Slow Cooker Applesauce

This slow cooker applesauce is the one I make once and freeze in portions, so there’s always some on hand. It’s just four ingredients, there’s no added sugar, and 3½ pounds of apples makes six cups.

I like to start it in the morning, because by dinnertime the whole house smells like fall. The slow cooker does all the cooking, and the freezer takes care of the rest. That means you’ll have applesauce for oatmeal, muffins and lunch boxes long after orchard season is over.

Why You’ll Love It

• Four ingredients, nothing added. It’s just apples, water, lemon juice and a cinnamon stick, with no sugar, oil or butter. As written, it’s vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and oil-free.
• You know exactly what you’ll get. 3½ pounds of apples makes 6 cups, which is six 1-cup servings.
• It’s made for the freezer. Cool it quickly, portion it out, and it keeps up to 8 months in the freezer for best quality.
• It’s sweet without any help. A mix of sweet and tart apples gets it there. A cup is about 96 calories, and all of the sugar comes from the fruit.

Once you have a batch in the freezer, you’ll find lots of ways to use it. A couple of cubes stirred into Steel Cut Oats is an easy place to start. It’s also great spooned over Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes or used in Vegan Muffins. On a cold morning, you can thaw a portion and blend it into an Apple Pie Smoothie, too.

Slow Cooker Applesauce Ingredients

Here’s a quick breakdown of why I use certain ingredients in my recipe:

• Apples: Use a mix of sweet and tart, like Honeycrisp, Cortland, McIntosh and Granny Smith. The mix gives you deep flavor without any sugar.
• Water: Apples give off liquid, but it cooks down over a long time. A little water keeps the sauce from sticking to the side of the crock pot.
• Lemon juice: It keeps the color bright and adds a little tartness.
• Cinnamon stick: You get the flavor without the grit that ground cinnamon can leave behind.

How to Make Slow Cooker Applesauce

There isn’t much to this one beyond prepping the apples. After that, the slow cooker takes over.

1. Peel and core the apples, then roughly chop them.
2. Add the apples, water, lemon juice and cinnamon stick to the slow cooker and stir everything together.
3. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours, until the apples are completely soft.
4. Remove the cinnamon stick. For a smooth sauce, blend it right in the pot with an immersion blender. If you like it chunky, a potato masher works great.
5. Cool it quickly by setting a bowl of the hot sauce inside a larger bowl of cold water. Give it a stir every so often and swap in fresh cold water as it warms up.

The real secret to good slow cooker applesauce is time. Turn it on and leave it alone until the apples have completely broken down.

How to Freeze Slow Cooker Applesauce

This is the part that makes a big batch worth it. Let the sauce cool completely, then use Souper Cubes to freeze them. Leave a little room at the top, since the sauce expands as it freezes. About ½ inch is plenty for pint containers and 1 inch for quarts.

Here are a few portion sizes I like:

• ½-cup: Just right for muffin, baked oatmeal or pancake batter.
• 1-cup: Easy for lunch boxes or a side dish.

Label it and freeze it for up to 8 months. When you’re ready to use it, thaw it in the fridge overnight and give it a good stir.

If you’re not freezing it, the sauce keeps for up to 1 week in the fridge. And if you like having your week planned ahead, start a free 7-Day trial to Rawk the Year, my weekly plant-based meal plan.