blueberry pie on a wooden table

Blueberry Pie Filling — For Canning

 

Print
5 from 2 votes
Yield: two pint jars, which is enough for one 9″ pie.
To make more than that, multiply all ingredients by the number of jars you intend to make. If you are making more than two pints, be sure you use a sauce pan/pot large enough to hold all the blueberries and bring them to a boil.

Notes

  1. Processing Time: The USDA and the National Center for Home Food Preservation have not yet established a safe processing time for quart jars of pie filling made with pectin. That is why we say to can this pie filling in pint jars only
  2. Best to use fresh fruit. If using frozen fruit that have been defrosted, reduce the amount of water or the filling may be too liquidy.
  3. You can use other sweeteners that measure like sugar, and it's possible to use less sugar if you prefer the pie less sweet. (We used 1/3 cup mixed white and brown sugar.) It's also possible to use honey or another liquid sweetener, but we haven't tried it that way. Our best guess is ¼ cup up to ½ cup liquid sweetener.
  4. This recipe can be made with blueberries, sweet blackberries, mulberries, elderberries, ripe quince, and apples. 
Servings 2 pint jars

Ingredients

  • 8 cups whole blueberries see note
  • 1 cup sugar see note
  • 1 teaspoon Pomona's Pectin powder mixed with sweetener
  • ¼ cup lemon juice bottled
  • 2 teaspoons calcium water see step #1

Instructions

  • Before You Begin, prepare calcium water.
    To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well. Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
  • Wash jars, lids, and bands. Place jars in canner, fill canner 2/3 full with water, bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, and keep jars in hot canner water until ready to use. Place lids in water in a small sauce pan; cover and heat to a low boil. Turn off heat and keep lids in hot water until ready to use.
  • Wash and remove stems from blueberries.
  • Measure sugar into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sugar. Set aside.
  • Measure blueberries into a large sauce pan. Add lemon juice and calcium water and mix gently.
  • Bring blueberry mixture to a full boil. Add pectin-sugar mixture, stirring gently for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the mixture comes back up to a boil. Once the mixture returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
  • Funnel into clean, hot pint jars, leaving 1” of headspace. Wipe the rims, put on hot lids, tighten the rings to finger-tip tight, place in boiling water-bath canner, and boil for 15 minutes at sea level. Add 1 minute more for every 1,000 feet above sea level. Remove jars from canner and set on counter to cool. When completely cool, check seals; lids should be sucked down. Use within 1 year.

Share this:

41 Responses

  1. Schyler
    | Reply

    Can you use frozen blueberries for this recipe

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      You sure can! They will just need to be thawed before following the recipe.

  2. Emanuela Pokryfki
    | Reply

    Any suggestions for making and canning rhubarb pie filling?
    Would this recipe work for rhubarb as well?

    Thanks you!
    Em-

  3. Brigid
    | Reply

    I would prefer more if a blueberry sauce. Can I reduce the pectin and also run the berries through a sieve and then can it? Thanks!

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      Brigid, give our Fruit Sauce recipe a try with your blueberries!

      • Brigid
        | Reply

        Thank you!

  4. Emily
    | Reply

    Hello! I am wondering if this recipe could safely be made in “pint and half jars=24oz jars”? I am also at around 5300 feet altitude and understand that I would need to increase the processing time by 5 or so minutes. Thank you!

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      Great question Emily! This recipe is actually only approved for pint yards or smaller.

  5. Allison
    | Reply

    Hello! My favorite pie is peach blueberry. Is there a way to safely combine the two into one filling for canning? I typically use just sugar, lemon, and a little salt to bring out the flavor of the fruit when I make a fresh pie. On a side note, I just finished canning 6 batches of the cardamom peach pie filling from this site and it is divine! Thank you for providing such delicious recipes!

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      Hello Allison,

      Great question! We have never combined the two recipes, but we cannot see why you couldn’t. We would love to hear how it goes, if you decide to give it a try!

  6. Melanka
    | Reply

    Would it be okay to can this in quart jars rather than pints?

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      Notes:
      Processing Time: The USDA and the National Center for Home Food Preservation have not yet established a safe processing time for quart jars of pie filling made with pectin. That is why we say to can this pie filling in pint jars only.

  7. Andrea Wells
    | Reply

    Do you have a Strawberrt Pie filling?

