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Home canned peach pie filling on the pantry shelf is like having a homemade dessert ready at a moment’s notice. It works wonderfully to top a cheesecake or coffee cake, and it’s perfect for whipping together a homemade pie in minutes.
Every year I put up a big batch of canned peaches, and in the winter time I pull them out for cobblers and pies. The trick is, when you’re canning peaches in syrup, some of the peach flavors leaves the peaches to flavor the syrup. For peach pie filling, every drop in that jar will land in a pie, so every last bit of peachy flavor is preserved.
Unlike canned peaches in syrup where you can tweak the recipe as much as you like, home canned peach pie filling cant deviate from the safe approved recipe. If you adjust the amount of sugar or skip the lemon juice it may not jel properly or it may not be acidic enough for safe canning.
You can’t just put up any old peach pie filling recipe. Flour turns to paste in a canner, and regular cornstarch won’t work either. There is a special thickener called clear jel that was developed for canning pie fillings. It stays liquid while it’s hot, allowing you to fill the jars quickly without air bubbles. After canning, the jars set firmly and are preserved until needed.
This recipe comes from the national center for food preservation, which has tested canning recipes using clear jel. The only things that are optional are the seasoning. Feel free to skip the cinnamon or almond extract, or add in your own blend of seasonings like ginger or nutmeg.
I’ve found another older tested recipe for canned peach pie filling in The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. That recipe was developed before clear jel was invented, and it’s also laboratory tested for safety. It uses the pectin in apples and lemon juice to naturally thicken the peach pie filling without cornstarch or flour.
Be careful what type of clear jel you get because the “instant” type thickens as soon as it hits a hot liquid, which won’t work for canning. Be sure to buy the cook type clear jel. The nice thing is, clear jel can be re-heated multiple times and it will continue to liquify once heated and set when cooled. Once you re-heat the pie filling while baking a pie, the gel loosens, it turns liquid again and then will set again once it cools.
Since clear jel thickens as it cools, it’s more important than ever to pack the jars very hot for canning. I had a bit of the extra gel left in the pot after I’d finished filling my canning jars, and within minutes of turning off the heat it had already setup completely. A little hot water washes it off completely for cleanup, but during the canning process, the pie filling needs to flow freely to completely fill the jars.
Canning peach pie filling is ever so slightly more complicated than canning peach slices because you need to first cook the peaches and then remove them from the pot to make the gel. The peaches go back into the pot once the gel is prepared and the completed pie filling is packed into jars.
Raw peaches are full of air bubbles that will come out during the canning process. That’s why it’s important to cook the peaches before they go into the canner. The gel itself cant be cooked that long, so the peaches need to be cooked separately and then kept warm until they can go back into the pie filling.
Once the peaches are cooked, the pot is drained of cooking liquid. At this point, the instructions tell you to add all the filling ingredients except the peaches into the pot and then add in a measured amount of cold water. To me, it seems like a shame to waste all that peach cooking water, since so much of the peach flavor has gone into the water. When you make peach jelly, all you do is boil peaches in water for a few minutes and the peach flavor leaches into the water for the jelly.
Instead of adding cold water, I added back in a measured amount of the peach cooking liquid. My worry here was that it’d cause the clear jel to clump or not setup properly, but I didn’t have any issues. I used a large balloon whisk to incorporate the clear jel and sugar into the hot peach water and I didn’t have any lumps.
At this point you need to cook the clear jel until it’s boiling and starts to thicken. The original recipe says that this will happen quickly, but it took about 20 minutes for the whole mixture to come to a boil even though I used hot peach liquid instead of cold water.
Once the mixture begins to thicken, ladel it into prepared canning jars. Quarts or pints both work fine, but I’d suggest wide mouth to get everything in there and make sure you can get the finished pie filling out for use. Since it’s a slightly thick mixture, it takes a bit of extra effort to remove air bubbles. Be sure to leave a 1 inch headspace.
At this point, the peach pie filling gel will still look white, and I was a bit concerned that it’d stay that way. Once the canning process was finished, the gel turned clear. Fear not, even if it’s a bit unattractive before it goes into the canner, it’ll be a beautifully canned peach pie filling when it comes out.
