Canning Apple Pie Filling

Canning apple pie filling at home means you’re just minutes away from having a pie in the oven.  The apples are already peeled, chopped, seasoned and thickened.  That allows you to just pour the pre-made apple pie filling into your favorite crust and bake.  

Next time you need something quick for a potluck, you can still bring a homemade apple pie.

Canning apple pie filling is my favorite way to turn a mountain of fall apples into instant desserts all winter long. One quart is basically “pie night in a jar,” and it’s just as good spooned over oatmeal, pancakes, and ice cream.

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Apple pie filling is one of those pantry projects that feels a little bit magical: you do the peeling once, you do the mess once, and then you get to coast for months. The key is following a tested method, because pie fillings are thickened and that changes how heat moves through the jar. 

It’s fancier than simply canning applesauce, a bit more versatile than apple jam, and more filling than canning apple juice or canning apple cider. And it has a brighter, fresher flavor than long cooked apple butter.

This version uses cook-type Clear Jel (the only thickener recommended for home-canned pie fillings) and bottled lemon juice for consistent acidity. 

This tested apple pie filling canning recipe was developed by the National Center for Food Preservation, and it follows modern safe canning guidelines. They also have recipes for canning peach pie filling and canning cherry pie filling, but this one’s my favorite!

Ingredients for Canning Apple Pie Filling

This recipe has all the classic elements of a homemade apple pie, and the main difference is the thickener.  While you can use flour, corn starch or tapioca starch when making pies generally, those can’t be used in canning.

The only tested thickener for canning is Clear Jel, a specific type of corn starch that is thin when hot, and gels nicely when cooled.  It can be heated and cooled repeatedly, and it’ll continue to gel when it cools and liquify when hot.  This allows heat to penetrate the jars during canning, and ensures that the pie will still set when it’s baked again later.

Here’s what you need for canning apple pie filling:

• Apples: Choose firm, crisp apples that hold their shape when heated. Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Golden Delicious, and Jonagold are all solid options, and I especially like mixing a tart apple (like Granny Smith) with something sweeter for a more “real pie” flavor. Slice them about ½-inch thick so they don’t turn mushy in the jar.
• Granulated sugar: Sugar sweetens the filling and helps create that classic glossy pie-filling syrup. You can adjust the sugar to taste, but keep in mind that less sugar will make the apple flavor taste sharper and the spices more pronounced.
• Clear Jel: Use regular (cook-type) Clear Jel, not instant. Cook-type Clear Jel is designed to thicken properly through the heat of canning and still bake well later. Other thickeners (flour, cornstarch, tapioca) aren’t tested and cannot be safely used in canning.  If you’re purchasing clear jel, it usually comes in containers measured by the pound rather than volume.  One pound of clear jel equals about 3 cups, so plan accordingly.
• Cold water: This is the liquid Clear Jel needs to hydrate smoothly before the pot ever hits the burner. Starting with cold water helps prevent lumps, which is especially important with Clear Jel because clumps won’t dissolve once the mixture begins to thicken.
• Apple juice: Apple juice gives the filling a fuller, fruit-forward taste (instead of a sauce that just tastes like sugar and cinnamon). Store-bought juice works fine, but homemade apple juice or fresh-pressed cider makes a noticeably more “apple-y” jar.  Don’t use all apple juice, it makes the flavor kind of overwhelming, and not in a good way.  A mix of water and apple juice or cider is best.
• Bottled lemon juice: Bottled lemon juice is used because its acidity is standardized. Fresh lemons can vary, and in this recipe the lemon juice isn’t just flavor, it’s part of the tested balance for a safe, shelf-stable filling.
• Cinnamon: Cinnamon is the main “apple pie” spice here, adding warmth without overpowering the fruit. Feel free to tweak the amount to your liking, especially if you prefer a more boldly spiced filling.
• Nutmeg (optional): Nutmeg adds that bakery-style depth that makes the filling smell like a pie the moment it warms up. A little goes a long way, which is why the amount is small—enough to round out the flavor without turning the filling into “nutmeg pie.”

