Canning Strawberry Pie Filling
This easy recipe for canning strawberry pie filling only has 5 ingredients. It is incredibly easy. Make the sauce and refrigerate or water bath can it for longer storage.
Strawberries have such a short season that is nice to have an arsenal of different recipes to extend that season for months to come. This pie filling is a great example.
You can make a small batch or make up to 7 quart jars to fill up your canning pot. This pie filling can be stored in the freezer if you prefer not process them in a water bath canner.
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What you need
- strawberries – use fresh or frozen berries. We recommend using your own frozen or a good quality store bought frozen berry.
- sugar -white or turbinado will both work.
- lemon juice -use bottled lemon juice, the acidity is more uniform than using fresh lemons.
- Clear-jel thickener – do not use cornstarch or corn flour to make this filling if you are canning it. It is not safe!
- water
How to make filling
Wash and heat jars and lids. Prepare water bath canning pot. Turn on to preheat.
- Rinse berries well.
- Remove hull from strawberries.
- Boil water in a large pot. Blanch berries for one minute. Remove with slotted spoon to covered bowl. Make sure you let them drain well in the slotted spoon.
- Add strawberry juice or water, lemon juice and Clearjel mixed with sugar to a separate pan. Bring to boil. Stir to remove clumps. Reduce heat cook about 10 minutes until thickened. Add berries back to sauce to heat.
Canning strawberry pie filling
- Ladle hot filling mixture into the hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
- Wipe rims clean with damp paper towel.
- Center lids on jars.
- Apply bands and adjust to fingertip tight. Place filled jars directly on rack in canner ensuring jars are covered by over 1 inch water. Bring to a gentle, steady boil.
Process jars for 30 minutes, adjusting for altitude. After processing time is complete, turn off heat. Let jars rest in hot water for 5 minutes before removing from canning pot.
Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down in the center, when pressed. Store jars in a cool place.
Important recipe notes
- 1 quart (liter) makes enough to fill a standard 9″ (25cm) pie crust.
- Only use bottled lemon juice. The acidity is tested and the acidity of fresh lemon juice varies.
- Blanch strawberries briefly or they will overcook.
- Wait for water in canning pot to return to a boil before starting the 30 minute timer.
- Always allow jars to rest in the canning pot water for 5-10 minutes before removing them to reduce the risk of siphoning. (liquid seeping out of the top)
Uses for strawberry pie filling
- obviously, pies (top with fresh whipped cream for a special treat)
- vanilla ice cream topping
- pour over yogurt or cottage cheese
- strawberry bars
- strawberry crisp
- parfaits
Canning strawberry pie filling is a fun and easy project that you will be so happy you did in the middle of January when the strawberries you buy at the store are so very sad and flavorless. the flavor of this pie filling is far superior to the canned stuff you buy at the grocery store.
More pie fillings
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I hope you enjoyed the recipe today!
Enjoy. And have fun cooking!
Canning Strawberry Pie Filling
Ingredients
- 3½ cups fresh strawberries just over a quart
- 5 tablespoons Clear Jel modified cornstarch
- ¾ cup Sugar plus 2 Tbsp
- 1 cup water
- 3½ teaspoons Bottled Lemon Juice
Instructions
How to make the filling
- Rinse berries well.3½ cups fresh strawberries
- Remove hulls.
- Boil water in a large pan. Blanch berries for one minute. Remove with slotted spoon to covered bowl.
- Add juice or water, lemon juice and Clear-jel mixed with sugar to a separate pan. Bring to boil. Stir to remove clumps. Reduce heat cook about 10 minutes until thickened. Add berries back to sauce to heat.5 tablespoons Clear Jel modified cornstarch, 1 cup water, 3½ teaspoons Bottled Lemon Juice, ¾ cup Sugar
How to can the filling
- Ladle hot filling into the hot jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace.
- Wipe rims clean with damp paper towel.
- Center lids on jars.
- Apply bands and adjust to fingertip tight. Place filled jars in canner ensuring jars are covered by over 1″ water. Bring to a gentle, steady boil.
- Process jars for 30 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Turn off heat. Let jars rest in hot water for 5 minutes before removing from canning pot.
- Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down in the center, when pressed. Store jars in a cool place.
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USES FOR STRAWBERRY PIE FILLING
- obviously, pies
- ice cream topping
- pour over yogurt or cottage cheese
- strawberry bars
- strawberry crisp
- parfaits
Would you still blanch the strawberries if they were frozen?
No. They should be fine if they were frozen.
Hello, can I use strawberry jello instead of strawberry juice? Would that work?
No strawberry jello wouldn’t work if you are canning it. I just use water and the fresh strawberries. I don’t even use juice. Thanks for checking out the recipe Sarah.
Is there an alternative for the Cleargel?
If you are canning it. No. You can not substitute anything else.
If you just want to make a pie, then you can use tapioca, cornstarch or flour. Do not use any of these if you are canning though!
Yes, there is a product called therm-flo that is made for canning. I use it for my peach and cherry danish and it turns out lovely. Trying this strawberry recipe for the first today so I’ll see how it work for this.
There are definitely different brand names. Thanks Ashley.
This looks so good and canning strawberries sounds so much easier than I thought!
It really is very easy. Thanks for checking out the recipe Genevieve!
I have canned Strawberry pie filling and it was beautiful. Is it normal for the strawberries to lose that bright red color? They did and I wound up throwing it out thinking it wasn’t good. The seal was good. Thanks
The strawberries will “bleed” some of their color into the filling. This is perfectly normal. It’s really what you are looking for.
You can also use food coloring to help keep the color bright. I do this also with Blueberry Pie Filling and it stays looking beautiful after canning.
Yes. Food coloring works fine. Thanks Lisa!
I made it today! WOW! It is so yummy and delicious that I can eat it on its own! The pie will wait for me. 🙂
We had the same problem over here. I could eat it with a spoon! So good. Thanks Irina!
Thanks for sharing these tips and tricks for canning this strawberry pie filling. I will be doing this soon.
Thanks for checking out the recipe Jacque. I hope you like it!
What a great idea! I (very) rarely make strawberry jam but I didn’t think of doing this pie filling and less sugar is a bonus
Thanks Jacqueline. It is really good. I hope you like it!
this sounds delicious and I bet its great on top of ice creams and in shakes also!
Yes. It’s a perfect dessert topper! Thanks Claudia!
Yummy! This is going to be perfect for my pie later this weekend! So excited to make this very soon! The family is going to love this!
I hope they do. Thanks so much for checking out the recipe Beth!