Ever since I started making applesauce in the crockpot, I’ve never looked back. It’s so easy to put together, and it cooks while I sleep! Waking up to fresh applesauce for breakfast is also totally great. The whole house smells amazing, and applesauce tastes so good warm or even hot, (which was a new concept for me).
If you’ve never made your own applesauce before, you’re in for a treat because there’s so much more flavor in the homemade version.
If your apples are big enough to run through a peeler-corer-slicer, there’s almost no work involved at all. Making applesauce this way gives you a chunky kind of sauce that you have the option to blend if desired.
I’ve started making my applesauce even easier by not bothering to peel the apples at all. I just quarter them up, cook until they’re soft, and then blend them in a high powered blender until smooth.
I’ve used all kinds of different apples for this, but the softer apples always work the best because they break down faster. If you do use a baking apple such as Macintosh, (pictured above along with some Sweet Sixteens) or Granny Smith, you’ll need to increase the cooking time (sometimes as much as 3-4 more hours on low).
My favorite kind of apple to use is the Transparent, which is the perfect apple for applesauce. It breaks down nicely and has amazing apple flavor.
You can cook your applesauce on high for 4-5 hours throughout the evening, or you can cook it on low heat for 8-10 hours overnight.
If you haven’t peeled the apples, remove the cinnamon stick after the cooking time, and place the chunky sauce into a blender. Then blend until the applesauce is smooth. If you don’t like small bits, you can even strain it which is still faster than peeling all those apples!
I had to strain mine one time because I accidentally left a piece of cinnamon stick in there which the blender promptly chewed up into hard bits in my applesauce. So I strained it, and the whole process went quickly, leaving a super smooth applesauce.
My favorite variation of this recipe is to use half of a vanilla bean instead of the cinnamon stick. Or you can even use star anise or cardamom pods which are both awesome.
I know it might seem weird to get so excited over applesauce, but… try it and you’ll see the difference! I’ve frozen so many batches this fall since it keeps in the freezer well, and Tyler loves it in his lunches.
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Crockpot Applesauce
- Total Time: 9 hours 10 mins
- Yield: 8 cups 1x
Ingredients
- 5 pounds apples, Transparent, McIntosh, and Sweet Sixteen are all wonderful
- 1/2 cinnamon stick or 1/2 Teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Peel (if desired), core, and quarter your apples.
- Place the apples with the rest of the ingredients into a 6-quart crockpot.
- Turn the crockpot to low and cook for 8-9 hours, (overnight), or cook on high for 4-5 hours until the apples have softened.
- Remove the cinnamon stick or any whole spices you’ve used.
- If you peeled the apples, you can either mash up the applesauce to your desired texture, or blend it. If you left the peels on, place the applesauce into the blender, being careful not to burn yourself, and blend until smooth.
- Refrigerate for 3-4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
I highly recommend a peeler-corer-slicer because it does all the work for you if you want peeled apples. You just run your apples through it and place them directly into the crockpot.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 9 hours
Perfect timing. I have way too many apples right now from our trees. Making this now.
It’s that time of year again isn’t it!?!
Oh the smell!! I love slow cooking apples and the smelling their perfume throughout the house while they cook! I like to leave the peels on personally…the best!
Me too, I like the flavor and it’s so much easier too!
How do I store the apple sauce once it’s cooked? Do I let it cool and refrigerate or just let cool and leave in a container?
I place mine into 1-2 cup containers and refrigerate right away. To cool big batches of things properly, you want smallish containers and space them around the fridge. If the containers are all together they don’t cool as fast. If I don’t think we’ll eat it all, I place some of the cooled applesauce into the freezer for future eats. I hope this helps, and be sure to let me know if you have anymore questions! 🙂
Is recipe appropriate for canning?
I don’t know if you would be able to can this since there’s no added sugar, but I don’t know much about canning so I would maybe check with a canning source like Ball.
Thank you for the recipe! What is your average yield per batch? Thanks again!
I’m pretty sure it’s around 8 cups, but I have this recipe on the list to retest in the new year to check how many cups exactly. 🙂 I hope this helps, and I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Hi there,
This is the first time that I am making apple sauce, I have everything in the crock pot and on low till the morning. Will the apples be mushed or do I have to smash them to become a sauce substance?
Thank you
Steve
Most of the time the apples will cook into an chunky applesauce consistency all by themselves without needing to smash them. But some varieties of baking apples that hold their shape (and are usually used in pies and crisps) will need to be smashed or blended for a few seconds in a blender to create an applesauce texture. I hope this helps, and be sure let me know how it goes, or if you have anymore questions! 🙂
How do you freeze your applesauce ?
I freeze my applesauce either in plastic containers with lids, or in freezer Ziplock quart bags depending on what I have at the time. If you do use the plastic bags, be sure to freeze the bags flat on a cookie sheet before stacking them in the freezer. This saves on space and catches anything that springs a leak. I hope you enjoy the recipe, and be sure to let me know how it goes or if you have anymore questions! 🙂
can i freeze the homemade crockpot applesauce?
Yes you can freeze this applesauce, I often make large batches just so I can have some leftover to freeze. I hope you enjoy the recipe, and be sure to let me know if you have anymore questions!
The only change I made was using apple cider in place of water, it makes a big difference! YUM! 🙂
Thanks for writing in with such a great tip! I used apples picked right off the tree, so my applesauce was really flavorful but I’ll be trying this in the winter months when I’ll only have store bought apples. 🙂
Made this today and it’s wonderful. I used a little bit of my homemade vanilla extract and a cinnamon stick. I will be making this again a lot.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I’ve been making a lot of applesauce ever since I discovered this crockpot method because it really simplifies the process (no stirring on the stove). 🙂