Peach Jalapeño Jam (Tested Canning Recipe)

Peach jalapeño jam is a sweet and spicy jam made with ripe summer peaches and fresh green jalapeños. You taste the peach first and the heat a second later, and one jar turns a block of cream cheese and a sleeve of crackers into an easy appetizer.

Peaches and jalapeños come in at the same time each summer, and they’re good together in a jar. The sugar and fruit soften the pepper, so it’s a slow warmth after the sweetness, not a sharp burn.

It’s a quick jam made with powdered pectin, so it sets up firm, and it’s done in an afternoon. No overnight soak, and no thermometer needed.

I follow the Colorado State University Extension peach jalapeño jam recipe, which is one of the few safe, tested recipes for water bath canning pepper fruit jams.

If you’d like peaches without the heat, my classic peach jam is the plain version, and old-fashioned peach preserves keep the fruit in slices with no added pectin. For something savory, try peach salsa or peach barbecue sauce.

I also have plenty more peach canning recipes for the rest of the crate. If the jalapeño plants are still loaded, I have a long list of pepper canning recipes too.

Ingredients for Peach Jalapeño Jam

Frozen peaches work fine here. You can also swap the jalapeños for a milder or hotter pepper, as long as you keep the amount the same. Everything else stays exactly as written, especially the vinegar and lemon juice.

• Peaches: Yellow-fleshed, ripe, and fragrant. White-fleshed peaches are lower in acid and are left out of tested peach canning recipes, so save those for eating fresh. Freestone varieties are much easier to pit. You’ll peel them first, the same way as for canning peaches.
• Jalapeños: Fresh jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and chopped fine. I use green ones, since they aren’t as hot as jalapeños that have ripened red. The total amount of pepper is fixed because peppers are a low-acid vegetable, and the vinegar and lemon juice are measured to cover that amount.
• Water: Plain water. It gives the fruit and peppers enough liquid to simmer without scorching.
• Cider vinegar: Use vinegar labeled 5 percent acidity. It’s one of the two acids in this jam, so the amount and the strength stay the same. Homemade vinegar has an unknown acidity and isn’t used for canning.
• Bottled lemon juice: The other acid. Bottled juice has a consistent acidity, and fresh lemons vary from fruit to fruit. I like Lakewood organic lemon juice, which tastes close to fresh. Use the full amount.
• Powdered pectin: One standard box of regular powdered pectin, like Sure-Jell. Low-sugar pectin and liquid pectin set differently, so they aren’t swapped into this recipe.
• Sugar: Plain granulated sugar, the full amount. Regular powdered pectin needs it to set, so this isn’t a recipe for cutting sugar. With this much sugar in the jar, the peppers taste warm instead of fiery.

Use a 5 to 6 quart pot, since the jam rises when it hits a full rolling boil. Keep a pair of food-safe gloves handy for the peppers, and have the jars and canner ready before you start cooking. Once the pectin goes in, you’ll be filling jars within about 5 minutes.

How Hot Is Peach Jalapeño Jam?

It’s a mild-to-medium heat. The peppers are spread through a whole batch of peaches and sugar, and the seeds and white membranes come out, which takes most of the heat with them.

Jalapeños vary a lot from plant to plant, so two batches can come out differently. Taste a small piece of raw pepper before you chop the rest, and you’ll know what you’re working with.

You can change the heat by changing the pepper, as long as the total amount of chopped pepper stays the same. For a milder jam, use sweet bell peppers for some or all of the jalapeños. For a peach habanero jam, swap in habaneros for some of the jalapeños.

You can’t change how much pepper goes in. Peppers are a low-acid vegetable, and the vinegar and lemon juice are measured to cover the amount in the recipe. Adding extra pepper, or bell pepper on top of the jalapeños, isn’t safe. Swapping one pepper for another at the same amount is easy, and it’s all you need to make the jam milder or hotter.

How to Make Peach Jalapeño Jam

This is a one-afternoon recipe with no macerating and no resting. The fruit and peppers simmer with the vinegar and lemon juice until soft, then add the pectin and sugar for a short, hard boil.

That beginning step pickles the peppers, and you can’t skip that initial simmer. It ensures that the peppers are fully acidified before they go into the jars, and reduces everything down to a nice consistency.