Peach Pie Filling for Canning
Ingredients
- 6 quarts peaches, sliced and peeled
- 7 cups sugar
- 2 1/4 cups Clear Jel, cook type, not instant
- 5 1/4 cups peach cooking liquid or water
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 3/4 cups lemon juice
- water for cooking peaches
Instructions
- Prepare a water bath canner and 7 one quart wide mouth jars.
- In a separate large saucepan, add about 2-3 quarts of water and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, add the peach slices and allow the water to return to a boil. Boil for 2-3 minutes and then strain, reserving the liquid. Remove the peaches to a separate bowl and cover to keep warm.
- Empty the water completely from the cooking pot, reserving 5 1/4 cups of peach cooking liquid.
- Add the sugar and clear jel back into the pot. Measure 5 1/4 cups of peach cooking liquid and add it to the pot. Mix the liquid into the clear jel and sugar, using a whisk to fully incorporate and remove any lumps.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, and then add in cinnamon and almond extract (if using) and all the lemon juice. Do not skip the lemon juice, it is required for safe canning.
- Return the mixture to a boil and then add in hot peach slices.
- Once the mixture begins to simmer again, ladle into prepared canning jars. Be sure to remove air bubbles and leave 1 inch of headspace.
- Process jars (both pints and quarts) for 30 minutes in a water bath canner if under 1,000 feet in elevation. Adjust cook time to elevation.
- Remove jars from the canner and allow to cool completely before checking seals. Store sealed jars at room temperature and use within 1 year. Store any unsealed jars in the fridge and use within 1 week.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How to Use Peach Pie Filling
Now that you’ve canned peach pie filling, what can you do with it? Pie is the obvious answer, but there’s plenty of other ways to use peach pie filling. I asked some of my food blogger friends to share their best recipes, aren’t they beautiful!?!
No Bake Peach Icebox Cake from Beyond Frosting
Peach Layer Cake from Liv For Cake
Peaches and Cream Monkey Bread from Pint Sized Baker
Peach Blueberry Pie from Smells Like Home
More Ways to Use Peach Pie Filling
If that’s not inspiring enough, here’s a few more ideas….
- Peaches and Cream Bars
- Peach Pie with Crumb Topping
- Peach Hand Pies
- Simple Fruit Crisp
- Easy Peach Crumble Cobbler
- Simple Peach Cobbler
- Southern Peach Cobbler
- No Bake Peach Yum Yum
- Instant Pot Peach Crisp (skip the peach prep phase and just use the canned filling)
- Paleo Peach Crisp …it’s not exactly paleo with the sugar in the pie filling, but at least the topping is grain free
Thanks for your detailed instructions! I just made a half batch and it is processing now. It is the first time I have used Clear Jel, and wow, it thickens well!
A few people asked how they could tell when they have the right amount of peaches. I used about 8-9 average sized peaches per quart. If yours are really large, about 7 would do it. After diced them, I packed them into my quart jars just to make sure I had the right amount. Three full quart jars of diced peaches made 3 quart jars of pie filling, with about 3/4 cup left.
I used about 1 1/2 T of Penzey’s Baking Spice (their proprietary blend) instead of cinnamonbecause it is divine with any peach or apple dish (probably bananas too, but I haven’t tried that yet). I left out the almond extract.
I found that using a funnel to fill my wide mouth quart jars was more awkward than it was worth. I have a nice silicone spoonula and it worked perfectly for spooning the pie filling into the jars. I smoothed in down into there as I went and it was easy.
Another tip…. My half batch was about the right size for my 7 wt Dutch oven. I can’t imagine making a full batch in a regular Dutch oven. Just cooking the peaches in the water almost completely filled it.
Thanks so much for sharing.
I use perma – flo instead of clear gel in my pie fillings, is there a difference?
I found this statement from the Iowa State University Extension Office. “PermaFlo®, ThermFlo® and Thick Gel™ are commercial equivalents that have been accepted as alternatives for Clearjel® by some University Extensions.”
One more question – what is the reason for cooking the peaches an additional 3 minutes after adding them to the clear gel? They’ve already been cooked after blanching and the clear gel.is already thick at that point do it’s hard to stir. It’s not a step for other pie fillings so why fir peaches?
