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Peach lemonade concentrate puts the taste of ripe summer peaches into a jar of lemonade you can open in the middle of winter, when fresh fruit is a long way off, and a cold glass of peach lemonade is exactly what you want.
Table of Contents
- Notes from My Kitchen
- Quick Look at the Recipe
- Peach Lemonade Concentrate Ingredients
- Adjust the Ratio to Your Taste
- Yield Notes
- How to Make Peach Lemonade Concentrate
- Canning Peach Lemonade Concentrate
- Waterbath Canning Altitude Adjustments
- Serving Ideas
- Peach Lemonade FAQs
- Peach Canning Recipes
- Peach Lemonade Concentrate Recipe
- Drink Canning Recipes
This recipe has been reviewed for safety and accuracy by a Master Food Preserver certified through the University of Cornell Cooperative Extension.
We always seem to end up with more peaches than we can eat fresh at the height of summer, and once the pies and cobblers are made and a batch of peach wine is going, there’s still fruit on the counter going soft. Peaches are a rewarding fruit to put up, and there are plenty of peach canning recipes to work through, from peach jam to peach syrup to a smooth jar of peach butter, but a concentrate is a different thing to have on the shelf.
Unlike the jams and butters, this one isn’t a spread. It’s a sweet, tart base that you mix with water to make peach lemonade by the pitcher, which makes it a good way to use up a flush of soft fruit at the end of the season, when you’ve run out of patience for the peeling and slicing that other peach projects ask for.
Peach lemonade concentrate is canned using the fruit puree times set out by the National Center for Home Food Preservation, the same tested basis behind the rest of the category. It’s one of more than a dozen lemonade concentrate canning recipes built on those guidelines, from strawberry lemonade concentrate to plum lemonade concentrate, all reconstituted the same way and processed for the same time.
Peaches go into this recipe as juice rather than puree, extracted the same way you would for peach jelly. You simmer the fruit, strain it through a jelly bag, and the juice carries plenty of peach flavor without the skins and pulp coming along. There’s no peeling to do, since the peels strain out on their own, which makes it quicker than most of what you’d do with a basket of peaches.
Notes from My Kitchen
Peach season comes on fast around here, and there’s always a point where the fruit is ripening quicker than we can eat it. Turning the softest peaches into juice is a good use for fruit that’s a little too far gone to slice neatly, and it keeps the harvest from going to waste at the busiest part of canning season.
One pint of concentrate makes a half gallon of peach lemonade, so a single canner batch puts up a lot of cold summer drinks. I keep a few jars back for hot afternoons and the rest go on the pantry shelf for the months when fresh peaches are just a memory.
It’s a lemon canning recipe as written, but you can also make it as a lime canning recipe by using lime juice in place of the lemon for peach limeade concentrate.
Quick Look at the Recipe
- Recipe Name: Canning Peach Lemonade Concentrate
- Recipe Type: Fruit Drink Concentrate
- Canning Method: Waterbath Canning
- Prep/Cook Time: About 30 minutes, plus time to drip the juice
- Canning Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: About 5 pints (see Yield Notes)
- Jar Sizes: Half Pint, Pint or Quart
- Headspace: 1/4 inch
- Ingredients Overview: Peach juice, lemon juice and sugar
- Safe Canning Recipe Source: Fruit puree canning times consistent with National Center for Home Food Preservation guidance
- Difficulty: Easy! The peaches are simmered and strained to juice, everything is heated together, and then it is ladled into jars for processing
- Similar Recipes: The process is similar to other fruit based lemonade concentrates, including Plum Lemonade Concentrate and Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate, and you can put up the plain version with Canning Lemonade.
Peach Lemonade Concentrate Ingredients
Peach lemonade concentrate comes together with just three ingredients, but each one is doing a job. The peach juice brings the fruit flavor and color, the lemon juice provides the tart lemonade bite and the acidity, and the sugar balances out the sharpness so it tastes like lemonade rather than a citrus shrub.
- Peach Juice: Carries the peach flavor and color. You make it by simmering and straining ripe peaches, the same way you would for jelly, and riper fruit gives a fuller flavored juice.
- Lemon Juice: Adds the tart lemonade flavor and acidity
- Sugar: Sweetens the concentrate and balances the sharp lemon flavor
You can use fresh or bottled lemon juice here. Fresh, strained well, gives the fullest flavor, while bottled is convenient and has a consistent acidity. Either way, use plain lemon juice with nothing else added.
Adjust the Ratio to Your Taste
The ratio here isn’t a canning requirement. Both the peach juice and the lemon juice are safe to can on their own, using these same instructions and times, so you can lean more heavily toward peach or toward lemon to suit your taste, and raise or lower the sugar as much as you like. The sugar is here for flavor, not for preservation.
Since the sugar is doing flavor work rather than preserving the concentrate, you have a lot of room to adjust it down for a more tart, fruit-forward drink. And because the peaches go in as strained juice, the texture is already smooth, though if you want a little more body, you can press some of the pulp through rather than letting it drip slowly, since a slow drip gives the clearest juice.
Yield Notes
A “batch” of peach lemonade concentrate uses:
- 4 cups peach juice (from about 12 medium peaches and 2 cups water)
- 4 cups lemon juice (from 16 to 20 lemons, or bottled)
- 6 cups sugar
That should make a canner batch of about 5 pints. (See notes on yields)
How to Make Peach Lemonade Concentrate
Once your peach juice is ready, the rest of the process is quick.
