How to Make Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Filling - Easily! With Step-by-step Directions, Photos, Ingredients, Recipe and Costs

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How to Make Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Filling - Easily! With Step-by-step Directions, Photos, Ingredients, Recipe and Costs

Yield: 7 to 9 pint jars

Click here for a PDF print version 

Making and canning your own strawberry-rhubarb pie filling  is also quite easy. Just scroll down this page to see how to do it, in easy steps and completely illustrated. I've got some other pages for specific types of pie filling and butters, too, see this page

• For more information about strawberries, see Strawberry Picking Tips and Miscellaneous strawberry facts.

Directions for Making Rhubarb-Strawberry Pie Filling

Yield: 4 pint jars (four 500ml jars)

 

 

Equipment

• Jar funnel ($5 at Target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online - see this page) or order it as part of the kit with the Jar grabber .
• At least 1 large pot; I prefer 16 to 20 quart Nonstick ceramic coated pots for easy cleanup.
• Large spoons and ladles,
• 1 Water Bath Canner (a huge pot to sanitize the jars after filling (about $30 to $35 at mall kitchen stores, sometimes at big box stores and grocery stores.). Note: we sell canners and supplies here, too - at excellent prices - and it helps support this web site!
• Half pint canning jars (Grocery stores, like Publix, Kroger, Safeway carry them, as do some big box stores - about $7 per dozen 8 ounce jars including the lids and rings)
• Lids - thin, flat, round metal lids with a gum binder that seals them against the top of the jar. They may only be used once.
• Rings - metal bands that secure the lids to the jars. They may be reused many times.

Optional stuff:

• Foley Food Mill - not necessary; useful if you want to remove seeds (from blackberries) or make applesauce.
• Lid lifter (has a magnet to pick the lids out of the almost-boiling water where you sanitize them. ($4 at big box stores or it comes in the kit at left)
• Jar grabber (to pick up the hot jars)- Big box stores and grocery stores sometimes carry them; and it is available online - see this page. It's a tremendously useful to put jars in the canner and take the hot jars out (without scalding yourself!). The kit sold below has everything you need, and at a pretty good price:
  
  Canning kit with Stainless Steel Steam Rack,Canning Funnel, Jar Lifter, Jar Wrench, Lid Lifter, Canning Tongs, Bubble Remover Tool

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Filling-making Directions

 The yield from this recipe is about 8 eight-ounce jars (which is the same as 4 pints).

Step 1 - Pick the strawberries and rhubarb! (or buy them already picked)

It's fun to go pick your own and you can obviously get better quality ones! See this page for strawberry facts and picking tips

At right is a picture of a typical strawberry field.

I prefer to grow my own; which is really easy - but that does take some space and time and can be challenging.

As mentioned in the Ingredients section; you may use frozen berries (those without syrup or added sugar); which is especially useful if you want to make some strawberry-rhubarb pie filling in December to give away at Christmas!

Above and at left are strawberries that I picked at a pick-your-own farm. If you want to pick your own, here is a list and links to the pick your own farms.

How much fruit?

Strawberry-rhubarb pie filling can ONLY be made in rather small batches - about 4 to 6 cups at a time - the Clear Jel, corn starch can overcook easily and lose its thickening properties.  It is easier and faster to get an even heat distribution in smaller batches.

Step 2 - Wash the jars and lids

Now's a good time to get the jars ready, so you won't be rushed later. The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize" cycle, the water bath processing will sanitize them as well as the contents! If you don't have a dishwasher with a sanitize cycle, you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, then sanitize the jars by boiling them 10 minutes, and keep the jars in hot water until they are used.

NOTE: If a canning recipe calls for 10 minutes or more of process time in the canner, then the jars do not need to be "sanitized" before filling them. But really, sanitizing them first is just good hygeine and common sense!  See this page for more detail about cleaning and sanitizing jars and lids.

Put the lids into a pan of hot, but not quite boiling water (that's what the manufacturer's recommend) for 10 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out.  Leave the jars in the dishwasher on "heated dry" until you are ready to use them. Keeping them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with the hot pie filling.

Step 3 -Wash the rhubarb and strawberries!

I'm sure you can figure out how to wash the fruit in plain cold water.

