Homemade crockpot applesauce is one of the easiest ways of preserving apples. This step by step recipe is perfect for canning applesauce or (freezing). Start making applesauce today!

A bowl filled with green apples sits on a wooden surface, capturing the essence of homemade crockpot applesauce. Overlaid text reads, "The Easiest Homemade Crockpot Applesauce.

The wonderful thing about this homemade crockpot applesauce recipe is it is very easy to make adjustments to make it 100% your own! You can just as easily make unsweetened applesauce, sweetened applesauce or spiced applesauce.

Most of the apples in my area don’t grow very large, so I don’t peel the apples when I make applesauce. I core them, make sure they’re cut in quarters, and toss them right into the slow cooker, along with just a bit of water. (If canning, be sure to read about peeling apples in the canning section below.)

Adding enough water cover the bottom of the slow cooker keeps the apples from sticking and burning. It’s does not take much, 1/2 cup water should be plenty, as the apples produce a lot of juice while they cook down. You could also use a bit of apple juice or apple cider instead of water.

Best Apples for Making Applesauce

There are several hundred varieties of apples, so you have a lot of choices when it comes to cooking with apples. Honestly, the best apples for applesauce are apples that you have access to locally, especially if you have your own apple trees.

Using several apple varieties will allow you to create your own special applesauce flavor.

If you have to buy apples, look for varieties that are labeled “saucing” apples and try to avoid getting “juicing” apples. Juicing apples will have quite a lot of liquid in them and will make a watery applesauce. If all you can find is juicing apples, then leave the lid off the crockpot or, at least ajar, so that some of the liquid can evaporate.

For Sweet Applesauce

Fuji
Honeycrisp
Gala
Golden Delicious

For Sweet and Tangy Applesauce

Pink Lady
MacIntosh
Rome
Braeburn

For Tart and Tangy Applesauce

Johnathan
Cortland

For Tart Applesauce

Granny Smith – tart apples are great for adding in with other varieties to add a tangy flavor, but too tart for using by itself. Mix one pound of Granny Smith with two to three pounds of sweet apples.

Making Applesauce

The secret to not having to peel the apples and keep the recipe super easy is using an immersion blender.

Run your immersion blender through the mushy apples and watch the skins disappear. If you don’t have an immersion blender, I highly recommend going and buying one right away. They’re one of the handiest tools to have in the kitchen, not just for making applesauce but for all kinds of cooking and preserving food.

Alternatively, you can transfer the cooked apples into a blender, a food processor, or a food mill to make applesauce if you don’t have an immersion blender. Just be careful because the apples are hot. You’ll need to work in batches to get it all blended.

If you peeled the apples, you can use a potato masher and mash the cooked apples.

Canning Applesauce

Canning applesauce is a great way to have shelf stable snacks all year long. The applesauce will need to be processed in a hot water bath canner or a pressure canner. These instructions are for water bath canning since pressure canning applesauce really doesn’t save any time.

To Peel or Not to Peel

Peels can impact the safety of a canned product, so it’s important to follow the instructions from those organizations who do the testing. Both the National Center for Home Food Preservation applesauce recipe and in the Ball Preserving recipe, call for using a food mill or electric food strainer after the apples have been cooked to remove the skin and seeds.

However, the Ball recipe includes a chunky applesauce variation that only calls for pureeing half the cooked apples and using a potato masher to mash the other half. They don’t note that this should only be for peeled apples, so it can be assumed that peeling apples is a quality and not a safety issue.

If you decide to leave the skins on, we recommend that you use a food mill or electric food strainer for half of the cooked apples to comply with the tested recipe.

How to Can Applesauce

When the apples in the slow cooker begin to get soft, you can prepare a water bath canner, jars and lids. Pint jars is a good jar size for applesauce, but if you have a large family or a ton of apples, quart jars can also be used. Fill the water bath canner and heat over medium heat. Clean jars in hot soapy water and check for any nicks or cracks. Put the jars in the canner to keep them hot. Wash lids in hot soapy water and set aside.

After the applesauce is blended, pour hot applesauce into the hot jars leaving a 1/2″ headspace.

Remove the air bubbles with bubble remover or spatula.

Wipe the rim of the jar with a clean, damp cloth.

Put the lids and rings on the jars and tighten fingertip tight.

Using a jar lifter, put the jars into the prepared water bath canner making sure the water is covering the jars by at least an inch.

Once the water in the canner is boiling begin timing the processing time. Process half pints and pints for 15 minutes and quarts for 20 minutes. Be sure to adjust for altitude.

