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Homemade Apple Pie Filling Recipe – this easy recipe takes just a few minutes and tastes so much better than canned pie filling – tender apples in a thick cinnamon sauce – they’re perfect as a side dish, in an apple pie, or to use anywhere that calls for a can of pie filling. You never need to buy that can of pie filling again!
Homemade Pie Filling is Best!
Learn how to make apple pie filling from scratch – It will taste better, be fresher, and you can use it in so many recipes (like the best apple strudel recipe or apple crisp).
This easy recipe is a cooked easy apple pie filling, made on the stovetop, and is perfect to use immediately, eat over the week, or freeze for later. It’s perfect for any recipe that calls for a can of pie filling – not just making apple pie!
Apple Pie Filling Ingredients
- Apples: I used Granny Smith apples because the tart/sweet combination is great, plus they’re more sturdy and can hold up to cooking. You can also use honeycrisp if you want.
- Cornstarch: This is what thickens the pie filling
- Sugar: Granulated, for sweetness – but you can swap brown sugar if you prefer in equal amounts.
- Water: Gives the liquid to the filling – you could substitute apple juice or apple cider, but you’d want to reduce the sugar.
- Lemon: Adds a brightness to the flavor
- Spices: Cinnamon and Nutmeg are perfect for apple pie, you can also use pumpkin pie spice!
How to make Apple Pie Filling
- Peel and slice or chop your apples bite size – your choice.
- Whisk dry ingredients in your saucepan then add water and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.
- Once the mixture boils, boil it for two minutes.
- Add the apples, turn to a simmer, and cover. Cook until the apple soften.
Variations
- Slice or chop your apples – thickness and size will alter cooking time.
- Use brown sugar instead of white sugar for a more caramel flavor.
- Add pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice in place of the cinnamon and nutmeg.
Best Apples for Pie Filling
I prefer using Granny Smith Apples for all my apple pie recipes. However, you can use any apple you love (I also love using Gala or Fuji), but I would steer clear of Red Delicious. This recipe will be better with a firmer apple – and cooking time will be less the softer the apple.
Ways to use Apple Pie Filling
This recipe can be used in place of one 20 ounce can of pie filling – wherever that is called for you can use this recipe to make it homemade.
How to make apple pie: this recipe is perfect when baked into my All Butter Homemade Pie Crust. Place the pie filling in a 9-inch pie plate and pile it high (or use a deep dish). Cover with a double crust, lattice, or crumble topping. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 425°F for 15 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350° and bake until pie crust is cooked through.
Make a completely no bake apple pie using my graham cracker crust!
My favorite way to use pie filling is as a topping for apple cheesecake or in French toast casserole or as a topping for really anything, like a lush dessert.
It’s also amazing as a topper for waffles, oatmeal, pancakes – or just over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I even use it on yogurt!
Storage, Freezing, Canning
- Do not can this recipe – it’s made with cornstarch and you cannot can anything thickened with cornstarch.
- Store the recipe in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. It’s great to make ahead because it needs to cool before using, and lasts several days.
- You can freeze pie filling for later – I prefer freezing in plastic containers – but just store in freezer for up to a few months.
Apple Pie Filling Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups apples peeled, cored, and diced
- Juice of ½ a lemon
- 3 cups (711ml) water
- 1 ⅓ cups (267g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (42g) cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
- Place apples in a large bowl and toss with lemon juice.
- Place water, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg in a medium saucepan. Stir to combine then bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. Once the mixture boils, boil it for two minutes. Add the apples, turn to a simmer, and cover. Cook, stirring often, until the apples soften, about 5-8 minutes.
- Pour into jars to cool to room temperature then cover and refrigerate. The mixture will thicken more as it cools.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Recipe Nutrition
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If you’re looking for other things to make with this recipe, be sure to check out more of my recipes below:
I have always made my own apple pie filling, because I was taught as a child by my mom, a master at pie-baking. I like the idea of freezing or canning for future use, though – I would bake more often for my pie-loving husband! Thanks to Suzanne, too, for the canning tips.
