Homemade Applesauce
Easy homemade applesauce with fresh apples and no added sugar. Enjoy it chunky or puree until silky smooth, with optional cinnamon and vanilla for extra flavor.
Servings: 6 Yield 3 cups
Calories: 90kcal
Equipment
- Large pot 3 ½ -5 quarts with a lid
Ingredients
Simple applesauce
- 2-2 ¼ pounds honeycrisp apples more apple notes below
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 pinch fine salt
Optional additions
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
- ½ teaspoons vanilla optional
Instructions
Prep the apples
- Peel, core, then chop the apples small.
Cook apples
- Add the apples to the pot or pan, stir in the water and lemon juice. Bring the pot to a simmer. Put the lid on and cook until apples are very soft, about 20 minutes. Watch your heat and turn down if needed to prevent scorching the apples.
Make applesauce
- Add the apples to a blender container and pulse to puree as smooth as you would like. You can also not puree it and leave it chunkier. If adding the optional cinnamon and/or vanilla, do it now.
Notes
Apple options - Other good apple choices are Fuji, Gala, Pink Lady, or a combination of varieties.
Applesauce texture - For silky-smooth applesauce, peel the apples before cooking and puree until smooth. For a more rustic, chunky applesauce, leave some or all of the peel on and mash the cooked apples to your preferred texture instead of pureeing. Keep in mind that leaving the peel on will add more texture and may affect the final color, depending on the apples you use. Leaving peels on also preserves some nutritional value in the peels.
Nutrition
Calories: 90kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 0.5g | Fat: 0.3g | Saturated Fat: 0.05g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 9mg | Potassium: 186mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 92IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 0.2mg