How to Can Applesauce
If you've ever wondered how to can applesauce, this step-by-step tutorial will teach you everything you need to know to can delicious, nutritious applesauce at home. This tested and approved safe canning recipe is perfect for canning beginners.
🔍 Recipe At-A-Glance: Canning Applesauce
- ⏰ Prep Time: 40 minutes
- ⏲️ Cook & Processing Time: 40 minutes
- 🍎 Flavor Profile: Tangy, tart, and just slightly sweet
- 🫙 Texture: Smooth or chunky-you choose!
- 🍞 Good For: After-school snacks, side dishes, baking (like in my Applesauce Zucchini Bread), mixing into smoothies (like in my Apple Pie Smoothie), food storage
- 👩🏻🔬 Safety: Tested safe and approved canning recipe directly from the makers of Ball Mason Jars
- 🧡 Difficulty: Pretty darn easy. Perfect beginner canning project!
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🧡 Why You'll Love This Recipe
Canning applesauce at home is such a breeze, and the flavor trumps anything you'll get from the store. Don't stress if you've never canned before! Canning applesauce is a great place to start for canning newbies.
Here's why you'll love this recipe:
- Easy as can be: Can you boil water? Then you can make this canned applesauce!
- Super safe: This tested recipe comes directly from my friends at Ball Mason Jars, so you can feel good that it's safe for your fam.
- No additives: This recipe is as simple as it gets! Nothing yucky here.
- So yummy: I stock my pantry with this applesauce each fall!
🍎 The Ingredients You Need
- Apples: To get the best flavor, I recommend a ratio of about ⅔ sweet apples to ⅓ tart apples.
- Bottled lemon juice: This beginner-friendly canning recipe adds extra lemon juice to give newbies a wide margin for error when it comes to safety. Always use bottled lemon juice-not fresh-when canning
- Sugar: Sugar is totally optional. I only tend to use it if I'm using all tart apples in my applesauce.
Make sure to check the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, along with quantities and my expert tips and tricks.
🔁 Variations
- Make it sugar-free: Leave out the added sugar! Easy peasy.
- Make it cinnamon applesauce: Add in 1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon.
- Make it chunky: Coarsely crush half of the cooked apples and purée the other half; combine mixtures.
🫙 The Equipment You Need
Most of what you need for canning applesauce you'll already have on hand. But waterbath canning does require a few speciality tools:
- Canner: This is just a large pot to process (AKA: boil) your jars in.
- Canning Rack or Trivet: To hold the jars in the pot.
- Jar Lifter: Speciality tool that makes grabbing hot jars easy.
- Jars and Lids: I recommend canning this applesauce in regular-mouth pint jars.
- Canning Funnel: A wide spout funnel made to fit in canning jars.
- Headspace checker or clear plastic ruler: to make sure you have the right amount of space at the top of your jars.
📷 How to Can Applesauce
Step 1: Prep your jars by washing them and then placing them in water in your canner pot and turning it on. Wash your lids and rings in warm, soapy water.
Step 2: Peel, core, and cut apples into large chunks.
Step 3: Treat apples with lemon juice or ascorbic acid to prevent browning, if desired (see my Expert Tips & Tricks below).
Step 4: Transfer the apples to a large Dutch oven or stock pot. Add in just enough water to prevent scorching. Boil gently, stirring occasionally until apples are tender.
Step 5: Blend the apples into a smooth puree using an immersion blender, or transfer apples, working in batches, to a food mill or a food processor fitted with a metal blade and purée until smooth.
Step 6: Return the puree to the pan. Add the lemon juice.
Step 7: Ladle hot applesauce into hot jars, leaving ½ inch headspace.
Step 8: Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.
Step 9: Process jars in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes, adjusting for altitude.
Step 10: When processing time is up, remove the lid of the canner, and let jars cool for 5 minutes before removing from the canner to cool completely.
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🍏 Storage Info
- Check the seal: You can check if you got a good seal by pressing in the middle of your canning lid after the applesauce has completely cooled. If it doesn't flex, your jar is shelf-stable and ready to store.
- It's preserved indefinitely: If you got a good seal, your applesauce will last with peak quality in a cool, dark spot for at least 18 months. After that, you might start to see some degradation of color, flavor, or texture, but as long as the lid is still sealed properly, it is perfectly safe to eat indefinitely.
🙋🏻♀️ Canning Applesauce FAQs
The vast majority of apples are acidic enough not to need added lemon juice to can safely; however, out of an abundance of caution, a small amount of lemon juice is used in this applesauce recipe to give beginning canners margin for error. For a tested no-lemon juice recipe, try this recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
20 minutes at a full rolling boil for applesauce. Make sure to adjust for altitude if you live high up!
Nope, most apple varieties are naturally acidic enough to be waterbath canned safely. To make this a beginner-friendly applesauce recipe, it calls for extra acidity in the form of lemon juice to guarantee it's safe for waterbath canning.
👩🏻🍳 My Expert Tips & Tricks
- Treat your apples: To keep crisp, bright color in your applesauce, treat your apple chunks. Mix 2 tablespoons lemon juice with 4 cups of water or ¼ teaspoon of ascorbic acid with 4 cups of water. Submerge peeled and sliced apple chunks in the mixture before cooking to prevent browning.
- Or use non-browning apples: You can skip that step by using the new non-browning apple varieties on the market, like Cosmic Crisp.
- Freshly-picked apples are best: If you have a family orchard trip on the calendar, make sure to schedule time to make applesauce afterwards for the best sauce you've ever had!
- Applesauce is a great baking ingredient: It adds moisture and sweetness to baked goods like my Applesauce Zucchini Bread. It's even great for crafting! Yes, my reader-favorite Cinnamon Ornaments uses applesauce.
🥫More Canning Recipes
If you tried this Canned Applesauce or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments!
📖 Recipe
How to Can Applesauce
Ingredients
- 12 pounds whole apples peeled, cored, quartered, treated to prevent browning (see notes) and drained (about 36 medium)
- Water
- 3 cups granulated sugar optional
- 4 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Wash lids in warm soapy water and set bands aside.
- Combine apples with just enough water to prevent sticking in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 20 minutes, until apples are tender (time will depend upon the variety of apple and their maturity). Remove from heat and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer apples, working in batches, to a food mill or a food processor fitted with a metal blade and purée until smooth.
- Return apple purée to saucepan. Add sugar, if using, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Maintain a gentle boil over low heat while filling jars.
- Ladle hot applesauce into hot jars leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.
- Process jars in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.
Video
Notes
- To treat apple slices to prevent browning, mix 2 tablespoons lemon juice with 4 cups of water or ¼ teaspoon of ascorbic acid with 4 cups of water. Submerge peeled and sliced apple chunks in the mixture before cooking to prevent browning.
- For Chunky Applesauce: Coarsely crush half of the cooked apples and purée the other half; combine mixtures
- For Cinnamon Applesauce: add in 1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon before pouring into jars.
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