This easy, two-part recipe for crockpot applesauce recipe for canning makes enough for you to can and have homemade applesauce at your finger tips all year long!
Apples are incredibly abundant in the Fall and can be collected at a Pick-Your-Own, a local farmer’s market, or, if you’re lucky, your own backyard tree.
Our orchard is still coming along, so this year we had to get our apples from a local Farmer’s Market.
I love this recipe because it’s easy, healthy, tasty, and makes for a quick dessert that tastes naughty for you, but really isn’t!
Apples are high in fiber, Vitamin C, and antioxidants. They are high in natural sugars, but the fiber in them keeps your blood sugar from spiking.
In fact, I used this recipe, minus the sugar and cinnamon, to make a large batch of applesauce/homemade baby food for the little one and froze it into ice cubes.
Crockpot Applesauce Recipe for Canning
You can make your applesauce following the same recipe in a saucepan on the stove if you’re short on time.
However using the crockpot is much easier and you don’t have to worry about watching it to make sure it doesn’t burn. You’ll also make your house smell amazing! Win-win!
To make the crockpot applesauce recipe, simply peel, core and roughly chop your apples.
Save yourself some time and buy an apple peeler/corer. I love this one because it’s manual. You don’t need electricity to use it. If you’re off-grid or simply don’t want to “plug in”, these are a great tool.
Throw your apples and cinnamon stick into a crockpot (or saucepan) and let cook until soft and mushy.
To turn your chunks into sauce, you can use a potato masher for chunkier sauce (easier for babies to scoop up onto a spoon), or run your chunks through a food processor or blender for smoother sauce.
canning applesauce recipe
Stir in the lemon juice (and sugar or honey if you choose) and scoop your new applesauce into clean canning jars leaving about 1/2 inch headspace.
Since apples are a high-acid food (because of all of the natural sugars) and you add additional sugar, you can water-bath can it. That means it’s the perfect canning recipe for first-time canners.
Remove the bubbles, secure the lids and process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.
If you’d like to learn more about how to can the right way, check out my friend Melissa’s Home Canning with Confidence course!
Voila! You have a delicious, homemade snack or dessert on hand you can feel good about giving to your family.
For more delicious canning recipes check out:
applesauce recipe for canning
Ingredients
- 6 lbs apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 cup sugar (or honey) - optional
- Bottled lemon juice (for canning)
Instructions
- Pell, core, and roughly chop your apples.
- Throw apples, water, cinnamon and sugar (or honey) into a saucepan or crockpot. Bring to a boil, reduce, and simmer for 20 minutes in a saucepan, or slow cook on low for 4 hours in a crockpot.
- Puree until smooth, return to saucepan/crockpot and reduce until desired consistency.
- Add Tbsp lemon juice to each pint, 2 Tbsp lemon juice to each quart.
- Ladle hot applesauce into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims and affix lids and jars.
- Process jars in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes for pints, 25 minutes for quarts.
- Enjoy!
