No Sugar Added Homemade Applesauce

Why You'll Love This Recipe

If you're on the fence about whether or not to try this homemade applesauce recipe, don't hesitate a single minute more! And here are four reasons why!

No Sugar Added! No sugar, no preservatives, no anything! Besides the apples and a little bit of water, the only other ingredient you might want to add is cinnamon for homemade cinnamon applesauce, but that is it!

Skins Stay On. To make this no-sugar-added applesauce even easier, we keep the skins on, which contain lots of added nutrients! They can also give the color of this applesauce a hint of pink.

Easy to Freeze. You can buy several pounds of apples to make months' worth of homemade applesauce, which keeps nicely in your freezer!

The Taste. This applesauce recipe has the best flavor using Cortland apples! You honestly do not need any sweeteners whatsoever!

Ingredients Needed

Yes, the ingredient list to make this homemade applesauce recipe is very short! It's also incredibly easy to make too!

• Cortland Apples. You'll need 4 pounds of Cortland apples. That's the amount that worked perfectly with my 10.5-quart stockpot. You can go for more apples if you have a deeper stockpot to cook them in.
• Water. ½ cup of water gets added to the bottom of the stockpot before adding the apples. If you want thicker applesauce, reduce the amount of water to ⅓ cup.
• Ground Cinnamon. Add only if you wish to make the homemade applesauce cinnamon flavored. I used Vietnamese cinnamon from King Arthur Baking for this recipe, but use what you have available.

The Look and Taste of Cortland Apples

Cortland apples are a cross between McIntosh and Ben Davis, developed in New York in 1898. They are mildly tart in flavor and incredibly juicy, with crisp white flesh and thick, crisp skin that is primarily red. They're great for eating, baking apple desserts like my homemade apple pie, apple coffee cake, or apple bundt cake, and cooking—like making homemade applesauce!

Visit my FAQs section below for alternatives to using Cortland apples in homemade applesauce.

How to Make the Recipe

Below is a brief overview of how to make this easy no sugar added homemade applesauce recipe! For the full recipe, visit the recipe card below.

1. Wash and quarter your Cortland apples. I wash all the apples in my sink filled with water. Give them a quick dry and then quarter them, removing the stem, core, and seeds. Discard the apple cores or add them to your compost bin as I did!
2. Add the water and apples to a stockpot. Bring the water and apples to a boil, then immediately reduce it to a simmer, covering it with a lid.
3. Stir the apples every 5 minutes until softened. And when I say softened, I mean softened to the point the apple skins have either slid off or are about to. Another good indicator that your apples are perfectly softened is when you can easily push the apple flesh with a spatula.
4. Blend the softened Cortland apples in your blender. Ensure it's a robust blender that can easily blend apple skins and apples into smooth, creamy applesauce. I fill my Vitamix to the 64-ounce marker, then start on the lowest setting, gradually increasing the speed.
5. Add in the ground cinnamon. But only if you like to make this homemade cinnamon applesauce. I add two heaping teaspoons to my Vitamix with 64 ounces of applesauce.
6. Transfer the applesauce. Spoon the no-sugar-added homemade applesauce into your favorite food storage containers, then cool at room temperature completely before adding the lids. Label the lids with permanent marker with the date it was made.

Helpful Kitchen Tools

Below are the recommended tools to make this easy, no-sugar-added homemade applesauce recipe. If you don't have a robust blender, like the Vitamix or Blendtec, I suggest going the food strainer route instead, which will remove the skins as you run the softened apples through it.