Juice and Strain the Lemons
Juice the lemons and strain the juice well to remove the seeds and any pulp. The peach flavor belongs in the finished concentrate, but lemon pulp can add a bitter edge, so it’s worth straining it out before you combine everything.
Extract the Peach Juice
Quarter the peaches and add them to a pot with the water, then bring it to a boil and simmer gently until the fruit is soft and breaking down. Strain the cooked fruit through a jelly bag or several layers of dampened cheesecloth, letting it drip until you have a clear juice. There’s no need to peel the peaches, since the skins strain out, and while you can leave the pits in for the simmer, pulling them first gives a slightly clearer juice.
Heat the Concentrate
Combine the peach juice, strained lemon juice, and sugar in a saucepan. Heat the mixture gently, stirring often, until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture reaches a hot, nearly simmering stage, around 190 degrees F. Do not boil it. You want it hot and well mixed, but not cooked hard.
Canning Peach Lemonade Concentrate
Since this concentrate has peach juice cooked into it, the canning time runs a little longer than when you’re canning plain lemonade.
Prepare a water bath canner, jars, lids, and rings before you begin filling jars. Keep the jars hot until needed.
Ladle the hot concentrate into prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims, adjust the lids, and load the jars into the canner. Process the jars for 15 minutes (half pints, pints, and quarts are all the same), adjusting for altitude.
When the processing time is complete, turn off the heat and let the jars sit in the canner for 5 minutes before removing them. Set them on a towel to cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours. After cooling, check seals and store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator. Properly sealed jars can be stored in the pantry, and you should refrigerate after opening.
This recipe follows the canning times for “fruit purees” as set out by the National Center for Home Food Preservation. Their times for all three jar sizes are the same. Do not can this in half gallon jars, the largest size jar allowable is quart.
(This exact same recipe could also be frozen in freezer-safe jars with appropriate 1” headspace.)
Waterbath Canning Altitude Adjustments
The altitude adjustments for water bath canning Peach Lemonade Concentrate are as follows:
- For Under 1,000 Feet in Elevation – 15 minutes for half pints, pints, and quarts
- For 1,001 to 6,000 Feet in Elevation – 20 minutes for half pints, pints, and quarts
- Above 6,000 Feet in Elevation – 25 minutes for half pints, pints, and quarts
Once the jars are sealed and shelf-stable, all that is left is turning the concentrate back into lemonade.
Serving Ideas
To reconstitute, mix 1 part concentrate with 3 parts water. For a 1 pint jar, you’d add 3 pints of water. For simplicity, you can just add a pint to a half-gallon mason jar, which holds 4 pints, and then fill it up the rest of the way with cold water.
That gives you a basic peach lemonade, but the concentrate takes well to other treatments too. Pour it over ice with a splash of sparkling water for a fizzy version, stir a little into iced tea, or freeze it into popsicles for the kids. A jar of it also makes a nice summer gift straight off the pantry shelf.
Peach Lemonade FAQs
A pint jar (2 cups) of peach lemonade concentrate makes about 1/2 gallon (8 cups) of prepared lemonade. Mix 1 part concentrate with 3 parts water, then adjust to taste. That’s 2 cups concentrate with 6 cups water.
The peaches go into this recipe as juice, extracted by simmering and straining the fruit the same way you would for peach jelly, so the straining is already part of making the juice. Letting it drip longer through a jelly bag gives a clearer, more concentrated juice, while pressing the pulp through leaves a little more body in the drink. Either way, the canning time is the same.
Both fresh and bottled lemon juice work here. Fresh, strained well, gives the fullest flavor. If you choose bottled juice, make sure it is plain lemon juice with no added ingredients that would affect flavor. Santa Cruz Organic or Lakewood Organic work well and taste much better than the “real lemon” style brands.
Peach lemonade concentrate is one of several ways to put up a peach harvest in liquid form. If you like drinkable preserves, peach nectar and peach syrup are both worth a place on the shelf alongside it.
Peach Canning Recipes
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Peach Lemonade Concentrate
Equipment
- Canning Jars, Lids and Bands
Ingredients
For the Peach Juice
- 12 medium peaches
- 2 cups water
For the Concentrate
- 4 cups peach juice
- 4 cups lemon juice, fresh or bottled
- 6 cups granulated sugar
Instructions
- Prepare a water bath canner, jars, and lids before you begin.
- Juice the lemons and strain the juice well to remove the seeds and pulp.
- Quarter the peaches and add them to a pot with the water. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently until the fruit is soft and breaking down, about 20 minutes. Strain through a jelly bag or several layers of cheesecloth, letting it drip until you have a clear juice. Peeling and pitting are not required, though removing the pits first gives a slightly clearer juice.
- Combine the peach juice, strained lemon juice, and sugar in a saucepan. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
- Heat the mixture to 190 degrees F, stirring often. Do not boil.
- Ladle the hot concentrate into prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims, center the lids, and apply the bands fingertip tight.
- Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude (see notes).
- Turn off the heat and let the jars rest 5 minutes, then remove and cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours. Check the seals.
- To reconstitute, mix 1 part concentrate with 3 parts cold water.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Looking to put up more than just peaches? These other drink canning recipes are worth a look.
Drink Canning Recipes
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