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Apple Pie Filling is the homemade version of canned apple pie filling. You won’t believe how easy it is to make Homemade Apple Pie filling from this recipe. Make it on the stove top or in your Instant Pot, either way the soft apples covered in the thick brown sugar and cinnamon filling will knock your socks off!
Best Recipe for Apple Pie Filling!
For as long as I can remember apple pie has been my fav. I used to sneak leftover apple pie for breakfast.
But, honestly, who doesn’t do that from time to time. I mean, apples are healthy, right? ?
Let me tell you though, this homemade Apple Pie Filling is ta-die-for! My kiddos always follow me around with a spoon whenever I work with this stuff.
This can go in pies (obviously ?) but there are so many other amazing possibilities for it too! I have plans to put this inside of a cinnamon roll real soon. Eat it with yogurt, or put it on ice cream! I’d better stop before I ruin my computer with all of this DROOL!
Not only does it taste about a zillion times better than canned pie filling, it is so super simple to make!
Best Apple Pie Filling Ingredients
Apple Pie Filling is the homemade version of canned apple pie filling. You won’t believe how easy it is to make Homemade Apple Pie filling from this recipe. Make it on the stove top or in your Instant Pot, either way the soft apples covered in the thick brown sugar and cinnamon filling will knock your socks off
- 6 apples peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
How to make Apple Pie Filling on the stovetop
This can be made either on the stove top or in the Instant Pot. I took pictures while making this in the Instant Pot but I will explain both methods below.
- First thing, gather your apples! I like to use a mixture of green and red apples to give the final product a little variety. Pick your favorite apple though and it will work great!
- Peel and dice the apples.
- It is very important to cut the apples into equal size pieces.
- If some are much larger than others, the pie filling will be either partly mushy or partly undercooked.
- For this recipe, dice the apples into about 1 inch cubes. Do not slice or cut the apples smaller, this will result in a mushy pie filling.
- Toss the diced apples together with some lemon juice and then set aside.
- Grab your Instant Pot (or large pot!) and add in brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, salt and water.
- Stir to combine.
- Add in the diced apples. Stir to coat the apple in the sauce.
- If you are cooking on the stovetop, simmer the the above mixture for 10-15 minutes or until the apples are fork tender.
How to make Apple Pie Filling in the instant pot
- For the Instant Pot, Cook on Manual (or pressure cook!) HIGH for 1 minute. Allow for a 4 minute NPR before manually releasing the pressure. Turn the Instant Pot onto Sauté after the pressure has been released.
- Make sure to stay by your Instant Pot as it is releasing pressure. Apples are one of those ingredients that sometimes like to volcano out. I haven’t ever had an issue, but it is always smart to stay close. Incase you do start to have an issue, use the back of a long spoon to close the vent, wait 30 seconds or so and then try again.
- If you are cooking in the Instant Pot, don’t be alarmed when you open up your pot!! I’ll include some photos below. You will open your pot and think ‘oh no, Karli! I overcooked these apples!!’ Don’t curse me though, give the pot a nice stir and all is well. ?
The next and final steps are the same for both the Instant Pot or stovetop.
- Remove about a 1/2 cup of liquid and whisk in 1/4 cup of cornstarch. I find it easiest to remove the liquid by pushing a glass liquid measuring cup into the apple mixture and pulling up the liquid. (Hope that made sense, I can’t think of any other way to explain it!)
- Pour the cornstarch mixture into the pot with the apples and stir until the sauce has thickened.
- Use right away, refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze until needed!
Ways to Use Diced Apple Pie Filling
There are so many ways you can use up a batch of Apple Pie Filling or even if you happen to have some leftover from another recipe. You can use it as a dip- scoop it up with graham cracker or cinnamon sugar tortilla chips. You can make simple hand pies by filling a pocket of store bought pie crust and baking until golden brown. My personal favorite though? Warming it up and putting it on top of ice cream.
Storing Homemade Apple Pie Filling
Homemade apple pie filling should always be stored in the fridge unless currently being served.
Can you freeze apple pie filling?
Yes! Just store in a gallon sized freezer zip top bag. When you are ready to use the apple pie filling, transfer the bag to the fridge 1 day in advance to thaw.
Recipe for Apple Pie Filling FAQs
You can thicken apple pie filling quickly and easily with a cornstarch slurry or you can simmer the liquid until it reduces and thickens.
Yes – this keeps in the fridge for up to 1 week!
I like using cornstarch just because it doesn’t take as much to thicken the filling although either could be used.
No, not necessary! It gives a wonderful brightness to the apple pie filling though, so feel free to use it if you’d like.
Using crisp apples is best, that way they don’t go mushy while being cooked. Think Honeycrisp, Pink Lady or Granny Smith.
