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Fresh Peaches

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At our house, May equals fresh peaches. Generally, and depending on the weather, the first two weeks of May is when our peach tree is abundant with warm, juicy fruit. The only downside is that the fruit tends to ripen all at once. If you don’t glean it from the tree, then it becomes bird food.  

Peaches may be firm one day and ripe the next.  And unlike store-bought peaches, we pick these fuzzy fellows when they are soft and juicy.  We call them the “bend over and eat” peaches because if eaten upright, you will need a face wash and a shirt change from the abundant juices.

Photo by Caught by Kinita

I cringe when I try to squeeze a peach at the grocery store and find it hard and an odd color.  But, with fresh peaches, they need to be used quickly~~or canned for storage.

We use the peaches in many things~fresh pies, peach crumble and cobbler, and peach jam. But one of my favorite recipes is for Peach Salsa.

This recipe uses the freshest ingredients. I’m not one who likes really hot things-that are so spicy that you can’t feel your lips. Instead, this one is just plain flavorful.

Simple ingredients and the rest is just chopping. I like to leave the peaches in slightly bigger pieces for texture and flavor, while finely chopping the onions and serrano chiles. Also, I don’t peel the peaches, however, you can if you’d like.

For those of you who have rubbed your eyes or elsewhere after chopping chiles, you know how important it is to wear gloves.  The seeds are the hottest and it’s easy to get the chiles’ juices in the wrong places. You can adjust the heat to your personal preference by adding more chiles or red pepper flakes.

Toss all ingredients into a bowl and mix. Serve with your favorite tortilla chip.

toss all the ingredients

Doesn’t this look delicious? It is another winning recipe. I didn’t need to can any of it as it disappears quickly.

In addition to tortilla chips and tacos, this salsa is great with grilled pork loin, fish or chicken.

The inspiration for this recipe was found in Canning for a New Generation by Liana Krissoff.  A few years ago, I spent the summer learning how to can the abundance of fruits and vegetables from our garden.  This is an excellent addition to your pantry and the recipe can be easily doubled.


Peach and Cilantro Salsa

Sweet peaches, tart lime, spicy serranos and fresh cilantro

  • 5 pounds ripe peaches (peeled, pitted and diced (about 9 cups))
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
  • 6 ounces sweet onion (diced, about 1 cup)
  • 3 ounces bell pepper (diced, about 1/2 cup)
  • 2 TBSP serrano chiles (minced and seeded)
  • 4 to 6 TBSP sugar (to taste)
  • 4 tsp pure kosher salt
  • 1/4 cup cider vinegar (5% acidity)
  • 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes ((see notes))
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 2 TBSP chopped fresh mint

  1. Mix all the ingredients into a bowl. Let flavors combine. Serve with tortilla chips. If you do not can this salsa, refrigerate immediately.

I didn’t have any red pepper flakes so I did a shake of cayenne pepper. If you want to preserve the salsa using the water bath canning method, put all the ingredients except the cilantro and mint into a 6 to 8 quart preserving pan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower and simmer for 30 minutes, until the onion and peaches are tender. Stir in the cilantro and mint. Make sure your jars and lids are prepared for water-bath canning. Ladle the hot salsa into jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace at the top. Wipe the rims of the jar with a damp paper towel and add the lid until finger tight. Return the jars to the water in the canning pot and make sure the water covers the jar by at least 1 inch. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes to process. Remove the jars to a folded towel and do not disturb for 12 hours. 


Have a happy Tuesday. I am finally back in town and will share my story on my Saturday Meanderings. In the meantime, it feels good to be home. Enjoy!

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