by Texas Homesteader ~
Applesauce is a staple in my Homestead kitchen. But even though I use it often I don’t buy it, oh no! It’s super easy and nearly effortless to make your own applesauce.
And the lowly slow cooker makes it so easy too. Check it out!
(Note: Some links in this post will take you to other related articles for further information. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click and buy something I could receive a tiny commission.)
Damaged Apples Made Into Applesauce
Sometimes there are apples that have a windfall bruise or a small bird peck that needs to be cut out. Those apples just don’t have the appearance I want for most pie-type uses.
But I don’t want to waste those less-than-perfect apples. So I make homemade applesauce with them.
Ingredients: No sugar, no salt, no flavorings – Only Apples. It’s easy & there’s no recipe needed:
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Core, peel & Slice Apples
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Add 1/2 Cup Water & Cook in Slow Cooker Until Very Soft
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Mash or Blend into Applesauce
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Although I enjoy applesauce as a sweet natural snack or to freeze into a Healthy Frozen Popsicle Treat, I also like to use unsweetened applesauce as a Replacement For Oil in my baking. So making applesauce is a double-win for the food budget.
Harvesting Bushels Of Apples
My aunt has an amazing apple tree. It’s so productive that the limbs will break if she doesn’t keep an eye on the fruit and reduce the weight from time to time.
But she’s always been so kind to share with me. A LOT!
Y’all know I hate food waste. So when I’m gifted gorgeous, sweet, crunchy apples I get started right away using up or preserving them.
Things To Make With Fresh Apples
When I find myself with bushels of apples as I did recently I like to enjoy that sweet fall deliciousness.
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Chunky Apple Cinnamon Bread (I often top it with a simple Honey Glaze.)
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Homemade Apple Pie
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Apple Pie Tortilla Rolls.
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Spiced Rum Fried Apple Dessert
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How To Preserve Fresh Apples
We can’t eat all those apples before they go bad, y’all! (well, we COULD, but…)
So how do I preserve those apples for later? Well there are many recipes I utilize. Some canned, some dehydrated.
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Home-canned Apple Pie Filling
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How To Prepare Fresh Apples For Applesauce
In preparing to preserve those apples I get ready to peel & slice them.
I’m so glad I don’t have to peel, core and slice those apples with a knife! At least not since I discovered this handy little *Apple Peeler that will peel, core and slice an apple in about 6-8 seconds.
I used that handy contraption to peel many of those crisp apples in a flash! What to do with the peels? Well you can make your own Apple Cider Vinegar with them.
Or simply add them to your compost to start making that Black Gold Compost for your garden next spring.
If you have chickens or pigs you can often feed them apple peels, ours loved ’em. Either way – no waste!
Peeled Apples Turned To Applesauce
Now that all my apples are peeled, cored & sliced I brought out both of my slow cookers. Those apples will shrink down as they cook. So I packed in as many as I could and added about 1/2 cup of water.
The apples will produce their own juice as they cook. But I wanted to make sure not to scorch the apples in the meantime.
Once the slow cookers were loaded up with sliced apples I replaced the lid, placed the temp on low and cooked them until they were very soft.
Depending upon your slow cooker they can usually be ready in about 5 to 6 hours. But I took the lazy-cook’s way out & just allowed my apples to cook on low overnight.
Juice From Cooked Apples Used For Apple Cider
When the apples were soft I found there was lots of juice that resulted. Some people blend the juice right back in with the applesauce, and of course that’s fine. But I found it makes my applesauce thinner than I like.
So I drained off the juice using a fine mesh strainer to capture any solids. Don’t worry – that flavorful juice won’t be wasted!
The juice can be enjoyed as fresh Apple Cider. And these apples were so sweet I didn’t need to add any sugar. That’s a pretty delicious yet healthy drink.
I typically can it in a water-bath canner and keep it in the pantry. Hot cider sure is a comfort to enjoy in a mug stirred with a cinnamon stick when the weather turns cold!
Smooth Or Chunky Applesauce?