More Apple Recipes You’ll Love
Apple Cinnamon Muffins with Vanilla Glaze
Instant Pot Applesauce
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Best Apple Pie Filling
Ingredients
- 6 apples, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
Instructions
- Toss the peeled and diced apples together with the lemon juice. Set aside.
- Combine the brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, salt and water either in a pot or the liner of your Instant Pot.
- Stir in the apples.
- For the Instant Pot: Cook on manual HIGH for 1 minute, NPR for 4 minutes and then manually release the remaining pressure. Then turn the pot onto sauté.
- For the stovetop: Simmer the mixture for 10-15 minutes or until fork tender.
- Remove about 1/2 cup of liquid from the pot and whisk in 1/4 cup of cornstarch.
- Pour the cornstarch slurry into the pot with the apples and stir until the sauce has thickened.
- Use right away, refrigerate for 5 days or freeze until needed!
I will be attempting to make a apple pie this thanksgiving and wanted to know if when I done with the filling would I then put it in the pie crust with the top crust and bake? If so how long?
Hi Adria- I did this just last week. I sliced the apples instead of cubing them. The slices were fairly thick. I used one of those push down apple cutters to get 8 slices out of my apple and then I cut each slice in half. So my apple slice was probably 1/4 inch thick. I then cooked them in the Instant Pot for 0 minutes, meaning the pot came to pressure, it beeped and then I released the pressure. It worked out great!
I’m curious, do you have a Dutch apple pie recipe? Love your apple pie filling! So easy and delicious!
Hi Kelly!! Not yet. ? I have SO many on my list to make and post about! It will be on the blog eventually. Not sure when though. I made a few apple pies this season but they still need some tweaking! Glad you loved the apple pie filling! ❤️
What type apples are used
Any kind of apple will work, my favorite is Honey Crisp though.
I have a question about the 1/4 C of cornstarch? Is it a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 C of water to make the slurry? I’m thinking it can’t be really a 1/4 C of cornstarch..can it?
I have frozen apples that I peeled, cored and cut up in Sept. Now I want to make apple pie filling and apple butter out of them.
Thanks,
Lena
Hi Lena! You will want to use all of the cornstarch called for in the recipe (1/4 cup) in order for the filling to be the correct consistency. Hope that helps clarify things a bit! 🙂 Merry Christmas!
Just tried this filling tonight and added it to an uncookedpie crust (top and bottom). Unfortunately it was super watery before I added it and just as watery when the pie was cooked. It just drained out of the pie as soon as I cut it. It soaked the bottom crust as well so it was soggy instead of crispy. My husband said it tasted good but I will need to do some adjustments to get it gooey.
Hi Jessica- sorry to hear you had some troubles with your pie filling. The pie filling should be extremely thick when finished. It shouldn’t have been watery at all. Did you complete the last few steps and add the cornstarch to the mixture? If you did add the 1/4 cup cornstarch and it was still runny, turn your Instant Pot onto sauté and heat through until thickened next time. Hope this helps!
I did add the cornstarch and it thickened up slightly but it wasn’t gooey. Two things I may have done wrong, I used the stovetop method and covered the pot while the apples were simmering this not letting the steam out and probably creating more water. The recipes didn’t specify covered vs uncovered. Also, I can try keeping the heat on low while I’m doing the cornstarch step until it gets as think as I want it. I think the recipe is great I just didn’t execute it properly. I will be trying it again!!
I’m glad to see we were able to troubleshoot so next time it will be more successful! I’ll add ‘uncovered’ to the directions. ? hope you have a great New Year!!
I followed all of your directions and it was perfect! Thank you for sharing. First time I’ve made this and I’m so proud of myself! Go Me!!!
I’m proud of you, too!! You rock! 😊
This did NOT work for me in my instant pot. The apples were obliterated and I only pressure cooked 1 min! I also used 7 apples and it didn’t even fill up half my 9″ pie! Also, by manually venting it created a disaster of leakage and apple bits in every crevasse of my IP. Super bummed!
Hi Mavis- sorry to hear you had trouble with this recipe. As stated in the post, it is very important to cut the apples into 1 inch cubes, if they are cut smaller they will be over cooked. Your apples must have been small, you should have about 4-5 cups of cubed apples before putting them into the pressure cooker. I hope this helps troubleshoot a bit!
Can you can the jars by sterilizing and boiling after you cook?
Hi Linda! I am not awfully familiar with canning so I can’t say for sure whether this would be safe or not. Sorry I am not more help!
super confusing.. removing liquid?? why wouldn’t u just put less liquid in the beginning? you say to add apples, sugar salt, cinnamon and than later say “Pour the cornstarch slurry into the pot with the apples” like how many pots u got going on???
Hi Tatyana- I am referring to my Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker). If you aren’t familiar with it, there has to be enough liquid inside for it to work properly. Everything going on is in the same pot. There are stovetop directions listed also which might be more of what you are looking for. 🙂