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Food should be exciting. Our entire site is dedicated to this dogma. When foodies are looking to incorporate more fruit into their daily diets, one of the most common vehicles for getting the job done is the highly-customizable smoothie. These fruit-focused sippers should be vibrant and fun, never one-note or boring. To give your go-to (maybe even a tad predictable — ouch) smoothie game an avant-garde facelift, it’s time to bust out the canned cherry pie filling. Here at Tasting Table, we’re all about unexpected canned foods that can take your smoothies to the next level, and there’s no better fit than rich, luscious pie filling.
To jazz up your beverage routine, simply add a few heaping spoonfuls of canned cherry pie filling to the blender alongside your regular smoothie ingredients, and puree away. The amount of pie filling you choose to add is up to your individual taste preference, but take care not to overdo it with this sweet, syrupy superstar. You can always add more later on, taste-testing after each addition. Alternatively, if you’d prefer to keep those canned whole cherries in their toothy, bulbous shape (i.e., not pureed), omit the canned pie filling from the blender. Instead, vigorously stir it into your finished smoothie using a long-handled spoon as a final step. A 21-ounce can of cherry Duncan Hines Comstock Simply Pie Filling costs $5.39 on Amazon, enough to make a number of smoothies, depending on serving size and how rich you prefer your sip.
Canned cherry pie filling belongs in your blender
Now for the fun part: brainstorming flavor combinations. Canned cherry pie filling would work gourmet wonders blended into a virgin piña colada, which is (arguably) essentially a smoothie. Our recipe combines pineapple juice, cream of coconut (which is not the same thing as coconut cream), heavy whipping cream, and ice. The combo could become more smoothie-like by swapping the pineapple juice for frozen pineapple chunks. Or, you could try stirring those sticky cherries into this tropical passionfruit smoothie. With coconut, banana, and vanilla, it packs major piña colada flavor vibes, plus a tart tropical pop from the passionfruit.
This bold smoothie hack works especially well in milder beverages, like a plain banana, blueberry, peach, or strawberry smoothie, or this fruity orange cream smoothie. For a dimensional, unexpected flavor profile, you could add those sweet cherries to a grassy plant-based matcha smoothie. Or, for an after-dinner treat, you could mix some extra cherry pie flavor into these healthy Black Forest smoothies.
Not in the mood for a sippable smoothie this morning? Ditch the straw and grab a spoon. This creamy peach almond smoothie bowl is a toothy, multi-textured, flavor fantasia that’s crying out for a scoop of cherry pie filling. Those sticky cherries would pair seamlessly with (and likely stick to) the other toppings in this bowl: fresh peaches, sliced almonds, oats, and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
