How to Make Blackberry Pie Filling
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I love this time of year, when the blackberries are ripe. I love picking blackberries, even when I get blackberry bush scratches from head to toe. The pain is worth the effort, there is nothing better than fresh blackberries. One of my favorite go-to blackberry recipes is this blackberry jelly recipe. This year I tried canning blackberry pie filling with my fresh blackberries. It is now one of my favorite pie filling recipes for canning.
Canning blackberry pie filling is very easy, but you will need to buy some Clear Jel if you don’t already have some on hand.
This recipe makes 2 quarts of pie filling. You will need 1 quart of pie filling to bake one pie. You can double or triple this recipe to make more pie filling.
Blackberry Pie Filling Recipe
Ingredients:
- 7 c. whole blackberries
- 10 tablespoons Clear Jel
- 1 1/2 cups sugar or Stevia
- 2 cups water or grape juice
- 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
Just a couple of notes first. You can use water, grape juice, or some other type of berry juice for this recipe. The fruit juice will give the pie filling more color. You can also add a few drops of red and blue food coloring if you want your pie filling to be more purple in color.
Clear Jel and cornstarch are not interchangeable in canning. You need to use Clear Jel to thicken your pie filling, cornstarch is not safe for canning.
Place the blackberries in a strainer and make sure all of the stems have been removed from the berries. Give them a good rinse.
Place the Clear Jel in a large stock pot and stir in the sugar, mixing them together well. Add the water or juice, and whisk everything together, mixing well.
Heat, stirring constantly, until mixture becomes thick. It will thicken fairly quickly, so make sure to keep a close eye on it. Stir in the lemon juice and cook for another minute.
Stir in the blackberries until the blackberries are evenly distributed.
Hoosier Hill Farm Clear Jel, 1.5 Lbs.Prepworks by Progressive Canning Funnel for Regular and Wide Mouth Jars
Granite Ware Enamel-on-Steel Canning Kit, 9-Piece
Canning Directions
Pour the hot blackberry mixture into sterilized quart sized canning jars, leaving 1 1/2 inch head space. You need to leave the extra head space because your berries will expand when heated and you will end up with a big mess on your hands if there isn’t enough room in the jars for the pie filling to expand.
You can easily measure the head space with this inexpensive canning funnel.
Wipe off the rims of the jars with a damp paper towel or kitchen towel, and place the sterilized canning lids and rings on the jars finger tight.
Place the prepared jars in a boiling water canner, making sure that you have 1 inch of water above the tops of the jars. Bring the water to a boil. Process jars for 30 minutes.
Remove the jars from the canner and place on the kitchen counter to cool. If one of your jars does not seal, just place it in the refrigerator and use it in the next week. You can also re-process jars with new lids and rings. Sealed jars can be stored in a cool dark place for 1-2 years.
Related Recipes
- Blackberry Lavender Kombucha
- Canning Blackberry Syrup
- Blackberry Jelly Recipe
- Canning Blackberry Jam
- Canning Plum Blackberry Jam
- Blackberry Muffins
- Blackberry Pie (from Fresh Blackberries!)
Follow my canning and preserving board on Pinterest.
In case you missed it:
Can I strain the seeds out of the blackberries & get the same result?
I have never made pie filling with Clear Jel before ( and had never heard of it!) I ordered some on Amazon so I could try this recipe and made a canner full of black raspberry pie filling. Oh my gosh…it is the best filling ever – smooth as silk and delicious! I’ve made pies all my life with cornstarch, tapioca or flour, and now I don’t think I can go back to them! My husband and I ate a whole jar of the filling without the pie! ( just a pint jar, Lol!)
Could you make this using frozen berries?
Thanks for such a great recipe. Can’t wait to try my pie filling.
Easy Peezy to follow and easy Peezy to make wonderful flavor
I made this pie filling and it came out perfect..I plan on doing it again and tripling it..best ever
After really searching I found your recipe this is in ‘old math English’. I don’t get the gram conversion and if a recipe says 1 cup is 144 grams and I need two cups I get to figure and hope I don’t mess up all my work in raising my berries, picking them, preparing expense etc. So to read your recipe in actual cups with a treat beyond measure and I wanted to let you know. Will prepare this week-end. Thanks again. You also gave some wonderful hints I didn’t know (like cornstarch). Have a fantastic Fall!!
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
This looks so good! I love that the blackberries can have another use other than jam!
Thank you. Will try these delicious recipes. And everything was explained so well.