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Peach applesauce tastes like a jar of late summer, all soft ripe peaches and mellow apples cooked down into a smooth sauce that your family will reach for long after peach season is over. It is a friendly way to stretch a case of peaches, it freezes or cans beautifully, and it is sweet enough on its own that you can skip the sugar entirely if your fruit is ripe.
Table of Contents
- Notes from My Kitchen
- A Quick Look at the Recipe
- Ingredients for Peach Applesauce
- A Note on Safe Substitutions
- How to Make Peach Applesauce
- Canning Peach Applesauce
- Altitude Adjustments
- Ways to Use Peach Applesauce
- Yield Notes
- Peach Applesauce FAQs
- Peach Canning Recipes
- Peach Applesauce Recipe
- Apple Canning Recipes
This recipe has been reviewed for safety and accuracy by a Master Food Preserver certified through the University of Cornell Cooperative Extension.
This is still applesauce at heart, so it cans with the same hot pack, boiling water bath method you would use for a plain applesauce canning recipe. The peaches simply cook right down into the apples, adding their color and that honeyed stone fruit flavor without changing how the sauce is put up. It follows the tested fruit puree method from the University of Georgia, canned on the more conservative applesauce processing times.
Both apples and peaches are high-acid fruits, so there is no lemon juice or other acid to add here. The safety of the recipe comes from keeping it a true, smooth puree and processing it for the full time, not from an added ingredient. If you have already put up plain applesauce, this comes together the same way, and you can shift the ratio more toward peaches or more toward apples depending on what you have on hand.
For a smooth finish without peeling, a food mill does the work for you.
Notes from My Kitchen
Peach applesauce started at our house as a way to rescue the peaches that were a little too soft to slice for the freezer. Once a peach goes past that perfect eating stage it is exactly right for sauce, and cooking it down with a few apples turns a bruised, about to turn box of seconds into pints I am glad to have all winter. My kids will eat it by the spoonful, stirred into oatmeal, or spooned over pancakes, and I never have to talk anyone into it.
I tend to make it apple forward, since apples give the sauce body and hold the peach flavor without going watery, but I have gone nearly half and half in a good peach year and loved it. A little cinnamon or a scrape of vanilla is nice if I am in the mood, though most of the time I leave it plain so it stays useful for everything from baby food to a quick dessert.
A Quick Look at the Recipe
- Recipe Name: Peach Applesauce
- Recipe Type: Fruit Applesauce
- Canning Method: Water Bath Canning or Steam Canning
- Prep/Cook Time: About 45 minutes
- Canning Time: 15 minutes for pints, 20 minutes for quarts
- Yield: About 3 to 4 pints
- Jar Sizes: Quarter pint, half pint, pint, or quart
- Headspace: 1/2 inch
- Ingredients Overview: Apples, peaches, a little water or juice, and optional sugar
- Safe Canning Recipe Source: University of Georgia Extension fruit puree method
- Difficulty: Easy.
- Similar Recipes: The process is much like other fruit applesauces and simple fruit sauces, including strawberry applesauce, cranberry applesauce, pomegranate applesauce, and pear sauce. If you love peaches, try other peach canning recipes like peach jam or peach butter.
Ingredients for Peach Applesauce
You only need a few things here, and the list is forgiving. This is a good recipe for using up fruit that is a little too soft to eat out of hand.
- Apples: The base of the sauce, giving it body so it does not turn watery. Choose sweet apples that break down easily when cooked, like McIntosh, Cortland, Gala, Fuji, or Golden Delicious. A mix of varieties gives a rounder flavor. Peeling is optional if you plan to run everything through a food mill.
- Peaches: These bring the color and that soft, honeyed stone fruit flavor. Freestone peaches are easier to work with because the pit lifts right out. Very ripe or slightly overripe peaches are perfect for sauce, as long as they are not spoiling. You can lean the ratio more toward peaches for a stronger peach flavor without changing the canning times.
- Water or juice: Just enough to get the fruit simmering without scorching. Water keeps the peach flavor clean, while unsweetened apple juice or apple cider adds a little sweetness. Whatever you choose, use a plain juice with no additives or preservatives.
- Sugar (optional): Ripe peaches and sweet apples usually make this sweet enough on their own, so taste before you add anything. A little sugar, honey, or maple syrup is nice if your fruit is on the tart side. Sugar here is for flavor, not for safe canning, so you can adjust it freely or leave it out.
A pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg, or a little vanilla is a good addition if you want a spiced sauce, and dry spices in reasonable amounts are fine for canning. Have a peach or two extra on hand, since ripe fruit tends to disappear during prep…especially with little ones in the house.
A Note on Safe Substitutions
This recipe is safe for water bath canning because apples and peaches are both high acid fruits, and because the finished sauce is a smooth puree that lets heat move evenly through the jar. You can adjust the ratio of apples to peaches freely, and you can swap in or add other high acid fruits like nectarines, plums, or berries without changing the method.
What you should not do is add low-acid ingredients such as bananas, figs, melon, any vegetable, or any added thickeners. Those change the acidity or keep heat from penetrating properly, which takes the recipe out of the tested method. Keep it fruit, keep it a true puree, and process for the full time.
How to Make Peach Applesauce
The whole thing comes together in one pot, and the only slightly fussy part is dealing with the peach skins, which you can handle a couple of ways.
Prepare the Fruit
Wash the apples, then peel, core, and slice them into a large, heavy-bottomed pot. If you are using a food mill later, you can leave the peels on and let the mill remove them.
For the peaches, you have two easy options. To slip the skins, dunk the peaches in boiling water for about 30 to 60 seconds, then move them to a bowl of ice water, and the skins will peel away with your fingers. Or leave the peaches unpeeled and plan to run the cooked sauce through a food mill, which removes the skins for you.
Either way, cut the peaches off the pit and add them to the pot. Frozen peaches work well too, and you do not need to thaw them first.
Cook the Sauce
Add the water or juice, cover the pot, and bring everything up to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring often so nothing catches on the bottom, until the apples are completely soft and the peaches have fallen apart. This usually takes around 20 to 30 minutes depending on your fruit. If the pot looks dry, add a splash more liquid.
You can also cook this down in a slow cooker, which is handy for a big batch and helps prevent scorching. Most slow cookers make applesauce in about 3 to 4 hours on high, or 6 to 8 hours on low, stirring now and then.
Puree and Sweeten
Once the fruit is tender, puree it to your preferred texture. A food mill gives the smoothest sauce and neatly removes any peels you left on, but an immersion blender works well too. However you blend it, make sure the finished sauce is a true, even puree with no large chunks, since a smooth texture is what lets heat penetrate the jars during canning.
Taste the sauce and decide on sugar. Peaches and sweet apples often make it sweet enough on their own, so add a little at a time and stop when it tastes balanced. Once you are happy with it, bring the sauce back up to a full boil before filling your jars.
Canning Peach Applesauce
To can, prepare your water bath canner, jars, and two-piece lids before you begin, and keep everything hot until you are ready to fill. Fill the canner with enough water to cover the jars by at least an inch and bring it up to a simmer.
Ladle the hot peach applesauce into hot, clean jars using a canning funnel, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Remove any air bubbles, adjust the headspace if needed, wipe the rims clean, and apply the lids and rings to fingertip tight.
Lower the jars into the canner and bring the water back to a full rolling boil. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes for pints and half pints, or 20 minutes for quarts, adjusting for altitude if you are above 1,000 feet in elevation (see below).
When the time is up, turn off the heat, remove the lid, and let the jars rest in the canner for 5 minutes. Then lift them out and cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours before checking the seals, labeling, and storing.
Altitude Adjustments
For water bath canning, processing times increase at higher elevations:
- 0 to 1,000 feet: 15 minutes for pints, 20 minutes for quarts
- 1,001 to 3,000 feet: 20 minutes for pints, 25 minutes for quarts
- 3,001 to 6,000 feet: 20 minutes for pints, 30 minutes for quarts
- Above 6,000 feet: 25 minutes for pints, 35 minutes for quarts
Note that the pint time holds steady at 20 minutes between 1,001 and 6,000 feet, while the quart time keeps climbing. That is correct, not an oversight.
Ways to Use Peach Applesauce
Peach applesauce is as handy as plain applesauce, with a little more personality. We eat it straight from the jar, stir it into oatmeal and yogurt, and spoon it over pancakes, waffles, and vanilla ice cream. It is soft and gentle enough for babies and toddlers, and it makes a quick dessert when you warm a bowl and top it with granola.
It also works nicely in baking, where you can use it in place of plain applesauce to add moisture and a little peach flavor to muffins, quick breads, and cakes. Alongside pork or roast chicken, it plays the same role a chutney would, bright and fruity against something savory. A jar tied with ribbon makes a welcome addition to a fall gift basket next to a jar of cranberry applesauce.
Yield Notes
As written, this recipe makes about 3 to 4 pints, depending on how juicy your fruit is and how far you cook it down. You will start with roughly 4 pounds of apples as purchased, which comes to about 2 1/2 pounds once peeled and cored, plus about 2 pounds of peaches. The exact yield always shifts a little with the fruit, so plan for a jar or two of variation.
You can safely double this batch as long as your pot is big enough to cook the fruit evenly without scorching, and a slow cooker helps with larger amounts. To make just a single pint, use about 4 cups of sliced apples (roughly a pound prepared) with a heaping cup of chopped peaches and a splash of water, then sweeten to taste.
Here are a few of the questions I hear most often about putting up peach applesauce.
Peach Applesauce FAQs
Yes. Peach applesauce is a hot-packed fruit puree, and it cans the same way as plain applesauce: a boiling water bath, 1/2-inch headspace, and applesauce processing times with altitude adjustments. Keep the sauce hot going into hot jars, make sure it is a smooth puree so heat penetrates evenly, and process for the full time.
No. Apples and peaches are both high-acid fruits, so this sauce does not need added lemon juice the way some tomato recipes do. The safety of the recipe comes from keeping it a true puree, using the right headspace, and processing for the full time, not from an added acid.
Absolutely. Frozen peaches work well and do not need to be thawed first. Add them to the pot with the apples and liquid and simmer until everything is soft. Being pre-frozen actually helps the fruit break down into a smoother sauce.
If you run the cooked sauce through a food mill, you can skip peeling entirely, since the mill removes the skins. Otherwise, peeling gives a smoother sauce. Peeling is a texture choice, not a canning safety requirement.
No, sugar is optional. Ripe peaches and sweet apples are usually sweet enough on their own, and the sauce is safe to can with or without it. Taste after cooking and add a little sugar, honey, or maple syrup only if you want to.
If you have more peaches than you know what to do with, here are more ideas for putting them up.
Peach Canning Recipes
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Peach Applesauce
Equipment
- Canning Jars, Lids and Bands
Ingredients
- 4 lbs apples, as purchased, peeled, cored, and chopped
- 2 lbs peaches, peeled, pitted, and chopped
- 1 cup water, or unsweetened apple juice or cider
- Sugar to taste, optional
Instructions
- Prepare a water bath canner, jars, and lids. Keep everything hot.
- Peel, core, and slice the apples into a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Peel and pit the peaches and add them to the pot (or leave both unpeeled if you’ll use a food mill).
- Add the water or juice, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until the apples are very soft and the peaches have broken down, about 20 to 30 minutes.
- Puree the mixture with a food mill or immersion blender to a smooth, even sauce with no large chunks.
- Taste and add sugar if desired, then return the sauce to a full boil.
- Ladle the hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims, and apply lids and rings to fingertip tight.
- Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes for pints and half pints, or 20 minutes for quarts, adjusting for altitude.
- Let jars rest in the canner 5 minutes, then cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours before checking seals.
Notes
- 0 to 1,000 feet: 15 minutes for pints and 20 minutes for quarts
- 1,001 to 3,000 feet: 20 minutes for pints, 25 minutes for quarts
- 3,001 to 6,000 feet: 20 minutes for pints, 30 minutes for quarts
- Above 6,000 feet: 25 minutes for pints, 35 minutes for quarts
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
And for more ways to fill the pantry with apples, take a look at these apple canning recipes.
Apple Canning Recipes
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