Crockpot Applesauce
I have an overabundance of apples in my house right now. This past week honeycrisp apples were on sale for $.98/pound, an amazing price, so of course I stocked up. We also already had plans to go apple picking with friends, so I picked up a bag there as well. Then, I came home one day to find a package of apples from Michigan Apples on my doorstep! Let’s just say eating an apple a day is a minimum requirement around here at the moment.
It actually works out well since I was already planning to try out a slow cooker applesauce recipe this past weekend. The recipe turned out great, and actually it was so simple to prepare and turned out so well that I’ve got another batch planned for sometime this week. (I did invest in one of those peeler, corer, slicers over the weekend, which made a huge difference in the simplicity factor.)
There’s not much of a recipe to applesauce, and it’s easy to adjust to your preferences, but I’ll include the recipe I followed. It cooked perfectly in the crockpot in about 3 1/2 hours before I pureed it with my immersion blender (we aren’t chunky applesauce people).
It tasted great and only took about 15-20 minutes of hands on time to prepare. I think it’s safe to say that our freezer will be full of homemade applesauce by the end of apple season. 🙂
Crockpot Applesauce
Yield: 4 cups
Cook Time: 4 hours
Ingredients:
3 pounds apples (6-9), peeled, cored, and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
1 cup apple juice or apple cider, plus extra as needed
2 Tbsp sugar, plus extra as needed
pinch salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (or 2 cinnamon sticks) *optional
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook until apples are very soft and beginning to disintegrate, about 4 hours on low. Remove cinnamon sticks if using. Mash apples thoroughly with potato masher (or blend with immersion blender). Season with additional sugar/cinnamon to taste and adjust consistency with additiona hot apple juice or cider as needed.
*Recommended apples: Jonagold, Pink Lady, Jonathan, Golden Delicious, Empire, Mcintosh, Rome
from Slow Cooker Revolution
Welcome! I'm Megan and it's my hope that here you'll find food that has been made with love and recipes that are shared with joy. Thanks for stopping by! 
Oh, this sounds so simple and like a great way to use up some apples! I need to try this soon! My girls love applesauce!
I think I might actually try this! I usually just read your blog for the incredible food porn, seeing as how I cannot cook for anything, but I am in love with the ease of a crockpot, so I’ll give this one a try!
We love homemade applesauce in our house, but ours never makes it to the freezer:) What a lovely blog! Thanks for introducing me to yours.
Love crock pot recipes. Thanks for the inspiration!
I’m on the lookout for more ways to use my slow cooker. This look wonderful. Nothing better than homemade applesauce. Thanks
Have a great day.
I have made crockpot applesauce for years at school for the kindergarteners. All we did was put about half full with sliced apples, cinnamon, sugar, and maybe 4 tablespoons of water. When it was cooked I would use a potato masher and it was ready to eat. Most all the kids thought it was great to see it made. They were so cute saying it is the best I ever eat.
Oh, applesauce! How I love thee! So, I guess I’ve gotta get the crockpot out…
Megan the sauce looks so nice …. I am so into cinnamon right now …. I cant wait to try this easy recipe … Thanks for sharing 🙂
Crockpot applesauce is my favorite! It makes your house smell soooo yummy!
Yum, yum, yum! I bet this made the whole house smell amazing! Then you get to eat all this deliciousness….yum!
Are you just putting it in containers to freeze, or are you doing something special?
We are just freezing it, nothing special. My husband LOVES applesauce and devours it quicker than you can imagine, so I’m sure it will get eaten 🙂
Perfect time of year for some applesauce! I’m glad I found your site on StumbleUpon. Great typography btw. I love ‘Lobster’ font!
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I made this last nite (with apple cider) and it was so delicious! I could’ve eaten the whole pot warm right then. And I agree with Katrina above: it makes the whole house smell like cinnamony goodness! Thank you so much for sharing this!
I’m so glad you liked this! Thanks for commenting to let me know how it turned out 🙂
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Why not honeycrisp? I’m just curious. I lucked into a lot of honeycrisp apples last fall–a local orchard let me glean the drops, of which there were THOUSANDS, and I still have a few that need using, so I was searching for a crock pot recipe. I normally make applesauce in huge bulk in the fall, but it sounded cozy just to make a little crock pot full. I was all excited when you mentioned honeycrisp, and was copying down the recipe, but when I got to the bottom, I saw that you don’t recommend them. Now I’m wondering if I should go ahead or not….so why?
Hi Ronda – sorry to take so long to reply! I actually am not sure why the book didn’t recommend honeycrisp. Maybe it has to do with the texture of the apples? I’m not sure. But I have used red delicious for applesauce before (not this recipe) without problems, and it’s also on the not recommended list, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it. If I were you I would use the honeycrisp anyway – I’m pretty sure the applesauce will taste great regardless. If you try it, let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Thanks, Megan! I decided to go ahead, and it turned out lovely. When it was done, we thought it was fairly blah, so decided to add a shot of lemon juice. That perked it up quite nicely and we’re loving it! I wonder if perhaps honeycrisp are just too sweet and need a little zing to make good sauce? But lemon juice fixes it easily, IMO, and the texture is perfect. Thanks for a great recipe!
I’m so glad it turned out well! Great idea adding the lemon juice. And maybe you’re right about the sweetness being the reason honeycrisp aren’t recommended.
Looks yummy! We’re going apple picking next weekend and I can’t wait to make some homemade applesauce! Where did you get the plaid napkin in the picture? I love it!
Thanks! Unfortunately I can’t remember where I got it, sorry!
I had some left over apples that were too soft for me (I like my apples to crunch when I bite into it) so when I came across your recipe on Pinterest I thought I’d give it a try. A-MAZ-ING!!! It was a little on the sweet side so I think next time (and there WILL be a next time) I will skip the sugar. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
So glad you liked it! Thanks so much for the comment 🙂
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How long does it last in the fridge? Do you have to freeze it? If so, how long does it take to thaw? Really want to try this!!
I’m not sure how long it lasts in the fridge, since my husband eats in just a few days. I tend to freeze it if I’m keeping it longer than that. It usually takes around a day to thaw in the fridge. Hope that helps!
So we had a few apples sitting around the house that my family wasn’t eating and I decided to venture out a little and try making some homemade applesauce. I must admit was a virgin applesauce maker and was a little intimated until I found this recipe. It is practically fool proof! Oh, the aroma of apples and cinnamon cooking throughout the house was absolutely wonderful! I added a little lemon juice and the a slice of lemon rind as well. My family LOVED it as well as my co-workers ( I was so proud of myself that I had to share some apple love at work). This is now a family recipe. Thank you for sharing 🙂
I have made this several times now — it is amazing! I haven’t frozen any of it yet because the kids eat it all before I get a chance to freeze it! We have been using Fuji apples. I cut the sugar to 1 Tbsp, cut the juice to 3/4 cup, bump up the cinnamon and add a tsp of vanilla. It is fantastic! I love that it doesn’t have very much added sugar! Oh, and I tried brown sugar instead of white one time — that was yummy too!
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I just read an article that said Braeburn and Cortland WERE good for applesauce?!?!
Yes, I have read that too actually! I’m updating the post to take out the list of not recommended apples. I’ve started using a mixture of all sorts of apples from an apple orchard near us to make applesauce, and I haven’t yet found a combination that I don’t like!