A pot of creamy, mashed fruit mixture, possibly bananas, with a thick, chunky texture reminiscent of homemade crockpot applesauce. The image includes a corner watermark with stylized text reading "Rootsy.

Homemade Applesauce Variations

As I mentioned above, this recipe doesn’t have added sugar, but you can it if you choose to. For the recipe below, use about a cup and a half of sugar. You could also add honey, brown sugar or maple syrup to sweeten applesauce. If you don’t want to use that much sugar to make sweetened applesauce, you can use less. It really just depends on the type of apple you are using.

Fall spices such as a combination of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, make a great homemade flavored applesauce. For an easy fall flavor use your homemade pumpkin pie spice mix. I’ve included the quantities in the printable recipe below. However, you can adjust however you like.

Other possible variations include:

Only cinnamon
No spices
2-3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cloves
Fruit puree such as blueberries, cranberry, or strawberry. The fruit needs to be a high acid fruit that can be canned on it’s own, in order to be safe for home canning.

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Yield: 8 half pints

Homemade Crockpot Applesauce

Name: Homemade Crockpot Applesauce
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 6 h
Total time: 6 h 35 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 6 pounds apples, cored and quartered; 2 Tablespoons lemon juice; 1/2 cup water; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional); 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional); 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (optional); 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (optional)

This really is the easiest homemade Crockpot Applesauce. A double batch will give you a full canner load of applesauce, so if you have two crockpots and enough apples, use them both.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 6 hours

Canning Time 20 minutes

Total Time 6 hours 35 minutes

Ingredients

6 pounds apples, cored and quartered
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (optional)

Instructions

Wash and core apples. Peel, if desired. If you don't peel them, you will need to use a food mill or electric food strainer to remove at least half the peels.
Add apples, water, and lemon juice to a 6 quart slow cooker. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours, or until apples are soft and mushy.Add spices (and sugar if using).
Get the boiling water canner ready. Wash jars and lids. Have rings ready. Since applesauce is processed in the water bath canner for more than 10 minutes the jars don't need to be sterilized, just washed in hot soapy water and kept hot. Put the clean jars in the water bath canner to keep them hot.
Sauce the apples. If the apples are peeled you can use an immersion blender to make a smooth sauce. If the apples are NOT peeled, use a food mill or electric food strainer to smooth at least half of the apples. You can use a potato masher to mash the rest of the apples for a chunkier applesauce.
Bring applesauce back to a low boil and maintain a low boil while filling prepared canning jars.
Pour the hot applesauce into jars, using a canning funnel to minimize the mess. Leave 1/2-inch headspace.
Remove any air bubbles with a wooden spoon or spatula and adjust headspace, if needed.
Wipe jar rims, place lids and rings on jars. Tighten fingertip tight.
Using a jar lifter, put filled jars into the boiling water canner and add the canner lid. Turn the heat to high and bring the canner water to a boil.
Process half pint and pint jars for 15 minutes (0-1000ft), 20 minutes (1001-3000ft), 25 minutes (3001-6000ft), 30 minutes (over 6000ft). Process quart jars for 20 minutes (0-1000ft), 25 minutes (1001-3000ft), 30 minutes (3001-6000ft), 35 minutes (over 6000ft).
After the processing time is finished, turn off the heat and remove the canner lid (away from your face). Let the canner rest for 5 minutes.
Using a jar lifter, remove the jars from the canner and put them on a towel on the counter to cool.
Let cool for 12-24 hours.
Remove the rings and check the that the lids sealed. If any lids failed to seal, put the jars in the refrigerator to use first.
Wipe the sealed jars with a clean damp cloth, label jars and store in a cool, dry place. Use within a year to 18 months. As long as the jars are sealed, they are safe to consume but the quality will diminish after about 18 months.

Freezing Applesauce

If you don’t want to can the applesauce, you can freeze it in wide mouth mason jars. Just be sure to leave an inch or so head space for expansion as the applesauce freezes. Once the jars are filled, put the lids loosely on the jars and put them in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, move the cooled jars to the freezer.

Freezing in glass jars can be a little tricky and making sure they are completely cooled off before putting them in the freezer will keep them from breaking.

Other Apple Recipes

Instead of composting the apple cores (and peelings, if you peeled the apples), consider making apple cider vinegar with them.

The same apple varieties that are good for making applesauce are also really great for making canned apple pie filling. Be sure to check out our other apple recipes – you’ll never run out of ideas for your apple harvest.

Easy Homemade Crockpot Applesauce for Canning