Canning rhubarb pie filling is a creative way to preserve rhubarb in a jar. It’s pre-thickened, so all you have to do is pour it into a pie shell and bake!
Despite actually being a vegetable, rhubarb is a tasty addition to many fruit pies and jams. This early spring vegetable has a tart and sometimes sour flavor like green apples, which pairs well with sugary and sweet items.
Its color ranges from green to a bold and striking pink, which lends its beautiful shade to everything from sauces and syrups to preserves and savory recipes.
Looking for ways to use up a plethora of rhubarb? You can make rhubarb juice concentrate, which can be added to seltzer or used in a variety of cocktails. Chopped rhubarb can be frozen or canned at its peak period before it gets tough and stringy for later use.
In still more ways, this vibrant perennial can be preserved in the form of rhubarb wine and rhubarb mead, both beautiful in their golden-pink shades.
Classic methods of using rhubarb, of course, include rhubarb jam and jelly, as well as ready-to-bake rhubarb pie filling. Just pull a jar out of your pantry and combine it with your favorite pie crust recipe for delightful rhubarb pie.
When you’re harvesting rhubarb by the wheelbarrow load as we are, then freezing rhubarb just isn’t an option. Who has that kind of freezer space? With crops like these, it’s time to can up rhubarb pie filling!
Ingredients for Canning Rhubarb Pie Filling
For the most optimal pie filling, select rhubarb that has been harvested early in the season, as late-season rhubarb can be tougher and stringier.
For each single quart jar of rhubarb pie filling, you will need:
- 3 ½ cups of rhubarb, washed and chopped
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup Clear Jel
- ¾ cup cold water (or juice)
- ¼ cup bottled lemon juice
To yield a full 7-quart canner batch, the amounts are as follows:
- 6 quarts of rhubarb, washed and chopped
- 7 cups granulated sugar
- 1 3/4 cups Clear Jel
- 5 ¼ cups cold water (or juice)
- 1 ¾ cups bottled lemon juice
Do note, you must use regular Clear Jel, which is only activated when heated for this recipe. Clear Jel instant cannot be substituted. For reference, Clear Jel is usually sold by the pound, with one pound equalling about 3 cups.
Also, note this recipe requires bottled lemon juice as opposed to fresh. Fresh lemon juice may not meet the acidity requirements needed for canning safety – bottled lemon juice will.
Altering the Canning Recipe for Rhubarb Pie Filling
This is a tested recipe for canning rhubarb pie filling from the Washington State University Extension. They guide you on how to change this recipe to suit your tastes, and notes on what cannot be altered.
The lemon juice must be bottled, and you cannot reduce the total lemon juice in the recipe. You can add more if you’d like a more tart pie filling, but this recipe has quite a bit of lemon juice, and rhubarb is already quite tart…so I personally wouldn’t recommend adding more.
As to the clear gel, you can reduce the total amount to make the pie filling less thick, but you can’t increase it. Don’t use other types of thickeners. Cook-type clear gel is the only approved starch for canning pie fillings.
The sugar can be increased or decreased to suit your tastes, and you can use other sugars like honey or maple. The filling may not be set as well with less sugar or a substitute liquid sugar, but it won’t impact canning safety.
You can alter a few elements of this recipe, such as the sugar and spices called for, without affecting canning safety. These two following ingredients cannot be altered, though.
Spices or extracts you may want to try adding to rhubarb pie filling include ginger, nutmeg, or cinnamon. You’ll find other recipes that add vanilla, allspice, cardamom, or cloves as well.
How to Can Rhubarb Pie Filling
Prepare your jars, lids, and water bath canner. If you’re new to canning, be sure to read this beginner’s guide to water bath canning before diving in.
Begin by washing and, if desired, peeling your rhubarb. Whether or not you peel rhubarb before cooking is purely up to the individual, although it is recommended for tough or late-season rhubarb, as it can be stringy, and smoother pie fillings.
