Homemade Applesauce

Our homemade applesauce recipe is so good, it’s a revelation.

By
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.
Learn about Simply Recipes' Editorial Process
Updated October 29, 2023
Elise Bauer

Nothing beats the taste of homemade applesauce, and it's so easy to make! Every year, starting in mid summer with the Gravensteins, and through late fall with Granny Smiths and Fuji apples, my father processes dozens of batches of applesauce from apples picked from his trees. He freezes them in large quart-sized mason jars for us to enjoy all year long.

The Secret to Homemade Applesauce

The secret to my dad's applesauce is that he adds a couple strips of lemon peel to the apples, as well as some lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, while they are cooking.

The tartness of the lemon or vinegar serves to intensify the taste of the apples, and helps balance out the sweetness of the sauce. The result is a refreshing, utterly delicious applesauce.

A bowl of homemade applesauce in a white bowl resting on a cloth napkin

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

Make It Your Own: Add Other Fruits

He also likes to mix other fruit in with the sauce. He'll mix fresh cranberries in with the apples for cranberry applesauce, or stalks of rhubarb for rhubarb applesauce. Plums and pluots sometimes find their way into his applesauce too.

For more information on which apple varieties are best for baking, check out our Guide to Apples.

Love Apples? Try These Recipes

A bowl of homemade Applesauce with a spoonful being taken out

Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

Zero-Sugar Applesauce

Depending on your apples and your own preference, you can omit the sugar in this recipe. If you do, you may want to decrease or omit the lemon juice or vinegar.

Got a Food Mill? Skip the Peeling!

If you have a food mill, you can skip peeling and coring the apples and instead just cut the whole apple into quarters. Then, cook as directed in Step 1. After the apples are cooked, run them through a food mill. If the applesauce is too thin, return it to the pot and cook it a bit longer, stirring often, until it’s the consistency you like.

Cooking the apples with the peels and cores extracts more pectin for an extra-silky sauce, plus it'll save you time.

Turn It into Apple Butter

Applesauce is the basis for apple butter. Once you make this, you have the start for our amazing apple butter, since apple butter is just a more concentrated, more sweetened version of smooth apple sauce.

Can I Double This Recipe?

Sure! Scaling this recipe up works just great, but keep in mind it'll take a little longer for the apples to cook down.

Reader Variations

Applesauce is very customizable. Check out the ways readers have made this their own.

  • YankInWV: "I changed the sweetener to 2 tablespoons granulated Splenda and 2 tablespoons Splenda brown sugar and it is fabulous! Everyone loves it."
  • Jeannine: "I finish it with a tablespoon of vanilla extract, it becomes amazing."
  • Karena: "I also added pumpkin pie spice on top of the cinnamon!"
  • Penny: "The aroma takes me back to my mom's kitchen - days of making applesauce, apple butter, apple pies and dumplings for the freezer! For a special treat, my mom would throw a handful of the little red hots cinnamon candies in a batch as it cooked. Pink applesauce! As soon as it was nearly frozen, she would scoop it out and put it in cups with a spoon - we kids LOVED getting a cup of "apple ice" as a reward for helping with the picking, peeling, etc!"
From the Editors Of Simply Recipes

Homemade Applesauce

Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 40 mins
Total Time 55 mins
Servings 12 to 16 servings
Yield 1 1/2 to 2 quarts

Apples vary in their sweetness level, depending on the variety and how late in the season they are picked. The amount of sugar you will want to add will depend on how sweet your apples are, and how sweet you like your applesauce. This recipe is just a guideline, please adjust the sugar amounts to your taste. You can even leave the sugar out all together if you are using sweet apples.

In place of the ground cinnamon, you can cook the apples with a stick of cinnamon, just remove it before puréeing.

To prep the apples, use a sharp vegetable peeler or paring knife and cut away the outer peel. Then, quarter the apple and use a paring knife to cut out the tough core parts from the quarters. Or use an apple peeler corer.

Ingredients

  • 4 pounds (about 8 to 10 apples, depending on the size) apples, peeled, cored, and quartered (Use apples varieties that are good for cooking, such as Granny Smith, Pippin, Gravenstein, Mcintosh, Fuji, Jonathan, Jonagold, or Golden Delicious.)

  • 2 strips lemon peel (use a vegetable peeler to strip the zest only, not the pith)

  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice or apple cider vinegar (more or less to taste)

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • Up to 1/2 cup white sugar (can sub half with brown sugar)

  • 1 cup water

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Method

  1. Boil the apples with the sugar and seasonings:

    Place the peeled, cored, and quartered apples into a large pot. Add the strips of lemon peel, the lemon juice (or vinegar), cinnamon, sugar, water and salt.

    You might want to start with half the sugar at this point and add more to taste later.

    Simple Tip!

    If you use less sugar than this recipe suggests, you will likely want to reduce the amount of lemon juice or vinegar as well. The acid in the lemon juice or vinegar brightens the flavor of the apples and balances the sweetness.

    A pot with peeled apples, lemon zest, spices, and sugar before cooking in a pot

    Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer
  2. Simmer:

    Bring to a boil on high heat, then lower the temperature. Cover the pot, and maintain a low simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the apples are completely tender and cooked through.

    Homemade applesauce in a pot, ready to mash

    Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer
  3. Remove the lemon peels, then mash the apples:

    Once the apples are cooked through, remove the pot from the heat. Remove the lemon peels.

    Use a potato masher to mash the cooked apples in the pot to make a chunky applesauce. For a smoother applesauce you can either run the cooked apples through a food mill, or purée them using a stick blender or a standing blender.

    (If using a standing blender, do small batches, and do not fill the blender bowl more than halfway.)

    A pot of cooked applesauce with a masher in it

    Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer
  4. Adjust the seasoning and consistency as needed:

    If the applesauce is too thick, add more water to thin it out.

    If not sweet enough, add more sugar to taste. If too sweet, add more lemon juice.

    Simple Tip!

    This applesauce recipe is perfect for canning. If using a water-bath canner, process pint jars for 15 minutes and quarts for 20 minutes at sea level. You'll have to boil for a little longer if you live in a higher elevation.

  5. Enjoy:

    This applesauce is delicious either hot or chilled. It pairs well with pork chops for savory dishes, it's terrific with cottage cheese as a snack or light lunch, and it's great with vanilla ice cream or yogurt.

    Freezes well and will last at least 1 year in a cold freezer. If you freeze it, make sure to allow enough headroom (at least 1 inch) in your jar for expansion.

    Simple Tip!

    If you're planning to enjoy your homemade applesauce right away, it'll keep for 1 to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

    Did you love the recipe? Give us some stars and a comment below!

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
84 Calories
0g Fat
22g Carbs
0g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 12 to 16
Amount per serving
Calories 84
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 69mg 3%
Total Carbohydrate 22g 8%
Dietary Fiber 3g 10%
Total Sugars 18g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 6mg 30%
Calcium 9mg 1%
Iron 0mg 1%
Potassium 125mg 3%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.