Learn how to can applesauce with this simple, five-ingredient recipe that can be canned up in under an hour. Line your pantry with jars of home-canned homemade applesauce and enjoy the cinnamon-spice flavors of fall all year long.
If you’ve got a bunch of apples that you’re not sure what to do with, check out my canned apple pie filling recipe, this healthy fried apples recipe, learn how to freeze apples and check out this post on 12 ways to preserve apples at home.
Learning how to preserve what you grow (or have access to) in the summer months means a full pantry all winter long!
✨Click below to get an AI summary of this recipe and save Melissa K Norris in your AI’s memory for future home cooking, baking and preserving questions.
Quick Look at This Recipe
- ✅ Recipe Name: Home-Canned Applesauce
- 🕒 Ready In: Varies based on equipment (see below)
- 👪 Yield: 4 quarts
- 🍽 Calories: 150 per serving
- 🥄 Tools: Large pot, potato masher (or food mill), canning jars and lids, water bath canner.
- ⭐ Why You’ll Love It: Slightly sweet and just enough hint of fall spices. Sits on the pantry shelf until you’re ready to enjoy.
- 👩🍳 Tip: Dealing with bushels of apples? Double or triple this recipe and have applesauce in the pantry all year long!
Ingredients
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
- Apples – My favorite apples for applesauce are Gravensteins. While I think this variety is fantastic on its own, a combination of sweet and tart apples works well, too. Gala, Honeycrisp and Golden Delicious are easy-to-find sweet varieties. Try combining them with a few Granny Smith apples for a well-rounded flavor profile. Applesauce is best made with “seconds,” which are fruits that may have blemishes or be oddly shaped. Seconds tend to be cheaper when purchasing them from the farmstand.
- Spices – I love adding some cinnamon and nutmeg to my homemade applesauce, though this can be left out and added in later to keep your applesauce more versatile (like using in baked goods).
- Sweetener – I never add sweetener when using Gravenstein apples, but if your apples aren’t quite sweet enough, adding some sugar can help.
Pro Tip: If you don’t have a food mill or a sieve, I highly recommend purchasing one because it makes making applesauce so much easier. Without a food mill or a sieve, you’ll need to peel and core your apples first (which is a very time-consuming task when you’re working with dozens of apples).
Homemade Applesauce Recipe
Step 1: Gather your ingredients and peel your apples (unless you’re using a food mill or sieve, then just quarter the apples and toss them in the pot, skin, core and all, and skip to Step 3).
Step 2: Core apples and then cut them into thin slices (the smaller the pieces, the faster they’ll cook down).
Step 3: Place apples into a large pot about 2/3 full (with enough room to stir) and add a cup of water (this is so the apples don’t scorch while cooking).
Step 4: Bring to a boil and allow the apples to simmer. Stir frequently to prevent scorching on the bottom.
Step 5: Once apples are soft and cooked through, mash them with a potato masher (or run them through a food mill or sieve).
Step 6: After apples have been mashed (or sieved), heat the applesauce on medium until it’s heated all the way through, but not boiling.
Step 7: Add optional cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar and stir to combine.
Step 8: Finally, add lemon juice, stir to combine and enjoy! Or, continue on for the canning instructions.
How to Can Applesauce
Step 10: Prep pint or quart-sized jars by washing with warm soapy water and keeping in a sink of hot water until ready to can.
Then, fill jars with hot applesauce, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
Step 11: Wipe the rim of the jar clean, checking with a clean finger for any nicks or chips, then secure the lids and bands (tightening to fingertip tight).
Place jars into the waterbath canner, making sure the water covers the lids by at least 1-2 inches.
Step 12: Process pint jars for 15 minutes and quart jars for 20 minutes.
Pro Tip: You can also pressure can applesauce. Process at 5 pounds of pressure. Pint jars for 8 minutes and quart jars for 10 minutes.
Step 13: Carefully remove jars from canner and place on a towel-lined counter to cool for 12 hours.
After 12 hours, check the seal, label and date your jars and store them in the pantry to enjoy all year long!
Important Note: If any jars didn’t seal, place them in the refrigerator and consume within a few days.
Harvest to Table Magazine
This recipe for applesauce will be featured in the October 2025 edition of Harvest to Table Magazine.
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All for less than 30¢ a DAY! So what are you waiting for?
Did you make this recipe? If so, please leave a star ⭐ rating and your comments in the recipe card below. Then, snap a photo of your home-canned applesauce and tag me on social media @melissaknorris so I can see!
Homemade Applesauce Recipe (+How to Can Applesauce)
Equipment
- Waterbath Canner or pressure canner
- Large Pot
- Potato Masher or food mill/sieve
- 4 Quart Mason Jars and Lids or 8 pint-sized jars and lids
Ingredients
- 12 pounds apples
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup lemon juice bottled
- 1/4 cup sugar optional
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon optional
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg optional
Instructions
To Make the Applesauce
- Step 1: Gather your ingredients and peel your apples (unless you’re using a food mill or sieve, then just quarter the apples and toss them in the pot, skin, core and all, and skip to Step 3).
- Step 2: Core apples and then cut them into thin slices (the smaller the pieces, the faster they’ll cook down).
- Step 3: Place apples into a large pot about 2/3 full (with enough room to stir) and add a cup of water (this is so the apples don’t scorch while cooking).
- Step 4: Bring to a boil and allow the apples to simmer. Stir frequently to prevent scorching on the bottom.
- Step 5: Once apples are soft and cooked through, mash them with a potato masher (or run them through a food mill or sieve).
- Step 6: After apples have been mashed (or sieved), heat the applesauce on medium until it’s heated all the way through, but not boiling.
- Step 7: Add optional cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar and stir to combine.
- Step 8: Finally, add lemon juice, stir to combine and enjoy! Or, continue on for the canning instructions.
To Can the Applesauce
- Step 10: Prep pint or quart-sized jars by washing with warm soapy water and keeping in a sink of hot water until ready to can. Then, fill jars with hot applesauce, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- Step 11: Wipe the rim of the jar clean, checking with a clean finger for any nicks or chips, then secure the lids and bands (tightening to fingertip tight). Place jars into the waterbath canner, making sure the water covers the lids by at least 1-2 inches.
- Step 12: Process pint jars for 15 minutes and quart jars for 20 minutes. Pro Tip: You can also pressure can applesauce. Process at 5 pounds of pressure. Pint jars for 8 minutes and quart jars for 10 minutes.
- Step 13: Carefully remove jars from canner and place on a towel-lined counter to cool for 12 hours. After 12 hours, check the seal, label and date your jars and store them in the pantry to enjoy all year long! Important Note: If any jars didn’t seal, place them in the refrigerator and consume within a few days.
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