How To Freeze Peaches (Whole or Sliced!) - Evolving Table (2024)

Once you know How to Freeze Peaches, you can make delicious recipes all year, even when peach season ends. It is quick and easy save to peaches that have been peeled and sliced or are still whole by simply storing them in a freezer-safe bag. Toss this fresh fruit into your favorite cobbler, pie, or smoothies year-round for the best flavor.

If you’re lucky enough to have a peach tree growing in your backyard…

Or maybe you’re stocking up on this summer fruit at the grocery store or farmer’s market…

You know there are only so many Southern Peach Cobbler or Peach Banana Smoothie recipes you can make in one season!

So what do you do with all of those perfectly ripe fresh peaches?

You freeze them!

And when winter hits you’ll be able to easily make some Peach Overnight Oats with your fresh frozen fruit.

How to Freeze Peaches

Below you’ll find the simple steps to follow when freezing peaches:

Blanch and Peel

Before you can freeze peaches for later, you first need to prepare them by blanching and peeling.

While you can freeze peaches with the skin still intact, peeling them BEFORE freezing will give you a lot more options on how you can use them later.

To blanch and peel peaches:

Add the peaches to a pot of boiling water, a few at a time, and let boil for 10-20 seconds.

Remove the peaches with a slotted spoon and quickly immerse in a large bowl with an ice bath until cool to the touch.

Use a paring knife to make a small incision and peel pack the skin. Repeat this process until the entire peach is peeled.

If you’d like, you can learn more about how to peel peaches.

Cut Into Slices

Peaches can be tightly wrapped and frozen whole, or even pureed. However, slicing peaches before freezing will make them extremely easy to use later on after thawing.

Locate the natural indentation along the midline of the peach.

Cut it in half using this line as your guide with a sharp knife.

Place your thumbs in-between the two pieces and pull them apart.

Remove the pit with your fingers, if possible, or use a small paring knife to cut around and remove the pit.

Cut the peeled peach into ¼-½ inch slices.

Toss in Lemon Juice

If you’ve ever tried freezing peaches before and they ended up turning brown, I’ve got a very simple trick for you…

Lemon juice.

This acidic citrus juice works at preventing fruit from turning brown because the oxygen in the air reacts with the ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) found in the juice before it affects the fruit’s surface.

So before freezing the slices, make sure to toss the peaches in a bit of lemon juice and let sit for 3-5 minutes in it. You’ll need 1 tablespoon of lemon juice for every 1 lb. of peaches you freezing.

Freeze on Baking Sheet

Once the peach slices have been tossed in lemon juice, place them in a single layer on a large baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper.

• Using parchment paper instead of wax paper will make removing the peach slices an absolute breeze.
• Placing in a single layer will prevent them from clumping and sticking together. This will enable you to grab just a few slices at a time later from the freezer.

Place the baking sheet into the freezer for 3-4 hours or up to overnight.

Store in Freezer Bags

After the cut peaches are firm and frozen, place them in a large gallon-sized ziploc bag.

Be sure to remove as much air as possible from around the frozen peach slices before zipping it tight.

Add the date on the bag before placing it in the freezer.

Frozen peaches will last for 6-12 months. After this time the peaches will begin to get freezer burn and will lose a large majority of their flavor.

FAQs

Recipes that Use Frozen Peaches

With frozen peaches in your freezer, you can make any of these delicious recipes whenever the mood strikes:

• Peach Bellini
• Frozen Peach Sangria
• Peach Smoothie
• Southern Peach Cobbler
• Peach Cobbler Overnight Oats