Learn how to make homemade applesauce with this easy recipe! Spiced with cinnamon, it's a delicious healthy snack or topping for pancakes and more.
Jump to Recipe
This homemade applesauce recipe is a staple in our house year-round, but especially during apple season. It’s an easy way to use up a surplus of too-soft or overripe apples, and as it cooks, it fills your house with the aroma of fresh apples and cinnamon. That smell is SO cozy on a crisp fall day. On its own, it’d be enough to make anyone a homemade applesauce convert.
But this homemade applesauce recipe gets better. It doesn’t just smell good—it tastes good too! It’s tangy, lightly sweet, and full of spiced apple flavor. You can make it chunky if you like your applesauce with some texture, or you can blend it if you want it totally smooth. Either way, it’s delicious. I think you’re going to love it!
How to Make Applesauce
If you’ve never made homemade applesauce before, you won’t believe how easy it is! My recipe starts with 5 simple ingredients:
Applesauce Ingredients
- Apples, of course! This applesauce recipe is a great way to use up apples that are overripe, bruised, or too soft to eat on their own. I like to use a mix of varieties for the best flavor. Find my favorites in the box below!
- Apple cider vinegar – Its tangy flavor balances the apples’ sweetness. Fresh lemon juice would work here too.
- Water – It adds moisture to the applesauce and helps the apples steam and soften as they cook.
- Ground cinnamon – Who doesn’t love apples and cinnamon together?? Its warm, cozy flavor is delicious here. If you like, feel free to add other warming spices like nutmeg or ginger, or replace the cinnamon with apple pie spice.
- And a little sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Best Apples for Applesauce
This applesauce recipe works well with almost any apple variety. Because you’re going to cook down the apples until they’re very soft and tender, you don’t need to worry about them holding their shape.
I like to use a mix of sweet and tart varieties to add complexity to my applesauce. Here are some of my favorites:
- Sweet apples: Gala, Honeycrisp, Fuji, Golden Delicious, McIntosh
- Tart apples: Jonathan, Granny Smith
Tip: If you make this recipe with 100% tart apples, you may want to add honey or maple syrup to sweeten it to taste. Brown sugar would be delicious too.
How to Make Homemade Applesauce
You can find the complete applesauce recipe with measurements at the bottom of this post, but here’s a step-by-step overview of how to make it:
First, prepare the apples. Peel, core, and chop them, and add them to a large pot or saucepan.
Next, start to cook. Pour the water and apple cider vinegar into the pot. Cook over low heat, stirring often to prevent burning, until the apples start to soften, about 4 minutes.
Then, cover the pot and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
Stir in the cinnamon and salt. Uncover the pot and mix in the spices. Return the lid and simmer for another 10 to 20 minutes, or until the apples are very tender and juicy.
- Tip: The softer the apples are, the smoother the sauce will be. If you like a chunkier homemade applesauce, cook the apples for less time. If you like yours super smooth, cook them longer.
Finally, mash! Remove the pot from the heat and use a potato masher to mash the apples to your desired consistency. If you want the sauce to be a smooth puree, pulse it in a food processor or blend it with an immersion blender.
Quick note if you’re mashing your applesauce—don’t use a metal masher on an enameled cast-iron, non-stick, or ceramic pot (I learned the hard way!). Instead, mash the apples in a large bowl, or use a silicone masher.
How to Serve Homemade Applesauce
This homemade applesauce is a delicious healthy snack or side dish. But the ways to use it don’t end there!
- Add it to baking recipes like my Carrot Cake, Cinnamon Apple Scones, or Applesauce Cake.
- Swirl it into yogurt, oatmeal, or overnight oats.
- Use it as a topping for pumpkin pancakes, waffles, or French toast.
- Enjoy it for dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a sprinkle of homemade granola.
How do you like to eat homemade applesauce? Let me know in the comments!
Storage
Store homemade applesauce in an airtight container or Mason jar in the refrigerator for up to a week. For longer storage, freeze it for up to 3 months.
More Favorite Apple Recipes
If you love this homemade applesauce, try making one of these delicious apple recipes next:
Homemade Applesauce
Ingredients
- 4 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch of sea salt
Instructions
- Combine the apples, apple cider vinegar, and water in a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until the apples start to soften, about 4 minutes.
- Cover and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Uncover, stir in the cinnamon and salt, cover again, and continue simmering for 10 to 20 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apples are very tender and beginning to fall apart.
- Turn off the heat and use a potato masher to mash the apples to your desired consistency. If you’d like a smoother applesauce, pulse it in a food processor or blend it with an immersion blender.
Very nice recipe chef 👍👌👏. Thank you for your effort 🌞😎.
So glad you enjoyed it!
I love apple sauce and this one is perfect!. If I have remaining water from the cooked apples y put in the fridge and drink it as apple juice… better than the commercial ones
this was literal heaven on earth! so good and so easy. i used peeled cosmic crisps (apple peels hurt my tummy) and halved the recipe because that’s how many apples i had. the potato masher did not take much effort at all and i feel like i’m 5 years old again, in the best way!
