This freezer peach jam without pectin uses just 2 ingredients, and it’s adapted from my Grandma’s recipe for strawberry preserves. After 30 minutes of prep and 30 minutes on the stove, you let it rest for 6 hours in a 9×13 cake pan on your kitchen counter. With no commercial pectin needed, you can either freeze it or can it to enjoy that summer peach flavor any time of the year.
Made from pureed fresh (or frozen) peaches and cane sugar, this recipe strikes the perfect happy medium. While peach jelly is made strictly from fruit juice and peach preserves contain large chunks of fruit, my homemade peach jam is smooth and easily spreadable, while still packed with real peach preserves-like flavor in every bite.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Thank you for sharing your Grandmother’s recipe. It’s perfect in every way!”
“Thank you so much for sharing your Grandmother’s recipe. It’s perfect in every way! I have been canning for 40 years. I even sold my own jams and jellies at my roadside stand and at a popular local gourmet shop….I made your recipe yesterday afternoon exactly as written and I left all the skins on…no peeling. The skins disintegrated in the process and gave the jam a beautiful rich peach color….poured it into my cake pan, covered it and let it sit until this morning….It’s a beautiful and brilliant recipe!!!”
– Josie S., Flour on My Fingers Reader
Ingredient Notes (Only 2!)
- Fresh Peaches – To get the 4 cups of peaches needed for this recipe, you’ll need about 10 to 12, medium-large fresh peaches. Make sure they’re fully ripe for the best flavor. Thawed from frozen peaches work great too.
- Cane Sugar – Regular granulated sugar works too.
How to Make Freezer Peach Jam without Pectin
Prep your jars before getting started. They don’t need to be hot water sterilized to make freezer jam, but it’s good to scrub them thoroughly with hot soapy water, give them rinse and then pat them dry. I use 1/2-pint jelly jars, but you can use any freezer-safe container; just avoid narrow-necked jars where jam can get stuck and crack the jars once frozen.
Pureeing the Peaches
- Wash the peaches, remove the skin, slice them in half, and remove the pits. Peeling them is optional, but I don’t really like the skin in my jam.
- Puree your peaches in a blender, or mash them up with a potato masher if you don’t have a blender. They should resemble a fairly thin pulp.
Cooking It Down
- Combine a cup of peaches and a cup of sugar in a tall large stock pot, so the mixture doesn’t boil over when it foams up.
- Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 4 minutes while still stirring until the sugar is totally dissolved.
- Repeat this process 3 more times, adding the remaining peaches and sugar in stages to keep the pot boiling.
- Addition 2: Add 1 cup peaches + 1 cup sugar. Boil and stir constantly for 4 minutes.
- Addition 3: Add 1 cup peaches + 1 cup sugar. Boil and stir constantly for 4 minutes.
- Addition 4 (Final): Add the remaining 1 cups peaches + final 1 cup sugar. Boil and stir constantly for 4 minutes.
- Remove the mixture from the stovetop once you’ve cooked down all of the peach puree and sugar. Let it rest for a few minutes, and then skim off any foam that forms on top.
Thickening Peach Jam Without Pectin
Pour the jam mixture into a 9×13 cake pan. It will be runny at this point, resembling a thin peach syrup rather than peach jam, but that’s okay. Cover with plastic wrap, and let it sit 6-12 hours at room temp to set and jell. Grandma’s recipe suggests 12 hours, but mine was ready in 6.
After about 6 hours, the thickness will begin to resemble peach jam. It feels like magic, but it’s actually a combination of the natural pectin in the peaches and the cooling process that thickens peach jam without commercial pectin.
Freezing Peach Jam Without Pectin
- Pour the jam into each prepared jar using a jar funnel, leaving about a 1/2-inch gap at the top of each jar to allow for expansion. I used my cupcake scoop, but a ladle works great too.
- Wipe the top rim of each jar with a wet towel or rag, place the lid on, and tighten the band. Add a label with the name and date, or just write it with a Sharpie on top the lid.
Serving Homemade Peach Jam
Serve your peach jam on a buttered slice of toasted bread. You can also enjoy it on homemade biscuits, crescent rolls, a fat stack of fluffy pancakes, or in a warm bowl of morning oatmeal. It also makes a great vanilla ice cream topping, or you can place a small ramekin of peach jam on a charcuterie board to pair with sharp cheeses and summer sausage.