The 3 minute cook time is actually supposed to be done before the clear gel is added. This is standard procedure for pie fillings.
I made this and it tasted too lemony. Anything to do about that?
Unfortunately the amount of lemon juice in the recipe should not be altered. You could possibly adjust the sugar amount to help balance it. The variety of fruit can often impact the flavor of the pie.
Is there a way to use honey instead of sugar in this recipe? Would you use 1/2 the amount of sugar like you do in your other recipes? Do you add it later in the process or at the beginning like the sugar?
Thank you for such great recipes and step by step instructions. I’ve used several of your canning recipes this season and they’ve all turned our great!
You can use honey in this recipe, that’s fine. Add it in place of sugar, and use 1/2 to 2/3rds the amount of the sugar. It should be delicious!
I have gotten everything I needed and was looking forward to canning lots and lots of pie filling…however, someone just told me that you can’t can white peaches. Of course, I have a white peach tree. Do you know if this recipe will work with white peaches? If not, any advice on what to do if I cannot can them? (cannot can…lol)
Currently the only approved method for preserving white peaches is freezing.
Are you using fresh squeezed lemon juice or lemon juice from a bottle? I’ve always been told to use the bottle because you can be sure about the acidity level.
Bottled lemon juice is usually recommended.
Can I use citric acid instead of lemon juice??
You can safely swap it for the lemon juice but it could affect the flavor.
Is it alright to add other fruits like blueberries, huckleberries or raspberries to this recipe before canning – keeping the lemon juice to the same?
Yes, you can certainly add in other fruits if you wish.
I canned peach pie filling for the first time. There are a lot on tiny air bubbles throughout the jars. Does this affect the safety or quality of the filling?
You want to try and eliminate air bubbles in your jar prior to processing since this can affect the head space measurement. Once the jars have been processed these air bubbles do not pose a risk as long as your jar sealed properly and the air bubbles are not active. If the bubbles move or fizz, that is an indication that there has been fermentation or contamination in which case the food could be unsafe.
Can this recipe be halved or cut down in any way? I don’t have that many pounds of peaches but would like to make the canned pie filling. Thank you for your explanations!
Yes, you will find a recipe here for a smaller batch. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/can_pie/peach_filling.html
Well I thank you for your recipe, as I had a bunch of peaches that were going to go to waste if I didn’t can them. There’s a first time for everything, and though it turned out, it was hours of work. Cost of ingredients were around $1.20/ pint, though adding in my time at minimum wage was $7/pint.. I will probably use this more as cake filling, as my usual peach pies are mostly fruit, and this recipe has a lot of peach gel goop.
Hi Ashley! Can a sugar substitute be used? Or could I use half sugar and half sugar substitute? Thanks!
Hi Ashley! Can a sugar substitute be used? Or could I use half sugar and half sugar substitute? Thanks!
I looked into this, and according to the cooperative extensions, it’s perfectly fine to reduce sugar in pie filling canning recipes. They’re relying on the lemon juice for acidity as a preservative, and the sugar is not there for canning safety, just flavor. You can reduce the sugar as you like, but know the flavor will change, as will the texture.
As to adding sugar substitutes, I honestly have no idea. I believe there are some that are approved for canning, but we don’t use sugar substitutes in my house so I have no idea which those might be. If you can find a sugar substitute that’s fine for canning according to a reputable source (extension agency, national center for food preservation, etc) then I’d say go for it.
I measured 27 cups of cut peaches. Filled 5 and a half quarts. I will put the half jar over ice cream. It’s so good, I was licking the gel and stray peach off the pan. Yum. Waiting for my apples to ripen so I can make apple pie filling. That’s amazing too. Thank you for the great recipes!
The extra peach cooking liquid could be used to make peach tea, or freeze in ice trays to flavor any drink you use ice in.
I bought the 24-oz Ball jars (1.5 pint) to use two of them for the 48-oz pie filling. They come 9 to a box. This way I can reserve my quarts and pints for when I need that specific amount of item. Thanks for all your had work and great information.
Hello,
I canned peaches this past summer with no problems. To make a peach pie with a homemade crust, would you recommend blind baking the pastry? Or heating the filling prior to adding it to the pastry?
