5 Canned Fruits You Actually Need In Your Pantry

Canned fruits are a staple in many of our pantries — and for good reason. They provide a taste of delicious produce year-round, often at a lower price point than their fresh counterparts. They're great in many dishes, so you need not run to the market for fresh goods if you have canned versions ready to go, and you don't have to thaw canned fruit as you would with frozen options. Even better, you can often repurpose the syrup from the can for drinks, desserts, and more.

However, this doesn't mean that all canned fruits are worth a purchase. Low-acid types of produce, such as melon, are simply not apt for canning, as they cannot be properly preserved in the traditional canning process, and therefore carry a higher risk of causing foodborne illnesses. Such varieties of fruit should be frozen for long-term storage instead. 

That being said, there are many fruits that can stand up to the canning process. These canned foods yield fruit that is not only tasty, but also part of your kitchen essentials. Below, you'll find five canned fruits that you will want to keep well-stocked in your pantry.

A good peach is a divine, but seasonal, experience. Though you can find fresh peaches in the grocery store year-round, they tend to peak in the summer. The fuzzy stone fruit is sweet, juicy, and perfectly soft. There is no replacing fresh, but this doesn't mean you should disregard their canned counterparts. As far as preservation goes, peaches are one of the best choices out there. A winter peach is likely to have a mealy texture and bland taste, and that's no good.

Canned peaches, on the other hand, keep a consistent taste all year round, and are often praised for their sweet (and consistently delicious) flavor. With canned fruit, there is little or no variation in taste and texture, and each bite is as sweet as the last. According to a 2012 study in the Journal of the Science of Food, they are also more nutritionally dense than fresh peaches in some areas, as they contain higher levels of vitamin C and folate.

Canned peaches are also fantastic in many recipes. Using the canned fruit in a peach cobbler can save you prep time without compromising flavor. You can add your canned peaches to pork chops for a sweet and savory dinner, or drain and slice them before adding them to a refreshing arugula and goat cheese salad.

Though fresh pineapple has grown in popularity over the past few decades, its canned counterpart is quite popular, and for good reason. Fresh pineapple can be cumbersome to cut, as it requires removing its thick, scaly skin and coring the center. Canned pineapple requires no such preparation, while still maintaining a fresh, sweet flavor and tender but solid texture. 

However, convenience isn't canned pineapple's only advantage, as the product is also better for baking. Why? Because it contains fewer bromelain enzymes than the fresh fruit. Bromelain is known to break down proteins, which can prove disastrous in Jell-O salads or even cakes, as they prevent these foods from fully solidifying. The enzymes can alter their texture, turning them to mush. So don't even try cutting your pineapple from scratch next time you make pineapple upside-down cake. Go with the canned stuff instead. 

But you don't have to confine your canned pineapple adventures to baked goods, either. Canned pineapples maintain their structure very well when preserved, so you can use them in place of fresh pineapples in most recipes. Canned, ringed pineapple, for example, make a great topper for burgers, or as a filling for a traditional, Southern pineapple and mayo sandwich.

You can most likely find fresh or canned lychees in an international grocery store, or sometimes in specialty markets. The fruit has a unique, floral, and sweet taste that makes them absolutely irresistible.

In recent years, canned lychees have made their way behind the bar. Lychee martinis are a popular cocktail that blends the fruit's subtle flavors with vodka and dry vermouth. And for the martini, only canned lychee fruit will do, as it comes perfectly peeled, pitted, and in a delicious syrup that is perfect for incorporating in cocktails.

However, canned lychees aren't just great for cocktail crafting — they also make a great and easy snack. Without the skin or pit to contend with, the lychees are much easier to consume (especially if you want more than a few at a time). You can enjoy them straight from the can or add them to another dish, such as a refreshing dessert soup or a fruit salad.

Like peaches, cherries are a stone fruit that definitely (and demonstrably) have a peak of freshness. Fresh cherries eaten in season, from late spring to mid-summer, are both sweet and tart, with a juiciness well beyond the fruit's small size. However, similar to peaches, out-of-season cherries can be underwhelming. Luckily, there are many different varieties of canned cherries, from black to sour, so you're more than likely to find one that fits your needs.

Canned cherries are great for use in many baked goods. Dark sweet cherries make a great filling for pies or a delicious cheesecake topper, as they tend to be sweeter than their fresh counterparts. Canned cherries also come pre-pitted, making baking projects much easier. The syrup or juice they're packed in can also make a great addition to cocktails such as the classic old fashioned. You can even switch up your canned cherry variety based on your mood. Using a tart cherry in a Manhattan can be a great twist on the drink, for example.

Oranges can be found both ripe and plentiful at most grocery stores year-round. Beyond being tasty, these fruits are also generally inexpensive. So why, then, should you consider buying canned mandarin oranges? Well, because they're delicious. The canned fruit is packed in syrup or juice, which enhances its flavor, and can have higher levels of vitamin C than its freshly peeled counterpart. However, mandarins packed in a light syrup can have lower vitamin C levels, and it is important to note that processed fruits and veggies can lose nutritional value. You can check your nutritional labels to make sure that your mandarins are up to snuff.

Regradless of their vitamin content, canned mandarins are a great and convenient snack. They come free of the white, bitter orange pith. This pith, while not all that cumbersome when eating your clementine as a snack, might prove to be less than optimal for certain recipes, such as ambrosia salad, or yogurt parfaits, which work better with a smoother fruit. Just think about the juicy possibilities of adding canned mandarin oranges to a creamy chicken salad. The canned fruit can add a pop of juiciness to the rich dish, which might otherwise be lacking. So if you're looking to incorporate oranges into a recipe, you might want to reach for a can of mandarin oranges. Its taste, convenience, and pre-peeled state more than earn it a place in your pantry.