Mom's Homemade Apple Pie Filling for Canning

Upclose image of Mom's Apple Pie in a Jar.

4.52 from 50 votes

Mom's Homemade Apple Pie Filling for Canning

This Homemade Apple Pie Filling is a canning recipe that eliminates those tins of canned pie filling you buy in the store. Delicious flavor and convenient for making pies, topping ice cream, or mixing into tasty apple fritters!

Course Desserts

Cuisine American

Keyword Apple Pie Filling, apple pie filling recipe for canning, Apple Pie in a Jar, Canned apple pie filling, canning apple pie filling, Homemade Apple Pie Filling, homemade apple pie filling for canning

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 30

Total Time 50

Servings quarts

Calories 809kcal

Author Shelby Law Ruttan

Equipment

Ingredients

7 lbs apples peeled, cored, and sliced
3½ cups sugar
1 cup cornstarch or clear jel
10 cups water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
¼ teaspoons nutmeg

Instructions

Add the water, sugar, cornstarch*, cinnamon, and nutmeg, to a large stock pot.
Cook over medium high heat until sauce has thickened. Add the lemon juice.
Fill the hot sterile jars with the freshly cut apple slices. Using a ladle and funnel, pour the hot sauce mixture into jars until 1" from the top.
Wipe lip of jar with clean cloth, Cover with sealing lid and cap and screw cap on tightly. Process in a hot water bath for 20 minutes.
Once processed, turn off burner and pull rack up to rest on edge of canner. Let set 10 minutes. Remove jars from canner and place on a dry towel. Allow jars to cool completely.
Once cool, test jars by tapping the top of the lid. If the jar pops, it did not seal and should be refrigerated until ready to use. Any unsealed jars can be reprocessed if desired or stored in fridge and once open, used within one week.
Sealed jars can be stored on the shelf up to 1 year.

Notes

Notes:

This recipe for Mom's Apple Pie in a Jar is one that I received from her later in my life. When she gave it to me, it called for cornstarch as a thickener which is apparently how she has always done it.

After a reader comment on whether cornstarch was safe, I did my research and read that only approved recipes for canning pie filling should use cornstarch. I cannot tell you this is an approved recipe. I do not know where my mother got it from.

At this point, I encourage you to decide what is best for you to do. If looking to use something other than cornstarch, Clear Jel is the recommended thickener (a modified cornstarch). I would use the same amount of clear jel as cornstarch and follow the instructions as written.

Disclaimer: According to documentation that I have read, cornstarch should not be used in unapproved recipes for canning. My mother made this pie filling recipe for years and I have made it the same way myself. I have always used cornstarch. However, if you have concerns about using cornstarch in canning pie filling, please use the appropriate substitute of Clear Jell for cornstarch.

Nutrition