 

Step 4 - Cut up the rhubarb and remove the strawberry hulls

Rhubarb varieties differ - if the type you have has a tough outer skin, peel it off. You can tell if it is tough if it peels off easily as a thin skin. Generally, you do not need to peel the rhubarb.

You will then need to remove the ends of the rhubarb - the tough part that connects to the plant (as show at left) and then dice the stalks into 1/2 inch pieces. 

 

The strawberries only need to have the hulls removed and if they are very large, cut them in half.

 

 

 

Step 5 - Make the liquid for the filling

Mix the ClearJel starch (or corn starch) with sugar, cinnamon (if desired) in a large pot. Add the water and lemon juice.  If desired, add cinnamon, vanilla extract, and food coloring. (I don't add food coloring; I prefer mine to be natural!)

Ingredients for Rhubarb-Strawberry Pie Filling.
Ingredient	Quantitiy
Sliced Strawberries	5 cups (1.25 liter)
Diced Rhubarb	6 cups (1.5 liter) diced rhubarb
Granulated sugar	1.5 cups (375 ml)
Clear Jel or corn starch	1/3 cup ClearJel OR 1/2 cup corn starch (in Europe: 125 ml corn flour)
Cold water	1 cup (250 ml)
Bottled Lemon Juice	3 Tablespoons 45 ml)
Cinnamon (optional)	1/8 teaspoon (0,5 ml)
Vanilla extract (optional)	1/4 teaspoon
Red food coloring (optional)	6 drops

Note: I use cherry juice to add the flavor and natural sweetness, but you can just use cold water, as the cherry juice can be expensive and hard to find.

Why use ClearJel?

ClearJelⓇ is a corn starch that has been modified to give it special and unique characteristics when used in food products. It is recommended by the USDA for making pie fillings because it does not break down in the acid food mixtures and does not thicken enough during heat processing to interfere with the intended effect of the heat on killing bacteria during canning. In other words it reduces spoilage and is safer than corn starch. It is preferred for thickening canned pie fillings as well as other  foods over other corn starches because it has less or no aftertaste, the thickened juices are smooth and clear, and foods thickened with ClearJelⓇ may be frozen.

Step 6 - Heat the syrup mixture

Stir mixture and cook over medium high heat until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. WARNING: it gets thick really quickly, so don't overcook it, and if you need to add additional fruit juice or water to thin it out enough to be able to fill the jars. Once it starts to boil, you then Boil it for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Do not overcook it!

Then remove from the heat.

 

 
See here for related tools, equipment, supplies on Amazon

Step 6 - Add the strawberries and rhubarb to the hot syrup

Fold the rhubarb and strawberries into the hot liquid. Stir gently. Bring back to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Do not overcook it!

Step 7 - Fill the jars with the mixture

Pretty self explanatory.  A Jar funnel helps.  Gently jostle the jar to help it settle in the jar and reduce the amount of air space. Fill the jars to within 1 inch of the top, wipe any spilled cherry pie filling of the top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them.

Step 8 - Processing / Storage

Option 1 - Freezer

The All-new Ball Blue Book (2016) says to store the pie filling in the freezer, in freezer safe containers. If you choose this option, let it cool for 2 hours then put into freezer containers (I like the vacuum seal food saver bags and freeze it up.

Option 2 - Canning

This is virtually identical to every other home-canned pie filling recipe, and almost identical a comparison quickly establishes that. But this is one of the very few recipes I publish that is not lab-tested by a major university, USDA or NCHFP. So why include it?  The strawberries and rhubarb are all acidic and similar in every regard to the other fruit pie fillings (cherry, apple, strawberry, etc)

But I am going to say again, I can find NO place anywhere that has lab tested this recipe.  Every recipe online I have examined is extrapolating from similar recipes, so you proceed at your own risk to can it.

Step 9 - Process the filled jars in the water bath

Put the filled jars in the canner and keep them cover with at least 1 inch of water and boiling. if you are at sea level (up to 1,000 ft) boil pint and/or quart jars for 30 minutes.

 

If you are at an altitude of 1,000 feet or more, see this chart.

 

Step 10 - Remove and cool the jars - Done

Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight)  You can then remove the rings if you like, but if you leave them on, at least loosen them quite a bit, so they don't rust in place due to trapped moisture. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok.