How To Peel Peaches

Peeling peaches to remove the fuzzy skin is actually really easy with a few simple steps. It comes in really handy for baking, canning, freezing and just snacking.

Learning how to peel peaches is very useful. The thin and fuzzy peach skin sticks on like a glove and it's nearly impossible to remove unless the peaches are overripe. Using a vegetable peaches will make the outside of the peach very jagged.

With this easy method, the skin will peel right off and leave a beautifully smooth peach. Placing the peaches in boiling water and then quickly transferring to ice cold water will loosen the skin just enough for it to be peeled. Fun fact - you can use this exact method to peel tomatoes too:).

This is great for snacking, baking, canning, freezing peaches, fruit salads and so many peach recipes. During peach season when they are so juicy and sweet, I love to take full advantage and enjoy the peaches in all the possible ways. One of my favorite fruit salad that stays fresh for days has peaches. You can also use peaches in muffins, just add peaches in your favorite muffin recipe, bake them into indulgent peach hand pies, add some peaches to iced tea or cook up a quick compote to top your french toast or pancakes.

Wash the peaches and bring water to a boil. I usually use an electric water kettle and then pour it into a large bowl but you can also bring a large pot of water to a boil as well and just dunk the peaches in the pot.
Prepare a large bowl of ice water as well. You will need this to be set up before you add the peaches to the boiling water.
Cut an X in the bottom of each peach. This will help to give you something to hold on to when you start peeling the peaches. The skin will start loosening there first.
Add the peaches to the boiling water. Leave them in for 30 seconds - 1 minute. (You can test if the peaches are ready to be peeled by trying to grab hold of the skin around the X.)
Transfer the peaches to the bowl of ice water. I like using a slotted spoon is helpful for this. This will stop the cooking process, cool off the peaches and also help to loosen the peach skin even more from the drastic temperature change.
Peel the peaches. Use your hands to grab onto the peach skin around the X and peel. It should be fairly easy and the skin usually slips right off. You can use a paper towel to get a better grip or a small paring knife for the stubborn parts.
Remove the pits/stones. Cut the peach in hand and gently twist. If the peach is ripe, this will be easy and the pit will come up very easily with a little bit of a tug. You can also use a small paring knife to cut around the pit.