Description
Homemade applesauce in 30 minutes.
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 pounds of apples (approximately 6 large apples)
- 3 –4 tablespoons lemon juice (approximately the juice from 1 large lemon)
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup granulated sugar to taste (optional)
- 1 –2 whole cinnamon sticks
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Prep the Lemon & Water Mixture
In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, add the water and juice from one large lemon. - Prep the Apples
Peel, core, and chop the apples into chunks and toss into your cooking pot with the water mixture and lemon juice. The apple slices don’t have to be perfect—just uniform enough to cook evenly. As you keep adding peeled and sliced apples, continue to coat them in the lemon water mixture to prevent browning. - Simmer the Ingredients
Cover your sauce pot and bring to a simmer over medium low heat. - Cook Until Tender
Let everything simmer gently for about 20–30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The apples should be soft and break apart easily when pressed with a spoon. Your kitchen will smell amazing. - Mash or Blend
Remove the cinnamon stick. For a chunky applesauce, mash with a potato masher or fork. For a smooth version, blend using an immersion blender or regular blender (careful—it’s hot!). - Taste and Sweeten
Taste your applesauce. If you want it sweeter, stir in a bit of maple syrup, honey, or sugar. But depending on your apples, you might not need any! - Cool and Store
Let it cool completely before transferring over to a jar or container(s). Store in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze for longer storage.
Notes
To speed up the process, I highly recommend using an apple peeler, corer, and slicer. It’ll easily save you 15 minutes every single time, and it helps ensure the apples cook evenly as well (because they all of the apple slices will be consistently sliced the same way).
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stovetop
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 cup
- Calories: 80 kcal
- Sugar: 17g
- Sodium: 1 mg
- Fat: 0g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 22g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: ~.3g
- Cholesterol: 0g