How to Can Peach Jam Without Pectin
Many readers over the years have successfully water-bath canned this recipe! You’ll need to wash and sterilize your jars, rings, and lids before making the jam (use hot soapy water or the sterilization setting on your dishwasher). Pour your jam it into jelly jars immediately after the stove time, and then straight to the water bath canner.
Because you won’t be letting it gel up in the cake pan before canning, make sure the cooked mixture reaches its natural gel point before taking it off the heat and filling your jars. You can test this using a candy thermometer; peach jam naturally sets when it reaches 220°F (104°C) at sea level, but this varies by altitude. For standard processing times and altitude adjustments, follow the guidelines from the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can leave the skin on when making peach jam. In fact, that’ll add even more natural pectin to your jam. I do recommend pureeing peaches with the skin-on, so the skin gets blended up into a smooth pulp for a better texture later on.
You can use half-pint jars, pint jars, or really any size freezer-safe mason jar. You can also use any freezer-safe plastic container; the shape really doesn’t matter, so long as the neck isn’t too narrow. When using glass, just be sure to leave about 1/2-inch headspace to give the jam room to expand without cracking the glass.
Adding the peaches and sugar 1 cup at a time keeps the pot at a continuous boil for long enough to dissolve the sugar. If you dumped everything in at once, the bottom of the pan would scorch before the sugar has dissolved throughout the entire mixture.
When you first remove the jam from the stove, it’s normal for it to be a thin, syrup-like consistency. No-pectin jam requires a slow cooling process to gel. Once you pour it into a shallow pan and let it sit at room temperature for several hours, the natural fruit pectin will bind and thicken the jam into a rich, spreadable consistency.
Stored in airtight, freezer-safe containers, this freezer peach jam will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 12 months. Once thawed and kept in the refrigerator, enjoy it within 2-3 weeks.
More Peach Recipes
If you love peach jam, check out these delicious peach recipes:
- Dad’s Peach Ice Cream Recipe
- Gluten-Free Peach Crisp
- Bisquick Peach Cobbler in a Cast Iron Skillet
- 5-Ingredient Peach Dump Cake Recipe
If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback. You can also follow me on Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. And subscribe to my email list too!
Freezer Peach Jam Without Pectin
Equipment
- blender or potato masher
- Jar Labels optional
Ingredients
- 4 1/3 cups fresh peach puree from 10-12, medium-large fresh peaches
- 4 cups pure cane sugar
Instructions
- Prep your jars and lids before getting started. Scrub them thoroughly with hot soapy water, give them rinse and then pat them dry.
- Wash the peaches, remove the skin*, slice them in half, and remove the pits. Peeling them is optional, but I don’t really like the skin in my jam.
- Puree your peaches in a blender, or mash them up with a potato masher if you don’t have a blender. They should resemble a fairly thin pulp.
- Combine a cup of peaches and a cup of sugar in a tall large stock pot, so the mixture doesn’t boil over when it foams up.
- Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 4 minutes while still stirring until the sugar is totally dissolved.
- Repeat this process 3 more times, adding the remaining peaches and sugar in stages to keep the pot boiling. You'll add the final 1 1/3 cups peach puree and the final cup of sugar the last time.*
- Remove the mixture from the stovetop once you’ve cooked down all of the peach puree and sugar. Let it rest for a few minutes, and then skim off any foam that forms on top.
- Note: Your jam will seem more like syrup at this point. Please don’t be discouraged, because it works a little bit like magic from here on.
- Pour into a 9×13 cake pan and cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit 6-12 hours at room temp to set and jell.*
- Decide whether you want to can* or freeze the jam. The following instructions are for freezing.
How to Freeze Peach Jam:
- Using a jar funnel, pour the jam into each prepared jar. I used a cupcake scoop, but a ladle works too.
- Be sure to leave about a 1/2-inch gap at the top of each jar to allow for expansion in the freezer.
- Wipe the top of each jar with a wet towel or rag, place the lid on, and tighten the band.
- Before you put your jam in the freezer, be sure to write what it is and the year on the lid, so you know when you made it.
Video
Notes
- Addition 2: Add 1 cup peaches + 1 cup sugar. Boil and stir constantly for 4 minutes (same as the first stage).
- Addition 3: Add 1 cup peaches + 1 cup sugar. Boil and stir constantly for 4 minutes.
- Addition 4 (Final): Add the remaining 1 13 cups peaches + final 1 cup sugar. Boil and stir constantly for 4 minutes.
