The 8 Best Substitutes for Pear Nectar

Pear nectar is an awesome way to enjoy your favorite beverage without adding sugar, and it’s also becoming more common in recipes. If you don’t happen to have any, here are several good replacements. Let’s go through them together!

1. Canned Pear Juice

Canned pear juice is a fantastic substitute for pear nectar in cocktails; it adds sweetness and the unmistakable pear taste you are looking for. Because of its thickness and sweetness, you can also use it on your pancakes and waffles.

Unlike pear nectar, it has some added sugars but also a high vitamin C content, which makes it great to use in its diluted form as a drink, just mixed with water. 

A fun tip – if you find drinking enough water hard, pour your canned pear juice into the ice cube tray and add this to a glass of water. It will give it a slight pear flavor, making it easier to drink.

2. Peach Nectar or Canned Peach Juice

Because it has no added sugars or preservatives, peach nectar is a terrific substitute for smoothies and baby purées. It is rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants but also has weight loss properties. 

It works as an immunity booster with high levels of vitamins C and A, making it a perfect choice for healthy smoothies and a great ally on your fitness journey. 

Canned peach juice can be used the same way as canned pear juice. Peaches and pears are often paired together, so you can replace pear nectar with canned peach juice without changing the flavor too much. 

Just keep in mind that the canned juice has added sugars, making it somewhat sweeter than pear nectar.

3. Apricot Nectar or Purée

Apricot nectar is full of fiber and vitamins C and A. Its texture is very similar to pear nectar, so it’s a no-brainer – if it’s the texture of pear nectar you’re looking for, this is the logical choice. 

You can use it as an excellent alternative in this yummy Moonshine and Pear-Nectar Cocktail by Martha Stewart; it will blend beautifully with the rest of the ingredients.

You can use dried apricot purée the same way you would use apricot nectar, which makes this an easy substitute to use. Try cooking the dried apricots for 30 minutes until they get soft, and then blend them with the remaining water until you get the right thickness.

4. Strawberry Nectar

Strawberry nectar has a light, sweet and tangy flavor and is full of potassium and phytonutrients. It’s also a tasty substitute for pear nectar in smoothies and cocktails. 

Make sure to add a bit of honey, sugar, or maple syrup since it’s slightly less sweet than the other replacements.

5. Applesauce

Applesauce is made from whole fruit, including the skin, which has the highest amount of antioxidants. Therefore, it has incredible health benefits, including reducing the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. 

Apples are the most similar to pears in taste, so applesauce will be a superb replacement for pears in savory dishes. They both go exceptionally well with pork and are also known as meat tenderizers – just replace the pear nectar with applesauce in your marinade.

6. Apple Cider

Because of its brightness and the similarity in taste between apples and pears that I mentioned above, apple cider is an excellent substitute for pear nectar. 

It works especially well in salad dressings that usually require pear nectar. It blends well with the other salad dressing ingredients and also imparts a note of sharpness to the dressing, lifting the taste of the whole dish.

7. Plum Juice

Plum juice makes a superb stand-in for pear nectar if you’re looking for a healthy and refreshing beverage that’s also chock full of vitamins and antioxidants. It’s also great for making cocktails. For example, instead of using pear nectar in your daiquiri, make a plum-spiced daiquiri instead.

8. Simple Syrup

If you need pear nectar for baking or adding a sugary note to cocktails, this simple syrup recipe from Food & Wine will do great instead. It will bring sweetness and moistness to your sponge cake or work in tandem with pear halves for an Upside-down pear cake. Either way, you won’t be disappointed.

What’s the Difference Between Pear Nectar and Pear Juice?

The difference between pear nectar and pear juice is that the juice is a 100% fruit pulp, while pear nectar is part fruit juice, part sugar or artificial sweetener, and part water. Any juice can be classified as a nectar, as long as it has a small amount of fruit in it.

What Is Pear Nectar Made Of?

Pear nectar is made by puréeing ripe pear meat and adding sugar and lemon or citric acid to round out the taste. The purée is then thinned with water until it reaches a drinking consistency. Unlike pear nectar, the juice is made from 100% pure pear pulp after the water is extracted from it.

Can You Make Pear Nectar at Home?

You can make pear nectar at home with just some pears, sugar (or an artificial sweetener if you prefer), lemon, and water. You will need to cook the pears and blend them with water, then pasteurize the peach nectar in its air-proof containers.

Pear Nectar – A Simple Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 ripe pears
• 1½ cups of granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup of lemon or 1 tsp of citric acid
• 10 cups of water (approximately)

Instructions

1. Wash and remove pits from the pears.
2. Cut into quarters and put in a pot.
3. Completely cover the pears with water.
4. Cook until they soften.
5. When the pears are soft, transfer them to a blender. (If you don’t have a standing blender, a stick blender will do just fine.)
6. Add 1½ cups of granulated sugar and return the purée to the stove.
7. Bring to a boil, add the lemon or citric acid, and mix well.
8. After the mixture boils, take the pot off the heat and add water.
9. Add as much or as little water as you want until you get it to the consistency you like.

With these ingredients, you get around a gallon (4.54 liters) of pear nectar. Here are the steps for properly storing the nectar after making it: 

1. Store the nectar in airtight glass containers immediately after preparation. 
2. Fill them to the brim to reduce oxygen exposure and, subsequently, bacterial growth. 
3. Pasteurize the containers by keeping them in 167 °F (75 °C) water for 25 minutes, then store them in a dark, cold place for a maximum of six months.

Remember that since the nectar doesn’t contain any preservatives, once you open the bottle, you need to use it within a week.

Recap

The best substitutes for peach nectar:

1. Canned pear juice
2. Peach nectar
3. Canned peach juice
4. Apricot nectar
5. Dried apricot purée
6. Strawberry nectar
7. Applesauce
8. Apple cider
9. Plum juice
10. Simple syrup

Thanks for stoppin’ by!

For more, don’t miss The Sugar Content of Alcoholic Drinks | With Detailed Chart.