Now I turn my attention back to those cooked apples. Using a stick blender I blend it as smoothly as I like it.
Some like their applesauce pretty smooth, others prefer it chunky.
I suppose it depends on what you’re going to do with it. I personally prefer most of it to be blended smooth.
That’s because I often freeze it in popsicle molds for a refreshing cold treat when RancherMan & I have been working in the pastures during a hot day.
I also like to use it as an oil substitute for some of (or even ALL of) the oil in a baked-goods recipe. It’s a high fiber low fat healthy substitution.
But I’ll bring some out before it’s blended completely smooth so I can enjoy some of it chunky as well. That’s because occasionally I enjoy it as a healthy snack. When eating applesauce from a small bowl I prefer a little appley texture.
So just blend your applesauce based on how you’ll be using it. Whatever you like here.
Blend Cooked Apples Into Applesauce
Those apples are very soft, so the easiest way to turn those cooked apples into applesauce is to use a stick blender. Just lower it into the cooked apples and blend until it’s as smooth (or not) as you want it.
Give your applesauce a little taste. Depending upon the variety of apples you use, you may need to sweeten it a bit. The apples I use are always sweet enough on their own.
And if you want a sweeter flavored applesauce, you can use some of it to make Cinnamon/Vanilla Applesauce. It’s delicious and guaranteed to be a kid-pleaser too.
Heck if you can offer such a healthy treat to the kids and have them lap it up – SCORE! Oh, and you’ll be the hero too.
Now that you have your homemade applesauce all made, pat yourself on the back. Well done!
You’ve just made your own zero-waste applesauce for a fraction of what you’d have to pay in the store. And no preservatives either!
But unless you’re going to eat it all at one sitting, you’ll need to decide how you want to preserve some of it for later. Thankfully there are many easy options.
Can You Freeze Homemade Applesauce?
Some have asked if you can just freeze homemade applesauce. Yes you can!
To freeze it, just place it in a freezer-safe container, pop on a label and freeze. You may need to leave a little headspace since the applesauce will expand slightly as it freezes.
When you’re ready to enjoy some of your homemade applesauce, just bring it out of the freezer and pop it in the fridge to thaw.
You may need to stir it before serving if any of the liquids have separated. But applesauce usually freezes (and thaws) beautifully.
Water Bath Or Pressure Canning Applesauce
If you’d prefer, you can preserve those jars of applesauce by canning it. Really, it couldn’t be easier. You don’t even need a pressure canner! A plain ole water-bath canner will suffice.
If you don’t have a water-bath canner you can use a large stockpot and put a metal trivet on the bottom.
Just sanitize your jars, put hot applesauce into hot clean jars and get to canning!
For my altitude I placed my applesauce in pint-sized canning jars and canned it in a water-bath canner for 15 minutes.
But according to the National Center for Food Preservation, applesauce can also be canned in a weighted-gauge pressure canner (NOT pressure cooker) at 5 lbs for 8 minutes for pints, or 10 minutes for quarts in up to 1,000 ft altitude.
Since there are variables to canning such as altitude and equipment be sure to follow your canners recommendations for your area. Food safety is important!
I love that I’ve very inexpensively provided my family a sweet treat containing only healthy ingredients.
Plus the environmental side of me loves that these sweet treats don’t involve tons of landfill-bound trash like their commercial counterparts. The glass canning jars can be washed and reused time & time again.
Can You Reuse Canning Lids?
Well, yes and no. Traditional canning flats can only safely be used once for canning. But there ARE reusable canning lids available.
I canned my jars of applesauce using my reusable *Tattler Canning Lids! Now that’s something that makes my crunchy-green heart smile!
Tattlers fit regular canning jars and use standard rings too. The canning procedure is exactly the same as with traditional canning lids with the exception of how tight you put them on before processing and the fact that you go ahead & tighten them the rest of the way after processing.
