Harvest is in full swing here on my little homestead! I’ve been busy eating and preserving the 90 pounds of peaches my big peach tree produced this year. I was visiting friends a couple weeks ago and a book they had called Canning for a New Generation caught my eye.

I asked how they liked the recipes compared to the classic Ball Complete Book of Preserving and they said it had more unique and modern recipes. They were sweet enough to let me borrow it and it was perfect timing since I had so many peaches in my garage fridge waiting to be preserved!

As I quickly flipped through the book, this recipe jumped out at me and I was super excited to give it a try! If you don’t want to deal with the preserving part, this would be an excellent side dish to serve at a summer party, just be sure to cut the recipe in half.

Canned peaches would work well if you prefer not to peel fresh peaches or you could substitute with nectarines, since they have a smooth skin.

Prep time: 1 1/2  hours, if using fresh peaches or 45 minutes, if using canned peaches or nectarines.

Fresh recipe serves: 8-10

Canning recipe makes about 5 pint jars.

Ingredients

• 5 pounds ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and diced (about 9 cups), after I peel each peach, I spray it with lemon juice to help slow down the oxidation.
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (roughly 5-6 limes)
• 6 ounces sweet onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 3 ounces red bell pepper, diced (about 1/2 cup) I REALLY dislike bell pepper so I left this out when I made this recipe 🙂
• 2 TBSP minced, seeded serrano chiles
• 6 TBSP sugar
• 4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (5% acidity, Bragg’s is good option)
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 TBSP chopped fresh mint

Instructions

If you are serving this fresh, all you need to do is prep the ingredients and mix them together in a large bowl. If you decide to use fresh peaches, I recommend dicing and chopping all other ingredients first, then peel, pit and dice the peaches. This will help reduce oxidation (browning) of the peaches once they are peeled.

Here’s the instructions if you plan on canning this recipe:

Prepare for water bath canning, if you haven’t canned before here’s a Step by Step Canning Guide.

Put all ingredients except the cilantro and mint in a wide, 6 to 8 quart preserving pan (I used my 10 quart dutch oven). Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender and the peaches are soft and easy to smash again the side of the pot with a spoon, about 30 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and mint.

Now it’s time to add the salsa to the jars and process them, boil the jars for 10 minutes to process. and follow steps 10 and 11 from the Step by Step Canning Guide.

Now you’ll be able to enjoy the summertime taste of peaches this winter!

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If you try this recipe I’d love hear what you thought of it!