Instant Pot Applesauce is so easy! Made with apples, water, lemon juice, and a few optional additional flavors, in under 30 minutes you’ll have tasty applesauce that is WAY better than store-bought.
Then enjoy on its own or use to make healthy apple bread, healthy apple muffins or almond flour waffles.
Applesauce in Instant Pot
This Instant Pot applesauce is so handy to have in your back pocket. The mouthwatering aroma of the apples and cinnamon is reason enough to make it. But having a batch of applesauce on hand is great for when you want to serve your kids a healthy and nutritious snack that they’ll love. Mix with some homemade granola, Instant Pot Greek yogurt and maple syrup, and they are in heaven.
You can also use pressure cooker applesauce in your baking as a replacement for melted butter or oil as well as a natural sweetener. Try and be amazed how moist banana muffins, zucchini bread and blueberry muffins with applesauce come out!
Nothing says fall like warm apples and cinnamon which means there is no better time to make applesauce in Instant Pot. With very little time and effort and a few simple ingredients, you’ll never buy store-bought again! From pulled pork, to chocolate muffins, to homemade BBQ sauce, there are so many uses for this Instant Pot applesauce recipe.
Ingredients for Instant Pot Applesauce
- Apples: Cored and quartered. Can be peeled or not. If you peel your apples you will have a consistency closer to store-bought applesauce, which my kids like. However, keep in mind you will also lose a bit of the vitamins and nutrients (ie. fibre) that the peel provides.
- Cold water: If you double amount of apples, don’t double water.
- Lemon juice: Can also use citric acid. Adding either will help keep your applesauce from browning too much.
- Optional seasonings: Adding a tablespoon of maple syrup as an additional sweetener to your applesauce can help if your apples are sour. As well, adding a tsp of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice can add another layer of flavor. Season to your liking.
How to Make Instant Pot Applesauce
There is a full recipe card below.
- Prep: Peel (or not) the apples. As mentioned above, peeling your apples will give you a similar consistency to store bought. Core and cut the apples into quarters. If not peeling, easiest way is using an apple slicer.
- Set Instant Pot: Add the apples to 6 or 8 quart Instant Pot along with water. Close the lid and set pressure release valve to Sealing and press Pressure Cook on High or Manual for 8 minutes.
- Release Instant Pot: Once finished, release the pressure right away – Quick Release. Open the lid and if you find you have a few pieces that still need mashing, go ahead and do that now using a potato masher.
- Add: Once your applesauce is made, stir in lemon juice.
- Optional additions: If you’d like it sweeter add a bit of maple syrup, and season to your taste, along with a sprinkling of cinnamon if you wish.
How to Store, Freeze, and Thaw
Storing: Instant Pot applesauce will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
Freezing: You can freeze it, also in an airtight freezer-friendly container, leaving room for expansion for up to 3 months.
Thawing: When ready to thaw, leave it on your counter for approximately 6-8 hours. If you would like to serve it warm, reheat on the stovetop on low until heated through. In any case, stir for even consistency.
Tips and Variations
- No waste: If you have an abundance of apples, use them unripened, a little overripe, and even ones that have sat too long in the fridge (even the ones with worms!). Still have some more? Make apple oatmeal bars, oatmeal muffins or healthy gingerbread loaf.
- Best apples: Granny Smith, Honey Crisp, Gala or McIntosh all work well alone or as a combination.
- Easiest way to prep apples: Any gone bad spot or worms holes can be removed with a paring knife. Then I quickly core and cut apples with an apple slicer. So quick and easy!
- Don’t double water: No matter the amount of apples you add, do not double water. Add same 1/4 cup cold water for any amount of apples that are not exceeding 2/3 max mark.
- Unpeeled apples+no water: If you have older model of Instant Pot that is not as sensitive to Burn, I had success adding unpeeled apples and no water. I found peels contain a lot of water which leads to more runny sauce. While coming to pressure, that water is being extracted and enough to bring pot to pressure. You can try but don’t walk away.
- Other fruit: Substitute strawberries, pears, or peaches to this recipe or better yet, pick two fruits to make a nice blended fruit sauce.
More Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot yogurt
- Instant Pot beets
- Instant Pot eggs
- Instant Pot corn on the cob
- Instant Pot spaghetti squash
- Browse collection of most popular Instant Pot recipes.
Instant Pot Applesauce
Ingredients
- 3 lbs apples cored and quartered (peeled or not)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Sweetener and cinnamon optional
Instructions
- Peel or do not peel apples – for store bought texture and colour applesauce I recommend to peel. Core and cut apples in quarters.
- Add to 6 or 8 quart Instant Pot along with water.
- Close the lid, set pressure release valve to Sealing and press Pressure Cook on High or Manual for 8 minutes.
- After release pressure right away – called Quick Release.
- Open the lid. More likely you won’t even have to mash cooked apples – I didn’t. But if you still see chunks, mash with a potato masher. With unpeeled apples, use an immersion blender.
- Add lemon juice, stir, taste and season to your taste with sweetener and cinnamon, if necessary.
- Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
- Freeze: Freeze in any containers, silicone bags or jars leaving some room for expansion for up to 3 months. Thaw on counter for 6-8 hours and enjoy!
Notes
- Don’t double water: No matter the amount of apples you add, do not double water. Add same 1/4 cup cold water for any amount of apples that are not exceeding 2/3 max mark.
- Unpeeled apples+no water: If you have older model of Instant Pot that is not as sensitive to Burn, I had success adding unpeeled apples and no water. I found peels contain a lot of water which leads to more runny sauce. While coming to pressure, that water is being extracted and enough to bring pot to pressure. You can try but don’t walk away.
- Easiest way to prep apples: Any gone bad spot or worms holes can be removed with a paring knife. Then I quickly core and cu apples with an apple slicer. So quick and easy!
- Sweetness: How sweet or sour are your apples, will dictate whether you need a sweetener. I used sour apples and added 1 tbsp maple syrup and 1/2 tsp cinnamon after.
- Prevent browning: Lemon juice prevents applesauce from browning too much. Can also use citric acid.
- Store bought texture: Peeled apples yield more store bought like applesauce re: texture and colour. That’s what my kids like, so I peeled apples. However, peels contain a lot of nutrients and vitamins.
Nutrition
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My name is Olena Osipov. I'm a mom to 2 boys, a wife to Alex and we reside on magical Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. This is our healthy family recipes blog. Originally from Ukraine, I grew up on real food. As an adult, I struggled with diets for years because none worked long-term. Now for over 10 years, I cook easy healthy meals for my family. I can help you with “What’s for dinner?” too.