Canning your own cherry pie filling is super easy. Plus, you will be so happy you did when the holidays roll around and most of the work to make a real homemade cherry pie is already done.
Looking for a few more awesome canning recipes? Check out Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
Need a canner? I used the Granite Ware 11-1/2 Quart Covered Preserving Canner with Rack
Canning 101 Recipe – Cherry Pie Filling
Description
Canning your own cherry pie filling is super easy. Plus, you will be so happy you did when the holidays roll around and most of the work to make a real homemade cherry pie is already done. This recipe makes 7 Quarts.
Ingredients
6 quarts fresh or thawed frozen cherries
7 cups sugar
1–3/4 cups Clear Jel **
9-1/3 cups water
1/2 cup lemon juice
** There are two types of Clear Jel®, “instant” and “regular”. “Instant” does not require heat to thicken. The product will thicken once the liquid is added. “Regular”, on the other hand, must be heated. When canning pie fillings, be sure to use the ‘regular’ Clear Jel® product. Source
Instructions
Bring a boiling-water canner, 3/4 full with water, to simmer. Wash jars {I’m using quart jars} and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.
Wash and sort cherries. Drain well using a colander. Next, pit the cherries. This would be a gruesome task without a cherry pitter, so I highly recommend you pick on up if you don’t already have one.
Next, place the cherries in a large pot with at least 1 gallon of boiling water. Boil in batches no bigger than 7 cups at a time for about 1 minute. Start the 1 minute after water returns to a rolling boil after placing the cherries in the pot. This is just to blanch the cherries to preserve their color and flavor during storage.
Drain the cherries and set aside.
Now you can make the liquid part of the filling. Mix the Clear Jel with the sugar and then add water.
Cook mixture of medium high heat, stirring constantly, until it starts to thicken and bubble. It will thicken really quickly, so watch it carefully. {You can also thin it with water if it gets too thick.}
Once mixture has thickened, add lemon juice. Stir. Take the pot off the heat and fold in the cherries.
Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands on. Place jars on elevated rack in a canner. Lower rack into canner. {Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.} Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 30 min. Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely. After the jars have cooled, check the seals by pressing middles of lids with finger. If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.
Athena says
How many and what size jars does this make? I got some cherries on sale this last week and want to can some pie filling. Cherry pie filling is the reason I started canning last year but I was too late to get cherries to can by the time i decided to do it. I’m eager to start but need to know how many jars I can expect to see if I should move on to a different recipe. I don’t want too much cherry pie filling that we can’t eat it all!
Mavis Butterfield says
Oopps! Sorry, I’ll go back and add that in. I used 7 quart jars.
pie lover says
What kind of cherries do you use to make pie filling? I love sour cherry pie but can not find them in stores so I need to know what to use.
Gina says
Just to be sure — do you use sour cherries?
Mavis Butterfield says
Most people do, yes.
Anna says
Mavis,
I make a ton of pies, but never from a canned pie filling. Do you just dump a can of the filling into a crust, top, and bake? Do you use a certain temperature? Thanks!
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes! 375 degrees and you are good to go. Just like any other pie.
Leanne says
When I was young, my mother and I put up pie (sour) cherries for pies in the winter. What we did, however, was remove the stems and pits, wash the cherries and pack in quart jars. Then we filled the jars with water. When we wanted to make a pie, we dumped the contents of the jar into a sauce pan, added sugar to taste and brought it to a boil. To thicken it, we used corn starch as you would for gravy. When it was thick enough (eye balled) into the crust it went and into the oven. Made wonderful pies and cherry pie is still one of my all time favorites.
Leanne says
Addition to my last post. We actually washed the cherries before pitting them to avoid losing juice and we canned them as you would normally for fruit.