Homemade Cherry Pie Filling is easy to make and so much better than store bought ones! This pie filling comes together in under 30 minutes, and is perfect for all your summer treats. Use it as a filling in your baked goods, with your favorite breakfast, as a topping on a cheesecake, or parfait. Indulge in some delicious treat, and sing to your heart!!!

Homemade Cherry Pie Filling can be made with fresh or frozen cherries. This recipe is gluten-free. This recipe makes filling enough for a 9-inch cherry pie. 

HOMEMADE CHERRY PIE FILLING

This cherry pie filling is made with fresh sweet cherries, and is simmered with some sugar, and spices, for a thick, flavorful filling. I use this homemade cherry pie filling in baked goods, such as cherry pie, tart or Danish, as a topping on a cheesecake or ice-cream, in a parfait, on a waffle, crepes or pancake. Soooo yum!!!

There’s is nothing more satisfying than a freshly baked cherry pie, and what could be a better way of using this homemade cherry pie filling. My home smells heavenly, when I make this cherry pie filling and my kids absolutely love it on almost anything and everything. They use it as topping on their ice-cream, waffles, pancakes, biscuits.

Homemade cherry pie filling comes together in no time and is so much better than store bought! It takes less than 30 minutes to make fresh homemade cherry pie filling from start to finish. Once you have pitted the cherries, all you need is stir all the ingredients together and simmer until sauce thickens, and here you have the most flavorsome cherry pie filling, that you can use it pretty much on anything your heart desires.

The best part of homemade cherry pie filling is that, comes with no preservatives, and you have complete control over the ingredients. You can add sweetness to your taste, store bought pie filling are overly sweet for my taste. Nothing beats the taste and flavor of this simple, homemade cherry pie filling. Try it once, and I am sure you will never go back to store bought ones, guaranteed!!!

INGREDIENTS FOR CHERRY PIE FILLING

2 1/2 – 3 lbs fresh dark sweet cherries, pitted (around 5-6 cups)

1/2 cup granulated sugar or preferred sweetener

2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

3/4 cup water

2 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract (Optional)

HOW TO MAKE CHERRY PIE FILLING

Homemade cherry pie filling is easy and so much better than store bought. Pie filling can be made with fresh or frozen cherries, and with just few ingredients, you have one of the best tasting cherry pie filling to devour.

The only time consuming part in this entire recipe is to pit the cherries. I would highly recommend using a cherry pitter, it saves a ton of time.

Once you have pitted the cherries, it takes no time to make this homemade cherry pie filling. You can make this pie filling in an Instant Pot or on a stove top. Sharing my quick and easy recipe for this delicious homemade cherry pie filling.

INSTANT POT CHERRY PIE FILLING

You will need INSTANT POT

Add all the ingredients into the inner pot – pitted cherries along with its juices, water, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon. Mix all the ingredients for 1-2 minutes, or until everything is well combined.

Note: This is important, make sure you mix the ingredients thoroughly to prevent any burnt bottom.

Close the Instant pot lid, and turn ON MANUAL / PRESSURE COOK (high), for 1 minute. Followed by a quick pressure release.

Note: Pressure cook time only “ONE” minute.

Open the Instant pot lid. Give mixture a good stir.

Turn ON Saute (low), let it simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until desired consistency, stir frequently, to avoid any burnt bottom.

Note: As the pie filling thickens, it starts to stick to the bottom of the pot. To avoid any burnt bottom, make sure you stir the filling.

Turn OFF saute, add vanilla extract, or almond extract (optional), stir everything together. Cool completely, and use it in a pie, or serve it as a topping.

This recipe yields around 40 ounces of cherry pie filling. Stays fresh for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

STOVE TOP CHERRY PIE FILLING

Add all the ingredients into a pot – pitted cherries along with its juices, water, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon. Toss all ingredients to combine well.

Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until desired consistency, stirring frequently, to avoid any burnt bottom.

Note: As the pie filling thickens, it starts to stick to the bottom of the pot. To avoid any burnt bottom, make sure you stir the filling.

Turn OFF the heat, add vanilla extract, or almond extract (optional), stir everything together. Cool completely, and use it in a pie, or serve it as a topping.

