The Difference Between A Peach And An Apricot

Khara Scheppmann has 12 years of marketing and advertising experience, including proofreading and fact-checking. She previously worked at one of the largest advertising agencies in the southwest.

In the South, we love our peaches, which the region produces with pride. We toss them on the grill, make them into preserves, bake them in classic cobblers, and even eat them plain over the sink. And while we have just as much love for other stone fruits, like deep-hued plums and sweet nectarines, there's one that doesn't have quite the same cache: the apricot.

Apricots aren't grown locally in the South, and they're smaller than their Southern favorite cousin, the peach. However, if peaches are your usual go-to, the apricot is a fruit to consider. Apricots look like baby peaches, and the two have a lot in common—they're both in season during the summer, for example—but there are some differences to keep in mind when following recipes, as the two aren't necessarily interchangeable.

Peaches and apricots are two different species, but they're both stone fruits, members of the genus Prunus, which means they have a rock-hard pit in the center, along with a few other similarities.

They both come in clingstone, freestone, and semi-freestone varieties, which refers to how easily the fruit's flesh separates from the center pit.

Both have velvety skins, although peaches are more often fuzzy (and fuzzier) than most apricots. The color of their skins and flesh can also both range from champagne to vermillion, shades so gorgeous that we sometimes use their names to describe certain hues.

Both peaches and apricots release their aroma when ripe and ready to enjoy. You might have to pick up an apricot and give it a sniff to pick up its subtle scent, whereas a bowl of ripe peaches can perfume the entire kitchen.

One of the biggest differences between peaches and apricots is that they are different species. Here are a few others.

Apricots are, in general, much smaller than peaches. They are about a quarter of the size, and therefore have smaller pits.

Apricots tend to be sweet-tart and firm, while peaches are sweeter and juicier by nature. It's not that apricots aren't good to pick up and eat, but we're less likely to need to lean over the sink to do so.

Peaches have a much higher water content than apricots, which is what makes them so juicy. However, this means that apricots and peaches are not necessarily interchangeable in recipes. We're more likely to have success using one in place of the other in uncooked recipes, such as smoothies, salads, and fruit salsas, but it's best to avoid making that swap in baked goods and cooked recipes.

By May, in-season, fresh apricots and peaches appear on supermarket shelves. Peach season runs May through mid-August (depending on where the peaches are grown), while apricots have a shorter run, peaking from May through early July.

When peaches are in season, you can find the freshest ones, while supporting the local economy, from orchards, u-pick farms, side-of-the-road stands, and farmers' markets. South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, and Tennessee all produce peaches in the South. There are thousands of peach varieties, but South Carolina, the second-ranking U.S. producer, and Georgia, the third-ranking U.S. producer, grow about 40 varieties of peaches. Peach flesh can be yellow, the classic peach we eat in the South, or white, a sweeter peach more common in Asia. Peaches deliver vitamins A and C, potassium, and fiber.

Most of the apricots produced in the U.S. are from California. Like peaches, there are clingstone, freestone, and semi-freestone apricots. Apricots are high in vitamins A and C, potassium, and antioxidants. They are light orange but can be more yellow or a deeper, warm orange, depending on the variety. While the fresh apricot season is short, dried apricots, mostly from Turkey, are commonly eaten as a snack and in baked goods, salads, glazes, sauces, and preserves.

University of Maryland Extension. Peach, cherry, plum, nectarine, and apricot selection for home gardens.

Discover South Carolina. How to pick the perfect South Carolina peach.

U.S. Department of Agriculture. Georgia: a peach of an agricultural state.

Agricultural Marketing Resource Center. Apricots. Published April 2024.

Fruits of Turkey. Dried Turkish apricots.

University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. Apricot scion & rootstock selection - fruit & nut research & information center.