiesโ€”these holiday classics are delicious all year ’round!
  • Warmed and poured over ice creamโ€”you haven’t lived until you’ve had warm peach jam drizzled over perfectly cool and creamy vanilla ice cream on a hot summer day!
  • As condiments on a cheese boardโ€”A quick way to elevate a cheese tray? Adorable pots of homemade jam!
 
Peach jam sits in a half pint jar, surrounded by fresh peaches

Easy Peach Jam

Yield: 6 half pint (8-ounce) jars
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

When peaches are in season, make this easy peach jam. This canning recipe is a great way to preserve the flavors of fresh peaches.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups finely chopped pitted peeled peaches
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 package (1.75 oz) regular powdered fruit pectin
  • 5 cups granulated sugar

Instructions

  1. Prepare canner, jars, and lids.
  2. In a large, deep stainless steel saucepan, combine peaches and lemon juice. Break up peaches with a potato masher. Whisk in pectin until dissolved.
  3. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently.
  4. Add all of the sugar and return the peaches to a boil while stirring constantly. Boil hard, stirring the whole time, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and skim off foam.
  5. Ladle jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4” headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace as needed. Wipe rim, center lid on jar, and screw down the band until it is fingertip-tight.
  6. Place jars in canner, making sure they are completely covered with 1” of water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, and remove jars. Cool and store.

Notes

  • CAUTION: Do not use this process to can white-flesh peaches.ย Some varieties of white-flesh peachesย are higher in pH (i.e. lower in acid) making them a low-acid food for canning purposes. ย At this timeย there are no low-acid or acidification procedures for white-flesh peaches.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 96 Serving Size: 1 tablespoon
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 46Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 1mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 0gSugar: 11gProtein: 0g

At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.

Leave a Reply

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

6 Comments

  1. So let me tell you I was skeptical at first the last bourbon peach jam recipe I made did not set up and I had to rebatch it with sugar free pectin. BUT this recipe worked absolutely wonderfully. It setup PERFECTLY. I followed the directions completely the only thing is I added 1 tsp butter once the sugar was dissolved to keep it from foaming. I have been making jams and preserves for many years and wanted something a little different. This recipe is a keeper! Thank you for sharing

    1. Hi Lisa! Folks have reviewed this recipe using the stars, but no one has commented beyond that. You’re the first comment on this post! If you look at the recipe card in the bottom of the post, you’ll be able to see the number of starred reviews and the average rating. I hope this helps!