Look no further for the perfect peach salsa recipe for canning!  This recipe is slightly sweet with mild to moderate heat that can be adjusted to your preference!

Nothing is better than a summer peach.

But in my cool, almost coastal area, of the Pacific Northwest, local peaches don’t hit farm stands with any consistency until back-to-school is in full swing and folks are lining up for pumpkin spice lattes.  Which is usually the time that I am digging in my heels and hanging onto summer with an iron grip.

Don’t get me wrong — fall is actually my favorite season.  But nothing beats late summer for eating fresh and local.  Late summer is always a frenzy of preservation — everything seems to hit at once.  Peaches, green beans, tomatoes and more– all needing to be put up for year-long eating.  Every year I try to add a few new recipes to my canning repertoire.  Not everything is a hit, but I am always excited to experiment.  This year I have had peach salsa on the mind.  Perfect for late summer potlucks and snacking, I think this peach salsa will be perfect on those dreary winter days that leave me yearning for the vibrant flavors of summer.

But before we get to my peach salsa recipe, let me tell you about a new book that should be in everything food preservationist’s kitchen!

Tips for a Successful Canning Season

My dear friend Ann of A Farm Girl in the Making has written the book to turn the most reluctant preservationist into a confidant canner! In The Farm Girl’s Guide to Preserving the Harvest, Ann breaks down every type of food preservation technique (not JUST water bath canning) to teach her readers safe methods for preserving their favorite produces, meats and more.  Her tasty recipes are a nod to her well-traveled and multi-cultural upbringing, while also paying homage to a true farm girl’s frugality.  Her handy tables and charts will help you to make safe and informed recipe substitutions, adjust for altitude, choose the right equipment for food preservation needs, and even help you to pick our purchase the right quantity of fruit for you preservation goals!  Ann makes it easy, and The Farm Girl’s Guide to Preserving the Harvest has become one of my favorite preservation books ever!

Picking the Right Peach for the Job

There is a lot of nuance with peaches and ask any grower, farmer, produce manager, or food preserver what the BEST peach is and you’ll get a different answer and probably more than one long winded answer.  I have found it is all about “the job.” What do you want out of your peach?  Will it be eaten fresh out of hand with its juices dripping down your chin?  Packed in jar with heavy syrup for an old fashioned preserve.  Turned into something savory?  Whatever the job — there is probably a peach for it.  I tend to suggest free-stone peaches (those for which the pit does not cling to the inner flesh and is removed easily), as fightly a recalcitrant pit is, well, the pits.  Furthermore, the flesh of freestone peaches is firmer with higher acidity — both traits excellent for canning purposes — and the fruit is generally bigger.  Clingstone peaches can be a tiny bit sweeter, but the effort put into dispatching the pit doesn’t make it worth the trouble in my opinion.  Plus improved varieties have made freestone peaches simply delectable!

Here are a few of my favorite varieties of peaches.

Improved Elberta: Farm stand staple Improved Elbertas are a popular variety that ticks all the boxes.  Large, firm fruit, freestone, sweet, reddish blush to the skin, resistant to bruising, and they even ripen well when picked a little green!  Improved Elbertas are an excellent choice when you want to show of the shape of your fruit such as canning as halves or sliced and frozen for baking.  These are a top choice for my peach salsa recipe.

Red Haven:  Another quintessential farm stand peach is the Red Haven.  Considered the “gold standard” of the peach world, Red Havens resist bruising and a one of the first peach of the season.  Like Improved Elbertas — these medium sized fruits are great for all kinds of preservation and eating out of hand.  These are a perfect choice for my wildcrafted Queen Anne’s Lace Soda with peaches.

Sweet Dreams:  I almost bought my tried and true Improved Elbertas this year when the farmer talked me into a huge box of Sweet Dream seconds (slightly blemished fruit).  Oh the joy!  These Sweet Dreams are AMAZING.  They have the PERFECT peach flavor!  This rosy skinned fruit is huge, firm and exceptionally juicy — they are kinda the Jessica Rabbit of the peach world.  Sweet Dreams are just va-va-voom sexy peaches.  Also, they hold up well for canning and freezing!

Veteran: There is always a deal to be had on Veteran peaches.  A variety that is prone to bruising, it is often offered as a u-pick or offered as “seconds” or blemished fruits at a discount.  This largely yellow skinned peah is easy to peel and perfect for the canner that is on a budget and wants to make this delicious peach butter with vanilla.  If my Veteran endorsement seems a more utilitarian than going, please note that I am often giddy about getting them and find them perfect for jams and bbq sauces.

Peach Salsa Canning Recipe

Fruit and spice is a welcome addition to any meal, as far as I am concerned.  So creating a tasty peach salsa recipe for canning has been on my mind for sometime.  This summer I purchased a couple boxes of Sweet Dreams “seconds” for a song, and dedicated a portion of this bounty to peach salsa canning.  For best results choose slightly under ripe fruit for this recipe to ensure that the ending salsa has texture and definition.  Combined with yellow pear and heirloom tomatoes, fresh green peppers, onions, garlic and chile flakes, this peach salsa was divine!  This peach salsa is fairly mild, although you can certainly adjust the heat to taste, and is as good on tortilla chips as it is on grilled chicken or fish tacos.

Sweet & Spicy Peach Salsa Canning Recipe

This peach salsa captures the essence of summer! Choose slightly under ripw peaches for a chunkier salsa. Safely adjust the heat to taste with chile flakes!

3.25 from 4 votes

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Servings 9 pints

Equipment

• water bath canner
• jar lifter
• canning funnel
• pint jars
• lids and rings

Ingredients

  

• 8 cups diced peaches peeled and pitted
• 4 cups diced tomatoes
• 2 cups diced chile peppers choose pepper according to your heat preference
• 2 cups diced red onion
• 5-7 cloves garlic minced
• 1 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 cup bottled lime juice
• 1-2 tablespoons chile pepper flakes more or less according to to taste
• 1 tablespoon sea salt

Instructions

 

• In a large stock pot, add all ingredients and bring to a low boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to maintain a low boil and cook for an addition ten minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Ladle peach salsa into prepared jars. Wipe rims and place lids and rings on jars, finger tight. Process in a water bath canner at a full boil for 15 minutes.
• After processing, remove from canner and cool undisturbed for at least 24 hours. Check lids for seal and store in a cool. dark spot. Refrigerate after opening.

The Perfect Canned Salsa