Making Apple Pie Filling for Canning

Start by getting your canning setup ready: heat a boiling-water canner, wash your jars and lids, and keep the jars warm since hot pie filling should always go into hot jars. 

Peel, core, and slice the apples into pieces about ½-inch thick so they hold their shape and stay pleasantly “pie-like” after processing. If you want to keep the slices looking bright, you can hold them in an ascorbic-acid solution to prevent browning while you work.  A splash of lemon juice in water works too. 

This step is purely cosmetic and won’t affect safety. Brown apples aren’t as pretty in a jar, but they’re just as tasty. 

Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch the apple slices for one minute, working in batches, then drain and keep the apples warm in a covered bowl or pot so they’re ready to go into the thickened syrup.

As they blanch, you’ll notice they bubble a good bit. That’s air being driven out of their tissues, which shrinks them so they can fit in the jar better and removes air so they float less.

To make the sauce, whisk the sugar and Clear Jel together in a large pot first, then add the cold or room temperature water, apple juice, and spices and whisk until completely smooth before turning on the heat. 

Clear jel can clump if it’s dissolved in hot liquid, so don’t use your apple blanching water here.  You need cool or room temperature water to get everything dissolved, and then you can start heating it once it’s whisked smooth.

Cook the mixture over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens and comes to a bubble. Once it’s bubbling, add the bottled lemon juice and continue boiling for one minute, stirring the entire time. 

Remove from the heat, and turn back to your blanched apples that you’ve held warm while you made the sauce.

Take the pot off the heat, fold in the warm, drained apples, and immediately ladle the hot filling into prepared quart jars, leaving one inch of headspace. De-bubble, adjust headspace if needed, wipe rims, apply lids and then tighten on rings to fingertip tight.

Work quickly, as the clear jel will start setting up as it cools. It needs to be piping hot when it goes into the jars to pack evenly without bubbles.

If you’re not canning, this pie filling can then be stored in the fridge and it should keep for about a week or so.  That said, I think it’s much nicer to process the batch in a waterbath canner so you can store it on the pantry shelf until you need it.

Canning Apple Pie Filling

If canning, prepare a waterbath canner, jars, lids and rings before beginning.

Once everything is ladled into jars and they’re de-bubbled and capped with two part canning lids they can be loaded into a pre-heated canner.  The canner should be simmering, around 180 degrees F.

Bring the canner up to a full rolling boil before you start your timer.

Process jars, both pints and quarts, for 25 minutes adjusting for altitude (see below).

When the processing time is up, turn off the heat, remove the canner lid, and let the jars rest in the hot water for about 10 minutes to help reduce siphoning, then lift them out and set them on a towel to cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours. 

Pie fillings are prone to sciphoning or liquid loss as they come out of the canner, so this extra step to allow them to cool slightly before you bring them out into the air is really helpful.

After they’ve cooled, check the seals and refrigerate any jars that didn’t seal.  Properly processed and sealed jars can be stored on the pantry shelf, where they’ll maintain peak quality for 8 to 12 months.

Yield Notes

This recipe is written so that you can make either a 1 pint batch or a full 7 pint canner batch.  If you’d like to make something in between, simply multiply the 1 quart batch by the number of quarts you’d like to make.

The NCHFP measures the sliced apples in quarts, which is honestly, a strange way to do it.  

I have found that 9 pounds of apples as purchased (or about 24 medium apples) will yield 6 quarts sliced (or about 6 pounds prepared).  That’s the amount required for a full 7 quart canner batch.

Your yield might be slightly different, if you’re more or less efficient peeling and coring the apples.  Still, the finished yield holds true.  A quart (4 cups) of peeled, sliced apples weighs about a pound.  You’ll need slightly less than a pound of prepared sliced apples (7/8ths pound, 0.875 lb, 14 ounces or about 400 grams) to equal the 3 ½ cups for every quart of pie filling you hope to make.

