Peach season is upon and lemme tell you sumptin’ people… I LOOOOOOOOOVE fresh peaches! I’ve had this recipe for a century and make fresh peach pie filling every summer. Now you can either jar/can it when it’s done OR you can use it right away.
Trust me.. when it’s butt-crack cold outside (presuming you live in the a place where it gets butt-crack cold in the winter) nothing speaks ‘summer’ like a warm fresh peach pie.
Homemade Peach Pie filling
- Yield: 2 quarts or 7 quarts
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Ingredients
For 2 quarts of Filling
- 7 cups sliced peaches
- 2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup ClearJel plus 2 tablespoon
- 1 1/2 cups cold water or peach juice
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 2 qt jars/lids/rings
For 7 quarts of Filling
- 6 qts of sliced peaches (about 7–8 pounds of peaches)
- 7 cups sugar
- 2 cups ClearJel plus 3 tablespoon
- 5 1/4 cups cold water or peach juice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 3/4 cup lemon juice
- 7 qt jars/lids rings
- Plus an additional 1/4 cup lemon juice or Fruit-Fresh pectin
Instructions
- Make an ‘X’ in the bottom of each peach.
- Place into boiling water for 30-60 seconds
- Remove and place into ice cold water
- Remove skins
- Cut up the peaches
- To keep from turning brown mix in 1/4 cup lemon juice or Fruit-Fresh pectin. Stir to coat.
- Combine the water, sugar, ClearJel and cinnamon in large pot.
- Stir and cook over medium high heat until the mixture thickens and begins to bubble.
- Add the lemon juice and boil the sauce for 1 minute more, stirring constantly.
- Add in the drained peach slices and cook for 3 minutes.
- Fill the jars within ¾”-1” from the top.
- Put the filled jars in the canner and keep them covered with at least 1” of water.
- Boil for 30 minutes.
Notes
ClearJel is not the same as SureJel – read THIS article that explains the difference and what will happen when you try to substitute one for the other.
My local stores do not carry ClearJel so I order it off of Amazon.
The only reason it is not 5 star is the “clear gel” amounts. They appear to be about double what is recommended by Clear Gel at 1/4 c of clear gel to 1 quart of water. I followed the recommended Clear Gel ratio and got a good filling. Not sure why this recipe is almost double the amount of clear gel, but I did not follow that. Possibly to have a more “gelled” filling, I don’t know. I want mine thick enough to bubble but not completely “gel” like, and why I follow the ratio on the Clear Gel packaging, it works for my taste, perfect. I also omitted the cinnamon, just wanted it plain, but that is nothing more than personal preference. But otherwise, GREAT peach filling!
★★★★
So Clear Jel was originally manufactured in 1948 by National Starch. Later on, Ingredion came into play for modified food starch. Clear Jel as we know it today is similar to what we call “Kleenexes”. Even though that’s a brand, most folks call all tissues that instead of the brand name; same as Band-Aid or the like. There are a ton of different companies today that sell their own variation of Clear Jel. Who makes your brand of Clear Jel as I’ve never seen a brand box made by Clear Jel? Sure-Jell, yes, but not Clear Jel.
This recipe, and the amounts provided are what my family has been using for generations. I actually did a comparison of my recipe and the National Center for Home Preservation and my measures ments for Clear Jel are in agreement with theirs. Shrugs.
But as to why we use the amount – it works and it keeps the filling cohesive and not running.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Can I use frozen peaches for this recipe? I froze all of my peaches whole last summer. Was at the end of my pregnancy and too miserable to deal with them so just stuck them in the freezer.
Hi Jennifer!
Yes you can. Thaw them, drain the juice, and then use the drained juice plus the water to make either 1 1/2 cups cold water or 5 1/4 cups cold water/juice/
Best Kitchen Wishes!
I made 7 quarts with my beautiful peaches a couple months ago. Today I am making my second pie with the canned filling. It is sooo delicious. Thank you so much for posting this recipe 💓
When you say 7 to 8 pounds of peaches, is that once they’re peeled and sliced?
No, pre-peeled. Like when you get them from the farmer’s market
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Is the 30 minute processing time for sea level?
I lived in Pittsburgh and these were the instructions we used. I’m not super familiar with high-altitude cooking/baking.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
I just made the Homemade Peach Pie Filling (2 quarts). They have 10 more minutes of processing! Can’t wait to see the two quart jars out of the canner. Beautiful going in. My only mistake was not using cold enough water for step 7-combining the COLD water with sugar ClearJel and cinnamon. Because it was not cold enough when I added the ClearJel, it lumped a little. I ultimately was able to whisk it all out, so all good! All parts of the recipe were right on! Perfect amounts of everything. Great detail in the recipe. Incredible tasting! I’m new to canning and loving it all. I highly recommend the recipe! My only question is how many pies is this expected to make (does it take two quarts to make one pie?)
★★★★★
Thank you for the kind words!
It honestly depends on how deep/big your pie pan is. A 9″ deep-dish pie will take about 4 cups of pie filling.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
I just made the Homemade Peach Pie Filling (2 quarts). They have 10 more minutes of processing! Can’t wait to see the two quart jars out of the canner. Beautiful going in. My only mistake was not using cold enough water for step 7-combining the COLD water with sugar ClearJel and cinnamon. Because it was not cold enough when I added the ClearJel, it lumped a little. I ultimately was able to whisk it all out, so all good! All parts of the recipe were right on! Perfect amounts of everything. Great detail in the recipe. Incredible tasting! I’m new to canning and loving it all. I highly recommend the recipe! My only question is how many pies is this expected to make (does it take two quarts for 1-nine-inch pie? Or is each quart expected to make one pie?
★★★★★
It honestly depends on how deep/big your pie pan is. A 9″ deep-dish pie will take about 4 cups of pie filling.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
what’s the difference between liquid and dry Clear Jel. The stores around here don’t carry Clear Jel
So Clear Jel only comes in a powder, not a liquid. Did you perhaps mean a liquid fruit pectin? Pectin makes a jam or jelly “gel”. Clear Jel makes the ‘liquid’ substance in say peach pie filling.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
How many quarts do you need to fill a pie? Thank you!
It depends on the size of your pie dish. For example, a 9″ deep dish pie will take about 4-4.5 cups of filling.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Waiting for my pies to process. I used this recipe or one very similar a number of years ago, 11 quarts of peach pie. Delicious! Since I live at 5000 ft, I did have to adjust the processing time to 40 minutes instead of 30.
This recipe is where I learned about clear gel, although I might check out the tapioca substitution.
Thanks for clear directions