TIPS FOR BEST HOMEMADE CHERRY PIE FILLING

Do not overcook the pie filling, as soon as it starts to thicken, or reaches desired consistency, turn OFF the heat. The filling will thicken as it cools down. The cherries should be firm and intact, as they will continue to cook, when baked inside a pie.

Recipe uses fresh dark cherries, these cherries are quite sweet. You can use any cherry variety for this recipe, one or combination of cherries would work just fine. If using sour cherries, increase the amount of sugar, to 3/4 or 1 cup depending upon how sour the cherries are and how sweet you like it.

You can use fresh or frozen cherries for this recipe. If using frozen cherries, add an additional tablespoon of cornstarch, as frozen cherries, release more moisture than the fresh cherries.

If using Instant pot for making this recipe, make sure to do a quick pressure release. Let it simmer for 5-10 minutes, and frequently stir the pie filling to prevent any sticking to the bottom of the pot.

The filling thickens as it cools down, and also upon refrigeration.

Cool the pie filling completely before transferring it into a clean, sterilized glass jar.

FAQ ABOUT CHERRY PIE FILLING

WHICH CHERRIES TO USE

The cherry pie filling can be made with one or combination of cherry variety, use your favorite variety of cherry. I used sweet dark cherries, for this recipe, as these are naturally sweet, so I end up using less sugar. If using sour cherries, increase sugar to 3/4 or 1 cup, depending upon how sweet you like the filling.

SUGAR SUBSTITUTE

You can use any sweetener of your choice, sugar, brown sugar, honey, or any artificial sweetener. Recipe uses granulated sugar. Please do not use powdered or confectioner’s sugar for this recipe.

HOW TO PIT CHERRIES

The easiest way to pit cherries is using a cherry pitter. It is an inexpensive tool, and makes so much easier to pit the cherries. If you love cherries, and use them in baking, or to make your favorite dish, I would highly recommend invest in one cherry pitter. It’s an inexpensive gadget and saves you ton of time.

I have used this cherry pitter, available on Amazon

If you don’t have cherry pitter, you can still pit the cherries. Use a chopstick, or a screwer to pit the cherries. You can cut the cherries into half, and remove the pit.

SUBSTITUTE FOR LEMON

Lime juice, can be used instead of lemon juice. You can also use freshly squeezed orange sugar, just replace water with orange juice. For added flavor, you can also use some lime or orange zest, around teaspoon.

WHAT SPICES TO USE

Recipe uses cinnamon, but you can also use some nutmeg, or all-spice. If using nutmeg, use 1/8 teaspoon, as it has quite strong flavor, little goes a long way.

HOW TO STORE AND PRESERVE CHERRY PIE FILLING

Cherry pie filling stays good for up to 3 days into the refrigerator. Pie filling freezes beautifully. You can freeze the pie filling for up to 3 months. Defrost the filling overnight in the refrigerator, and use it as suggested in the recipe.

Store the pie filling in a sterilized glass jar. Do not pour the mixture in the jar while its hot to prevent uneven consistency. Let the filling cool down a little and then transfer it into a sterilized jar.

If canning the pie filling, follow the instructions that came with your canning jars.

WHAT FLAVORING TO USE

Vanilla and almond extract, go well with cherries. Use 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract or 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract.

CAN I USE FROZEN CHERRIES

Yes, you can use frozen cherries. Use them as suggested in the recipe, add an extra tablespoon of cornstarch, as frozen cherries have more moisture.

CAN I REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF SUGAR

Yes, you can reduce the sugar, depending upon your taste. Also, depending upon how sweet the cherries are you can adjust the quantity of sugar.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS FOR CHERRY PIE FILLING

Enjoy this lip-smacking pie filling with your favorite food. Sharing some of my favorite ways to enjoy this delicious pie filling.

Use pie filling to make a pie, pastries, donuts.

As a topping on cheesecake, ice-cream, pancakes, waffles

Add a layer of pie filling to the cake, pastries, cookies.

I love pie filling on a piece of toast, biscuit, or even bagel

Add pie filling to your yogurt, or parfait

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