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Grilled Balsamic Peaches are a fantastic side dish for any summertime meal. Sweet peaches are grilled, then topped with a rich and peppery balsamic glaze.
We’re so excited to share this fabulous recipe with you today – Grilled Balsamic Peaches! This is a great way to enjoy the fresh peaches that are in season right now.
Something really terrific happens when peaches are grilled. The heat caramelizes and intensifies the natural sweetness of the fruit, and the flavors are really something special. And a rich, sweet-tart and peppery reduction of balsamic vinegar, molasses and freshly ground black pepper is the perfect counterpart to the intense sweetness of the grilled peaches.
We make Grilled Balsamic Peaches all the time during the summer. The peaches are done in just a few minutes, so anytime you have the grill going – just place a few halved and pitted peaches over the heat and you’ll have a wonderful addition to your meal in no time! Any leftovers of the balsamic reduction will last in the refrigerator for a few weeks as well, so you can enjoy this recipe often.
Tips for selecting the best peaches to grill
Using perfectly ripe peaches is important for this Grilled Balsamic Peaches recipe. If your peaches are over-ripe, they will get mushy and too soft when grilling (although they will still taste delicious!).
If your peaches are under-ripe, the stone will be very hard to remove – and you don’t want to grill the peach halves with the pits still attached.
If you can’t find perfectly-ripe peaches, our recommendation would be to buy slightly under ripe peaches – then use this trick to ripen them before cooking:
To ripen hard peaches, put them in a brown paper bag with a very ripe piece of fruit such as an apple or banana for a day or two. The ripe fruit will give off gasses to help the peaches ripen faster.
Our peaches were rock hard when we bought them, so we put both an apple and a banana in the bag with them and left them to ripen for two days. (The length of time your fruit takes will depend on how much ripening is required. Check after a day, then continue on for another day or two as needed.)
Can I use other stone fruit?
Sure! In addition to any variety of peaches (yellow or white), nectarines are another great choice. You could even grill plums, pluots or apricots.
These grilled balsamic peaches are particularly good with our Grilled Basil Garlic Chicken Breasts.
Adapted from License to Grill
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You may like these other Peach recipes:
- Bourbon Poached Peaches
- Bourbon Peach BBQ Sauce
- Peaches & Cream Scones
- Blueberry Peach Cobbler
- Peach Crisp
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Grilled Balsamic Peaches
Note: Using perfectly ripe peaches is important for this recipe. If your peaches are over- ripe, they will get mushy and too soft when grilling (although they will still taste delicious!). If your peaches are under-ripe, the stone will be very hard to remove. See our note at the end of the recipe with some tips to ripen peaches.
Ingredients
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup molasses
1–3 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper (you can add more or less based on your tastes but the pepper is really great against the other sweet flavors in this dish)
4 ripe peaches
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a small sauce pan, bring vinegar to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer until reduced by half (15-20 minutes). Remove from heat and add molasses and black pepper.
- Cut the peaches following the natural line that circles the fruit. Cut all the way down to the pit and just run the knife right around keeping the blade against the pit. Gently grab each half and twist in opposite directions. Then pop the stone out with a paring knife or a spoon.
- Heat the grill to medium. Keep glaze warm so it does not harden up.
- Clean grill grates and brush with oil.
- Brush each peach cut side with oil and place cut down on the oiled grill.
- Grill for about 2 minutes and flip.
- Brush the cooked tops with the glaze and cook for about two more minutes. Remove to a platter and brush on more of the glaze.
- Serve with extra glaze on the side.
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Notes
Note: To ripen hard peaches, put them in a brown paper bag with a very ripe piece of fruit such as an apple or banana for day or two. The ripe fruit will give off gasses to help the peaches ripen faster. Our peaches were rock hard when we bought them so we put an apple and a banana in the bag with them and left them to ripen for two days. (How long yours takes will depend on how much ripening is required.)
Just made these tonight – delish! Our peaches were really big so I thought they might take a little longer, but 2-3 mins per side was perrrrfect. I’ll probably make this again tomorrow!
Thanks for taking the time to write to us Patricia! We’ve very glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Seriously, when am I coming over??!! I love this dessert! Grilled fruit is the perfect summer dessert. YUM