Homemade Applesauce
This kid-friendly homemade applesauce recipe is naturally sweetened with fresh apple cider, just like in the book Applesauce Season! It’s smooth, delightfully pink, and so fun to make as a family in the fall.
Good To Know
- If you don’t have fresh apple cider or apple juice on hand, you can use water instead. You’ll likely need to use the optional sugar to make up for the lost flavor and natural sweetness.
- You can use just about any apple you like in this recipe. Sweeter apples like Honeycrisp or Fuji will make a sweeter applesauce, and tart apples like Granny Smith will make a less-sweet sauce. You can also use a combination of different kinds, if you like! The only kind of apple I don’t recommend using is Golden Delicious—they have lots of pectin in them and don’t break down well into a smooth sauce.
- If you don’t have a food mill, peel and core the apples before cutting them in step 1 (this tool makes the task fun!), then mash the applesauce with a potato masher or blend it with an immersion blender after cooking and cooling. The resulting sauce will be more chunky than smooth and less pink, but will still be delicious.
Equipment You'll Need
- Cutting board
- Chef's knife
- Large saucepan with lid
- Wooden spoon
- Oven mitts
- Food mill (see recipe note)
- ladle
- Large bowl
- Quart-sized jar or other airtight container (optional)
Measure Your Ingredients
- 2 pounds tangy apples (such as McIntosh, Pink Lady, Jonagold, or Ida Red)
- 1 cup fresh apple cider or apple juice
- 1 pinch table salt
- 1 pinch apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice (optional)
- 1 to 2 teaspoons granulated sugar (optional)
Let's Cook!
- 2 pounds tangy applesPlace the apples on a cutting board. Use a chef’s knife to cut each apple in half through the stem end. Lay the halves flat on the cutting board, then cut them in half again.
- 1 cup fresh apple cider or apple juice, 1 pinch table saltTransfer the quartered apples to a large saucepan (stems, seeds, skins, and all!). Add the cider and salt. Cover the saucepan with a lid and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the apples are very soft and falling apart, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Turn off the stove and slide the saucepan to a cool burner. Use oven mitts to remove the lid and let the applesauce cool down a bit, about 10 minutes.
- Set a food mill over a large bowl. Use a ladle to transfer the cooked apples and the liquid in the pot to the food mill basket until it’s mostly full. Crank the apples through the food mill into the bowl (the skins and seeds will be left behind in the basket). Repeat until you’ve passed all of the apples through the mill. Discard the skins and seeds.
- 1 pinch apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice, 1 to 2 teaspoons granulated sugarStir in the spices and sugar to taste, if using. Serve warm or transfer to a quart-sized jar with a lid or other airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week. A little extra sprinkle of apple pie spice or cinnamon is a nice touch on top of each serving, too!