Homemade Cherry Pie Filling
Homemade Cherry Pie Filling comes together in just a few minutes. Try a spoonful with your morning yogurt or spooned over a stack of fresh, crispy waffles for a delicious treat!
It’s that time of year when I started counting down the days until spring.
I know it’s only January. I don’t care, I am ready for warm weather and to not have to spend 11 hours bundling Elle every time we have to leave the house.
Moms with young kids, I know you feel me.
Even though I have months to wait until spring is here, luckily I can pretend it is nice outside by taking a stroll through the freezer section of the grocery store and grabbing bags of frozen strawberries, blueberries and cherries.
Cherries are one of Elle’s and my favorite fruits. Which can be evidenced by no less than 5 stained tanks and tiny red finger smudges on our light switch plates during the summer.
What I can I say, the girl can get down with some cherries.
I’m one of those people that actually enjoys pitting cherries and a cherry pitter is one of the only unitaskers that I can actually get behind.
Well, they say you can pit olives with the tool too, but I am not much of an olive person unless they’re stuffed with some type of cheese.
I kind of think a pitter is necessary if you love to bake with fresh cherries. If you’ve ever tried to pit a cherry with a straw, you feel me.
Just be sure to wear an apron and not your favorite Madewell T because splattered cherry juice is no joke.
During the summer, Elle and I can often be found pitting as many as 5 pounds of cherries at a time. Some are for eating, some are for freezing, and the rest are for batches of homemade cherry pie filling.
HOMEMADE CHERRY PIE FILLING
I’ve been making my own cherry pie filling for years. In fact, I first shared this recipe back in 2011 – the post and photos have just gotten a few upgrades since then.
This cherry pie filling is super simple and only requires a handful of ingredients. And if you’re not into pitting cherries or fresh cherries aren’t in season, you can totally use frozen, pitted cherries from the market with great results.
Making Homemade Cherry Pie Filling only takes about 20 minutes to make. That’s probably less time than it would take you to run to the store and buy a can of pie filling!
And, since you made your filling from scratch, you can definitely get away with using a store-bought pie crust if you want, ‘kay? Just sayin’.
HOW TO USE HOMEMADE CHERRY PIE FILLING
Obviously this Homemade Cherry Pie Filling is great for pies. It’ll fill a 9-inch pie pan, so all you have to do is decide what kind of crust you’d like to use!
In addition to pie, it makes a killer cherry crisp, but it’s also amazing for topping yogurt parfaits, waffles, pancakes, ice cream – well, you get the idea.
Not to mention anything and everything cheesecake related: my Nana’s Cherry Cheesecake, Cherry Cheesecake Cookies, Cherry Cheesecake Cupcakes, and Mini Cherry Almond Cheesecakes.
What can I say, cherries and cheesecake go together even better than peas and carrots.
If you want to make a big batch and store it long-term, you’re in luck – my Homemade Cherry Pie Filling freezes beautifully for pies on request.
The stuff is delicious and I’m pretty certain you’re going to be making it any time you find fresh or frozen cherries at the store!
Homemade Cherry Pie Filling comes together in just a few minutes. Try a spoonful with your morning yogurt or spooned over a stack of fresh, crispy waffles for a delicious treat! As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Homemade Cherry Pie Filling
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
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This recipe is so simple yet so very delicious! We grow cherries that are more on the sour side, so it took approx. – 1 cup of sugar for this recipe.
Also, because our cherries produce so much juice, instead of adding water, I used the juice and added enough water to get to the 1/2 cup. To that I added the cornstarch to a smooth consistency, that will help eliminate lumps every time!
Thank You for a lovely recipe!
So happy to hear you enjoyed the pie filling, Della! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your feedback!
-Jamie
i made it with a touch of rum and cream cheeze it was to die for topped with whip cream
So happy to hear you enjoyed the pie filling! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your feedback!
-Jamie
I’ve made this several times now and I absolutely love it! My family always used canned cherries in cobbler or pies and I never liked them. I found this and tried it with frozen cherries and it makes a huge difference. It’s easy and so much better! I use the frozen three cherry blend from Costco, which is excellent, and the almond extract is a must. Thank you for an easy & delicious recipe!
So happy to hear you enjoy the recipe, Erin! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your feedback!
-Jamie
Hi, love the recipe, as a base? I hope that isn’t offensive, just wanted to mention that my cherries were on the slightly sweet side, so only used 1/3 cup of sugar was used, and that was plenty… we like the lemon to be very obvious so another teaspoon was also added. I had frozen cherries, so after I thawed them there was 2/3 cup of juice so used that instead of the water and bumped up the cornstarch by another teaspoon too…. OK, Oh, and I really really like the “cherry” taste, ie, almond extract, so used a whole teaspoon…YUM!! Turned out delicious, just how I wanted!! thanks!! ;-D
So happy to hear you enjoyed the filling, Jeanne! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your feedback!
-Jamie
Hi there! I was wanting to use this cherry pie filling recipe for a teacher luncheon that my students and I are asked to provide for. I noticed in the comments that you said it freezes nicely. If I wanted to prepare the filling the day before and store it in the fridge overnight then bake the pie the following day do you think it would still turn out okay?
I would assume so but, I would like someone else’s opinion who is an expert at the recipe. Thank you!
Hello – Yes, storing it in the refrigerator overnight should be just fine. Hope this helps! Happy baking –
Jamie
Wow sounds so easy. I’ll be trying.
Thanks so much for stopping by, Sheila! I appreciate you taking the time to comment. Happy Baking!
-Jamie
I made this using frozen cherries because that was what I had. It tastes awesome! Love your blog and this is my first time posting a comment. Your recipes are always sure to please and I thank you for sharing!
Made this according to your directions without the almond flavoring,( which now you can taste the cherries!), – used a partial bag of three cherry blend from Costco and added a few dark sweet cherries, ( my father likes things not too sour), needed to simmer a bit on very low to achieve desired thickness but this is the best recipe I’ve ever used for cherry pie filling! THANK YOU!
Ruth
I have been a blog follower for quite some time but just had to comment and let you know that I tried your homemade cherry pie filling. BEST PIE EVER! My family loves cherry pie and living in Ohio, we can’t really get tart cherries. So I buy a mixture of frozen cherries that contains both sweet and tart. I decided to try your recipe for Christmas and IT WAS A HIT! Best cherry pie I have ever tasted and I made it exactly as your printed recipe. Fabulous! Thanks for always having such great recipes and tips! Even though I didn’t have fresh cherries, but used frozen, this recipe worked so well and is the only cherry pie recipe I will ever use. Awesome!
Amazing recipe!! Simply Devine
So happy to hear you enjoyed the pie filling, Ronica! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your feedback!
-Jamie