Since the filling was canned properly, I am thinking of just adding it to my unbaked pastry and baking. Do you have a temp/time recommendation?
Thanks!!
Hello,
I canned peaches this past summer with no problems. To make a peach pie with a homemade crust, would you recommend blind baking the pastry? Or heating the filling prior to adding it to the pastry?
Since the filling was canned properly, I am thinking of just adding it to my unbaked pastry and baking. Do you have a temp/time recommendation?
Thanks!!
It’s not necessary to blind bake your peach pie. Blind baking is typically used for cream, pudding or custard like pies. You can blind bake your pie crust if you want to have an extra crispy crust but it’s totally up to you. You can bake it at 400 degrees for around 50 minutes or until the filling is bubbly and crust is golden.
I am in the process of making this, My mixture got very thick in the pan. I added the peaches but it was still pie thickness consistency when I put it into the jars and before processing. Is this correct?
If you are using the correct type of clear jel, this shouldn’t be an issue. Clear jel can be reheated several times and when it is heated, it should liquify when heated and set as it cools. If you are using an instant type clear jel it thickens when it hits hot liquid.
Just starting to get into canning. This just happened in my feed. Saving it for later.
So glad you found it. Be sure to check out all of the other canning posts as well.
Can you pressure can this? I do not have good luck with hot water bath!!! Thank you.
There aren’t any tested and approved recipes available for pressure canning peach pie filling so I would stick with water bath canning on this. There are tested recipes available for sliced peaches though so you can always pressure can your peaches and then turn it into filling when you’re ready to make your pie. What kinds of problems do you have with water bath canning?
What is the adjustment in processing time for elevations over 1000 feet for this recipe?
It is different depending on how far above 1000 feet you are. You can always go to the National Center for Home Food Preservation. They have charts that tell you exactly what the processing time is for your elevation. Here is a direct link to the chart for peach pie filling. https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/can_pie/peach_filling.html
Hello,
I made this yesterday for the first time and also first time pie filling. It taste absolutely delicious. Thank you for sharing. Question it is very thick as in it barely moves when tipping the jar upside down. Is this normal? If it’s not could I reheat the mixture and add some more of the leftover juice to thin it a little or will that not help since it already had thickened and re bath?
Thank you
Nicole
Hello,
I made this yesterday for the first time and also first time pie filling. It taste absolutely delicious. Thank you for sharing. Question it is very thick as in it barely moves when tipping the jar upside down. Is this normal? If it’s not could I reheat the mixture and add some more of the leftover juice to thin it a little or will that not help since it already had thickened and re bath?
Thank you
Nicole
It should be quite thick in the canning jar once completely cooled, that’s normal. Enjoy!
I’m diabetic, is there anyway I could use a sweetener like allulose and a low sugar pectin? Or should I just can the Peaches and make pie filling with them after?
You can use any sweetener that is compatible with your pectin source or as you said, you can just can the peaches and make the filling with them later.
Could you recommend any ideas for what to do with the leftover peach juice? I hate to throw it out. Thanks!
You could make peach jelly https://practicalselfreliance.com/peach-jelly-recipe/ or peach wine https://practicalselfreliance.com/peach-wine/ with peach juice but that wouldn’t be the same as the peach cooking liquid in this recipe. If you come up with any ideas, let us know.
The extra peach cooking liquid could be used to make peach tea, or freeze in ice trays to flavor any drink you use ice in.
Great ideas. Thanks for sharing.
Any advice on the best way to peel and slice the peaches?
Blanching them is the best way to remove the skins. You can find specific instructions in this recipe for canning peaches. https://practicalselfreliance.com/canning-peaches/
We LOVE peaches! The 2021 peach crop brought lots of opportunity for cakes, pies and canning. I read your blog and thought it a great idea to turn the (boiled) peach juices back into your Peach Pie Filling recipe AND the results were fantastic! Thank you!
That’s wonderful. So glad it worked out for you.
What can I do if my pie filling didn’t set in the jars? Can I dump them and reheat and refill? I know I need to use new seals but is this possible?
