This homemade unsweetened applesauce recipe is made with 4 simple ingredients and could not be easier! It’s ready in around 30 minutes and easily customizable. Make it as chunky or smooth as you’d like, depending on your preference. It’s much tastier than store-bought.

If you’ve never tried making homemade applesauce, you’re missing out! It’s so easy to make, there’s no added sugar (or you can add the amount of your choosing!), and it comes together in no time.

A jar of unsweetened applesauce with a spoon inside surrounded by apples.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Applesauce is a pretty versatile recipe to have on hand. You can use it for baking, use it as a topping for recipes like pancakes, and use it to add sweetness to recipes such as oatmeal or overnight oats! You can even snack on it!
I love how easy it is to customize compared to store-bought applesauce. You can use different apples or a blend of apples to create a sweeter or more tart applesauce.
It’s so easy to make! Simmer and blend or simmer and mash. You’ve got this!

Ingredients You’ll Need

Ingredients needed to make an unsweetened applesauce recipe.

apples — I love using honeycrisp apples as I prefer my applesauce to be sweet. You can use other apples such as braeburn (tart), golden delicious (sweet), fuji (sweet), jonagold (sweet with some tartness), gala (semi-sweet), and more! Pick the apple that goes with your desired flavor profile.
lemon juice — I highly recommend using fresh lemon juice and not bottled lemon juice. A splash of lemon adds brightness to the applesauce, whereas bottled lemon juice does not have the same fresh, brightness. The lemon juice also helps keep the apple from browning and keeps the applesauce from looking brown. If you have meyer lemons, even better!
cinnamon — a hint of cinnamon adds a lovely warm flavor to the unsweetened applesauce recipe.

How to Make Unsweetened Applesauce

Set of two photos showing diced apples, cinnamon, lemon juice, and water added to a pot and cooked.

Place the diced apples, water, lemon juice, and cinnamon in a large pot over medium heat.
Cover with a lid and bring the pot to a boil.
Reduce the heat and let simmer on low for 15-20 minutes or until apples are tender and soft, stir occasionally.

Set of two photos showing cooked apples belted in a pot.

Allow the mixture to cool a bit and then use an immersion blender in the pot or transfer the apples to a blender or a food processor and blend until smooth.
Serve or store it for later.

An overhead view of a bowl of unsweetened applesauce.

Recipe Tips and Notes

While this recipe is unsweetened, you can definitely add some sugar to it to make it sweeter. I like to add a bit of brown sugar for that caramel-like flavor you get from the molasses.
Depending on the size of your apples, this recipe can yield anywhere from two and a half cups of applesauce to three cups.
You can make as much or as little as you’d like! You can easily double or triple this unsweetened applesauce recipe.
Want to add additional hints of citrus to the applesauce? Simmer with a bit of orange juice in place of water or simmer with orange or lemon zest.
A mixture of apples will add more depth of flavor to your applesauce!
You can add some nutmeg for an extra hint of woody, warmth.
While some people like to keep their apple peels on, I prefer to peel mine.
You can customize the texture of your homemade applesauce based on your preferences. If you prefer a chunkier applesauce, you can use a fork or potato masher to mash the cooked apples to your desired consistency. I personally prefer a smoother texture, so I use an immersion blender to blend it all up. You can use a food processor or blender as well.

Make Ahead Tips

Meal prep: once cooled, store the homemade applesauce in an airtight container for up to a week in the fridge.
Freezer: after cooling, you can transfer the unsweetened applesauce into a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Make sure you leave some space in the container as the applesauce will expand as it freezes.

Unsweetened Applesauce Recipe

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 25

Servings: servings

Ingredients

4 to 5 apples, such as Honeycrisp peeled, cored, and diced into ½-inch pieces
½ cup water
1½ tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

Place the diced apples, water, lemon juice, and cinnamon in a large pot over medium heat.
Cover with a lid and bring the pot to a boil.
Reduce the heat and let simmer on low for 15-20 minutes or until apples are tender and soft, stir occasionally.
Allow the mixture to cool a bit and then use an immersion blender in the pot or transfer the apples to a blender or a food processor and blend until smooth.
Serve or let cool and store for later.

Notes

Yields 2½ to 3 cups of applesauce, depending on the size of the apples and the amount of water you cook out.

Tried this recipe?Did you make this recipe? I’m always so happy to hear about it! I’d love to see how it turned out. Tag me at @CarmysHungry on Instagram so I can see it! If you enjoyed the recipe, I’d really appreciate a comment with a 5 star rating! ♥

Nutrition Per Serving

Author: Carmy

Course: Ingredient

Cuisine: American

Nutrition Disclaimer

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