A few minutes of chopping and cooking on the stove and you can enjoy a fresh, homemade Strawberry Pie filling. It is perfect for breakfast cakes, danishes, or spreading on toast.
With spring finally getting here, I am looking forward to lots of fruit. One thing I always love to do with our kids is to go strawberry picking.
There is nothing like a fresh strawberry on a warm day! Sadly, the kids don’t share my enthusiasm for going anymore, but that doesn’t stop me from making them go with us. It’s about family time and those photo opportunities. But until the strawberries are ready on the farms, we will enjoy a box of berries from the store.
Berries do not last very long in our refrigerator. We have some berry monsters who will eat an entire box if I’m not watching. I am so glad our kids love to eat fresh fruit and veggies. So when I bought a new big box of strawberries, I had to make sure everyone knew they had to wait to start munching. These berries had a pie filling destiny.
Pie filling is actually easier to make than you think. Sure you can buy a can of strawberry pie filling at the store…if you like paying for cans full of gel and very little berries. This pie filling is easy to make and doesn’t take too much time at all.
Start with 5 cups of sliced berries. We want to make sure there is plenty of strawberries in our filling. Water, sugar, and cornstarch gets boiled into a gel for coating the strawberries in. Add the berries and boil for about 10 minutes.
The filling will have a pink color from the berries boiling down. A little bit of strawberry Jello powder will add more color to the filling.
Now comes the hard part. You have to have patience and wait for it to cool off. It needs to cool off enough for you to put it in your refrigerator for a few hours. This will give it time to thicken up a little bit more. Making it the night before is an easy way to have it ready to go the next day.
Now you are ready to use the strawberry pie filling in whatever you like. We like it in this delicious Strawberry Lemon Snack Cake that is perfect for spring.
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This homemade strawberry pie filling is easy to make on the stove top and has a delicious homemade taste. Perfect for cakes, pies, and pastries.
Ingredients
- 5 cups sliced fresh strawberries
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup dry strawberry Jell-o powder
Instructions
- Stir together the strawberries and lemon juice. Set aside.
- Whisk the sugar and cornstarch into the water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Stir in the strawberries and bring to a boil again. Reduce the heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the Jell-o powder. Let cool. Makes 4 cups pie filling. Keep refrigerated in a sealed container for 5 days.
A few more strawberry recipes that our family loves:
Strawberry Cheesecake Brownies
Mrs.T says
Jocelyn, thank you so much for this recipe! Last week I was making a dessert that called for cherry pie filling, but I wanted to use strawberry. When I did a search, I found this recipe and knew (because I’ve come to completely trust your recipes to be great!) that it would be wonderful. And it was.
I did use frozen strawberries because I had bags of them that we picked this summer. What I did was to partially thaw the berries enough so they could be sliced. Then I sliced them, measuring 5 cups of sliced berries, and used them in the recipe, following the directions as given. You’re right, it didn’t take as long to cook the previously frozen berries. The recipe came out perfectly. I let it cool at room temp for several hours, then put it in a container to chill overnight before using it in the recipe.
Thanks again, so much. The dessert turned out great.
Jocelyn says
Yay! Thank you so much for letting me know…and for the smile your comment gave me 🙂
Angela says
How many ounces of filling does this recipe make?
Jocelyn says
Generally a 21 ounce can of pie filling from the store measures 1 1/2 cups. So, since this recipe makes 4 cups of filling, it would be about 56 ounces, give or take. What are you trying to make with it?
Angela says
I was thinking about making a strawberry cream pie, but it only requires 21 ounces of filling. Do you have any recommendations on making a smaller volume of the filling?
Jocelyn says
If you just cut everything in half, you should be fine. I have actually never made a pie with this filling. We eat it on toast, breakfast danishes, or in this strawberry lemon snack cake. https://insidebrucrewlife.com/2014/03/strawberry-lemon-snack-cake/
mallory says
Looks great! quick question; how many 9 in. pies does this fill?
Jocelyn says
My guess would be 2 pies. Honestly, I have actually never made pie with it. We use it on toast, pastries, and this cake. https://insidebrucrewlife.com/2014/03/strawberry-lemon-snack-cake/
Ammie says
Do you think it would work for a cheesecake topping?
Jocelyn says
I think it would be an awesome topping for a slice of cheesecake! 🙂
Julie says
How long do I can it in a hot water bath ?
Jocelyn says
I have actually never canned this recipe. The recipe doesn’t make a lot, so we usually eat it all in a short time. Keep me posted if you decide to can it.
Nicole says
Can you can this? Or is it best to use right away 🙂
Jocelyn says
I have never canned this before. We just use it up right away.