Make and preserve this delicious rhubarb pie filling recipe for tasty desserts all year long!

Rhubarb tends to be on the first harvests after winter in the north and it’s productive, making it an ideal preservation project.

Whether you’re interested freezing or canning it, this rhubarb pie filling is a versatile thing to have on hand for quick desserts throughout the year.

Ingredients

This is a very simple recipe with just a few ingredients. Before you get started, make sure you have everything on hand.

Rhubarb

Obviously, rhubarb is needed. A full 5 pounds of rhubarb is called for in the recipe and that makes just a bit over 3 quarts.

Harvest bright red, ripe rhubarb from the garden. Clean it well and slice into 1 inch chunks. It makes for a nice texture to have a mixture of stalk sizes from thin to thick.

Sugar

The recipe as written has plenty of sugar while also keeping the natural tartness of the rhubarb in tact. Feel free to add more or less sugar based on your own personal preference.

Lemon Juice

In water bath canning, the addition of lemon juice helps balance PH and keeps everything safe. It also helps balance sweetness.

Further, lemon juice adds to some of the thickening power by helping rhubarb’s own pectin gel more.

ClearJel

For canning, clear jel, a type of modified cornstarch is the safest way of thickening pie fillings. It is not considered safe to use regular flour or cornstarch and results can’t be guaranteed. Keeping a jar of Clearjel on hand for canning is always a good idea.

Adding Other Fruits

This recipe was specifically tested only with rhubarb. It is likely that other fruits could be added. Just have a total of 5 pounds of fruit to begin. Strawberry rhubarb is always a favorite combination, you may want to add less sugar to account for the natural sweetness of the berries.

Prep Time

Start making the pie filling early in the day. The rhubarb does need to sit in some sugar for a bit to release juice. This takes a couple of hours, at most. While that time is hands-off time, do plan to have that time set aside and be ready to finish the process once the juice has been released.

Can or Freeze

Can this recipe in a water bath canner to keep it shelf stable. As with all home canned goods, use it up within 1 year.

If you want to skip the rhubarb canning process, freeze it instead. Simply put the filling into bags or jars, leaving 1″ headspace and freeze.

Thaw in the refrigerator before using in recipes. Use up frozen pie filling within 6 months for optimal freshness.

Larger Batch

This recipe does make just a bit over 3 quarts. Unlike jam, you can feel comfortable making a double batch assuming you have a large enough pot for 10 pounds of sliced rhubarb.

Jar Size

A quart jar is just enough to make one 9″ pie in my opinion. With that in mind, I canned the pie filling in quart jars.

However, one could can this in pint jars to use for other things, if desired.

How to Use

Obviously, canning rhubarb this way is ideal for making homemade pies. Simply pour a quart into an unbaked pie shell, top with another pie crust and bake.

That isn’t the only way to use it however.

Consider using the pie filling as a base for a type of cobbler or crisp.

Use the pie filling in some old-fashioned rhubarb oatmeal bars.

Warm the pie filling up just slightly and serve on top of poundcake or ice cream.

Make milkshakes with ice cream and rhubarb pie filling.

Slather pancakes or waffles with the pie filling as a special breakfast treat.

Mix some into oatmeal or yogurt for added flavor and sweetness.

Try using the rhubarb pie filling instead of the apple pie in this cake recipe.

Do give this pie filling as gift to friends and family. It’s a welcome change to the standard jam or jelly and has potentially more use depending on the recipient.

Looking for more rhubarb canning recipes?

If you have a bunch of rhubarb, you’re trying to use up, consider making some strawberry rhubarb jam with this tasty and low sugar recipe.

If you just want to get the rhubarb canned up simply now and be creative with it later, this basic rhubarb canning recipe will get you on your way.

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