Say Yes to Salad

confessions of a sometimes vegetarian

Homemade Unsweetened Applesauce Recipe

January 10, 2011 by Maggie

A few days ago I bought a bunch of apples, because I love apples. Unfortunately they turned out to be a little bit mealy. I like apples crisp, don’t you? Fuji and Honeycrisp are probably my favorites. Galas are good too. These were supposed to be Fuji but I think they were past their prime. In any case, I needed a way to use them up.

(Picture stolen from an old post of mine.)

So I made homemade unsweetened applesauce. It turned out to be super-sweet even though it has no added sweetener – just the way I like it!

Homemade Unsweetened Applesauce Recipe

Ingredients

  • 5-6 apples, chopped in fourths
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

  1. Add chopped apples and water to a saucepan. Bring the water to a boil and let the apples boil for about 10 minutes.
  2. Some apples may start to lose their skin. You can remove it if you like, and eat it for added fiber.

    Mmmm…. Fiber.

  3. Add the cinnamon and vanilla extract and mix it around.
  4. Turn the heat down to low, leave the top off the pan, and simmer/low-boil for another 30 minutes.
  5. Remove from heat. Let the apples cool. If you don’t want the skin, you can peel it off once the apples are cool enough. I suggest leaving it on because I didn’t notice any odd flavor or texture from it.
  6. Puree the apple pieces + leftover water (there shouldn’t be that much) + skins (optional) in a food processor. They should blend easily and turn right into the perfect applesauce consistency.
  7. Eat the homemade unsweetened applesauce!

***

You will have to wait to see how else I used the applesauce from this homemade unsweetened applesauce recipe. It was delicious plain, but I do have one other use for it (it’s a dessert).

Do you like unsweetened applesauce? Have you ever made an unsweetened applesauce recipe from scratch? Also, why do people insist on sweetening fruity things – isn’t the fruit sugar sweet enough?

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30 Comments

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  1. Emily @ One Sweet Vegan
    January 10, 2011 at 6:56 pm

    I’ve never made applesauce. I always buy the unsweetened applesauce, but it tastes pretty bland. Your recipe looks amazing. I can’t wait to try it.

  2. melissa @ the delicate place
    January 10, 2011 at 7:32 pm

    never made it but sometimes i microwave steam chopped apples and sprinkle cinnamon on them :)

  3. Abby
    January 10, 2011 at 8:11 pm

    I’ve never made applesauce, but I prefer Galas. I used to love Fujis, but now they taste a bit too watery and tame to me or something. And I think you know how I feel about sweet things, so no question I don’t try and make them sweeter.

    The kind of cool thing is that my company also owns a bunch of fruit/veg magazines, so everyone is really into the latest and greatest with new fruits. Sometimes they get sent new apple breeds that aren’t even in stores yet. It’s a little weird, but I just dig that people like fruit ;)

    • Maggie
      January 15, 2011 at 11:23 am

      @Abby: That is awesome (re: new apples). I am always happy when I’m around people that get excited for fruits and veggies. You should check out the breed called Jazz apples – very very good. Crispy and exciting.

  4. sophia
    January 10, 2011 at 11:55 pm

    Oh the color is gorgeous! It looks like butternut squash puree! :-)

  5. Krista
    January 11, 2011 at 12:11 pm

    My 3 fave apples are the same as yours! And I love homemade apple sauce. It’s so easy to make…

  6. Cindy
    January 11, 2011 at 5:36 pm

    ohhhhhhhhhhhhh I do love crisp juicy apples and not mushy ones BLECH.

    I make apple sauce for JJ in my crock pot.

    Just cube them (skin or not) and add a can of crushed pineapple, butter and brown sugar if you want, vanilla and tons of cinnamon and let it be.

    OMG.
    YUM.
    it never lasts long.

  7. Melleah
    January 12, 2011 at 11:45 am

    My favorite apples are Honeycrisp and Ida Reds. I make my own applesauce, too– it’s great mixed into my morning bowl of oatmeal.

  8. Haughty by Nature
    January 13, 2011 at 7:34 am

    I can’t wait to try this! I have been wanting to substitute applesauce for eggs in my baking, and this seems like a good place to start.

    I think people sweeten already delicious things like fruit because “foods” like Sweet & Low have warped our tastebuds into thinking something has to but SUPER sweet to taste good. Thanks for posting this!

    • Maggie
      January 15, 2011 at 11:28 am

      @Haughty by Nature: I totally agree! People are conditioned now to think that everything has to be ridiculously sweet. Honestly, I prefer things unsweetened most of the time! I grew up not using much sugar though, so I suppose I am used to it ;)

  9. Biz
    January 13, 2011 at 5:02 pm

    Apple picking in the fall was one thing my daughter and I did all the time – and I made homemade applesauce and canned it – so good using fresh apples!

    Thanks for all your recipes on my giveaway – good luck, I’ll be picking a winner tomorrow! :D

    • Maggie
      January 15, 2011 at 11:30 am

      @Biz: I love apple picking. I missed it this past fall but will definitely go this year! It’s something I always used to do with my mom too. Thanks again for the giveaway! It’s funny that we seem to win each other’s :)

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  12. Anna
    February 15, 2011 at 11:05 pm

    Approximately how much applesauce did this yield? Great recipe post!

  13. Maggie
    February 16, 2011 at 10:19 am

    @Anna: It made maybe 3 cups? It was a decent amount.

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  15. Andrew
    May 4, 2011 at 7:35 am

    Great Post and quality information!

  16. Sali
    September 26, 2011 at 6:32 am

    Nice pic. great post. Thanks for sharing. I can’t wait to try this recipe. : )

  17. Amanda
    October 1, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    mmmmmm tried this recipe with some fresh apples I picked and had no idea what to do with. Delicious! I will be using part of the applesauce recipe to make low fat buttermilk apple bran muffins :)

  18. Celina
    October 2, 2011 at 8:51 pm

    I just made this recipe and it’s more delicious than any store-bought sweetened kind! Thanks for posting :)

  19. Jan wood
    November 22, 2011 at 1:31 pm

    Thanks for the recipe. It was divine! I used the left over juice from boiling to make an incredible small glass of unsweetened apple juice-added a little stevia and it was wonderful!

  20. zane
    November 25, 2011 at 12:26 pm

    How long and how can I store it?

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  22. Kelly
    January 28, 2012 at 8:57 am

    Thanks for the recipe. I’ve made it three times now. I’ve found that 2 apples makes a cup of applesauce. I just smoosh mine with a potato masher ’cause I like the chunkiness of it. I’ve only used it recipes, one for dressing in a slaw and the other two (this is when I discovered that 2 apples makes one cup not two and had to make a second batch – which was so easy to do!) for buttermilk oat apple muffins, just like Amanda.

    My husband did eat the leftovers from the slaw and said it was delicious. I ate the big peels that escaped becoming sauce – HOLY MOLY YUM Batman! Seriously delish. I will never buy applesauce from the store again.

    Also, I totally agree with you on the sweet front. Things these days are way too sweet. I made a compote that called for 1/2 of sugar. I put it two tbsps of honey, and even that is too sweet. Next time, I will slowly sweeten to cut the edge off the berries so I don’t go over board. :)

    Thanks again!

  23. Maggie
    February 3, 2012 at 6:12 pm

    @Kelly: Thanks for the great feedback! I should try the potato masher idea because I love it chunky as well. And I have never tried it as a dressing – I’ve used applesauce in baking to make things lower in calories but never dressing before.