Storage

If properly canned and sealed, pie fillings can be stored on your pantry shelf and will be safe to eat indefinitely (so long as they’re sealed).  

While canned food doesn’t spoil, but it does decline in quality over time.  Most canning recipes say that it’s best to consume the food within 12 to 18 months for best quality.

I have found, however, that pie fillings with clear jel don’t hold their quality quite as long as jams and jellies.  For best quality, use within 8 to 12 months of canning.

They’ll hold longer if they’re kept in a cool, dark pantry, out of direct sunlight and away from heat.

Using Canned Apple Pie Filling

One quart makes roughly one 8-inch pie, and I’ve found that you need a quart plus a pint for an average 9 inch pie.  If you have a really big deep dish pie, you might use 2 quarts. 

For the most part, I can apple pie filling in quarts.  When I use it for pie, I use a quart and a half in the pie, and then save the extra bit left from the second quart in the fridge to use to top ice cream, oatmeal and waffles throughout the week.

Apple pie filling isn’t just for baking pies, and it works really well anywhere you’d like a sweet apple-y filling or topping.  It’s perfect between layers on a birthday cake, and it makes for an extra special sunday pancake day.  Many recipes use it as a cheesecake topping, and of course, you can always use it in cobblers and crisps.

I like using it in my apple pie shortbread bars, and it’s tasty in thumbprint cookies too.

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Servings: 8 servings, makes one quart or seven quarts, see notes

Canning Apple Pie Filling

By Ashley Adamant

This simple recipe for home canned apple pie filling lets you put up everything you need to fill a pie in a hurry.  Apple pie filling is also great on pancakes, over cheesecake or in cookie bars.

Prep: 30 minutes mins

Cook: 20 minutes mins

Canning Time: 25 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

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Equipment

• Water Bath Canner
• Quart Mason Jar (Wide Mouth)

Ingredients 

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For 1 Quart

• ▢ 3 ½ cups Apples, peeled, cored and sliced, see notes
• ▢ ½ cup sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup Clear Jel, cook-type, not instant
• ▢ ½ cup cold water
• ▢ ¾ cup apple juice
• ▢ 2 Tbsp bottled lemon juice
• ▢ ½ tsp cinnamon, optional
• ▢ ⅛ tsp nutmeg, optional

For a 7-Quart Canner Batch

• ▢ 6 quarts Apples, peeled, cored and sliced, see notes
• ▢ 3 cups sugar
• ▢ 1 ½ cups Clear Jel, cook-type, not instant
• ▢ 2 ½ cups cold water
• ▢ 5 cups apple juice
• ▢ ¾ cup bottled lemon juice
• ▢ 1 Tbsp cinnamon, optional
• ▢ 1 tsp nutmeg, optional