I’m glad you loved it!
This was so easy to make and turned out delicious. I loved having the descriptors based on preferences – I blended a few sweet / tart apple blends, and followed the recipe to a T. Added more cinnamon than it called for
– but that’s my preference! We also used an immersion blender instead of a potato masher. That would’ve taken forever but either works!
So glad you loved it, Nina!
This is the most perfect recipe for Applesauce! I have not thought about using apple cider vinegar when I have made applesauce before; it adds just a little bit “extra zing” that is very complimentary. I used 3 or 4 Fuji apples and 2 Granny Smith apples, which balanced the flavor well. I weighed them at the grocery store so that they fit the recipe. I’m going to make your Carrot Cake soon, so I wanted to have applesauce on hand. Thank You!
Thank you! It was extremely easy to make and extra yummy.
This was my first time making applesauce and it is SO good. I used all Fuji apples and followed everything exactly. Thanks for this wonderful and easy recipe!
Hello! Thank you so much for your recipe; I can’t wait to try it.! Quick question – is there a timing change you’d recommend if I wanted to use my slow cooker here? Thank you!!
This recipe is so easy to make and I just can’t wait to give it a try as I have lots of apples waiting to rot in my fruit basket. I must put them to good use. Thanks for the recipe!
I hope you enjoy!
That’s a nice one and even sugar-free! Think this one will go very well with my crispy potato pancakes. Thanks a lot for sharing! ?
I’m so glad you loved the applesauce!
Jeanine, what is the yield of this recipe?
Cups?
Quarts?
Would you please let me know? I’m the only person who would be eating this.
Hi Carolyn, we haven’t measured this recipe in cups unfortunately. Sorry about that! For a small batch, you could halve the recipe. You can also freeze leftover applesauce for several months.
I only had half the apples needed for this recipe so I scaled accordingly. I am so pleased with the outcome. I don’t know why I feel so accomplished making simple applesauce. It is probably because most people buy this and don’t make it. When I was recovering from medical jaw surgery a few months back, I ate a lot of packaged applesauce. I wished I had this recipe then.
Hi Sally, I’m so glad you love the applesauce!
thank you, never thought of making apple sauce from scratch before, love being apple to add some extra cinnamon!
Hope you enjoy, Sabrina!
Is there another spice I can use besides cinnamon. My daughter became allergic to it 2 years ago and I am trying to find 1 or more substitutes in recipes like this one. Thank you, Estel;le
Just leave it out. Or try a dash of nutmeg. You can always add in extra fruit like strawberries, peaches, mango, etc for a flavored applesauce.
Hi Estelle, totally! You can omit the cinnamon, or you could use another warming spice like ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, or allspice. If using another spice, I would start with less, maybe 1/4 teaspoon, and add more to taste. A mix of these spices would be nice too. Hope this helps!
This is how my Mom always made applesauce. But what is the difference and how do you make apple butter?
Hi Kathy, apple butter cooks longer than applesauce—it’s more like a thick, spiced spread than a sauce. We don’t have an apple butter recipe on the blog yet, but we should definitely test one out. Great suggestion!
This is a brilliant recipe! so simple and NO SUGAR required. I have nothing against sugar, but I know it is best to minimize its consumption. In this recipe, there is absolutely no need for sugar. Most applesauce recipes call for sugar and a lot of it. The combo of apple cider vinegar and the pinch of salt bring out the sweetness of the apples. My family really enjoyed this recipe. It is a keeper and saves me the time to keep looking for other applesauce recipes. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Daniele, I’m so glad you loved the applesauce!
How much does 1 batch yield? I’d like to make enough to freeze and I’m trying to figure out how many jars I will need 🙂
I have made applesauce many times over the years but never like this. It is now the only recipe I will ever use. It works way better than how I used to do it. I did not mash it — we really like it chunky.
I don’t have apple pie spice so I combined cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves to equal the teaspoon of spice.
You are off to a good start and I know it is good. I make thre bags of apples at a time all different varieties. After cooking a long time and mashing at the side of a large. I add Splenda, Cinnamon and Red Hots. I cool it and I put a dish in the fridge and freeze rest for later. I freezes wonderfully and so good. (That is 3 bags of apples)
Hi – this looks lovely and I’ll have to try it with the vinegar and salt. I’ve been making applesauce for years when I’m using up all the apples I persuaded my husband that we “needed” at the farm. I just do big chunks (peel and all) and a little water, and then add cinnamon at the end. No sugar, no peeling. I mash a little with a wooden spoon, but it kind of falls apart itself. It does look pink and the peels taste candied! We use Macs and some Honeycrisp.
I’m making this for the first time & thought about leaving the skin on. Did anyone else have a lot of liquid left when this was done cooking?