Cherry Pie Filling substitute

Best substitute

Homemade filling from frozen or jarred cherries

1 lb (450 g) cherries, ½ to ⅔ cup sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, makes about 2 ½ cups, or one 21 oz can

Best for cherry pie

Close match

This is the right answer and it takes about ten minutes. Bring the cherries and sugar to a simmer so they release their juice, stir in the cornstarch slurry, and cook two to three minutes more until the sauce turns from cloudy to clear and glossy, then cool completely before using. It tastes markedly better than canned: brighter, less syrupy, less obviously starchy. Use sour or Morello cherries if you can, since the canned product is made from them and sweet cherries need the full tablespoon of lemon juice to avoid tasting flat.

Other cherry pie filling substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Another flavour of canned pie filling
Different taste
1 can for 1 can, 1:1 by volume
The truly effortless swap, because the sugar and starch are already balanced for you.
What changes
Blueberry is the closest in tartness and colour. Apple is much sweeter, softer and less sharp, so a dump cake made with it tastes more like a cobbler and less bright. Peach is the sweetest and loosest of the common ones. Nothing about the method changes, and the bake time stays the same, which is why this is the safest choice for a recipe you have not made before.
Best for
dump cake, cobbler, hand pies, cheesecake topping
If the substitute filling tastes flat, stir in a teaspoon of lemon juice before using it.
3Cherry jam or preserves, loosened
Taste and texture differ
1 ¼ cups jam plus 2 tablespoons water for one 21 oz can
Jam already contains sugar and a set, so it needs no cooking, just thinning.
What changes
The differences are real: it is smooth rather than full of whole cherries, so a cherry pie made this way has no fruit to bite into, and it is considerably sweeter, so add a tablespoon of lemon juice. It works best where the filling is a layer or a topping rather than the substance of the dessert, on a cheesecake, between cake layers, or swirled through a batter. Add a handful of frozen cherries for texture if you have any.
Best for
cheesecake topping, Black Forest cake layers, danish and pastries, swirling into batter
Do not use jam alone as the whole filling of a deep double-crust pie; there is not enough fruit and it will be sickly.
4Fresh cherries cooked down
Close match
1 ½ lb (700 g) pitted fresh cherries, ½ cup sugar, 2 ½ tablespoons cornstarch, 1 tablespoon lemon juice
The best-tasting version of all, and the most work, mainly because of the pitting.
What changes
Fresh cherries hold more water than frozen or jarred, so use a little extra cornstarch and expect to simmer a couple of minutes longer to drive off liquid. Sweet varieties like Bing need the lemon juice and about a third less sugar; sour cherries need the full amount of sugar. A quarter teaspoon of almond extract added off the heat makes it taste unmistakably like cherry pie.
Best for
cherry pie, cobbler and crumble, cheesecake topping, galette
A cherry pitter or a sturdy paperclip makes short work of the pits; a chopstick pushed through the stem end also works.
5Canned or jarred cherries plus starch
Close match
two 15 oz cans cherries, drained with ½ cup juice reserved, ½ cup sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch
The middle path, and probably the most common pantry solution.
What changes
Canned cherries in water or light syrup are already soft, so all you are doing is sweetening and thickening the liquid: whisk the cornstarch into the reserved juice, bring it to a simmer with the sugar until clear and thick, then fold the cherries in gently off the heat so they stay whole. If the cherries came in heavy syrup, cut the sugar to a quarter cup. Texture is nearly identical to canned filling and flavour is cleaner.
Best for
cherry pie, dump cake, trifle, cheesecake topping
Fold, do not stir. Canned cherries collapse into mush with much agitation.
6Cranberry sauce or mixed berry filling (when there are no cherries at all)
Different taste
Use the same amount by volume, plus 2 tablespoons sugar per cup for whole-berry cranberry sauce
Honest position: this is not a cherry substitute, it is a different dessert that works.
What changes
Whole-berry cranberry sauce is already thick, tart and dark red, so it behaves in a dump cake or a hand pie exactly the way pie filling does, but it tastes sharper and more astringent and needs extra sugar. Mixed berry filling or thick berry compote is closer in sweetness. Choose one of these when the recipe needs a thick red fruit layer and nobody has promised anyone a cherry dessert.
Best for
dump cake, hand pies, cheesecake topping, cobbler
A quarter teaspoon of almond extract nudges any red fruit filling towards tasting cherry-like.

