Best Homemade Applesauce (easy recipe)
Making homemade applesauce from scratch is extremely easy, and in this post I'll show you how to make it unsweetened, sweetened, and flavored. It only takes 15 minutes on the stove, and the result is full of flavor, smooth, and way better than store-bought. Estimated nutrition information below is given for sweetened applesauce.
Servings 3.5 cups (about)
Ingredients
For unsweetened applesauce:
- 2 pounds apples before peeling. I use a mix of at least two, one of them Granny Smith, the green ones, and the other a red one, like Red Delicious, Gala or Fuji
- ¼ to ½ cup water
For sweetened applesauce:
- ¼ cup white sugar see Notes below for alternatives
Flavorings (optional):
- 2 strips lemon peel
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
Instructions
- Peel, core, and cut 2 pounds apples into chunks.
- Put them in a medium saucepan or pot together with ¼ cup water, and cook on the stove over low heat.
- Add 2 strips lemon peel and ¼ cup white sugar, if using, and stir to mix. Cover and let it come to a simmer. If you don't have a lid for the saucepan you're using, mix frequently over medium heat until it comes to a simmer.
- Uncover and let cook until the apples are very tender. Make sure you don't run out of water so the apples don't stick or scorch to the bottom of the pan. Add a few tablespoons of water (from the ¼ cup of water left) if needed. The mixture will foam a lot, and that is fine.
- Pierce the apples with a fork and remove them from the stove when they are very soft. If using other flavorings like ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon and/or ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract or paste, add them now.
- Process them with an immersion blender in the same saucepan or use a potato masher or fork for chunkier applesauce. See Notes below for other methods. If, after you process it, it's too thin, you can return it to the stove (low heat) and cook it further, stirring constantly, until you get to the desired consistency.
- Let the hot applesauce cool down for a while before transferring it to an airtight jar and refrigerating for a week or so. For canning it, see the Top Tips section in the post.
Notes
Liquid: besides water, you can use part lemon juice or apple juice for a different flavor.
Sweeteners: besides the white sugar that's in the recipe, you can use any type of brown sugar (light, dark, muscovado) or even coconut sugar. Alternatively, some maple syrup or honey work very well. I recommend adding them at the end, when you remove the pan from the heat. Mix the sweetener and then mash or process the apples. They all sweeten differently, so adjust to your taste.
Saucepan: use a pan that is large enough to hold all the apples. They shrink a lot during baking. If you fill it no more than half, the apples will cook faster than if you use a saucepan filled to the top.
Processing the apples: I use the immersion blender for a smooth applesauce, but there are other alternatives. Blender or food processor: If you use a blender, you might need to let it cool a little because not all blender jars are prepared to hold very hot mixtures. If you use a processor, make sure the amount of apples you make is enough for the steel blades to completely process them. If the amount is not large enough, sometimes the blades can't process it completely. Food mill: This is another option for making the apple puree, especially if you don't peel the apples. Pass them through a stainless steel food mill to separate the pulp from the peel. Since I peel my apples, I don't use it, but it's an alternative if you already have it (it's also used for mashed potatoes).
Uses: you can use it as a side dish (for pork chops, for example), in baked goods like this blueberry pecan loaf cake, or eat it with a spoon (baby food). I love to bake with applesauce and substitute it in some recipes to make them healthier. Below, in the frequently asked questions section, you can find how to do this.
Canning: for longer storage, can this homemade applesauce recipe, like you would a jam. I'm not a canning expert, but here is an article on how to can applesauce.
Freezing: After it's completely cooled down, you can use freezer bags or an appropriate airtight container and freeze the applesauce. It'll last several months.