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      Hello Andrea,

      We do not have a specific pie filling with strawberries yet, but it is likely it would work just fine with this Blueberry Pie Filling recipe. You will not need to add the lemon juice unless you want to for the flavor. Also, you should cut the strawberries into pieces in order to be sure to get some juice. You would use the same amounts of calcium water and pectin.

      If you do give it a try with strawberries, we’d love to hear your results 😊

      Have a wonderful day!

  8. Andrea Wells
    | Reply

    Is there a strawberry pie filling?

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      Hello Andrea,

      We haven’t actually made the pie filling with strawberries yet, but it is likely it would work just fine with this Blueberry Pie Filling recipe. You will not need to add the lemon juice unless you want to for the flavor. Also, you should cut the strawberries into pieces in order to be sure to get some juice. You would use the same amounts of calcium water and pectin.

      If you do give it a try with strawberries, we’d love to hear your results 😊

      Have a wonderful day!

  9. Dana L Bower
    | Reply

    So if I wanted to use apples I would measure out 8 cups of sliced apples? Could I also use sliced peaches for peach pie filling?

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      Hello Dana,

      HERE is our Apple Pie Filling recipe
      HERE is our Peach Pie Filling recipe

      Enjoy!

  10. Janet Atkinson
    | Reply

    I have less time and more freezer space right now. Can the blueberry pie filling be frozen. I use your Pomona for all my other canning and I love the less sugar needed part.

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      Absolutely! We would recommend storing the filling in traditional jars with 1/2″ headspace or in freezer ziplock bags (the mixture will need to cool a bit so that it does not melt the bag).

  11. Glennis dixon
    | Reply

    I’m hoping to find this pectin but I live in a small minnesota community do thee amish carry this pectin in there country stores.

    • Shelby Collings
      | Reply

      Hello Glennis,
      There should be some near your area. You can check our Store Locator, HERE.

      Thanks for choosing Pomona’s and happy jamming!

  12. Jamila Levasseur
    | Reply

    Just wondering why you need an inch of headspace? Normally, fruits are canned with a half inch of headspace and jams with a quarter inch.

    Also, just a comment, I also tried this with raspberries, and it jelled up way more than I’d intended. I wanted it more like a sauce to pour over pancakes and add to yogurt. So next time I’ll try it with half as much pectin.

    • Mary Lou Sumberg
      | Reply

      Dear Jamila,
      The USDA and the National Center for Home Food Preservation in the US call for 1″ up to 1 1/2″ of headspace for pie fillings in pint jars. They say that pie fillings tend to expand quite a bit in the water bath and you need that much room to prevent leakage. We think: better safe than sorry.

      And yes, for a sauce-like consistency you would use 1/3 to 1/2 the amount of pectin as called for in a jam recipe for that fruit. I recently made a variety of sauces and used a scant 1/2 amount for the best result. All of the other ingredients in the recipe remain the same.

      As you are likely aware, it is also fine to halve or quarter recipes if you want a smaller amount of sauce.

  13. Jenna Murfin
    | Reply

    Can I use this recipe to make a cherry pie filling, do you suppose?

    • Mary Lou Sumberg
      | Reply

      Hello Jenna,
      You could try using the Blueberry Pie Filling recipe for Cherry Pie Filling. We haven’t tried it ourselves and haven’t heard back yet from others asking about doing the same thing, but we think it should work.

      With sour cherry you won’t need the lemon juice and you may want to add a little more sugar like 1 1/2 cups up to 2 cups at the most.

      If you do it, we would greatly appreciate hearing a report back from you as to the outcome!

  14. Meredith
    | Reply

    Tried this for the first time tonight…. I got 3 pints instead of 2, and I’m pretty sure I measured correctly. This recipe is different from any other I’ve tried for canned pie filling, first with the large amount of berries and second without adding much water. I’m really looking forward to how it turns out! I’m hoping it will be a delicious, intense blueberry flavor. Pomona’s has never disappointed me.

    • Mary Lou Sumberg
      | Reply

      Hi Meredith,
      That is interesting that you got 3 pints instead of 2. Maybe you had quite large blueberries?

      Any feedback you’d care to give us when you make the pie would be greatly appreciated! I made the pie in the picture with the recipe, and it was delicious.

      Also, happy to hear that Pomona’s has never disappointed — look forward to hearing from you again.

      • Gwyneth
        | Reply

        I just made this (with blackberries) and I also wound up with 3 pints.

        • Mary Lou Sumberg
          | Reply

          Hi Gwyneth,
          Thanks for sharing your experience with this recipe and blackberries with us.

