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Even the most novice baker can achieve success with this easy and delicious Cherry Pie recipe. It includes a homemade cherry pie filling made with fresh or canned cherries, baked inside a flaky pie crust.
I have too many favorite pie recipes to count and most can be enjoyed all year round, like cherry pie, Coconut Cream Pie, and Key Lime Pie.
Of all the pies in the world, Cherry Pie tops the list as one of the easiest pies to make, and I'm excited to share the simple, delicious recipe with you all!
How to make Cherry Pie:
If using fresh cherries:
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Pit and halve the cherries. Add them to a saucepan with sugar and lemon juice and toss to combine. Cook over medium heat for a few minutes until juices are released. Use a slotted spoon to spoon cherries out into a bowl. Spoon some of the sauce into a cup and stir in the cornstarch until dissolved. Return to pot with remaining juices and cook for a few minutes until sauce has thickened. Pour over cherries and set aside while you prepare the pie crust.
If using canned cherries:
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Drain the juice from the cans of cherries into a saucepan, reserving ⅓ cup in a small bowl. Set the cherries aside.
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Add cornstarch to the bowl with the reserved ⅓ cup of juice and stir well to combine.
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Heat the saucepan (that has the juice in it) over medium heat. Add the sugar and stir well. Bring mixture to a low boil. Stir in dissolved cornstarch mixture. Cook, stirring, until thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in butter and lemon juice. Fold in the cherries. Add a few drops of red food coloring, if desired.
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Allow mixture to cool to room temperature while you prepare the pie crusts.
- Line pie plate with pie crust and cherry pie filling into it. If desired, cut the top crust into wide strips to lay a lattice crust on the pie, or place the whole, uncut pie crust over the filling and poke a hole in the top for steam to release as the pie bakes. (Here's a lattice top tutorial if you've never made one on a pie.)
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Pinch the edges of the top and bottom pie crusts together and crimp the edge, if you like. Brush a thin layer of beaten egg white over the top of the pie crust and sprinkle the crust pieces lightly with granulated sugar.
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Bake at 400 degrees F for 40-45 minutes.
Some Tips for perfect cherry pie:
Should you use Sweet or Sour Cherries for cherry pie? Sour, tart cherries (sometimes called “pie” cherries) are most commonly used in desserts like cherry pie. If using sweet cherries, decrease the sugar in this recipe by at least ⅓ cup.
Use a homemade pie crust! For pies like this that bake for longer in the oven, a homemade pie crust will make a difference in how the crust holds up as it bakes.
Most store-bought pie crusts are super thin and flimsy so the edges brown and dry out more quickly when baking. (Store-bought crusts work better for custard or pudding type of pie that only requires a pre-baked pie shell).
The good news, is my favorite pie crust recipe can be made weeks or even months in advance so that your pie dough is ready to “roll” (pun intended 🙂 ) when you need it!
Make ahead Instructions:
Both the cherry pie filling and pie crust can be made a few days in advance, stored in the fridge until ready to use.
Freezing Instructions:
Baked and cooled cherry pie can be covered tightly and frozen for 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. The prepared cherry pie filling and pie crust can also be frozen, stored separately.
CONSIDER TRYING THESE HOMEMADE PIES:
- Lemon Sour Cream Pie
- Pumpkin Pie with Caramel Pecan Topping
- Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake Pie
- Key Lime Pie
- Chocolate Cream Pie
- Oreo Cheesecake Pie
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Cherry Pie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs fresh, sour cherries, or three (14.5 oz) cans sour cherries
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- homemade pie crust, (this recipe makes 2 crusts: one for the bottom and one for the top)
- 1 large egg white, , beaten with a fork
- granulated sugar, , for sprinkling on top
Instructions
If using fresh cherries:
- Pit and halve the cherries. Add them to a saucepan with sugar and lemon juice and toss to combine. Cook over medium heat for a few minutes until juices are released. Use a slotted spoon to spoon cherries out into a bowl. Spoon some of the sauce into a cup and stir in the cornstarch until smooth. Return to pot with remaining juices and cook for a few minutes until thickened. Pour over cherries and set aside while you prepare the pie crust.
