This is the easiest, most straightforward way of preserving apricots. Not to mention, it is very low-sugar.
And not only apricots, I preserve the cherries and the gooseberries growing in my garden the same way. I love this method because it is so simple; it involves the minimum amount of work and time, and on top of that, it uses just a little sugar.
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Why will you like this recipe?
No sugar bombs in a jar, just a hint of sweetness, giving you the freedom to use the preserves in any way you like later on, not worrying if maybe they are already too sweet or anything.
The fruit softens slightly but keeps its shape and structure; the fruit remains almost as "al dente" as fresh. So all you have to do, actually, is to clean and sterilize your jars, wash and stone the fruit, and boil the jars for about 20 minutes.
I find this method especially suitable during the time when there are lots and lots of fruits growing in my garden, so many that I barely have the time to do more laborious work. For instance, we have this huge cherry tree, which bestows us with extremely large amounts of cherries almost every year. It takes a lot of time and work just picking the ripe cherries off the tree, and there are only so many fresh cherries you can eat or bake in a short period of time.
I do freeze a few bags as well, but I find this method of preserving much better than having to work with defrosted fruit later on. So I preserve a lot of cherries, just as you can see in this post, How to Preserve Cherries. And recently, I thought about preserving apricots in the same way as well.
Recipe ingredients
- Apricots: Fresh ones, bought when in season. And if you have an apricot tree in your garden (or your neighbor or friend does) and your pantry is already full of Simple Apricot Jam, do give these preserved apricots a try.
- Sugar: The best part about preserving apricots yourself is that you can control the amount of sugar you use. Only a couple of tablespoons of apricots per jar will do.
- The preserved apricots will not be sweet but perfect to use in desserts or cakes, where there will be sugar added anyway.
How to use them?
You could use the preserved apricots in any way you would use them when fresh, from eating them as they are to making cake fillings with them.
You could make the Apricot Sauce from last week with these canned apricots, you could chop them into your porridge or müsli or you could serve them over strained yogurt like I did recently.
To make the strained yogurt, have a look at this post: Roasted Cherries with Strained Yogurt. Or another version of strained yogurt is to be found here: Yogurt Bomb with Berries.
I will give you no quantities for this recipe for preserving apricots; there is really no need for that. You will only need fruit, as much as you have, enough jars to hold them, a bit of sugar, and water. The only thing to remember is that you need 2 tablespoons of sugar per jar. That's it!
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How to Preserve Apricots in Jars - Low-Sugar
Ingredients
- apricots as many as you have
- large jars about 800 ml/ 27 oz capacity
- sugar 2 tablespoons for each jar
- water
Instructions
Sterilize the jars:
- To prepare the jars, preheat the oven to 130 degrees Celsius/ 275 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Sterilize: Wash the jars and the lids very thoroughly. Place the jars on a baking tray and sterilize them in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Cook the lids in boiling water for a few minutes. Leave to cool slightly; the apricots and the water will be cold when added to the jars.
Apricots:
- Prepare apricots: In the meantime, clean, halve and stone the apricots.
- Fill jars: Place apricots in the jars with the bulge facing up. Add two tablespoons of sugar to each jar and fill with water. Put the lid on.
Can the apricots:
- Can in canner if you have one.
- If you don't have a canner: Take a large pot, large enough to hold your jars without them touching each other. Place a clean, folded kitchen cloth on the bottom of the pot.
- Arrange the jars on top. Fill the pot with lukewarm water; about ⅔ of the jars should be immersed in water. Don't be tempted to fill the pot with hot water, or the jars, which are filled with cold water, might shatter.
- Can: Bring the water to a boil, then cook for 20 minutes. Take them out of the water immediately (Caution HOT) and place them on a baking tray, for instance.
- Cover them tightly with a blanket or several thick kitchen cloths and leave them to cool slowly until the next day.
- Store: They will keep in the cool cellar or pantry for at least 6 months. I still have cherries and gooseberries I made last year, and they are still good.
Nutrition
Gina says
Hi Adina I just made my apricots as u wrote,but reading now comments, I noticed that I should not have any space, as my apricots have risen slightly. Did not know that I should have pushed down apricots to avoid this problem. Do u think I will have a molding problem as Julia mentioned above?
Heather Westphal says
Are you putting a cloth in the bottom of the pan and then adding water? This will be my first year preserving - we have a fruit salad tree in the back and the apricots will come first - and I've never heard of a cloth inside a cooking pot before ? also if I have no tongs to lift out the jars what would you suggest? Should i get some?
Adina says
Hi Heather. Yes, I put the cloth in, then the jars and the I pour in the water. Grandma's way. 🙂 The jars should not come in contact with the bare bottom of the pot and should not touch each other either. If you don't have tongs, use thick kitchen mittens or a cloth folded several times, so that you don't burn your fingers.
