How to Make Homemade Applesauce, Easy Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are the best apples for homemade applesauce? ›

The best apples for applesauce are whatever apples you have on hand and need to use up. However, if you have a choice, we recommend using a combination of sweet and tangy varieties for the best flavor. Popular sweet varieties include Honeycrisp and Fuji, while popular tangy varieties include Granny Smith and Braeburn.

Homemade applesauce can be refrigerated for a week to ten days; it can also be frozen or canned for longer-term storage. Mott's recommends its applesauce to be used within ten days of opening. First let me introduce our panel.

The mellow sweetness of toasted sugar adds complexity. Apple cider vinegar helps brighten cooked fruit. Using skin-on fruit improves both flavor and color in the finished product. Aromatics like cinnamon, orange peel, and rose water intensify the flavor of the apples.

Applesauce contains antioxidants called phytochemicals. These antioxidants may help to reduce your risk of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Making fresh applesauce using the whole fruit, including the skin, helps to ensure that you get the most antioxidants possible.

If you don't have time to wait for reduction, then the best method is to mix arrowroot or tapioca (or both) with a little bit of apple juice or apple cider. Use the resulting mixture as a thickening agent. Add it to the applesauce and let it stew. Before too long, the sauce will have thickened up nicely!

Steer clear of white granulated sugar, which is one-note sweet, and won't add those tasty caramel notes we associate with good applesauce. Obviously you don't want apples with an al dente bite, but did you know it's possible to overcook them? "Apples lose their flavor rapidly when cooked too long," says Martinez.

Peel, core and quarter apples. You will need 3 to 3-1/2 pounds per quart of applesauce. Place in large saucepot.

You can make applesauce out of any apples, but if you have a choice, go with soft apples. They'll cook down faster and get you out of the kitchen sooner.

Not only does the homemade version taste better, but it's way cheaper, too. We call that a win-win! Making homemade applesauce is a great way to use up that big bag of apples that's been sitting in your fridge for two weeks. (It's okay… we all do it.)

Once frozen and popped out of your Souper Cubes trays, and transferred to freezer bags, it will last up to 6 months in the freezer - even longer if it is vacuum sealed! To thaw, remove the cube of applesauce from the freezer, and place into a bowl.

How to tell if apple sauce is bad? ›

Mold is an obvious sign of spoilage, and the applesauce should be discarded immediately. What does it smell like? A quick whiff that gives off a sweet scent of applesauce means it is probably still good. If there is an unpleasant odor, you're likely smelling spoiled applesauce, so go ahead and toss it out.

The process calls for cooking quartered, unpeeled apples—cores, seeds and all—until they break down into a mush, then sieving that mush to obtain a purée—aka applesauce. And oh, what an applesauce it is. The pectin in the apple skin and seeds makes it thick and glistening even before any sweetener is added.

Adding sugar to applesauce is optional…. However, lemon juice is not an optional addition. Lemon juice is added to help preserve the apples' natural colour and to assure the acidity of the finished product, since different varieties and harvesting conditions can produce apples of lower acidity.”

Try adding spice to the applesauce: cayenne pepper and grated ginger go nicely with cinnamon and nutmeg. Chili flakes will also elevate the applesauce with a sensational taste. Another fun grownups-only idea is to add a splash of whiskey to warm it up.

The answer is a resounding yes! Apple sauce is low in calories, fat-free, and contains beneficial vitamins and minerals. Apples are packed with fiber, which helps keep you feeling full and aids in digestion. They also contain antioxidants, which can help protect against chronic diseases.

Apple juice is a fruit juice made by the maceration and pressing of an apple.

Apple puree is essentially applesauce. They are prepared in the same way but the finishing touches can differ. The puree is always smooth but applesauce can be a variety of textures from chunky to smooth.

This process is called osmosis, and it dilutes the sugar-water inside the cells. But all the water coming in raises the pressure inside the cells so that eventually, the cell walls burst. That helps break down the apple into an even, golden sauce, which you can sweeten after cooking.