8 Store-Bought Cherry Pie Fillings, Ranked Worst To Best

Cherry pie: It's one of the most classic desserts that you can order at a diner, and your grandmother probably had her favorite recipe recorded for posterity. With its bold, red hue, cherry pie is seductive, and it tastes best when made with in-season fruit. Nonetheless, if you're craving a cherry pie in the middle of winter, you wouldn't be wrong to seek out a high-quality store-bought pie filling to pick up the slack.

Canned cherry pie fillings are convenient and quick to use, and as a result, a large handful of brands have released their own versions. To find the best one, I tried several different name- and store-brands, making note of their flavors, textures, and appearances before covering them with foil (simulating the effect of a top crust), then baking them at 425 F for 30 minutes. After I tried each brand, I ranked them from worst to best. You can find more information on methodology at the end of this article.

To truly make your dessert as easy as pie, purchase one of the best store-bought pie crusts to act as a vehicle for your filling. You can also elevate your cherry pie by adding in ingredients like pineapple juice or pomegranate juice. Oh, and one more thing: I'm going to try to get through this entire piece without referencing the hit single, "Cherry Pie" by Warrant, but no promises.

I thought I had left Duncan Hines behind when I stopped attending children's birthday parties. I could easily eat a tub of that frosting in one sitting, especially the chocolate flavor. But as I grew older, I found more satisfaction in my great-grandmother's frosting recipe and other, more refined recipes. Unfortunately, I found that Duncan Hines' Wilderness cherry pie filling and topping coated my palate with sugar the same way its frostings did. 

I was surprised to find that this product did not contain any artificial or natural food coloring. As such, it appeared rather brown and dull compared to a few of the other products. It was immediately apparent that this product had an extremely high gel to cherry ratio, and I could see that many cherries were smashed upon opening the can.

Somehow, this cherry pie filling tasted slightly fake, despite not containing any artificial flavors. It also had musty undertones, which I did not enjoy. I wonder if the cherry juice concentrate had anything to do with these issues. In terms of texture, there was too much gel, and the gel was too sticky. I also thought that the cherries could have been firmer. This product was easily my least favorite of all that I tried, but I am still curious about how other varieties from Duncan Hines — like the original country cherry pie filling and topping — would hold up against the competition.

I had high hopes for Lucky Leaf's premium cherry fruit filling or topping. After all, this brand specializes in pie fillings and offers many other flavors, like apricot, blackberry, strawberry, apple, peach, pineapple, and even guava. And for its price, I thought it might at least fall midway down the list, if not higher. However, I wound up disappointed and yearning for a homemade version instead.

Lucky Leaf's cherry pie fillings come in several varieties. In addition to the premium version, there is a gluten-free version, which contains high-fructose corn syrup but no artificial flavor, and a lite version, which is sweetened with sucralose. I tested the premium version. Aesthetically, this was one of the most appealing products I tried. The cherries were plump, large, and intact, and they were brighter in color than the other brands. If I had to describe their exact hue, I would say they were cherry red (I later discovered this was due to Red 40). Meanwhile, the gel was thick and plentiful.

Although this product contained artificial flavor, it did not leap out at me. The flavor of the pie filling was just fine: citrusy and tart. Some folks prefer that, although I am partial to a mellower flavor. Nonetheless, the flavor was better than the texture of this pie. The cherries were on the chewy side and the gel was far too sticky. Overall, I did not think this product was worth the price.

The Harris Teeter cherry pie filling was one of the most affordable options on this list. It's easy to see why, too, as it has pretty average ingredients. This product contains the usual suspects: red tart pitted cherries, water, and sugar. Additionally, modified corn starch, citric acid, Red 40, and erythorbic acid all make an appearance.

This last ingredient is used to keep the filling's color bright and cheery, while a few of the other products rely on ascorbic acid for the same purpose. Indeed, this pie filling was a vibrant red, with a slightly dark hue. It appeared bold and promising, but as we all know, looks can be deceiving.

With 18 grams of added sugar per ⅓-cup serving, I was surprised that Harris Teeter's cherry pie filling erred on the tarter end of the spectrum. That speaks to the tartness of the cherries themselves. Though they were whole and intact, the texture of the cherries was nothing to write home about, and I wished they were softer. The gel was too sticky and, like the cherries, had a blatant tartness. One of the only aspects I liked about this pie filling was the pleasing ratio of cherries to gel.

Baker's Corner is one of Aldi's private-label brands, and it specializes in products like baking morsels, frostings, and affordable cake mixes that folks rave about. This cherry pie filling was extremely budget-friendly, so it makes sense that its quality was middle of the road. It contained the same ingredients as Harris Teeter's version, except vegetable juice was used for color instead of Red 40, and there was no citric acid.

Initially, my eyes were not impressed with the cherry pie filling from Baker's Corner, mainly because the cherries were slightly dull and almost brown in color. On the bright side, though, the cherries were mostly whole, and the gel-to-cherry ratio was not excessive.

The real test came when the first spoonful hit my mouth. Interestingly, this filling contained 16 grams of sugar per ⅓-cup serving, which was slightly less than most of the other products I tested. Nevertheless, it was very sweet on the palate, along with being citrusy and tart. My main complaint about this product was that the cherry flavor lacked depth; I had been hoping for some darker undertones to their surface-level sweetness. I also wished that the cherries had been softer and not as chewy.