Whether you peel your rhubarb or not, be sure to remove all leaves (these are toxic), then cut the tops and bottoms of all stalks and discard them along with any parts of the stalk that are bruised. Chop into sections about ½ to 1 inch in length.
If preferred, you can preserve the color of your rhubarb and prevent it from browning by placing the chopped rhubarb in a water solution of 1 teaspoon ascorbic acid crystals (or six 500 milligram vitamin C tablets) to 1 gallon water. This step is completely optional, of course.
When making pie filling for canning, the next step is usually to blanch the fruit…but rhubarb pie filling works a bit differently.
First, mix the chopped rhubarb with the sugar and allow it to sit for at least an hour, until the juices are released. (You can also allow it to macerate overnight in the refrigerator.) After maceration, you should have rhubarb floating in a nice syrup since the sugar draws the liquid out of the rhubarb.
Macerating Rhubarb
Next, mix the cold water from the recipe with the clear gel and set aside. Be sure that the liquid is cold or at room temperature when the clear gel is mixed into it. This is really important!
If you add clear gel to a hot liquid, it will clump instantly, and there’s no hope of recovery.
Ask me how I know…
Clear Jel Pie Filling Fail. Be sure that you mix the clear gel with a cold liquid to dissolve it completely before heating.
Next, place the macerated rhubarb into a pot and heat until it’s warm throughout. It should be gently simmering in the pot.
Add in the clear gel and water mixture, and set to medium-high heat and stir continually as the mixture heats and thickens. When the liquid begins to bubble, add the lemon juice. Boil for a full minute stirring all the while.
After this full minute, remove from heat. Quickly ladle into hot, prepared canning jars. De-bubble the pie filling, as it will be thick, and leave 1-inch headspace. Wipe the rims to ensure a clean seal, apply 2-part canning lids, and process in a water bath canner for 30 minutes, increasing time as necessary for your altitude.
After the processing time is complete, turn off your water bath canner and allow the jars to rest for another 10 minutes undisturbed. This will lessen the chances of siphoning and keep that pie filling where it belongs – in your jars!
After 10 minutes, remove with the help of a jar lifter and place on a towel-covered surface out of the way. Check your seals after 12 to 24 hours.
Store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator to be used first. Properly stored and sealed rhubarb pie filling will remain at peak quality for 12 months. Refrigerate after opening.
Altitude Adjustments for Canning Rhubarb Pie Filling
Altitude adjustments are as follows:
- 0 to 1,000 Feet in Elevation: 30 minutes
- 1,001 to 3,000 Feet in Elevation: 35 minutes
- 3,001 to 6,000 Feet in Elevation: 40 minutes
- Above 6,000 Feet in Elevation: 45 minutes
Juice or Water for Canning Liquid?
You may wish to make use of rhubarb juice as part of your pie filling for a more flavorful product. There are a few various ways to do this.
If you have a surplus of rhubarb in your possession, you may wish to extract juice from fresh rhubarb as outlined in the rhubarb jelly recipe. You’ll boil and strain the chopped veggie with the help of a jelly strainer (or a few layers of cheesecloth) to be chilled and substituted for some of the water in your pie filling recipe.
If you’re using frozen rhubarb for this recipe you can collect some of the juice as it thaws. Simply place a bowl beneath a colander to collect the liquid, measure, and add the water required to meet the needed amount called for in the recipe.
A countertop juicer may be used as well to extract fresh juice.
The juice of another fruit may be supplemented as well, just note different fruits will add their own flavor to the mix, especially apple. I’ve added strawberry juice in place of water in the past, and that’s especially tasty.
Try using ¼ to ½ juice in place of water for a more robust pie filling.
(Be sure that the liquid is cold or room temperature when you add the clear gel, and then stir to completely dissolve the clear gel before proceeding. Mixing clear gel with hot liquid will cause clumping.)
Using Rhubarb Pie Filling
Rhubarb pie is the most classic way to make use of this succulent pie filling, but there are far more pies to be made as well. Besides the classic strawberry rhubarb pie, this pie filling can be combined with cream, meringue, and custard.