          We’re thinking it’s possible, if your blackberries were large, that the final result could be 3 pints. This is our best guess as to why the discrepancy.

          I hope you’re happy with the pie filling otherwise, and thanks for using Pomona’s Pectin.

          • Talya
            |

            Hello, I also made this to a T and got 6 pints for a double batch. Counted out 16 cups total and ended up with 6 pints.

  15. MaryLouise Griffin
    | Reply

    Could I use the blueberry pie filling right away to make a pie without canning it first? I ask because I have not been successful in getting fruit pies to jell using cornstarch or tapioca. Based on Annemarie’s comment and your response, I wonder if I could use Pomona’s Pectin instead, for any fruit pie. I usually use fresh fruit, so how would I proceed? Thanks so much.

    • Mary Lou Sumberg
      | Reply

      Dear MaryLouise,

      You can use our Blueberry Pie Filling recipe to make a cooked pie filling that you put into a pie crust (when you think the filling is cool enough) and bake. You may want to pre-bake the crust somewhat as the pie filling will be pre-cooked and the pie won’t take as long as a fresh pie to bake.

      On the other hand, you could try making a fresh blueberry pie using Pomona’s Pectin as the thickener.

      In a large bowl you would mix:
      8 cups blueberries (washed & stemmed)
      1/4 cup lemon juice
      2 teaspoons calcium water

      In a smaller bowl you would mix:
      1 cup sugar
      1 teaspoon Pomona’s Pectin powder
      (mix the sugar & the pectin together VERY WELL)

      Add the sugar-pectin mix to the large bowl of blueberries and stir well to coat the blueberries with the sugar-pectin.

      Put the bowl of blueberry mixture into a pie crust and bake.

      Pie-making is not our expertise so we are not exactly sure how this will work but it seems worth a try.

      If you, or anyone else out there reading this, makes a fresh pie with this method, we would love to hear how it worked out. Emailing info@pomonapectin.com would be greatly appreciated.

      Thanks for using Pomona’s Pectin and we hope to hear how it goes.

      • Roni
        | Reply

        I made a fresh strawberry rhubarb pie using these directions. It came out perfectly.

        • Shelby Collings
          | Reply

          Wonderful!!

  16. Melinda Haiden
    | Reply

    What is calcium water? And can I use this recipe and change the fruit to strawberries?

    • Mary Lou Sumberg
      | Reply

      Hi Melinda,
      Every purchase of Pomona’s Pectin comes with calcium powder and directions for making calcium water with the calcium powder. Pomona’s Pectin is different from other pectins in that it jells in the presence of calcium rather than needing a large amount of sugar to jell. That is why our recipes include the addition of calcium water. Fruits sometimes have calcium in them naturally, but it’s not possible for us to know about any particular fruit.

      We haven’t actually made the pie filling with strawberries, but it is likely it would work. You wouldn’t need to add the lemon juice unless you want to for the flavor. Also, you should cut the strawberries into pieces in order to be sure to get some juice. You would use the same amounts of calcium water and pectin.

      If you do give it a try with strawberries, we’d love to hear your results.

  17. Amy
    | Reply

    Can I use this pie filling recipe as a base to make a blackberry pie filling instead?

    • Mary Lou Sumberg
      | Reply

      Hello Amy,
      Yes, the Blueberry Pie Filling recipe should work with blackberries. If your blackberries are sweet be sure to include the lemon juice for safe canning. If they are sour, you can omit the lemon juice.

      Good luck with it — and thanks for using Pomona’s.

  18. Annamarie Schick
    | Reply

    Someone told me that I could use the pectin as thickening for pie. I freeze or can cherries, blueberries, strawberries, etc. I let the fruit thaw and drain off the liquid which I then thicken – mix the fruit back into the thickened juice and put it in a pre-baked pie shell. Since some in the family have corn allergies the pectin would be a great substitute. Thank you!

    • Mary Lou Sumberg
      | Reply

      Hi Annamarie,
      To use Pomona’s to thicken the juice for the pie (as you describe you make it), you could put 1/2 teaspoon calcium water into the drained off liquid (at least 1/2 cup), stir well, and bring to a boil. Then stir into the boiling liquid 1/8 cup sugar into which you have thoroughly mixed 1/2 teaspoon pectin powder. Stir vigorously to dissolve the pectin. If you want to add more than 1/8 cup sugar you could add it to the liquid once the pectin is dissolved.

      You would add the pectin-juice mixture to the fruit and put it in the pre-baked pie shell.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating