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This homemade Cherry Pie Filling Recipe makes the best cherry pie recipe, true, but why stop there? Spoon the fruit pie filling over yogurt, cheesecake, waffles, ice cream, and tuck into hand pies and beyond. All of the sudden, life is a whole lot sweeter.
Despite its name, the best cherry pie filling is far too tasty to reserve for inside just cherry pies. Once you learn how to make your own Cherry Pie Filling from scratch with fresh cherries, you’ll want to spoon this cherry recipe over a wide variety of brunch entrees and desserts. It’s an easy method with simple ingredients that anyone can handle!
Everything can be elevated with this homemade pie filling: oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, ice cream, cheesecake, and more. Or make cherry turnovers tucked into puff pastry with vanilla ice cream, and of course, tuck this filling into pie dough for your best cherry pie.
Who’s ready for a taste of summer?
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Tart or sweet cherries: Choose any cherry variety or a mix of multiple. Sour cherries such as Montmorency are on the tart side, while Bing and Hudson cherries are sweeter. Rainier cherries and yellow cherries are lighter in color but full of flavor. They all taste terrific in pie filling.
- Granulated sugar: Start with 1 ¼ cup, then taste a sample. If you’re starting with cherries that fall more on the tart side, you may want to add a couple spoonfuls more to sweeten things up.
- Cornstarch: Make a cornstarch slurry to thicken the saucy fruit mixture into its lusciously viscous consistency.
- Cherry or apple juice: Choose one of the above to infuse even more flavor into the cherry pie filling. Water also works in a pinch.
- Pure almond extract: I adore the subtle nutty note this lends, however, vanilla extract is a stellar substitute if you like.
Step-by-step instructions
- Place pitted cherries in a large bowl and sprinkle with ½ cup of sugar. (You’ll have ¾ cup sugar remaining.)
- Let stand for 15-20 minutes to allow the release of natural juices.
- In a large stainless steel or other non-reactive pan, whisk together the remaining sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add lemon juice and water (or juice) and whisk until smooth.
- Add cherries and any accumulated juices to the pan, making sure to scrape out any undissolved sugar as well. Stir well.
- Place pot on stove and turn heat to medium and allow the cherries to come to a simmer, stirring often. Raise heat to medium-high and cook, stirring constantly making sure to get the bottom and sides of pan as the liquid comes to a rolling boil. As soon as it starts to boil, set a timer for 3 minutes. Keep stirring as directed above so the bottom doesn’t scorch. Don’t skimp on the time; the cornstarch will only thicken if the liquid is brought to a full boil.
- Remove from heat and stir in almond extract and red food coloring, if using.
- Transfer to jars or another container with tight-fitting lid. Allow to cool before storing in the refrigerator.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This easy homemade Cherry Pie Filling recipe makes about 2 quarts (8 cups) pie filling. It’s enough to fill two fruit pies, two cobblers or crisps, 12 to 16 hand pies, or to top 12 or so servings of waffles, pancakes, ice cream, yogurt, cheesecake, or cake.
- Storage: Store homemade Cherry Pie Filling in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: Pack cooled Cherry Pie Filling into freezer-safe containers (I like pint-sized mason jars with plastic lids). Label, date, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Canning: This pie filling can be bottled/canned in a hot water bath or using a pressure canner. Follow the USDA recommended times if bottling the filling. Will keep for about 1 year bottled and 1 week fresh in the refrigerator.
- Thicker: For a thicker Cherry Pie Filling, stir 1 tablespoon cornstarch with ¼ cup cold water to make a slurry. Add few teaspoons of the slurry to the boiling filling. Cook for at least one minute. If it’s thick enough, discard remaining slurry, if it’s still too thin, add a little more of the slurry. Keep in mind that the filling will be thinner when it’s hot than when it is cold. If too much is added the filling will solidify into a gel when it cools.
- Apple Pie Filling: Another delicious pie filling with an autumn spices, this easy pie filling is flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frozen fruit is simply fresh fruit frozen at its peak level of ripeness. Frozen cherries should work beautifully in this pie filling recipe. If you notice that the texture of the filling appears to be a bit juicier than you’d prefer, due to the excess moisture from the defrosted fruit, add a pinch more cornstarch.
Some folks swear by using chopsticks, paperclips, or straws. I’m more fond of the efficient OXO Quick-Release Multi-Cherry Pitter since it quickly and cleanly pits six cherries at once. If you don’t own a cherry pitter, simply slice each cherry in half, avoiding the pit, then use clean hands to fish out the pits. Halved cherries work just fine in this Cherry Pie Filling recipe, and that’s one of the cleanest ways to tackle the task. (That being said, I still recommend wearing an apron; cherry juice is easy to splatter and can swiftly lead to stains.
California cherries start coming in to season in mid-May and stay around until June or July. Washington cherries are in season from June to August.
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Cherry Pie Filling Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 cups tart or sweet cherries pitted and stemmed (see note 1)
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar divided (use more if using tart cherries, see note 2)
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch (see note 3)
- Pinch Salt
- 1/2 cup water or juice, cherry or apple (see note 4)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract (see note 5)
- 1/4 teaspoon red food coloring optional
Instructions
- Place pitted cherries in a large bowl and sprinkle with ½ cup of sugar. (You'll have ¾ cup sugar remaining.) Let stand for 15-20 minutes to allow the release of natural juices.
- In a large stainless steel or other non-reactive pan, whisk together remaining sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add lemon juice and water (or juice) and whisk until smooth.
- Add cherries and any accumulated juices to the pan, making sure to scrape out any undissolved sugar as well. Stir well.
- Place pot on stove and turn heat to medium and allow the cherries to come to a simmer, stirring often. Raise heat to medium-high and cook, stirring constantly making sure to get the bottom and sides of pan as the liquid comes to a rolling boil.
- As soon as it starts to boil, set a timer for 3 minutes. Keep stirring as directed above so the bottom doesn't scorch. Don't skimp on the time; the cornstarch will only thicken if the liquid is brought to a full boil.
- Remove from heat and stir in almond extract and red food coloring, if using. Transfer to jars or another container with tight-fitting lid. Allow to cool before storing in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Tart or sweet cherries: Choose any cherry variety or a mix of multiple. Sour Montmorency cherries are on the tart side, while Bing and Hudson cherries are sweeter. Rainier and yellow cherries are lighter in color but full of flavor. They all taste terrific in pie filling.
- Granulated sugar: Start with 1 ¼ cup, then taste a sample. If you’re starting with cherries that fall more on the tart side, you may want to add a couple spoonfuls more to sweeten things up.
- Cornstarch: This is the incognito cherry pie filling ingredient that thickens the saucy fruit mixture into its lusciously viscous consistency.
- Cherry or apple juice: Choose one of the above to infuse even more flavor into the cherry pie filling. Water also works in a pinch.
- Pure almond extract: I adore the subtle nutty note this lends, however, vanilla extract is a stellar substitute if you like.
- Yield: This Cherry Pie Filling recipe makes about 2 quarts (8 cups) pie filling. It’s enough to fill two fruit pies, two cobblers or crisps, 12 to 16 hand pies, or to top 12 or so servings of waffles, pancakes, ice cream, yogurt, cheesecake, or cake.
- Storage: Store homemade Cherry Pie Filling in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Can you use this recipe for fry pies?
Hi Debbie! I don’t see why not, sounds delicious! I haven’t tried it myself, but stop by and comment if you do try it out and let me know how it goes!-Meggan
Excellent filling recipe. Very flavorful and easy. I froze the second quart to see how it holds up.