Julia says
After boiling my apricots they have risen to the top and are no longer fully submerged? The last time I did this they went moldy any info regarding this?
Adina says
Hi Julia. They should definitely be submerged in water or they will go bad just like you said. Did you fill the jars with enough water? The fruit should not have the space to rise.
Balvinder says
I don't have a peach tree but not apricot. Can I use the same recipe for it.
Adina says
I've never tried it myself, but it should definitely be possible.
Tina Shaffer says
I tried your recipe for preserving a few apricots I have. I like the method very well, however I have a question about the sealing of the jars. I ended up with 3 pint jars full and after the water bath and wrapping them, only 1 was sealed. This was after about 36 hours. I put the other 2 in the fridge thinking to redo with new flats on them. When I took them out of the fridge and touched the lid, it sunk down as if sealed. Should I leave it as is or redo these jars?
Adina says
Hi Tina. I would rather leave the jars in the fridge and eat the apricots during the next couple of weeks. It is best to use jars with screw on lids, they are more reliable than other types.
Myrna says
I’m really excited to try your method: we’re you using quart or pint size jars?
Adina says
Hi Myrna. It doesn't matter as long as they all have more or less similar size. I think my jars are somewhere in between, about 1 1/2 pints.
Martha S. says
Dear Adina, it is a classic way of preserving fruits in countries where winters are harsh and long. It works with any fruit. I used to do it myself during summer/ fall with strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries - and a list goes long. Only amount of sugar was different - I've got more, like 4 tablespoons on a 1 liter jar. And amount of water was different, depends if it was for so called 'kompot' or for future baking purposes.
In the first case - more, in later - less.
If prepared properly you can keep it longer then 6 months.
Thanks for sharing.
Adina says
Hi Martha. I have never tried strawberries or rasperries, just apricots, gooseberries, plums and millions of cherries. I still have cherries I canned last year and the tree in the garden is full again. The sugar amount is really flexible, I like to use less whenever possible. Thank you for your comment and have a nice Sunday.
Jackie says
I used this recipe to jar about 60 apricots from my tree, just yesterday. Unfortunately, when I opened one to test them out just now (about 36 hours after completing the jarring process), they were quite bitter and unpleasant tasting. I tried several and they all tasted the same. They were not bitter apricots to begin with, so I am wondering if anyone else has encountered this problem or has any insight on what went wrong.
Adina says
Hi Jackie. I am sorry to hear that. I have been canning apricots, cherries and gooseberry like this for over 10 years now, nothing ever went bitter. Was the fruit ripe enough? Did you remove the kernels? Kernels are bitter. Were the jars properly sterilized? Did you follow the procedure? Or maybe you expected them to be sweeter, in which case you can add more sugar, if you wish. These are the questions that come to my mind now... I have just opened the last apricot jar from last summer, it is perfectly fine. As for the cherries, I still have some I canned 2 years ago and they are also good. I've also googled this question, but didn't find an answer. Some say that the skin of the fruit can make the preserves sour or bitter, but I have never removed that myself and the apricots were never bitter.
DownUnder says
Great recipe! Tried this over summer (first time preserving fruit for me) and we are now enjoying delicious apricots on our porridge each morning during our Australian winter. I'll be doing sooooo much more next summer!
Adina says
So glad to hear it! I am making these every summer as well. It works with cherries too. 🙂
Rod says
Great idea but you've neglected to mention at which point you put the kids on. Does a vacuum have to form ?
Rod says
That's ... Put the lids on...which Google keyboard insists twice to be kids.
Adina says
🙂 🙂 🙂 I was confused about the kids for a second or two!!! It is written in the recipe that the lids come on the jars right after you have filled them. The vacuum forms while the jars are in the pot, in the boiling water.
Sissi says
I love canned peaches and always choose the low-sugar version. I don't think I've ever tasted canned apricots, but I like them fresh, so I'm sure I'd like the canned version too. I always love the low-sugar versions of everything!
Lucky you to have a garden and to have your own fruits!
Chris Scheuer says
This is a wonderful and such an easy way to preserve fruit. Thanks for sharing Adina! Btw, I'm very jealous that you have a cherry tree in your backyard!!! That is awesome!
Brie says
I've never tried preserving but you make it seem so simple and the thought of almost-fresh "al dente" 🙂 apricots in winter is pretty enticing too. Your photos are just gorgeous, Adina!
Ritu Ahuja says
Wow!! such a great post. I always buy dry apricots from the grocery store. This is the great way to preserve apricots. And they will taste great. Yum 🙂
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
This is a great way to preserve apricots for the winter baking!