There’s something amazing about canning applesauce for your family. It’s easy, versatile and delicious.
If you have always wondered how to make homemade applesauce from scratch, I am going to show you how to make using an Instant Pot, Food Mill, Slow Cooker, and Food Processor.
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Canning Homemade Applesauce
Today, I am leaving no stone unturned. This is going to become a family favorite. Because once you have made this easy applesauce recipe once you will want to make it all the time.
This is totally going to make me sound ancient, but I started canning applesauce when I first started my daughter on solid food.
I wanted to have a way to provide food that had no preservatives due to some food allergies that she had. So, I started making her baby food. And of course, canned applesauce was at the top of the list.
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Ingredients For Making Applesauce Homemade
- 3-1/2 pounds of apples per quart of applesauce
- 1/2 Cup of apple cider, apple juice or water
- Glass jars (quart or pints)
- Food mill or | Food Processor | Instant Pot | Slow Cooker |
- Optional: Cinnamon, white sugar and brown sugar
What Can You Make With Home Canned Applesauce?
- Apple sauce chicken
- Apple sauce pork chops
- Kimchi (I add it in)
- Smoothies
- Overnight oatmeal
- Slow cooker oatmeal
- Applesauce cake
How To Make Applesauce
Canning applesauce is not as difficult as you may think it is. In fact, the most difficult part of it is making sure you make enough. It goes fast.
You will want to first start with processing apples.
Wash
Core
Quarter your apples. (You can leave the skins on while cooking. They come off while processing in the food mill. You may peel your apples ahead of time if are using a food processor, slow cooker, or Instant Pot. Then the process is all the same)
Place apples in a very large saucepan with just enough apple cider, apple juice or water that the apples won’t stick/burn to the bottom of sauce pan.
Cook over medium heat until soft.
Once soft, process apples in the food mill into a very large bowl. Discard the peels.
Pour applesauce back into the large saucepan. Add more apple cider, cinnamon, white sugar and/or brown sugar if desired.
Carefully do a taste test and adjust as needed.
Once you are happy with the flavor, bring applesauce to a boil and cover. Cook on medium heat for 20 minutes.
How To Can Applesauce (Preparing The Canning Process)
While your applesauce is cooking down you can start to prepare your water bath canner.
- Add water and then insert your jar rack
- Set jars, make sure they are filled with water, in the canner
- Sterilize the canning jars. Boil the jars for 10 minutes
- Use a jar lifter to remove jars from hot water
- Drain the jars
- Set sterilized jars on a towel on the counter
- Continue heating water in the canner after canning jars are removed
- Ladle the hot applesauce in the hot canning jars. Leave ½ inch of room from the top
- Remove the air bubbles. You can do this with a sterilized knife and running it into the middle and around the edges
- Wipe the rim of the jars to make sure that they are clean. Add cap and lid and hand tighten
- Use the jar lifter and gently place your jarred applesauce back onto the rack inside the canner. The canner must be full to process (see instructions for your water bath canner for full details)
- Place lid on top of your canner and bring to a boil
- Process pints and quarts for 20 minutes
- Once the process is complete. Turn off heat and remove the lid
- Allow to sit for 10 minutes before gently removing each jar with your jar lifter.
- Set each jar on your towel on the counter
- Allow jars to cool for a minimum of twelve hours
- The lids should make a ”pop” sound, which means that they are sealed. To make sure that the jars are sealed, you will want to press the center of each one of the lids. The lids should not bend in or pop. If it does, it did not seal and you will need to start the canning process over.
- Once they pop, you can remove the rings if you would like
Note: Prep time is an estimate as it depends on how many pints and/or quarts of sauce you are making. We rarely have enough of the same size available at once. So we mix it up a bit
This recipe is for a quart of applesauce. You can always double or triple the recipe if needed.
How Long Does Homemade Applesauce Last?
You can keep canned applesauce for up to one year in the proper conditions. I keep mine in the bottom of my pantry where it is nice and dark and not too warm.
Be sure to label your jars so that you can use the FIFO method (first in first out) to use the first jars made first.
Once a jar of your homemade applesauce is open, be sure to use it up within a week.
How To Make Applesauce (Canning Applesauce)
Ingredients
- 3-1/2 pounds of apples per quart of applesauce
- 1/2 Cup of apple cider apple juice or water
Instructions
- Tools NeededGlass jars (quart or pints)
- Food mill or | Food Processor | Instant Pot | Slow Cooker
- Optional: Cinnamon, white sugar and brown sugar
- Wash, core and quarter your apples. (I like to leave the skins on while cooking. They come off while processing in the food mill. You may peel your apples ahead of time if you wish or if you are using a food processor)
- Place apples in a very large sauce pan with just enough apple cider, apple juice or water that the apples wont stick/burn to the bottom of sauce pan.
- Cook over medium heat until soft. (about 12-15 minutes)
- Once soft, process apples in the food mill into a very large bowl. Discard the peels.
- Pour applesauce back into the large saucepan. Add more apple cider, cinnamon, white sugar and/or brown sugar if desired.
- Carefully do a taste test and adjust seasonings as needed.
- Once you are happy with the flavor, bring applesauce to a boil and cover. Cook on medium heat for 20 minutes.
- While your applesauce is cooking. prepare your water bath canner by adding water and inserting your jar rack. Set jars (filled with water) in the canner and boil jars for ten minutes to sterilize.
- Using a jar lifter remove jars from hot water, drain. Set all sterilized jars on a spread out towel. Be sure to continue heating water in the canner once jars are removed.
- Carefully ladle hot applesauce into hot jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- Remove any air bubbles. Wipe the rim to be sure it’s clean. Adjust your cap and lid. Hand tighten.
- Using your jar lifter carefully place your jarred applesauce back on the rack. Place them so that the canner is full (7 jars) leaving space between them. (If you do not have 7 jars of applesauce, simply fill the rest of the jars with water and place them in the canner. The canner must be full to process.) Carefully set your rack down in the water and adjust water so that it covers the tops of your lids by at least once inch. Place a lid on top of your canner. Bring to a boil. Process pints and quarts for 20 minutes.
- Once process time is complete, turn the heat off and remove the lid. Allow to sit for ten minutes before carefully removing each jar with your jar lifter. Carefully set each jar on a towel (line them up) and allow to cool for a least 12 hours. You should hear the lids “pop”. This means they are sealed.
- After at least 12 hours has passed check to make sure each jar has sealed by pressing in the center of each one with your finger. The lids should not flex/pop. If it does flex and pop this means it did not seal and you will need to repeat the process of canning (Steps 8-14)
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