Love this recipe, my first time doing this so hope it will freeze good. It sure was yummy and set up nice. Thank you so much
Cheryl
Thank You, Cheryl!! I’m so glad you liked it.
Just got peaches from The Peach Truck so wanted to try a small batch(one person here and little freezer space. ) I washed the peaches well, left skins on(more pectin and nutrients) and blended them. Followed directions as printed, They were starting to set up during the 10 minute cooling time!!!. They are now in the cooling pan but I did use the foam on half a bagel….sooo good. I saw another recipe that had added vanilla extract and so put a little in the foam, again delicious. I will probably do that to entire batch next time. Thanks for the recipe!! I was thinking of canning but without some acid was concerned, so another reason I just did half a batch. Has anyone canned this and had it last okay???
This is my favorite jam recipe. I have canned it for two years and will again this year. I let the jam sit overnight in a covered metal cake pan (the kind with its own sliding lid). I have had a jar shatter in the water bath because of the temperature difference. My solution to this is to have the water room temperature when I put the jars in, and bring the water to a boil with all the filled jars already submerged in the water. That kept everything intact last year. We just opened our last jar from 2022 and it’s delicious and still the same bright color. I don’t have room in my freezer for too much jam. I also take off most of the skin, or at least all the darker skin, because you can get a brighter color by doing so. The preserves are always many shades darker. For preserves, I use Joy of Cooking. I am not a master canner! I’m just telling you how I’ve had success because I love this jam and I don’t add anything to it.
Thank You for the great tips, Josie! This is very helpful.
I am adding thin slices of jalapeño to some jars and cinnamon sticks to others. Also leaving some as recipe indicates, for the purists.
I know they will all be delicious!
That sounds great, Margaret. Thank You for trying the recipe!
I should have researched more before following this recipe. I wanted to use the water bath method to preserve. Everything I read says the jam must be hot. If it is cooled and then reheated, it will ruin the gell. So, after 3 hours, I’m back at the stove, hoping that once I get it to 220 degrees the sugar will take over. But, for a freezing process, I guess it will be fine. It had not started to gel by 3 hours.
I actually didn’t know that, Carolyn! Thanks for the info.
My new favourite peach jam! Love the recipe and am now on my 4th batch of making it.
That’s awesome, Becky! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it.
Hello! I can’t wait to try this recipe… I was wondering, when canning, do I go through the normal method of pouring the hot jam into the hot jars, ceiling and then letting it cool? Or do I let it cool, like in your recipe, and then put in my canning jars just to go back to boiling? I know this is probably a stupid question but I w would be grateful for anyone’s insight!
Looking to make a syrup. Is it possible to use your recipe and alter it a bit to make it like a syrup consistency? If so, do you have any recommendations of how to alter it?
Thanks!
Tanya
Tanya, I have not tried this myself, but I think that it would work well if you were to combine the ingredients, bring it to a boil, and let it simmer for 20 minutes, or until it reaches that syrup consistency. Let me know how it turns out if you try it!
How long can you store these unopened to remain good?
Hey Lisa, freezer jam usually stores for around 6 months. Once you start to see discoloration, it’s probably no good. That being said, I still have some perfectly edible strawberry jam that I made several years ago in my freezer.
This is the first time I made peach jam. I ordered a box of peaches from Georgia, let them sit on my counter top for 2-3 days and they were perfect. I pealed each peach instead of using the blanching method. I loved this recipe 1st because it was her grandmothers recipe and that had me sold! This recipe is easy and very helpful. My peach jam came out amazing! Thank you for sharing this fabulous recipe!!
I’m so glad you liked it, Linda! Thanks for the feedback.
I’m new to jam making and canning, but this week I worked on different batches every day (yeah, I’m sort of nuts) and after a week I feel like I finally got the hang of it! But from everything I’m reading everywhere there is still so much to learn!
So basically, when making something new, generally just use equal amounts of sugar to fruit. If naturally low in pectins, I add lemon or orange juice, sometimes frozen concentrate. When adding spices, what do you suggest? Spiced Peach sounds wonderful! Cinnamon and maybe something else?
I used a bit of cinnamon and a splash of vanilla, it came out AMAZING!!
Megan, my mouth is watering!
I love ginger with peach, it’s punchy & unexpected! (You can pair it with cinnamon & vanilla too.) I always add a bit of fresh lemon zest to any jam I make, to help cut the sweetness of all the sugar as well.
What a wonderful idea, to add the ginger, AND a little lemon zest. Sounds like my kind of jam! Thanks
I fully agree, Kris!