Pie fillings can be swirled into baked goods, layered with cake mix, or used for a sweet upside-down cake.
Try rethinking rhubarb pie in the form of strawberry rhubarb pie bars – a tasty hand-held treat.
In a pinch, you can also spoon rhubarb pie filling over pound cake or ice cream in place of stewed rhubarb for a refreshing dessert.
In addition to all these choices, consider combining rhubarb with fruits other than strawberry in pies and crumbles, such as apples or berries.
Canning Rhubarb Pie Filling
Canning rhubarb pie filling yourself is a spectacular way to preserve a glut of rhubarb at its peak freshness. It is lovely in pies but also atop creamy and custardy desserts as well.
Ingredients
For a Single Quart:
- 3 ½ cups of rhubarb, washed and chopped
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup Clear Jel
- ¾ cup cold water (or juice)
- ¼ cup bottled lemon juice
For a 7 Quart Canner Batch:
- 6 quarts of rhubarb, washed and chopped
- 7 cups granulated sugar
- 1 3/4 cups Clear Jel
- 5 ¼ cups cold water (or juice)
- 1 ¾ cups bottled lemon juice
Instructions
- Prepare canning jars, lids, and heat a water bath canner.
- Wash rhubarb and peel if desired. Remove the tops and bottoms of the stalks and discard any leaves. Chop rhubarb stalks into ½ inch to 1 inch pieces.
- Mix the rhubarb and sugar and allow it to macerate for at least an hour (or overnight) to release it's juices.
- Whisk the clear gel into the measured cold water (or juice) called for in the recipe. Make sure it's completely dissolved, then set aside.
- Add the macerated rhubarb to a large stock pot and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Next, add in the dissolved clear gel and water mixture and cook until thickened.
- When the mixture has thickened and begun bubbling, add the lemon juice and boil for one minute more.
- Remove from heat and quickly ladle in prepared canning jars, leaving 1 inch headspace. Be sure to de-bubble the thick liquid as well.
- Wipe rims to ensure a tight seal and apply 2-part canning lids, twisting until fingertight. Process in a water bath canner for 30 minutes, increasing time as needed for altitude.
- After the processing time is complete, turn off the water bath canner and allow jars to rest for another 10 minutes to reduce the chances of siphoning.
- Remove with the aid of a jar lifter and place atop a towel-covered surface to cool. Check seals after 12 to 24 hours. Any unsealed pie fillings should be moved to the refrigerator to be used first.
- Store properly sealed jars in a cool dark location. Refrigerate after opening. Jars of rhubarb pie filling will maintain peak quality for 12 months when properly canned and stored.
Notes
Corresponding measurements have been given for both a single quart and a full 7 quart canning batch. For any increments in between, multiply the measurements given in the single quart batch to render your desired yield.
If new to home-canning, be sure to read this beginner’s guide to water bath canning beforehand.
Processing times for pints and quarts are as follows:
- 0 to 1,000 Feet in Elevation: 30 minutes
- 1,001 to 3,000 Feet in Elevation: 35 minutes
- 3,001 to 6,000 Feet in Elevation: 40 minutes
- Above 6,000 Feet in Elevation: 45 minutes
Once processing time is complete, turn off your water bath canner and allow jars to rest another 10 minutes. This reduces the risk of siphoning. Remove with a jar lifter and place atop a towel to cool, undisturbed.
Don’t forgo the towel – it acts as a buffer, preventing thermal shock (cracked jars).
Home Canned Pie Fillings
In search of more pie-filling recipes to home-can?
- Canning Apple Pie Filling
- Canning Blackberry Pie Filling
- Canning Peach Pie Filling
- Canning Cherry Pie Filling
Fruit Canning Recipes
Rhubarb isn’t the only garden edible to preserve this year. I have dozens of fruit canning recipes to keep your pantry shelves fully stocked all year.
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