Get the water bath canner heating before you start cooking. It takes longer to come to a boil than the jam takes to make.

Prep the Peppers and Peaches

Start with the peppers while the counter is clean. Put on gloves, pull the stems, split the peppers, and scrape out the seeds and white membranes. Then chop them as fine as you can. I’ve found capsaicin stays on my hands even after soap and water, so keep the gloves on until the peppers are chopped and the board and knife are washed.

For a small batch like this, I peel the peaches with a paring knife. If you have a bigger pile, dip them in boiling water for about a minute, and the skins slip right off. Pit and chop the peaches, then crush them with a potato masher. Leave some texture, since you’re making jam and not a puree.

Simmer the Fruit and Peppers

Combine the crushed peaches, chopped jalapeños, water, cider vinegar, and lemon juice in the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Stir it often. Peaches catch on the bottom of the pot, and once the fruit scorches, the whole batch tastes burnt. The vinegar smell is strong for the first few minutes, and then it fades.

Add the Pectin and Sugar

Stir the powdered pectin into the pot, and bring it back to a boil over high heat, stirring the whole time. Add all the sugar at once, and keep stirring until it dissolves.

Bring the jam to a full rolling boil, one that doesn’t stop when you stir it, then boil hard for exactly 2 minutes. Set a timer. A powdered pectin jam sets on that timed boil, not on how thick it looks in the pot.

Take the pot off the heat and skim off any foam. The jam will look thin, and that’s normal. It thickens as it cools in the jars.

Canning Peach Jalapeño Jam

Have your water bath canner hot and the jars warm before the jam is done. Ladle the hot jam into half-pint or quarter-pint jars through a canning funnel, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.

Run a bubble tool or a clean chopstick around the inside of each jar, check the headspace again, and wipe the rims clean. Put on the lids and turn the bands fingertip tight.

Lower the jars into the canner with at least an inch of water over the tops. Process half pints and quarter pints for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath, adjusting for altitude with the chart below. If you’re new to it, my water bath canning guide covers the basics.

Turn off the heat and let the jars sit in the canner for 5 minutes, which keeps the jam from siphoning out under the lids. Lift them out with a jar lifter onto a towel, and leave them alone for 12 to 24 hours.

Ways to Use Peach Jalapeño Jam

The classic way to serve it is poured over a block of cream cheese, with crackers on the side. It’s just as good on a cheese board next to a sharp cheddar or a soft goat cheese.

It also makes a quick glaze. Brush it over pork tenderloin or chicken thighs in the last few minutes of roasting, or stir a spoonful into a pan sauce. It’s good on a grilled pork chop and on a turkey sandwich, too.

Try a spoonful on pulled pork tacos or inside a grilled cheese sandwich. If you need more ideas, there are over 100 ways to use up a jar of jam.

Storage and Shelf Life

Once the jars have cooled, press the center of each lid. A sealed lid is firm and doesn’t flex. Take the rings off before the jars go on the shelf, so a seal that fails later is easy to spot.

A jar that didn’t seal goes in the refrigerator, and you’ll want to use it within a week or two. You can also reprocess it with a new lid within 24 hours.

Sealed jars keep for 12 to 18 months in a cool, dark place. Once a jar is open, keep it in the fridge and use it within 1 to 2 weeks.

Canning is optional. Unprocessed jam keeps for several weeks in the refrigerator, or up to 6 months in the freezer in straight-sided, freezer-safe jars with 1 inch of headspace.

More Ways to Preserve Peaches and Peppers

If you still have peaches, try peach butter, peach jelly, or canning peach pie filling. The rest are in my fruit canning recipes.

The jalapeños can go into pickled jalapeños or a batch of sweet, crunchy cowboy candy. There’s also a guide to canning peppers, hot or sweet.

Peach Jalapeño Jam FAQs

These cover the heat, pepper swaps, frozen peaches, sugar, and setting.

Peach Canning Recipes

More ways to put up a crate of peaches.

Peach Salsa

Blueberry Peach Jam

Peach Butter

If you’re still canning this week, there are more jam canning recipes and the rest of my water bath canning recipes to choose from.

Jam Canning Recipes

More jams for the pantry shelf.

Pear Jam

Caramelized Onion Jam

Blueberry Jam (without Added Pectin)