Did you allow the jars to cool completely. If you used clear jel, it should remain liquid while hot and then thicken once it cools.
You can buy 8” pie pans on Amazon.
I used this recipe with the Clear Jell in it today! 12-30-20… it looked great in the jars, but the peach pie that I made out of it it was fantastic!!!! Thanks so much for the help using up some of last year’s peach crop that was in the freezer! Yum! Yum!
I used this recipe with the Clear Jell in it today! 12-30-20… it looked great in the jars, but the peach pie that I made out of it it was fantastic!!!! Thanks so much for the help using up some of last year’s peach crop that was in the freezer! Yum! Yum!
This is the exact recipe I found in a newspaper many years ago. Thanks for sharing.
HI, your Ball Jar recipe doesn’t show Clear Jel in it. Doesn’t it require any? Thank you!
HI, your Ball Jar recipe doesn’t show Clear Jel in it. Doesn’t it require any? Thank you!
The recipe calls for 2 1/4 cups Clear Jel.
In the Ball recipe, doesn’t the apples take the place of the clear jel?
Hi, I was wondering if I could sub out 2 cups peaches for blueberries in this recipe, ending with a peach blueberry pie filling. I was also wondering if I can use Stevia instead of the sugar?
Yes, you can do that. It is often recommended to use liquid stevia.
I am having a hard time finding canning jars. Can I use this recipe and freeze the leftovers after I fill the jars I have now or will this not work for freezing?
You can absolutely freeze the leftovers.
I made this, I actually ended up with 8 quarts, and I measured carefully. I am most afraid that my filling will have clumps of clear jel. My big tip: watch your head space, I got too much in one jar and it. bubbled out when it came out of the bath. The ones with correct head space were fine. I’ll make this again. Thank you for teaching me about clear jel!
Yes, headspace is tricky with pie fillings. I messed up some of my home-canned apple pie filling by not leaving enough headspace one year too, makes a big mess!
I’ve made this and it is fantastic! I’ve also made apple, black raspberry, cherry and blackberry. ALL turned out great.
So glad you enjoyed them!
How do you convert this to use in the pressure canner? Any idea what the pressure and time would be?
There isn’t a tested processing time for pressure canning peach pie filling. I would just stick with the water bath canning.
Last weekend I used your recipe to can peach pie filling. I am new at canning and I appreciate all of your information and directions. All went well to the point that I had all of the filled jars in the water bath for about 10 min and I was cleaning up.
I turned around and there sat my measuring cup of lemon juice that I forgotten to add to the peaches!
I remembered what you said about the importance of adding the lemon juice. And for lack of a better idea, and in a panick mode, I took all of the quart jars out of the water bath and dumped all of the peach pie filling in a pan, added the lemmon juice and brought it to a boil. I refilled the jars, put new flat lids on the jars and placed them back in the water bath and started the timer over once it started boiling.
So, my question is, will the peach pie filling be safe to eat now? I would think so, but being inexperienced at canning I would greatly appreciate your answer. Thank you!
Last weekend I used your recipe to can peach pie filling. I am new at canning and I appreciate all of your information and directions. All went well to the point that I had all of the filled jars in the water bath for about 10 min and I was cleaning up.
I turned around and there sat my measuring cup of lemon juice that I forgotten to add to the peaches!
I remembered what you said about the importance of adding the lemon juice. And for lack of a better idea, and in a panick mode, I took all of the quart jars out of the water bath and dumped all of the peach pie filling in a pan, added the lemmon juice and brought it to a boil. I refilled the jars, put new flat lids on the jars and placed them back in the water bath and started the timer over once it started boiling.
So, my question is, will the peach pie filling be safe to eat now? I would think so, but being inexperienced at canning I would greatly appreciate your answer. Thank you!
You’ll have to trust your own best judgment, as I’m not by any means a food safety expert and I’m not sure in this case. Personally speaking though, you did just what I would have done. I’d feel safe eating them so long as you really mixed it to fully incorporate the lemon juice. If you handed me a pie made with it, I’d eat it, but as I said with anything canning, use your own best judgment.
