Making Applesauce at Home – By Hand or KitchenAid

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How to Make Applesauce at Home

You can try Musselman’s, Mott’s, or any of the other M’s on grocery store shelves, but once you’ve had a taste of homemade applesauce, there’s no going back. No store-bought applesauce can ever be as wonderful as a warm batch fresh off the stove during apple season.

That’s why we’re covering how to make delicious applesauce at home this week! We’ve already talked about how to make apple crisp, apple dumpling cobbler, and apple cider for National Apple Month. Now we’re on to one of the best apple products of all: applesauce!

Homemade applesauce is fairly easy to make, and as long as you have the apples, you can make plenty to enjoy for months to come. And this time of year, many of us have more apples than we know what to do with! 

Best Apples for Making Applesauce

You can try any kind of apple you’d like in applesauce. A sweeter, baking-type apple is usually your best bet, but you can play around with any variety and see what you like. You may even want to try a mix of several different types of apples to craft the perfect applesauce cocktail. One blog has an apple guide with what many like to use to get you started.

Unlike apple cider, you can use the dropped apples scattered around your backyard to make applesauce. Just wash them really well. And common sense applies… try to use fresh apples or ones that have been properly stored. If it looks gross for some reason, don’t use it.

Spicing Things Up

Using either of the following methods, you should first try making your applesauce plain and see how you like it. Notice how the flavor comes out. Once you’ve finished the unsweetened applesauce and taste test it, you can add a little bit of sweetener (white or brown sugar is best) and/or ground cinnamon to the finished product.

Want to get a little crazy? Try adding some unusual items, like curry, nutmeg, allspice, even pepper, really whatever you feel like! The best way to adjust is to add some to a little bowl one spoonful at a time, rather than your whole batch. You don’t want to spoil all your hard work if you don’t like the flavor combination.

Once you’ve made it a few times (or if you know you like a particular flavor) you can add spices and other additives right into the sauce while it’s cooking. Many like to cook their applesauce with cinnamon sticks, for example. You’ll create your own homemade applesauce recipe with the exact amounts of added sugar and spices over time.

For Chunky Applesauce

This is the traditional way of making applesauce for our family, and how my grandparents made applesauce for years. It requires a little more effort, but produces the delicious, chunky applesauce you know and love.

After you’ve washed your apples, get settled into a comfortable spot. Begin peeling, coring, and chopping up your apples into 1/2 inch chunks. Once you have a pot full of them, add enough water (when in doubt, use extra), cover it, and get it cooking on the stove over medium heat. You’ll need to stir it often, so don’t go too far away!

Depending on the size of your batch and the type of apple used, it can take anywhere from a half-hour to two or three hours for the apples to reach a soft, mashable consistency. Don’t rush it – as long as the sauce isn’t burning, it can cook as long as it needs to. Add more water along the way if you’re worried. 

On the flip side, if the apples are soft but the consistency seems too watery, you can take the cover off and let the steam out. Just make sure to keep stirring so it doesn’t burn.

Once the apples are soft and mushy, you can take a potato masher and go to town on it. Once finished, you should have a nice batch of warm, chunky applesauce that’s just the right consistency!

For Smooth Applesauce (and less time)

Technically, for smoother applesauce, you can go through all the steps described above and run it through a fine-mesh food processor or an immersion blender to make an apple puree when you’re done.

But if you have a KitchenAid mixer, you can cut that time in half!

You’ll need the food grinder attachment, and while it’s an investment, it’s well worth it if you have a lot of apples.

Rather than peeling and coring ahead of time (which can take hours… believe me) you can just wash the apples, cut out any rotten parts, and quarter them. Put them in a pot with some water, and let them cook until they’re nice and soft, as described for chunky applesauce. Don’t forget to stir, though… you don’t want them burning! (Want to save even more time? Just use an Instant Pot pressure cooker – it’s done in minutes.)

Once they’re ready, all you have to do is put your grinder attachment on the mixer, and grab two bowls. Begin slowly pouring the cooked apples in. The attachment will grind the apples and run them through a strainer that lets all the smooth applesauce out through little holes, which drains into your first bowl. The peels and cores run through the rest of the grinder and come out the other end. This is where your other bowl comes in, along with (preferably) someone to hold it. The peel-and-core mixture that comes out that side is a little… gross-looking. Fair warning! But it saves a LOT of time and energy making it with the KitchenAid, so it’s worth a little ickiness.

Once you have your finished bowl of applesauce, you can cover it and put it right in the refrigerator, and toss or compost the peels/cores.

Can You Freeze Homemade Applesauce?

Yes, it’s easy to freeze homemade applesauce!

First, you’ll need a few freezer-safe plastic dishes or freezer bags. If you don’t want to buy more, you can do what my grandparents have done for years and save every freezer-friendly container that enters your home (Hillshire Farms plastics and those black takeout containers with the clear tops have always worked, although I can’t speak for their overall safety or quality).

Whatever container you choose to use, wash them thoroughly, then spoon the leftover applesauce into them. Don’t forget to date the top – either write on the lid or use one of those handy dandy labels that wash off in the dishwasher.

Put them right in the freezer, and enjoy for months to come!

How Long Does Homemade Applesauce Last?

Homemade applesauce lasts about a week in the refrigerator and about 6-9 months in the freezer. Of course, it stays safe in the freezer for much longer than that, but the taste may begin to degrade after the 9-month mark whether or not it’s kept in an airtight container. 

Happy Saucing!

I hope you’ve had fun making your own applesauce in the comfort of your home! Enjoy it on pork chops, ice cream, as a side dish or healthy snack, or however else you like it!

Now that we’re in week 4, there’s only one week left of National Apple Month. Stay tuned for the apple finale… applesauce cake!