For a boldly colored pie that is worthy of a Valentine's Day dessert table, pick up a few cans of Food Lion's cherry pie filling or topping. This filling is ruby red, and it can largely attribute its dark hue to Red 40. Its list of ingredients is predictable and much the same as other products. Even so, it has a distinct texture and flavor that may or may not be for you.

Food Lion's cherry pie filling comes in both a lite and a regular version. For the sake of consistency, I sampled the latter, though I have a feeling that I would have liked the lower-sugar variety more. It contains 9 grams of added sugar instead of 17 grams per ⅓-cup serving. Nevertheless, compared to the other products I tasted, I didn't find Food Lion's regular version to be overly sweet.

The flavor of this cherry pie filling was a bit more complex than other products, but not necessarily in a good way. In fact, I found it slightly musty. I didn't enjoy the gel, either, which was too sticky for my liking. Adding a handful of chopped nuts is just one simple way that you could make this canned pie filling more appealing.

Though somewhat more expensive than other brands on this list, Lowes Foods "more fruit" cherry fruit filling will reward your monetary investment with both a pleasant flavor and a wonderful texture. That name is a mouthful to say, but it promises a higher fruit-to-gel ratio than other brands. Since I would rather pay for fruit than for a cheap, sugary filling, this came as good news, and the extra cherries were one of the first things I noticed when I opened this can.

Nevertheless, I'll admit that when I first examined this cherry pie filling, I was not impressed. These cherries had a duller and browner hue than any other product on this list. After all, there was no Red 40 or vegetable juice to add brightness (the ingredients on my can were different than what is listed online). Luckily, the cherries redeemed themselves upon the first spoonful.

The cherries in Lowes Foods' pie filling were firm on the outside, yet soft on the inside. A few were smashed, but most were whole. Meanwhile, the gel holding the fruit together was not ostentatiously sticky or excessive, and there was just the right balance of cherries to goop. Sour cherry concentrate helped make this product stand out from the others, though the flavor was not wildly strong. This product broke into the top three spots because of its classic appeal and well-balanced nature.

Before working on this experiment, I knew Bonne Maman as the French brand that sells apricot and strawberry preserves. I didn't know that pie fillings were in the brand's wheelhouse, but it turns out that you can make several types of pie using Bonne Maman's fillings. Of course, these products will cost you a pretty penny compared to other brands, but the price tag might be worth it.

This cherry pie filling was distinct from all the others because its texture was more like jam. Indeed, much of this filling was composed of preserves held together by fruit pectin, with cherry pieces present for texture. In terms of color, this pie filling indisputably sported the darkest hue of all the products I tested.

If you bake a pie with Bonne Maman's cherry pie filling, you'll need to wait for it to cool adequately before cutting a slice. Though thick, soft, and gelatinous when cool, I found it turned quite liquidy when heated. This cherry pie filling had the most complex flavor of all the products I tested. Most remarkable were the high-quality cherries. Otherwise, the filling tasted tart and not a bit artificial. Concentrated acerola juice, derived from a berry rich in ascorbic acid, helped add tartness while also keeping the cherries vibrant. This ingredient was not present in any of the other fillings, making this product even more unique.

Okay, I can't take it any longer. Great Value's cherry pie filling was so delicious that it could "make a grown man cry." It didn't make me cry, but maybe if I paired it with a homemade flaky pie crust, I would have been reaching for the Kleenex. Aesthetically, this cherry pie filling was a bright, lipstick-red, courtesy of Red 40. The cherries were mostly intact, and the gel was very thick without being too sticky.

Despite it being the holiday season at the time of writing, this cherry pie filling somehow reminded me of summer. Its flavor was lovely, gentle, and mellow. Like several of the other brands, this cherry pie filling contained citric acid, but it wasn't overbearing. It had quite a bit of added sugar (17 grams per ⅓-cup serving), but it wasn't cloying. For those who wish to avoid added sugar entirely, it might be worth trying the sugar-free version, which is sweetened with sucralose.

I can't tell you why Great Value's product was superior to the others just by looking at its ingredients list. In fact, the ingredients are nearly identical to those contained in several other products. It might have something to do with the natural flavor, though, or else the cherry variety, growing region, or preparation style. Regardless, this is one of the brands I would be most likely to purchase again. Although I loved how unique Bonne Maman's cherry pie filling was, Great Value's product reminded me more of the cherry pies I ate growing up and thus won the top spot.

For this experiment, I chose cherry pie fillings with standard amounts of sugar (as opposed to lite versions) to maintain consistency. I spooned the cherry pie fillings into muffin cups, covered them with foil to simulate a top crust, and baked them for 30 minutes at 425 F. This was more or less a blind taste test, since I spooned the products into muffin cups at random and only matched them back to brands after taking notes on each sample. 

The two primary factors that I used to rank each product were texture and flavor. Fillings with a reasonable amount of stickiness and a less cloying flavor scored higher than those that were excessively sweet. I preferred fillings that had more complex cherry flavors, such as those that featured more intense almond undertones in addition to sweetness and tartness.

Despite assessing each product's texture and appearance earlier in the day, I paid little attention to how visually appealing these factors were while performing this taste test. In fact, appearance was not a factor in determining the rankings for this list. Nevertheless, I have made note of it for those who care more about it than I do. Price did not factor into the rankings either, though I did make note of it.