According to the Tattler website:
TATTLER REUSABLE CANNING LID USAGE
Tattler Lids do require a bit of variation from conventional metal lids. Being a two piece combination with a rubber gasket ring, Tattler Lids must remain a bit loose during processing in order for the jar to vent the pressure that has built in the jar during processing. An online customer gave us a very good tip on how tight is ‘Just Right’. To get the feel for the correct tightness prior to processing, place the jar on a counter top or other smooth surface, then place your index finger on the lid (do not apply too much pressure while tightening the metal band). Screw the metal band on until the jar begins to spin on the counter top (or other smooth surface). This is the perfect tightness for processing!
THE FOLLOWING FINAL STEP IS CRUCIAL TO ENSURE A GOOD SEAL:
Once the process is completed and the jars are removed from your canner, Let the bubbling die down (approximately 4-5 minutes), as this is pressure still releasing from the jars. Place a towel over the still hot jars (for safety) and finish tightening the metal bands. Now, let your jars cool naturally and when cool to room temperature, remove the metal band and lift the jar slightly by the lid. It should be well sealed. Your food is ready for storing (store without metal screw bands).
Whichever method you choose, enjoy your healthy homemade applesauce!
~TxH~
5 Simple Ways To Preserve Fresh Apples:
- Apple Pie Filling
- Cinnamon/Vanilla Applesauce
- Apple Cider
- Cinnamon/Sugar Apple Chips
- Fruit Leather Rollups
Other Delicious Apple Recipes
- Homemade Apple Pie
- Apple Pies Baked In Canning Jars
- Single-Serve Apple Hand Pies
- Apple Crumble from Apples in Syrup
- Baked Apple Pie Tortilla Roll
- Quick, Hot Apple Dessert
- Applesticks – Frozen Applesauce Sweet Treat
- Quick Spiced-Rum Fried Apples
- Chunky Apple Cinnamon Muffins
See All Our Recipes
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Home Canning Time Reference:
National Center For Home Food Preservation
Thank you. I found the recipe. 🙂
I cannot seem to find the applesauce recipe. Am I crazy or what?
There are times when I have added , Cinnamon Imperials – (Red Hot Candy) by Brach’s; OR can use store brand.
I don’t measure. I just dump some in, (but not many) it all depends on how much sauce I am making at the time. There has been times times when I have had 3 crock pots / slow cookers going at once. Hubby likes his sauce a bit chunky so a pot going for him,1 pot going to use in baking (smooth( and then yet another pot with the red hot candies in.
Talked to my aunt (she turned 99 the 29th of Feb. this year and has a mind sharp as a tack) yesterday and we got to talking about applesauce and she mentioned that when she used to make and can applesauce she would add about 2 cups of fresh or frozen cranberries and cook with her apples. At times she would also cut up stalks of rhubarb and cook right along with the apples for apple-rhubarb sauce.
Tip if visiting an orchard: Ask for ‘seconds’ or the ‘drops’. These are usually smaller and odd shaped but are perfect when it comes to making applesauce and apple butter. Normally you can get the drops for much cheaper price but you will have to ask for them cause normally they store them in a back room.
Oh, my aunt also mentioned that while cooking the apples she would also add a couple strips of lemon peel along with just a little lemon juice.
Great info Colleen. How in the world did that generation get so smart? Before internet & google searches? Glad you shared her advice on this post so all can see. 🙂 ~TxH~
I also make my applesauce in crockpot / slow cooker. Sure beats stirring it on top of the stove for hours.
Nothing tastes better than homemade applesauce and it sure does beat the store bought.
I have used my applesauce in place of oil in my banana bread / muffins; Spice cake, etc.
I’m going have to make up another batch soon as I only have 1 jar left.(thanks 4 the reminder) :}
I love to use homemade applesauce to replace some of the fat in my baking Colleen. Plus when you make the applesauce yourself it’s not only a cheaper and healthier alternative, but there’s no landfill trash – the cores & peels go to the chickens or composter and my canning jars and Tattler reusable canning lids are reused again and again. Cheaper/Healthier/Less Waste = Trifecta Win! 🙂 Enjoy the cooler weather today. ~TxH~