The other thing I’d suggest is to make sure you thoroughly cook anything that’s not canned 100% following the correct procedure. If you’re really off the mark, then you need to refrigerate it and eat it immediately, but if you’re pretty sure it’s fine and just want extra insurance, that’s what I mean.
If it’s in a grey area where you’re willing to eat it but it’s not done exactly as described, it’s safest to cook it completely. For peach pie filling, that means basically baking it into a pie or cobbler instead of using it to top pancakes.
Can I use peaches that I have frozen to make the pie filling and then can it? I have several quarts of frozen peaches that I need to do something with. We get several every year, eat a lot, then I freeze what we don’t eat before they spoil .
Yes, you can use frozen peaches for this. Just thaw them completely before starting. I’d also substitute some of the thawing liquid that strains out of them for the “peach cooking liquid” in the recipe. This peach juice would be perfect to help maintain flavor in the pie filling gel.
I have a question on your using frozen peaches answer.i also have frozen peaches that are taking up my freezer space. I froze my peaches in light syrup. Should I use the syrup as cooking liquid? Please when you have the time can you get back to me on this subject? I really need my freezer space back…
I would think that’d work fine? That’s a guess though. Already frozen they may fall apart when cooked into the pie filling, but they’d still taste great probably. I’d try it.
Do you still need to blanch the peaches if you are using frozen peaches?
The blanching is done to remove the skins so if your peaches are already peeled and frozen, there is no need for blanching.
Do you have the recipe for canned peach pie filling in The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving? I cannot find it online
Sure.
Here’s the Peach Pie Filling Recipe from the Ball Complete Book of Home Canning. I’ve written it out in my own words, but here’s how to make it.
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp whole cloves
12 cups sliced peaches (pitted and peeled)
2 cups apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
2 2/3 cup sugar
1 cup golden raisins
2 tbsp grated lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
– Tie cinnamon and cloves up in a bit of cheesecloth to make a spice bag.
– Combine all ingredients and spice bag in a large pot, bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat and simmer until thickened.
– Ladle into prepared canning jars with 1-inch headspace.
– Debubble, clean rims, adjust headspace, then seal and process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave jars another 5 minutes before removing to cool.
Shouldn’t there be some clear gel in this recipe!
Yes. The recipe calls for clear jel in the ingredients list.
In the Ball recipe the apples take the place of the clear jel.
The recipe that doesn’t use ClearJel is listed on the Bernardin site: https://www.bernardin.ca/recipes/en/peach-pie-filling.htm?Lang=EN-US
Please tell me – how do I measure 6 quarts of peaches? I have approximately 100 lbs of peaches and just can’t figure out how to get started – is there another way to do it or is it 6 quarts after peeling/slicing etc?
That’s 6 quarts of peaches measured after peeling and slicing, per batch. I didn’t weigh them when I did it, but I just did a bit of research and found that a pound of peaches makes roughly 3 cups of peeled/sliced peaches. If that’s true, you’d need about 8 pounds of peaches to make 6 quarts. I’ll try to remember to weight them when I make it this year to double check, but please let me know how it goes with yours.
I measured 27 cups of cut peaches. Filled 5 and a half quarts. I will put the half jar over ice cream. It’s so good, I was licking the gel and stray peach off the pan. Yum. Waiting for my apples to ripen so I can make apple pie filling. That’s amazing too. Thank you for the great recipes!
You’re so welcome. So glad you’re enjoying the recipes.
Just finished up tastes great! Thanks for this recipe so easy.
You’re so welcome. So glad you enjoyed the recipe.
So here’s a question. What size jars should I use? I mean what size jar makes a nine inch pie?
It takes a quart and a pint to make a full 9” pie, which is a bit tricky. I’ve made a really full pie with two quarts, I’ve also made a scant tart like pie with one quart. The people at ball canning recommend one quart for a smaller 8” pie crust, but it’s hard to find those pans. I put them up in both quarts and pints so I can make a regular pie with it using one of each.
I bought the 24-oz Ball jars (1.5 pint) to use two of them for the 48-oz pie filling. They come 9 to a box. This way I can reserve my quarts and pints for when I need that specific amount of item. Thanks for all your had work and great information.
You’re very welcome. So glad you’re enjoying the posts.
You can buy 8” pie pans on Amazon.