How to Thicken Fruit Pies with Corn Starch, Flour (2024)

By Mavis Butterfield on September 1, 2021 - 8 Comments

Yesterday when I shared a recipe for cinnamon peach crisp, Becky from Tennessee asked if there was something she could substitute the granulated tapioca I had in the ingredient list with, and my first thought was why!?

Why wouldn’t Becky want to use granulated tapioca in her peach crisp? It’s practically the best thing ever to thicken up fruit fillings. And then I was like… duh, maybe she doesn’t have any in her pantry. 😉

And so that got me to thinking, maybe YOU would like a few other options in case you don’t have a container of tapioca granulates sitting in your pantry either. So I put a list together of the thickeners I’ve used over the years in my pies, crisps and cobblers.

Hopefully, you’ll find it helpful on How to Thicken Fruit Pies

Granulated tapioca is hands down my favorite thickener to use in fruit pies because it gives the fruit filling a somewhat bright and glossy look to them. It also tens to make the filling nice and sticky, which works to hold the filling together and often times, will result in a slice of cold pie that you can hold in your hand.

Granulated tapioca also doesn’t break down when thawed making it a great option if you are planning on making a few pies ahead of time and popping them in the freezer to bake later.

I typically add 2 -3 tablespoons of granulated tapioca to a fruit pie.

Clear Jel powder {the cooking type} is simply modified corn starchand works well to keep fillings nice and thick whether you are going to cook them right away, or stash in the freezer for later.Clear Jel powder also works great to thicken up cream pies too.

I used 5 tablespoons of Clear Jel powder when I made Zoë’s coconut cream pie.

Corn starch is similar to Clear Jel with two exceptions, it tends to leave fruit fillings cloudy and can sometimes leave your filling tasting a little on the starchy side.

When using corn starch as a thickener, you really need to make sure your pies come out of the oven all nice and bubbly so you don’t have any lingering starchy taste to them.

I used 1/4 cup corn starch when I made a fresh raspberry pie,1 tablespoon when I made a peach pie and 2 tablespoons when I made pineapple custard. It really just depends on the type of fillings and thickness you are going for when using corn starch.

All-purpose flour, while I don’t use it my pies very often anymore, we all have it in our cupboards and it does work in a pinch to thicken up pie fillings. Plus, people have been using it forever. It works. Flour just wouldn’t be my first choice.

I used a 1/3 cup flour in a strawberry rhubarb pie I made back in 2012.

So there you have it, four ways to thicken up your fruit pies. 🙂

Which one do you use?

~Mavis