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions 

• Before you start cooking, prepare a boiling-water canner, wash jars and lids, and keep the jars hot. Apple pie filling is thick and sets quickly, so you want everything ready to go before the Clear Jel mixture finishes thickening.
• Wash the apples, then peel and core them. Slice into pieces about ½-inch thick so they stay nicely “pie-like” in the jar. If you want to prevent browning while you work, hold the slices in a solution of ascorbic acid and water (or water with a splash of lemon juice), then drain well. This step is optional and only affects appearance.
• Bring a separate pot of plain water to a boil and blanch the apple slices for 1 minute, working in batches so the pot stays at a boil. Drain each batch well and transfer the warm apples to a covered bowl or pot to keep them hot while you finish blanching the rest. Keeping the apples warm helps everything stay hot-packed and ready for the jars.
• In a large, non-reactive pot, whisk the sugar and cook-type Clear Jel together until evenly combined. Add the cold (or room-temperature) water and apple juice, then whisk thoroughly until the Clear Jel is completely dissolved and the mixture looks perfectly smooth. Don’t shortcut this step. Once Clear Jel starts heating, any dry pockets can turn into little gel lumps that won’t smooth back out.
• Set the pot over medium-high heat and cook, stirring constantly, scraping the bottom and corners as you go. As the mixture heats, it will begin to look more translucent and noticeably thicken. Keep stirring until it comes to a full bubble (not just a lazy simmer). When the mixture is bubbling, add the bottled lemon juice, stir well, and continue boiling for 1 minute, still stirring constantly.
• Remove the pot from the heat and immediately fold in the drained, warm apple slices. Stir gently but thoroughly so all slices are coated and the filling is evenly distributed. Work promptly from this point forward so the filling stays hot.
• Ladle the hot apple pie filling into hot jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Use a bubble remover (or a plastic knife/chopstick) to work out trapped air pockets around the fruit, then re-check headspace and adjust if needed. Wipe the jar rims with a clean, damp cloth to remove any syrup or starch residue, then apply two-piece canning lids and screw bands on fingertip-tight.
• Load the jars into the preheated canner. The water should be hot/simmering when the jars go in; then bring the canner up to a full rolling boil. Once boiling, start the processing timer and process pints or quarts for 25 minutes, adjusting for altitude as needed.
• When the processing time is complete, turn off the heat and remove the canner lid. Let the jars rest in the hot water for about 10 minutes before removing them, which helps reduce siphoning (pie fillings are especially prone to it). After the rest, lift the jars out with a jar lifter and place them upright on a towel, leaving space between jars. Don’t retighten bands and don’t disturb the jars while they cool.
• Allow jars to cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours. Check seals, then remove bands, label, and store sealed jars in a cool, dark pantry. Refrigerate any unsealed jars and use them first. Refrigerate after opening any jar.

Notes

This is a tested apple pie filling canning recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. The recipe relies on regular (cook-type) Clear Jel as the approved thickener for canning pie fillings, and it uses bottled lemon juice for standardized acidity. Do not substitute flour, cornstarch, tapioca, or other thickeners. 

Clear Jel handling matters. Whisk Clear Jel with the sugar first, then dissolve it into cool or room-temperature water and apple juice before heating. Do not use hot blanching water in the Clear Jel mixture, because Clear Jel can clump when introduced to hot liquid. Stir constantly as the mixture heats and thickens, and keep stirring after adding the lemon juice.

Safe adjustments

You may adjust dry spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, apple pie spice blends, etc.) to taste. You may also adjust the sugar up or down since it’s there for flavor, not preservation. You may reduce the Clear Jel slightly for a looser filling, but do not increase it beyond the recipe amount. You may increase lemon juice for extra tartness, but you may not decrease it; the minimum amount must remain the same.

Altitude Adjustments

Process hot-packed pints or quarts for:

• 0–1,000 ft: 25 minutes
• 1,001–3,000 ft: 30 minutes
• 3,001–6,000 ft: 35 minutes
• Above 6,000 ft: 40 minutes

Yield and Scaling

The recipe is written as one-quart amounts and a full seven-quart canner batch. To make any amount in between, multiply the one-quart ingredient amounts by the number of quarts you want. For the full canner batch, I’ve found that about 9 pounds of apples as purchased (roughly 24 medium apples) yields the 6 quarts sliced apples. A quart of peeled, sliced apples weighs about a pound, and each quart of finished pie filling uses 3 ½ cups sliced apples, which is roughly 14 ounces (about 400 g) prepared apples.

Using Canned Pie Filling

One quart fills about an eight-inch pie. For a typical nine-inch pie, I usually use a quart plus a pint, and deep dish pies may take two quarts. Any extra opened filling keeps well in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.25cups, Calories: 104kcal, Carbohydrates: 27g, Protein: 0.2g, Fat: 0.2g, Saturated Fat: 0.03g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.04g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g, Sodium: 2mg, Potassium: 87mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 21g, Vitamin A: 30IU, Vitamin C: 4mg, Calcium: 7mg, Iron: 0.1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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