You can enjoy homemade cinnamon applesauce without much work at all. This slow cooker applesauce recipe is warm, cozy, and the perfect side dish for pork chops or roast chicken.
When you have too many apples, what do you do? Do you make everyone eat an apple a day?
Do you make dried apple slices? Apple cake with caramel sauce? Caramel apples? There are lots of choices, and some of them take more effort than others.
One of the very easiest things to do with lots of apples is to make homemade applesauce. And it’s super easy to do if you use the slow cooker. You just have to peel and slice the apples, and then let the slow cooker do the work.
Your house will smell amazing while the slow cooker cooks the apples and cinnamon down to a delicious, flavorful sauce.
And it’s no big surprise that the homemade variety is much better than any applesauce you can buy at the store.
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Ingredient Notes
- Honeycrisp Apples – I like Honeycrisp apples, but you could use a different variety if you prefer!
- Sugar – I use organic cane sugar. You could use regular granulated sugar or light brown sugar if you like.
- Lemon Juice – Either fresh lemon juice or bottled lemon juice will be fine.
- Cinnamon – Cinnamon is a key ingredient to get that cozy fall flavor.
Types of Apples
You can use any variety that you like. Depending on the variety of apple you choose, you may need to adjust the amount of sugar. For example, Fuji apples are sweeter, so you would need less sugar. Honeycrisp, which I used here, are a bit more tart.
If you’d like to make this applesauce without added sugar, you will want to choose a sweeter variety, like Gala, Golden Delicious, or Fuji. You can cook it without sugar, and then taste it and add as needed. You can read about the different types of apples here.
Sweetener
Feel free to adjust the amount of sugar according to your taste. You can use brown sugar or coconut sugar if you prefer. I haven’t tried this with a sugar substitute, but that may be a possibility.
Step by Step Instructions
- Peel and slice the apples and place in the slow cooker.
- Add the sugar, lemon juice, water, and cinnamon.
- Cook on low for 5-6 hours, until soft and tender.
- Mash the apples with a potato masher, or puree them with an immersion blender.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve this applesauce with:
- Gluten Free Vegan Gingerbread
- Baked Chicken Legs and Roasted Potatoes
- pork tenderloin or baked ham
Storage/Freezing
Store leftover applesauce in the refrigerator. It should stay fresh for about 5 days.
You can freeze applesauce in freezer bags. Just make sure to remove as much air as possible from the bags. Lay them flat in the freezer and freeze for up to 3 months.
More Dairy Free Side Dishes
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Recipe
The Easiest Slow Cooker Applesauce
Ingredients
- 10 Honeycrisp apples for about 12 cups sliced apples
- â…“ cup organic cane sugar or brown sugar
- ½ cup water
- ½ Tablespoon lemon juice
- â…“ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Peel and thinly slice the apples and place in the slow cooker.
- Add the sugar, water, lemon juice, and cinnamon.
- Cook on low for about 5-6 hours, until apples are soft and tender.
- If you want the applesauce to be chunky, you can mash the apples with a potato masher. If you want it to be smooth, you can puree it with an immersion blender.
Darryl
I love making this in the fall.