If using canned cherries:
- Drain the juice from the cans of cherries into a saucepan, reserving ⅓ cup in a small bowl. Set the cherries aside. Add cornstarch to the bowl with the reserved ⅓ cup of juice and stir well to combine.
- Heat the saucepan (that has the juice in it) over medium heat. Add the sugar and stir well. Bring mixture to a low boil. Stir in dissolved cornstarch mixture. Cook, stirring, until thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in butter and lemon juice. Fold in the cherries. Add a few drops of red food coloring, if desired.
- Allow mixture to cool to room temperature while you prepare the pie crusts.
Prepare Pie:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Set aside a 9'' pie pan. (If using canned cherries, there will be enough filling for a deep dish pie dish).
- Remove one chilled pie crust dough from the fridge. On a lightly floured counter, roll out your dough to about 12'' in diameter. Gently place in the bottom of pie dish. Spoon the cherry filling into the unbaked crust and sprinkle a little cinnamon over the filling. (If using fresh cherries, add a few small pieces of butter on top).
- Remove the second pie crust from the fridge and roll it out in a similar manner. Use a pizza cutter, knife or pastry wheel to cut the crust into long strips, about 1/2'' wide. Lay strips over the crust in a lattice pattern. (If you're lazy, like me, you can just lay half of the strips going one direction, and the others on top, going perpendicular, leaving a small space between each.)
- Pinch the edges of the top and bottom pie crusts together and crimp the edge, if you like. Brush a thin layer of beaten egg white over the top of the pie crust and sprinkle some granulated sugar on top.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for about 40-45 minutes. Check after about 25 minutes and gently place a piece of tinfoil over the top crust to keep it from getting too brown.
- Remove to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool for several hours. Once cooled completely you can cut and serve it, or cover it and refrigerate it overnight to serve the next day.
- Leftover cherry pie will last up to 5 days, stored in the fridge.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
I originally shared this recipe June 2017. Updated April 2020 with process photos and more detailed instructions.
Holy Moly! This is so good! I forgot to put the cinnamon on top though. It is the absolute best cherry pie I have ever had. I used fresh sour cherries 🍒
I need to make my pie dairy-free. Can I use vegetable oil instead of butter?
Great recipe! It’s a keeper.
I’m doing this for an asignment and I think is perfect
I made the cherry pie using Bing and Rainier cheeries (5 cups). I omitted the cinnamon but my family said it was my best cherry pie I’ve made, I used Truvia instead of sugar and everyone didn’t noticed the difference. This is a keeper recipe.
So our little sour cherry tree produced an abundant crop this year and I wanted to find a good pie recipe. Both your pie crust recipe with helpful (and encouraging) video, and this cherry pie recipe were easy to follow turned out perfectly. I used nearly all of the crust recipe for the bottom crust and doubled the pie filling recipe to fill my large LeCreuset pie pan, then topped the pie with streusel topping. I was able to make a beautiful and delicious cherry pie for my husband and family for Father’s Day thanks to you!
I never liked store bought cherry pie because of the syrup taste. Made cherry pie with fresh cherries. Game changer. I’m gonna go put on 5 lbs now.
I used 4 cans of tart cherries per my husband’s request because in the past, the 9.5” pie pan we have just didn’t get filled to his liking. That gave me way too much juice for the amount of cornstarch so I added more to the juice while heating. I’d say that slightly less than 1/2 cup for the amount of juice from 4 cans. It thickened nicely on the stove and the flavor was decent with cinnamon & lemon juice added. Used store crusts.
Flavor was OK. Not nearly enough cherries by half. I used frozen cherries picked last fall. I’ll move on to another recipe.
I used two 12 oz packages of frozen tart cherries.. Added 1/3 C water and three drops almond flavoring. Pie was delicious !
I love this recipe! This will be my third Christmas making this pie! I have had a request from my little one to add blueberries. Would you substitute one can of tart cherries for the blueberries? I will be using frozen as it is impossible to find unsweetened canned blueberries where I live. Thank you!
As soon as you added cornstarch this became nothing more than a two star wilderness pie filling. For the BEST cherry pie use two cans Tart pie cherries unless you have fresh cherries. 1 cup sugar 4 T flour 1/4 t almond extract.
Love this recipe! I’ve made it several times with great results. I like to do half tart cherries and half sweet!