What is Cherry Pie Filling?

Cherry Pie Filling is Cherry pie filling is a canned or tinned product of whole pitted cherries suspended in a thick, glossy, sweetened sauce already set with cornstarch or modified starch, ready to spoon straight into a crust without any further cooking.

Cooking tips

One standard can of cherry pie filling is 21 oz, which is about 2 1/2 cups and enough for a single 9-inch pie or one dump cake. If you are making your own, aim for that volume so the recipe timings still hold.
Cornstarch needs to reach a proper simmer to thicken and then must be cooked another two minutes to lose its raw taste. Watch for the sauce turning from milky to glossy and translucent; that is the signal it is done. Do not boil it hard for long after that, because prolonged boiling breaks the starch down and the filling thins again.
Canned pie filling is fully cooked and homemade filling should be too, so both go into a crust cold. Hot filling melts the fat in raw pastry and gives you a pale, greasy, soggy base.
A quarter teaspoon of almond extract is the difference between fruit in syrup and something that tastes like cherry pie, because cherry and almond share aromatic compounds. Add it off the heat so it does not cook away.
For Black Forest cake, drain the filling and use the cherries and the sauce separately: cherries between the layers, a spoonful of the thick sauce brushed on the sponge. Dumping it on whole makes the layers slide.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave the cherry pie filling out?

No, in almost every recipe that calls for it. A dump cake, a cherry pie, a cobbler or a cheesecake topping has the filling as the fruit, the sugar and most of the moisture, so leaving it out gives you dry cake mix or an empty crust. Substitute something with the same bulk and thickness instead, even a different flavour of pie filling. The one exception is where the filling was a garnish, in which case skip it and serve the dessert plain.

Can I use fresh or frozen cherries instead of canned pie filling?

Yes, but you must cook and thicken them first. Fresh and frozen cherries are mostly water and have no starch, so tipped straight into a pie they will flood the crust. For one can's worth, simmer 1 lb of frozen cherries with 1/2 to 2/3 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch slaked in cold water and a tablespoon of lemon juice for three to five minutes until thick and glossy, then cool completely.

What can I use instead of cherry pie filling in a dump cake?

Any other canned pie filling, one can for one can, is the least risky answer, since dump cake relies on the filling being thick and wet enough to hydrate the dry cake mix. Blueberry is closest in tartness. Homemade thickened cherries work equally well as long as you make about 2 1/2 cups. Jam alone is too sweet and too dry for this recipe unless you loosen it with a few tablespoons of water.

Is cherry pie filling the same as canned cherries?

No, and this catches people out. Canned or jarred cherries are just fruit in water or light syrup, so they are thin and only lightly sweet. Pie filling has sugar and cooked starch already in it, which is why it holds a shape when you spoon it. To turn canned cherries into pie filling, drain them, thicken half a cup of the juice with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and sugar to taste, then fold the fruit back in.

Can I use tapioca or flour instead of cornstarch to thicken it?

Yes. Instant tapioca is arguably better for cherry filling because it stays clear and does not thin out when the pie is reheated; use about 3 tablespoons in place of 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and let it sit fifteen minutes before baking to soften. All-purpose flour works too at roughly double the cornstarch, but the filling ends up cloudy and slightly pasty rather than glossy.

Related substitutes

More preserves substitutes

Cherry Pie Filling substitute

Other cherry pie filling substitutes

2Another flavour of canned pie filling

3Cherry jam or preserves, loosened

4Fresh cherries cooked down

5Canned or jarred cherries plus starch

6Cranberry sauce or mixed berry filling (when there are no cherries at all)