Canned Peaches without Sugar! Sugar free Bottled Peaches
Last August, I shared an in depth post about how to can peaches! Including instructions for a light syrup, medium syrup and a heavy syrup. Well I’ve done even more canning since then. And more research. And I’m exciting to say my last batch of peaches I canned was sugar free! That’s right! No processed sugar. And in a blind taste test with my immediate and extended family, the sugar free canned peaches were the favorite!
Now when I say sugar free, I’m not referring to the canning recipe having absolutely nothing to sweeten it. I’m talking about the processed white sugar or high fructose corn syrup type sugar. What I used was 100% Grade A natural raw Honey. And it was amazing! And the canning process was so simple too!
Enjoying Sugar Free Canned Peaches
With all recipes you need to gather your supplies.
- Ripe Freestone peaches (obviously)
- Quart jars (wide mouth or regular)
- 100% natural Grade A Honey
- Lemon Juice
- funnel
- Lid lifter
- Jar Grabber
- Water Bath Canner
You will want to blanch your preaches, remove the pits and cut. You can cut in half or quarters. Your choice. Once all your preaches are pealed, pitted and cut, you can fill your sterilized Jars. Make sure you leave 1/2″ head space. Then add 1 tsp lemon juice in each jar after dry packed. This will keep your peaches from turning brown.
Then we move onto creating the “syrup”. All peaches need a syrup of some kind when canning. But we no longer have to settle for the sugar rich syrups from the old days. There is a healthier option for those that really don’t want to use a lot of sugar. And if you are looking for a more natural way, then our method of canned peaches is perfect! We use Honey in place of sugar and create a nice light syrup.
To create the syrup simply combine 1/4 cup grade A natural honey with 7 cups water. Bring to a boil. Then pour into the jars leaving 1/2″ head space in each jar.
Wipe the rim and put on the lids. Then process in a water bath according to your elevation, with a minimum of 20 minutes.
Remove the jars and allow to cool completely before you move or label them. As they cool you will hear the musical POP of the jars sealing themselves. As long as all jars seal they can then be labeled and placed in a cool storage room without direct sunlight. These will last near 2 years on the shelf and taste amazing!
Any jars that do not seal will need to be refrigerated and eaten within a week. If you have any questions about canning peaches, check out our How to can peaches in light syrup article. I go into a lot more detail on techniques.
As I mentioned before, some family had a blind taste test with our canned peaches. I gave each person a peach in light syrup canned with sugar and one of our canned peaches with a honey syrup. They honestly couldn’t tell you which one was canned with honey or sugar. But it was agreed upon that the peach with the honey had the better flavor and allowed the flavor of the peach to really shine more so than the canned peaches with sugar. And to ensure you, I did not disclose which peach was which until all opinions were voice. They were all quite impressed that their favorite peach was the canned peaches with the honey syrup.
I am truly enjoying our canned peaches. I eat them plain, on top of yogurt, in smoothies, and on top of cottage cheese for a great breakfast! You can even use them to make peach fruit leather if you were in need in the middle of the winter!
Have you tried using honey with your canned peaches?
What is your favorite way to eat canned peaches?
Yum – I LOVE peaches!!
Yum! I love eating canned peaches on top of cottage cheese. I especially love canned peaches because I am allergic to “raw” fresh peaches. I love the idea of using honey instead of processed sugar!
This sounds delicious! I love using honey in place of refined sugars. Our local beekeeper always has the tastiest honey too. I bet it would be perfect in your recipe!
I like the idea of using honey – especially local, unfiltered stuff!
They sound great! And they look super easy to do! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve never even thought about not using sugar! This is great!! I personally love my canned peaches straight out of the jar.
I love that this is sugar free! I have been trying to cut back with my sugar intake this would be great for me.
sounds nice and healthy! I love peaches!
I haven’t tried any method of canning yet, but you certainly make it seem doable!
I love canned peaches. But now that I think of it I might have to start canning my own!! Sounds (and looks) way healthier 🙂
This is fantastic. My oldest son loves canned pears and peaches, but I never buy them because of the sugar, so he’ll be very happy about this.
I have no choice but to cut back on sugar (diabetic) and this sounds like a great way. Not sure if I have the patience to can or jar anything plus I live alone–well if I do it correctly they will last 2 years—
Those look so good! And healthy too!
I loved peaches but would prefer them without sugar too so this is awesome!
These sound and look amazing!
Oh my dear, they sound delicious. I wish I had some fresh peaches to can. Unfortunately our peach trees died last year from some form of blight. I am saving your recipe and hope to find a bushel of peaches at the farmers market.
This sound and look delicious. I would never think of sugar free though since peaches are generally sweet. I don’t usually use honey but my mother does. She actually sweetens her tea with honey instead of sugar.
I haven’t ever canned peaches, but I could for sure eat them since there is no sugar in them. I bet you could use agave too to sweeten them.
I love peaches and these look amazing.. YUMMM. .. I didn’t realize I could use honey in canning, that is so sweet 🙂 I love honey and rather use is then sugar… I bet they turned out to die for.. Thanks for the tip and I will try it the next time I have some georgia Peaches…
Thank you for sharing. I am a type two diabetic so it is so important for me to keep my sugar intake down.
looks delicious! i’ve never heard of this process before, and I’m thinking of doing this the next time I buy peaches.
I don’t do any canning. I prefer my peaches pureed, like apple sauce.
I LOVE peaches, but I don’t really like buying canned peaches from the store (or any canned product for that matter), so I definitely need to get into canning sometime. It looks relatively easy and, and… budget-friendly. 🙂
I never can anything but would love to learn and try! We loved Peaches, thanks for showing how.
I so love that you made this without sugar. People have a hard time understanding that sugar is simply not necessary for most things! This is the perfect example!
I never thought to add honey with my canned peaches! I usually just eat peaches by themselves from the can!
I absolutely love that you didn’t use sugar in canning. Usually they are so sweet already that you really dont need to add anything to them. Love the idea of using honey for that added flavour and sweetness. Yum.
I did not know you could make this healthy! It looks so yum and your pictures are awesome. I’ve really been wanting to try canning but I’m very intimidated by the process!
I love this post because I have cut sugar out of my diet for about a year now so I’m always on the lookout for ways to enjoy my favorite foods without worrying about their sugar content. The peaches you prepared look absolutely delicious.
Wonderful! I love peaches and it’s the time to grab the last of the fruit before winter sets in.
I must ask what is the measure tool in that picture? The one ontop of the can? I’ve never seen one like that. Mine fits “in” the jar itself, and this one looked like it would work better
Oh isn’t that tool just awesome? I just found it at Walmart the other day. It is a typical funnel, but with an outside measuring feature to show you where the 1/4″ and 1/2″ headspace would be! So it have a piece that goes INSIDE the jar like a funnel, but also this part that is on the outside of the jar too.
It’s called Progressive International CKC-300 Regular and Wide Mouth Canning Funnel
I am not a peach fan, but I am a huge canning fan! My husband would like peaches though. I will have to see if I can find a place to get reasonably priced peaches for canning!
I have to look into this – I like the idea of the honey, too. I’m allergic to fresh peaches, but once they are processed I can eat them ok. Yours sure came out nice. I remember going to relief society back in the day and they always emphasized food storage, though our place is so small now. It’s still good to be prepared.
I have a mini cling free peach tree and my peaches were so sweet this year I sweetened with nothing…not even honey. I peaked and sliced the peaches, added a bit of lemon juice, jarred and processed them for 45 mins. I put them in a bowl with the juice and pour a little whipping cream unsweetened, also over them. Very satisfying with no added sugar at all. My favorite way to eat them..