Hi Dorothy. Sure i would be happy to pass the technique on. We have been doing this for lots of years with thankfully not much fail on it. First cook whatever you are doing and get it good and hot. Be it speghetti sauce, pinto beans (yes with ham hock pieces), soup, jelly, blueberry sauce, pears, apples, beans ( which i hate canned as they turn mushy) whatever. Yes i cook in crock pot or stock pot. Dont burn whatever you are making of course. Just make sure it has cooled long enough to be hot enough. Buy BALL JARS AND LID/RINGS! Trust me on that. The generic ones dont work as well. Wash your jars in dish washer preferably to sterilize before hand. Your jars go in the OVEN for at least 20 minutes or so on 200 degrees. At the same time put your lids/rings in water in a pot and bring it to a boil and let them boil maybe 15 minutes. Ready to can. You have to move fast now and have hot pads at hand and a canning funnel and rubber spatula and long tongs for getting the jar out of oven/ taking the rings out of boiling water. Make sure to have hot pads on the counter to put you hot jars on. Take one jar at a time out of oven, pour your food into the jar thru funnel until you reach the almost to the top of jar but not the mouth of jar as you need that room for it to seal. Take one lid/ring out of hot water with tongs and put it on the top and quickly screw in on and tighten it firmly. Set aside and keep going till all food is jarred. As you work you will hear loud popping sounds. That means your jar just sealed by the way. You will get one pop sound per jar. You can look at the lid and see that it is dimpled down and even. That is the seal. If you dont hear a pop and if you see that the middle part is still up the jar did not seal. Put it in the fridge to eat up soon after it has cooled. The rest of them after cooled you can label them (a label maker works great by the way) with what is in the jar and dont forgot to put the date on it. Generally you want to make sure you have liquid in there too and not just dry food. Yes I watched my Mother and Grandmother do the old fashion ways but fast and dirty and hot works too. Simple. But you need to make sure you can handle getting your hands BLASTED HOT as it is going to happen. Thus the work dang fast comes in hand. Oh dont drop the jar on the floor. Use the tongs to get out of the oven. We put a pan under us for making a mess as it happens. It catches all the dripping and you can put your tools on it too. My husband does the handling of jars and i put the food in the jar. My hands cant handle the heat as his can. If they all dont seal then i recommend dumping the jars out and freezing instead as it may take some practice on getting this down pat! haha. Just kidding. Give it a go. If for some reason down the line if you smell something rank coming from your pantry the first thing to look for you may have an unsealed jar that has gone bad. It has happened maybe two or three times in all the years we have been canning. It happens. Dont ask me how something can become unsealed over time as i have no clue. Good luck. I hope this helps someone. If any one has questions please just let me know. I know that some foods have to be done the old fashioned way but i dont know those ways.
Thank you for the canning info-40 years ago I canned the old fashioned way and haven’t done since then. I’m going to use “your way” of canning as it seems to be a simpler way of canning.
Glad I found this site & read comments to which I found your comment about canning. Thanks again.
Darlene
Suzanne-I tried to copy & paste your canning info from 2017 found on this site but it’s not working. Is there any chance you could send it to me via email? What did you use to thicken the apple mixture? (Remembered the “no cornstarch in canning” comment.
Appreciate your help.
Darlene
Hi Darlene. I will be happy to give you my technique for canning via email instead if you will supply me with your email address. However I did not try to can these apples but only made the recipe and put it straight into a pie. This is what I found regarding that issue. I went to google and asked! Is it safe to use cornstarch in canning apple pie filling?
It’s not the best method, but it’s safe and effective. Simply eliminate the cornstarch and clear jel from your recipe, then add it before you use your pie filling. When you open the jar to use the apple pie filling, add 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch to the jar. Go to this site which is here that comment came from and read on to get the how to!
https://www.babysavers.com/easy-apple-pie-filling/
Thank you for this! I have not bought canned pie filling in ages since the last time I bought it and it was 3/4 gel. I can’t wait to make this and I am going to make that apple strudel recipe with it!
This is genius! I’m not a fan of the store bought variety! You can use this in so many ways!
Also PS all the savemart checkout people know me very well. haha. I’m there like every day because I’m the worst at planning.
Yum! I would eat this right from the jar.
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