Healthy Eating 101 Healthy Cooking How-Tos How to Peel Peaches Here are two easy ways to peel a peach in minutes—no professional knife skills necessary! By Casey Barber Casey Barber Instagram Website Casey Barber is a food writer, illustrator and photographer; author of the cookbooks "Pierogi Love: New Takes on an Old-World Comfort Food" and "Classic Snacks Made from Scratch: 70 Homemade Versions of Your Favorite Brand-Name Treats"; and editor of the website Good. Food. Stories. When she's not road-tripping across the U.S., Casey lives in New Jersey with her husband, two hungry cats, and a freezer full of sour cherries. EatingWell's Editorial Guidelines Updated on April 7, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more. Photo: Casey Barber While biting into a fresh, ripe peach is one of the great pleasures of summer, there are lots of other moments when you might prefer a peeled peach. For pies and cobblers, jams and other canned goodies or smoothies, you might not want any of the fuzzy skin on your peach slices. Luckily, there's an easy way to peel peaches that doesn't require any special knife skills. The best way to peel peaches is to use both boiling and freezing water to remove the skin, and it's shockingly easy. Even better, you can peel a whole peck of peaches this way. Step by step, here's how to peel peaches. How to Blanch & Peel Peaches The easiest way to peel peaches is by blanching them briefly in boiling water, then quickly chilling them in an ice bath to separate the skin from the peach. Step 1 Score the peach with a paring knife. Casey Barber Bring a large pot of water to a boil and have a large bowl of ice water at the ready next to the stove. While waiting for the water to come to a boil, use a paring knife to lightly score the bottom of each peach (not the stem end) with an X. Step 2 Casey Barber Carefully submerge the peaches in the boiling water just until the edges of the X start to loosen. Ripe peaches will be ready in 20-30 seconds; firmer peaches may need up to 1 minute until the edges start to peel back. Step 3 Casey Barber Use a strainer, slotted spoon or tongs to transfer the peaches to the ice bath. Step 4 Casey Barber Let the peaches cool in the ice bath for 5 minutes. Step 5 Casey Barber Gently pat the peaches dry with a kitchen towel, then peel the skins off the peaches with your fingers. How to Peel Peaches with a Peeler For firm or slightly underripe peaches, you can use a sharp vegetable peeler. Step 1 You can also peel firm peaches with a vegetable peeler. Casey Barber Make wide strokes from the stem to the bottom of the peach to remove the skin. How to Pit and Slice Peeled Peaches Once your peach is peeled, use a paring knife to slice all the way around the fruit. The peach will be slippery, so be careful. Step 1 Carefully cut the peach to remove the pit. Casey Barber Carefully cut the peach to remove the pit. Step 2 Casey Barber Gently twist the peach in half to separate, then remove the pit with your fingers or the paring knife. Slice the peach and use any way you please. For more on peaches, learn how to store peaches. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit