Instant Pot applesauce is easy to make, healthy, delicious, and best of all sugar free! With only a handful of ingredients, this homemade applesauce recipe is perfect for snacking, using in cooking, or preserving apples for the winter months.
My whole family loves apples, applesauce especially, and my daughter will eat it everyday given the chance. Whenever possible I love making our food from scratch, and applesauce is one of those things. Just like apple butter, it just tastes so much better then any store bought product!
If I can avoid bringing something packaged home, that's one less thing in the landfill! So when I got my Instant Pot Lux-80 a few months ago, I couldn't wait to try making applesauce in it! While making applesauce on the stove top isn't necessarily hard, it does require some attention to prevent it from burning. It also takes three times as long!
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What Apples Are Best For Making Applesauce?
What are the best apples for making applesauce you may be wondering? Generally speaking, you want to choose apples that are fairly soft, have an intense flavor, and provide a good balance of tart and sweet.
You can create delicious applesauce variations by mixing tart and sweet apples to find that perfect balance you love without adding any extra sugar! The apples below are a few of my favorite choices:
Sweet Varieties
- Cortland
- Gala
- Honeycrisp
Tart Varieties
- Gravenstien
- Macintosh
- Spartan
To keep things interesting, (especially for kids) you can even add fruit or berries to the apples to make flavors such as, blueberry applesauce, peach applesauce, or cranberry applesauce!
Can I Use Whole Apples, Or Do I Need To Peel Them?
Do you have to peel and core apples before turning them into sauce, or can you use whole apples? It is best to at the very least core the apples. The seeds and tough core membranes do not break down very well, and will stay hard even after pressure cooking.
If you prefer a smoother, less chunky applesauce texture, peel the apples before making the recipe below as I did. If you prefer a chunkier texture, feel free to keep the skin on! Always remember to wash the apples first to wash off any pesticide or other residue!
How Do You Make Applesauce with No Sugar?
Lucky for you, this Instant Pot applesauce recipe is already sugar free!! If you choose a sweet variety of apple there should be enough natural sugar present that no added sugar is needed.
If you add other fruits to the applesauce, it will make it even sweeter. If you are using tart apples, or you make the applesauce and find it a little to tart for your liking, simply stir in a tablespoon of brown sugar to sweeten it slightly.
Mix things up and add blueberries or other fruit to the apples prior to cooking to make flavored applesauce! - Chef Markus
Instant Pot Applesauce Instructions
Before you start make sure you have your instant pot ready to go and all the ingredients at hand. You'll need:
- 8 large apples
- ¾ cup water
- 1 lemon
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg
Start by coring and peeling the eight apples. You can do this the old fashioned way by peeling the apples, then quartering them and cutting out the core. Or you can use an apple corer to punch out the center of the apple. If you want to make this as easy as possible , a johnny apple peeler (amazon affiliate link) cores, peels, and slices the apples all at once!
Next slice all the apples and place the slices in a bowl of water to prevent the apples from browning to quickly. If you are making a double batch, put a squeeze if lemon it vinegar in the water to further reduce the apples from oxidizing.
Combine the water, lemon juice, spices, and salt, in the instant pot. Strain the water out of the sliced apples, and add the apples to the instant pot. Stir everything to evenly distribute the spices.
Lock the Instant Pot Lid in place, and make sure the pressure release valve is set to sealing.
Select the 'manual' or 'pressure cooking' setting on your instant pot and set the cook time to 8 minutes. (If you left the peel on the apples set the time to 10 minutes to help break down the skins). Start the program by pressing 'manual' or 'pressure cooking ' again.
Now you can clean up and sit back and relax as the instant pot does the rest! Once the Instant Pot beeps signalling the cooking program has finished, release the pressure by turning the pressure valve to venting.
Watch the steam as it is very hot and can burn you! If liquid starts to spit out of the vent. Close the vent and let the instant pot de-pressurize using the natural release method. Once the red pin drops, open the instant pot and stir the apple sauce with a risk to spoon to break up any large chunks!
If you plan on canning the applesauce in glass mason jars for long term storage, do so know while it is still hot. Always make sure to use sterilized glass jars and lids to prevent contaminating the apple sauce.
If you plan on simply refrigerating or freezing the apple sauce, scoop out the Instant Pot applesauce into a bowl or other appropriate container, and let it cool fully in the fridge. It is normal to seem slightly runny, and even watery while still boiling hot. As the applesauce cools, it will naturally thicken and set up a little. Once fully cooled the apple sauce can be frozen for up to 3 months, or stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.
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Recipe
Instant Pot Applesauce (No Added Sugar)
Ingredients
- 8 whole large apples
- ¾ cup water
- 1 whole lemon
- 1 Pinch salt
- 1 Pinch cinnamon
- 1 Pinch nutmeg
Instructions
- Start by coring and peeling the eight apples and place the apples in a bowl of water to prevent the apples from browning to quickly.
- Next slice all the apples and place the slices back in the bowl of water to prevent the apples from browning .
- Combine the water, lemon juice, spices, and salt, in the Instant Pot. Strain the water out of the sliced apples, and add the apples to the instant pot. Stir everything to evenly distribute the spices.
- Lock the Instant Pot Lid in place, and make sure the pressure release valve is set to sealing. Select the 'manual' or 'pressure cooking' setting on your instant pot and set the cook time to 8 minutes. Start the program by pressing 'manual' or 'pressure cooking ' again.
- Once the Instant Pot beeps signalling the cooking program has finished, release the pressure by turning the pressure valve to venting.
- If liquid starts to spit out of the vent. Close the vent and let the instant pot de-pressurize using the natural release method. Once the red pin drops, open the instant pot and stir the apple sauce with a risk to spoon to break up any large chunks!
Storage
- If you plan on canning the applesauce in glass mason jars for long term storage, do so know while it is still hot.
- If you plan on simply refrigerating or freezing the apple sauce, scoop out the Instant Pot applesauce into a bowl or other appropriate container, and let it cool fully in the fridge.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
Mary Bostow
Can you believe I don't have an instant pot yet? That's going to change though, you convinced me I need one with this delicious applesauce recipe!
Chef Markus Mueller
I hope you get one soon! It's a real time saver for many recipes!
Sam | Ahead of Thyme
This applesauce looks amazing! I need to get my hands on an instant pot asap!