Tea Poached Pears

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Sweet pears are poached in a fragrant cinnamon tea for an easy but elegant dessert. They’re wonderful served with homemade vanilla sauce.

I don’t know about you, but I often forget about pears in favor of apples. Apples are what I grew up with, but my son Max loves pears and they’ve been added into our fall fruit rotation.

Pears are wonderful to eat out of hand, baked into pear cake, or turned into pear butter, but an easy way to upgrade them into a fancy dessert is to poach them.

Have you poached fruit before? It’s so simple — just let your fruit simmer in liquid for a while, then serve however you like! Easy-peasy.

Enjoy sliced, served over a cake, or add a delicious homemade vanilla sauce. You can’t go wrong!

poaching with tea

Red wine is traditionally used for poaching pears, but there’s so many other options out there, from coffee to spirits to coconut milk.

I love to use tea for poaching fruit, because for one thing, we always have tea on hand. There are also so many different varieties of tea that you could use a different flavor every time! Each one will impart a slightly different flavor on the pears.

This recipe uses cinnamon tea, but ginger tea and spiced orange tea are also excellent. Definitely look for a tea that has some warming spices, which go so well with the honeyed flavor of pears.

Ingredients for poached pears

Full list of ingredients with quantities is located in the recipe card.

You’ll need:

• Pears
• Orange peel
• Water
• Sugar
• Cinnamon tea bags
• Salt (just a pinch!)

If you want to make the vanilla sauce, you’ll need:

• Whole milk
• Heavy cream
• Packed brown sugar
• Unsalted butter
• All-purpose flour
• Salt
• Vanilla extract

For the pears, I recommend choosing ripe pears that are slightly firm. The pears will soften during poaching, and you don’t want them turning to mush!

Bosc pears are a good classic option, but if your store has other options you could try Concorde, Starkrimson, or Forelle.

How to make this recipe

I have to admit that poaching sounded way too difficult for me for years. I couldn’t explain to you why, but once I found out it’s just as easy as cooking a pot of pasta, I was all in. Can you boil water? You can make poached pears!

Peel the pears and halve lengthwise down the middle. Use a spoon or melon baller to scoop out the seeds and core. I like to leave the stem on for presentation, but you can remove it.

Add the water to a large pot or saucepan and bring it to a boil. Remove from the heat, add tea bags, and let the tea steep for 5 minutes. (Check your tea instructions and steep for longer if needed.) Cover with a lid for better steeping, if you have one.

When the tea is done steeping, remove the tea bags, making sure to squeeze them to remove any extra liquid back into the pot.

Add the sugar, orange peel, and salt to the tea. Put the pot back on the burner over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt.

Using a skimmer or large slotted spoon, lower the pear halves into the tea. They should be completely covered, but might float a bit. Simmer for 15-20 minutes until tender but not mushy. Make sure to turn them halfway through cooking time so they poach evenly.

Serve hot, at room temperature, or cold, with extra poaching liquid on top, or the vanilla sauce below.

how to make vanilla sauce

In a saucepan, whisk together milk, cream, sugar, butter, flour, and salt. Set over medium heat and bring to a simmer, whisking to dissolve sugar.

Once simmering, whisk frequently until the sauce is thickened. This will take about 10 minutes. Don’t overcook, as the sauce will thicken more as it cools.

Whisk in the vanilla and set aside until ready to serve or pour into a small serving carafe.

Serving poached pears

Poached pears are a wonderful light dessert. If you don’t want to make the vanilla sauce, try some of these other options for serving.

Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, Greek yogurt, or mascarpone cheese with some of the poaching liquid on top.

Cut into quarters and arrange on a platter with nuts and dried fruit. Add some crumbled blue cheese if you like it!

I like adding leftovers to oatmeal or granola. Just chop them up, no need to warm.

Storage and make-ahead tips

Poached pears can be made in advance of serving and chilled. Store them in the poaching liquid, letting them cool completely before transferring to the refrigerator in an airtight container.

They’ll keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks!

To serve, remove the pears from the liquid, and pour the liquid into a saucepan. Heat over medium until thickened and syrupy.

You don’t need a fancy dinner party excuse to make these poached pears. They’re perfect for any dessert!