Peach Sauce

At a glance

What stands out: Full of juicy peach flavor, this straightforward-to-make peach sauce comes together in minutes. It’s lovely on shortcakes, ice cream, pancakes, yogurt, oatmeal and more!

How long it takes: 10 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: saucepan
Servings: 4

Rich & Straightforward!

Versatile: Whip up a batch of peach sauce for your favorite breakfast dishes, including peach pancakes, crockpot oatmeal, breakfast quinoa, or pancakes made with a from-scratch mix. Peach sauce easily transitions to dessert, too, as a topping for ice cream, pound cake, angel food cake, or cheesecake. Make a savory peach sauce to pair with pork simply by omitting the vanilla and cutting the sugar in half.

Straightforward to mix: This peach sauce is a cinch to make. You simply stir together all the ingredients in a saucepan, bring it to a boil and let it cook for a minute, then remove it from the heat. This allows the peaches to soften without completely falling apart.

Peachy: The main ingredient for the sauce is not water or sugar, but the peaches themselves. This gives you a sauce that’s full of fruit flavor that’s also quite chunky. You can stick an immersion blender into the pan to puree it, or use a wooden spoon to mash some of the peaches for a thicker, slightly-less-chunky texture.

What goes in

• Peaches – We recommend peeling the peaches for this recipe. However, you can choose to leave the skin on if you don’t mind the texture.
• Cornstarch – Cornstarch is added as a thickener. You can make this without cornstarch by substituting arrowroot powder or tapioca starch.
• Brown sugar – Both dark or light brown sugar will work; dark brown sugar will give the sauce a touch of molasses flavor.
• Pure vanilla extract – Almond extract would be rich in this peach sauce too!

Peach Substitutes

• Frozen: YES. If you don’t have fresh peaches on hand, you can use frozen.
• Canned: NO. Canned peaches are sweeter than fresh because they’re canned in either juice or syrup, so they shouldn’t be used in this recipe.
• Nectarines: YES. Peaches and nectarines are similar, and nectarines can be used in this recipe.

How it comes together

Combine the ingredients. Place the water, cornstarch, brown sugar, diced peaches, and vanilla in a medium saucepan and stir to combine.

Bring to a boil. Set the saucepan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Cook. After the sauce begins to boil, stir it constantly for a minute, then remove the pan from the heat. Let the sauce cool before serving it.

Serve. Spoon the sauce over pancakes, waffles, ice cream, and desserts.

Reliable Pairing

What better to eat with peach sauce than peach pancakes? Our straightforward peach pancakes are made with puréed peaches for peach flavor throughout and come together quickly and easily.

Get the Recipe

Ways to change it

Here are straightforward ways to customize this peach sauce recipe if you like.

• Add herbs. If you’re making the sauce for meat, in addition to cutting back on the sugar and omitting the vanilla, you can add a sprig of fresh thyme or rosemary to infuse the sauce with herbal flavor.
• Add spices. A pinch of cinnamon, cardamom, or ginger is rich.
• Purée it. If you’d like your sauce to be completely smooth, transfer it to a blender and purée it until there are no chunks or lumps.

Make Ahead Ideas

If you want to get a head start on the recipe, you can dice the peaches and refrigerate them for up to a day. The sauce can be made ahead as well.

Keeping leftovers

Storage: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Store peach sauce in an airtight container or, if you’re freezing it, a zip-top freezer bag. You can also freeze it in an ice cube tray for small portions.

Reheating: Let the peach sauce thaw in the refrigerator, then reheat it in the microwave or on the stovetop until it’s warmed through.

• Yield: 4 servings
• Prep: 5 minutes
• Cook: 5 minutes
• Total: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• ½ cup water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 4 fresh peaches, peeled and diced
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method

1. Stir together the water, cornstarch, brown sugar, diced peaches, and vanilla in a medium sized pot.
2. Heat over medium heat, stir occasionally, until the sauce boils.
3. Once the sauce comes to a boil, stir for one minute then remove from the heat.

Notes

Makes about 2 cups.

Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. If you’re freezing it, use a zip-top freezer bag or an ice cube tray for small portions.

To reheat, let the peach sauce thaw in the refrigerator (if frozen), then reheat it in the microwave or on the stovetop until it’s warmed through.

If you want to get a head start on the recipe, you can dice the peaches and refrigerate them for up to a day.